Controller vs. Mouse + Keyboard

Technology and Gaming
#41

You do know you can reconfigure the keys?

The only thing I prefer the controller for are fighting games. You can play them with the mouse and keyboard but since fighting games are mostly in 2D planes (for movement, not graphics per se) the mouse offers no real advantage, and the keyboard is just too unwieldy for the twitch combos.

#42

Yeah I know you can reconfigure the keys, but I just find controllers easier to use and I like the analogue movement. I suppose it is the fact that I have used controllers for about 10 years and a keyboard for 1.

#43

I personally think it’s what you’re used to, or what your gaming habits started with.

For me it’s Keyboard & Mouse for FPS games, Strategy games and some other select genres. For certain games though, a gamepad is the way to go because the game was designed for it i.e. Assassin’s Creed. Psychonauts was a whole lot easier too with my gamepad than with my mouse & keyboard.

My friend too would agree, he bought the OB for his PS3 and prefers TF2 on the PC because he found it easier to aim(not to mention hardly any FPS issues, more content and less bugs).

For racing games, I cannot stress this enough, a good FFB wheel is needed otherwise you will not get the car correcting itself which can lead to crashing/spinning out. I went from Keyboard straight to FFB Wheel and the difference is amazing, it’s so much easier to race with the wheel than the keyboard/a gamepad.

For Flight Simulators, a joystick is a must otherwise you end up… ahem… unable to fly properly.

All in all, I think it mainly comes down to if the game was designed for a gamepad/joystick/steering wheel or keyboard and mouse. Some games just play better on a gamepad than a keyboard and mouse.

I expect to be flamed now :3

#44

I feel exactly the same.

I can play on both pretty well. However, I think I am on the only person who prefers a controller over a keyboard + mouse. Reasons:

1.All the controls are compact and easy to reach
2.You don’t have to worry about pressing the wrong key(they all feel the same)
3.For travel or going to a friends house it is easier to carry a controller
4.To play multiplayer with friends find another controller or buy another computer
5.In shooters change pressure on joystick on computer press 2 keys at once

In the end I can use both but if given the choice I would take a controller. Maybe its just that I grew up on consoles but I do play better on consoles than PCs.

#45

What does that have to do with anything? Are you trying to bring PC vs. console debate into this? :expressionless:

#46

If he is, I think that argument can be boiled down to the developers not adding split-screen support on the PC.

#47

But you can’t share a keyboard and mouse.

#48

But you can have two gamepads, steering wheels or even two keyboards and mice.

#49

Has anyone played Shattered Horizon? It is the first FPS I have played that I think would be better to play with a controller than a mouse.

#50

You can on some games. I remember playing LF2 with three people on one keyboard.

#51

It’s still easier to just get three keyboards :wink:
runs

#52

I didn’t mean to start another never ending console vs. PC debate. I just meant that it is that if you do have a split screen game on PC and multiple mice +keyboards it is much more difficult to find space for them as they are several times larger than a controller that you can hold pretty much anywhere.

#53

It’s what you’re used to imo. I do great with mouse+keyboard but horrible with controllers.

And it’s not like I’m playing the wrong system, I got all of them! :mono:

#54

I suck with both, so yeah, no comments.

#55

Gamepads are good for some game types. RTS? Dear GOD no. FPS? Eh, without auto aim you’re fairly fecked. Fighting games? Go for your life. Racing games? Probably a tie with keyboard; go for a wheel for realism, but stay with either for playability. The only thing that irks me is when companies try using the gamepad for gametypes it was plainly not made for. RTS’s on consoles do not work for that very reason.

#56

Lies. I’d take a gamepad over a keyboard, no matter what. Almost any pad would be better than a keyboard.
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#57

analogue steering is kind ov a big deal

#58

Exactly. I find the same is true for analog movement, though obviously not as big of a deal as mouse-controller-aim, but that’s why I play gamepad + mouse is so I don’t lose either.

#59

I however would and do prefer a keyboard over a gamepad for racing games. I just have a much quicker reaction time with a keyboard then I do with a gamepad.

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