what I find funny is is a few years ago MnK was considered the optimal setup and controller players would complain about a disadvantage, but recently I’ve noticed this has switched and keyboard players are complaining about controllers being advantageous.
always been a controller player but never really cared either way about which one is better. but its sure more comfortable and easier to turn my brain off
It’s not that PC gamers were opposed to using controllers. PC gamers love our peripherals. The problem was support for it. Most of the controllers beforehand had proprietary connectors that would never work in the PC. And then even if you could connect the controller there was no guarantee it would work. But now with more standardization around USB and Bluetooth adding and better driver support for the controllers we can finally use them.
yeah, I’d have to solder a PS1 controller to printer port back then. even when controller moves to wireless(like dual shock 3) the protocol was proprietary until windows have a proper driver for them.
Most of the controllers beforehand had proprietary connectors that would never work in the PC.
That was in the 90s… 20 years ago I was gaming on PC with a PS1 dual shock using a cheap adapter, and then switched to the Xbox 360 controller which used a standard USB port.
Not here to comment on whether you are right (because you are) but more to report the whiplash of realising 20 years ago is still in the 2000s. Mentally, 20 years ago puts something early nineties to me.
I love gaming with controller on single player games, aiming with guns kinda suck but otherwise it’s much better experience. and driving is so neat. but yeah steam controller support plays a major role in my controller usage
I hate controllers. I use them only on games that suggest they are important. I don’t tend to like those games.
Well, yeah. Racing games, platformers, and action games are generally more comfortable with controller. Third person shooters, FPS, anything that requires aiming, or RTS games are still best done with mouse.
I don’t really like playing platformers with a controller.
I played through Celeste, Super Meat Boy and Rayman on PC only with keyboard and played Super Meat Boy, Rayman and N++ on the switch. I prefer the keyboard.
For 3D games (even platformers) I prefer the controller though.
I prefer games that can be played with a controller to be played with a controller just to mix up the ways I fuck up my wrists
I don’t understand controllers. I can never get to use them properly. I grew up playing on computers all my life. My brain simply can’t grasp them and I always forget where all the buttons are.
I must be going the opposite route. After playing console for so long I’m starting to notice I can’t use a controller as well as I used to. Been debating on dusting off the keyboard and mouse and using it on my Playstation until I can get a new pc.
I’m not sure what it is… but I guarantee if I played online other people would wonder if I was a bot or something because I my hands feel weird on a controller all of a sudden.
I’ve been using controllers on PC since the Sidewinder days, I’m glad to see support for most controllers be basically perfect on Linux and pretty decent on Windows. MacOS still has a way to go with anything that isn’t made by Sony, but it’s not exactly a gaming platform.
Steam Deck and the console users that pivoted to PC gaming during the scalpers riddled PS5/Xbox launch are probably the most likely causes for this.
Right, PC gamers aren’t embracing controllers, console gamers are embracing PC gaming.
All depends on the game. PC players have options.
Games like Palworld and GTA are better with a controller. Games like Cities: Skylines and any game requiring significant precision are better with a mouse and keyboard.
I prefer over the shoulder games like GTA with keyboard mouse and controller.
Controller for general navigation and when a firefight starts to go down, my right hand switches to the mouse and my left hand is still on the controller, resting on the desk. When the firefight starts getting hectic the controller gets dropped and it’s WASD from there on out.
Gta on foot is mouse + keyboard but any driving or flying needs the controller
Only reason it may seem “better” is because Palworld has horrible building mechanics.
But nothing about that game makes it easier with a controller.
I don’t think it’s easier, since many of the ranged weapons in that game require good aim, which is better with a mouse, but I do think it’s more fun with a controller.
I remember in the 90s almost everyone I knew with a pc had a gamepad or joystick of some sort.
I think it’s most likely that more people are playing genres like platformers and fighting games that are designed for controllers on PC than before.
I wouldn’t call those genres particularly popular atm
I said this for years but PC is the biggest thread for the Xbox and Sony, not mobile.
We are just getting old and our backs hurt too much, ok?
Nothing will ever be as accurate as a 1:1 pointing device. Using a thumbstick sucks ass for general mouse-work why would it be suddenly good for FPS games? Thumbsticks are best at racing, platforming, flight sims, maybe RPGs and scrollers.
Right tool for the job.
Yeah I’m pretty sure people are just starting to use controllers for the controllers’ usecases. A lot of people (including me) played stuff like space simulators with mouse+keyboard, which are obviously not the right tool for the job.
Absolutely. I started cyberpunk again and it’s keyboard/mouse until I get in a vehicle, then it’s controller
I have no idea why Halo is the only game that uses mouse for direct on driving. So much better fine control, but the pc only people I knew got so confused by it when it was ported the first time. I always quit Half life 2 episode 2 at the Strider Battle.
Trackball controller
What are your thoughts on the Steam deck’s Touchpads? I’d love to see them in a thumb ball type formfactor
My problem with touch pads is limited range, you constantly have to recentre. In a competitive environment that’s wasted ms where you are moving your finger back to make your next movement
The thumb ball reduces the amount of that
At least with the ones on the steam deck this is solved (for me) largely by software emulating the momentum of the trackball
Wait, those are a thing?
You might find one as an accessibility option
I’ve been trying to make one in a normal form factor but can’t find anything on how to make a track ball from scratch/program a board to read it
I just played through Portal again, using a DualShock 4… up until Test Chamber 18. It was simply not possible to look left/right without ever-so-slightly moving, enough to miss falling back into the portal. Mouse and keyboard- cleared it instantly.
Edit: I may try again, using a controller that has 8-way detents on the analog sticks (i.e. GameCube gamepad)
Personally on the steamdeck gyro, once I got used to it, has become indispensable for a lot of games to solve this sort of problem
When playing through games with both shooting and driving (or horseback riding in RDR2) I keep my controller handy and swap between it and mkb. I find I generally prefer walking around with a controller until I need to shoot; I end up using the controller 75% of the time.
Can’t you use a controller + mouse combo?
I could but I’d rather not. With a controller in one hand and a mouse in the other there aren’t many buttons near my fingers, I’d have to let go of one to do some stuff anyway for some functions. Plus it makes UI glyphs flash between keyboard and controller which is irritating.
