PC Game Controllers... dumb question

AstaLaVista said:

Then I should also be able to find one at home, I do believe they also have a wired one... So, just to understand:

Old Xbox ----- weird and big plug

Xbox 360 ----- USB type plug

Do I have that correct?

Yes you're spot on...but don't call my babies weird ;( I still play that console with the fat controller lolol.

The Xbox 360 uses a standard USB 2.0 plug.

The thing is, you can't just plug the charging chord into a wireless 360 controller and hook it up to your PC that way because it's exactly that, a charging cable. Even though you can power the controller that way, it still uses a wireless signal to communicate with the 360.

You'll be needing a special dongle to use it with a PC, and it's just cheaper to buy a PC specific controller anyway.

It's a great controller, don't get me wrong, and it's natively supported by a lot of games. I personally think it's worth the money, but if you're on a budget or are only looking at using it with one or two games just get a cheap USB Windows game controller instead.

Also, regardless of what type of controller you get, you absolutely must get a key mapping program like Xpadder [which isn't free, but has a nice GUI interface] or some other key mapping software, some of which are free.

Even if you don't need it immediately, some PC games don't have controller support. It's just nice to have. Sometimes I even use it with games that support the controller as it allows more freedom with mapping controls to the various buttons on the controller. A lot of them limit how or even if you can map keys to different control schemes using native support. Having a key mapping program means you can set it up any way you want regardless. Just make sure you turn off controller support in the game either through the menu screens or an ini or config file in the game's folder.

If you go for the Xbox 360 controller, I honestly suggest that you hunt down a wired 360 controller rather than buying a dongle. It doesn't use a wireless signal to interact with the console/PC so just having the wire plugged in is enough. It's also more reliable. Even though the 360 isn't extremely prone to signal interference, the responsiveness is slightly better and it completely eliminates the risk of the signal interference issue coming up at all.

It's simply plug and play with most games once you have the driver installed. You don't need the wireless dongle at all and it's one less component that can be lost, broken, and eliminates the need for batteries or charging.

I use a wheel for driving games, but 3rd person beat em up actiony type games work best with a controller. I couldn't play Batman Arkham City with a m/kb at all. It would just be completely frustrating and not worth the effort.

Seeing as you're looking to play on PC a cable probably isn't too much of an issue as most people sit pretty close to their towers to play. It's actually more convenient to buy a wired controller for the 360, which is pretty much the best available standard controller you can get for the PC.

I also have an Xbox, but the only thing I ever play on it anymore is Steel Battalion, which is the most awesome controller of all time and the only reason I haven't retired my big black box. Anything else I might want to play from my original Xbox collection I just pop into the 360. I like that controller more as the black and white buttons on the old style controller are just in awkward places.

Contrabardus said:

I also have an Xbox, but the only thing I ever play on it anymore is Steel Battalion, which is the most awesome controller of all time and the only reason I haven't retired my big black box. Anything else I might want to play from my original Xbox collection I just pop into the 360. I like that controller more as the black and white buttons on the old style controller are just in awkward places.

It took me awhile to adjust to that :/

I agree with you on the Wired controller part, it's a GREAT piece to have for gaming on a PC.

WOW, again... thanks everyone for all of that.!

No problem buddy.