PC + 360 controller, anyone else discovered this?

Killa|3yte

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So, I've bounced a bit between consoles and PC in the last decade. A few years ago when I was primarily a console person, my wife would join in on rare occasions. Anyhow, Tomb Raider was the one game she really latched onto, and she's really been looking forward to the release of the new one.

Naturally, I was very torn. I couldn't bear to buy TR for PS3 and let my dual 670s collect dust, but I wanted my wife to be in on the fun, and she won't play anything on PC. (I sure as hell was not buying both PC and PS3 copies.) I thought perhaps I could have my cake and eat it too by buying a wired 360 controller.

I was shocked with how good the result is. There was literally no configuration, I plug in controller and Tomb Raider just snapped into controller mode, all the icons in game reflected this. Of course, I could never give up kb/mouse for something like BF3 multiplayer. That said, the overall experience of playing TR was enhanced w/ controller if anything. It was just like playing on console, except with much more ass-kicking graphics.

Tried Crysis 3. Same thing, zero configuration. If anything both of these games felt like they were meant to be played with controller. I think I've discovered a new thing here.
 
So, I've bounced a bit between consoles and PC in the last decade. A few years ago when I was primarily a console person, my wife would join in on rare occasions. Anyhow, Tomb Raider was the one game she really latched onto, and she's really been looking forward to the release of the new one.

Naturally, I was very torn. I couldn't bear to buy TR for PS3 and let my dual 670s collect dust, but I wanted my wife to be in on the fun, and she won't play anything on PC. (I sure as hell was not buying both PC and PS3 copies.) I thought perhaps I could have my cake and eat it too by buying a wired 360 controller.

I was shocked with how good the result is. There was literally no configuration, I plug in controller and Tomb Raider just snapped into controller mode, all the icons in game reflected this. Of course, I could never give up kb/mouse for something like BF3 multiplayer. That said, the overall experience of playing TR was enhanced w/ controller if anything. It was just like playing on console, except with much more ass-kicking graphics.

Tried Crysis 3. Same thing, zero configuration. If anything both of these games felt like they were meant to be played with controller. I think I've discovered a new thing here.


Yeah discovered it about 7 years ago LOL. Well maybe not that long, but at least a few years now. You'll be even more psyched when you discover this http://nirklars.wordpress.com/xboxmouse/
It lets you use the controller as a mouse. You can even type using the virtual keyboard with it. Perfect if you have your computer hooked up to a tv.
 
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It's great for those games that need a controller. I bought my wireless 360 controller that came with a unit to plug into my usb port. It's been well worth the money.
 
I found this makes Batman AA and AC the most enjoyable way to play. It's super tough to hit all the counters without a 360 controller.
 
Yup, I've been doing this for some time now. Works great with alot of games due to most being console ports. It's especially useful for my gaming HTPC.

What's really cool is when you can use multiple controllers and M&K at the same time for local multiplayer. Would be nice if PC games had splitscreen, but I tend not to play competitive games anymore so that isn't too big of a deal to me. Still, I'd like to see it just because it'd be a great feature for many and it exists on consoles so there really isn't a good excuse not to have it.

Also, using a controller on a PC is a pretty cool way of making singleplayer games makeshift multiplayer. As much as it annoys me that the Mass Effect series stripped controller support for the PC port, there are 3rd party applications like xpadder with profiles created for them that allow the games to be played fairly well with a controller. What I did though was give my sister the controller so she could cast powers while I did the movement and aiming with M&K. Worked out great for us.

So many of the big selling points of consoles have been integrated into PCs that I am now PC only.
 
Welcome to the club..you're late as hell. ;)
 
Yeah it has been that way since the 360 controller came out. Most of the Valve games fully support it too. Some have a special console command "360controller 1" or something. I've tried playing counter-strike: source and Team Fortress 2 just for fun with it.

The bad part is pretty much no games support 360 degree strafing. They just convert to the closest of the 8 ways. If games actually supported 360 degree movement it would be advantageous to use a joystick and mouse instead of keyboard and mouse.
 
*checks another box on the long list of people suffering from technological time dilation disorder*
 
I love my wireless 360 controller for my PC. I put a couch near my computer and connect to my HDTV and play on that. Makes it basically like a console but with far superior graphics and is perfect for games like TR, Fallout, Skyrim etc that just don't really matter if you play with mouse/keyboard or controller.
 
Sorry about being a bit late to the party! I'm just such a graphics nut. I care very much about AA/AF and all the other goodies that PC provides over consoles. But in a lot of situation, having analog control over what is normally WASD (which is on/off) makes for a more immersive experience IMHO. It's nice to be able to have your cake and eat it too.
 
You could also use the wireless xbox 360 controller with a used wireless receiver (or a chinese copy since they do not sell it individual anymore fuuuuu).
 
So, I've bounced a bit between consoles and PC in the last decade. A few years ago when I was primarily a console person, my wife would join in on rare occasions. Anyhow, Tomb Raider was the one game she really latched onto, and she's really been looking forward to the release of the new one.

Naturally, I was very torn. I couldn't bear to buy TR for PS3 and let my dual 670s collect dust, but I wanted my wife to be in on the fun, and she won't play anything on PC. (I sure as hell was not buying both PC and PS3 copies.) I thought perhaps I could have my cake and eat it too by buying a wired 360 controller.

I was shocked with how good the result is. There was literally no configuration, I plug in controller and Tomb Raider just snapped into controller mode, all the icons in game reflected this. Of course, I could never give up kb/mouse for something like BF3 multiplayer. That said, the overall experience of playing TR was enhanced w/ controller if anything. It was just like playing on console, except with much more ass-kicking graphics.

Tried Crysis 3. Same thing, zero configuration. If anything both of these games felt like they were meant to be played with controller. I think I've discovered a new thing here.
This capability has been around since 2006, a year after the Xbox360 release.

Microsoft branded it "Games for Windows", not to be confused with Games for Windows Live (a separate online service). There were a bunch of technical specs that were required to get the branding, and I believe one of them had to do with gamepad support for the Xbox 360 controller when used in Windows. I remember reading some document back then stating this, but the wikipedia article (which happens to be the only readily available article on it) doesn't mention it. Subsequently, MS started selling the controller separately during that time with branding stating "Xbox 360 Controller for Windows" that included a driver disc even though the driver was readily available via windows update.

Ever since then, nearly every PC game that has come out has been compatible with the Xbox 360 controller, even the ones without the "Games For Windows" branding since most games are either console ports or developed simultaneously on both.
 
Where the hell have you been? Did you not notice the "Use 360 Controller" in nearly every games options released since 2006? lol
 
I prefer it for driving games and third-person games and games that have control features that suck for keyboard. Also, if a game doesn't require fast movement and precise aim then I'll use it.
 
This capability has been around since 2006, a year after the Xbox360 release.

Microsoft branded it "Games for Windows", not to be confused with Games for Windows Live (a separate online service). There were a bunch of technical specs that were required to get the branding, and I believe one of them had to do with gamepad support for the Xbox 360 controller when used in Windows. I remember reading some document back then stating this, but the wikipedia article (which happens to be the only readily available article on it) doesn't mention it. Subsequently, MS started selling the controller separately during that time with branding stating "Xbox 360 Controller for Windows" that included a driver disc even though the driver was readily available via windows update.

Ever since then, nearly every PC game that has come out has been compatible with the Xbox 360 controller, even the ones without the "Games For Windows" branding since most games are either console ports or developed simultaneously on both.

Games for windows certification doesn't require that a game supports the 360 controller, it requires that a game supports the 360 controller if the game is going to support any controllers at all. Of course developers are lazy when it comes to this sort of thing so games rarely support anything beyond the 360 controller at this point and even if they do the 360 controller gets better support.

This is both good and bad. I like that I no longer have to spend a bunch of time configuring my controller for every game that I want to use it in, all of the axes are properly assigned and I don't have to figure out the best button layout. The downside is that it killed support for Dinput controllers, stifles innovation in controllers, and encourages shoddy console ports with poor KB/M controls. I am glad that Microsoft hasn't tried to prevent other manufacturers from selling Xinput controllers, my Logitech f710 is almost the same as a 360 controller but I like that it's slightly larger and has the d-pad and left stick swapped.
 
Games for windows certification doesn't require that a game supports the 360 controller, it requires that a game supports the 360 controller if the game is going to support any controllers at all. Of course developers are lazy when it comes to this sort of thing so games rarely support anything beyond the 360 controller at this point and even if they do the 360 controller gets better support.

This is both good and bad. I like that I no longer have to spend a bunch of time configuring my controller for every game that I want to use it in, all of the axes are properly assigned and I don't have to figure out the best button layout. The downside is that it killed support for Dinput controllers, stifles innovation in controllers, and encourages shoddy console ports with poor KB/M controls. I am glad that Microsoft hasn't tried to prevent other manufacturers from selling Xinput controllers, my Logitech f710 is almost the same as a 360 controller but I like that it's slightly larger and has the d-pad and left stick swapped.

Yep, see Bioshock 2 for an example. I actually just installed it on my HTPC last night thinking it was a sure fit for my setup. Nope, its a GFWL title that has zero controller support whatsoever.
 
Yep, see Bioshock 2 for an example. I actually just installed it on my HTPC last night thinking it was a sure fit for my setup. Nope, its a GFWL title that has zero controller support whatsoever.

The infuriating part about that is since AAA games are developed on console, controller support is already in these games. Not only should it support a 360 controller, but at the very least a PS controller as well. Really games should support any standard layout controller. The majority of controllers have two analog sticks, a dpad, 4 face buttons, and 4 shoulder buttons. Why can't there be a general support of controllers? Only thing I can think of that might cause issue is different analog sensitivities, but then just give users an adjustment slider like with mouse sensitivity.
 
Well, better late than never.

Because of how seemlessly the 360 controller integrates with the PC, I'll be buying the Xbox 720 controller for the PC too. I'm very curious what the controller will look like. I consider the 360 controller to be the best ever, so I'm hoping that the 720 controller is a refinement of what's already there.
 
quite a few games will default to the controller if it is detected when the game launches. I personally use a wired afterglow controller with my PC....
 
Because of how seemlessly the 360 controller integrates with the PC, I'll be buying the Xbox 720 controller for the PC too. I'm very curious what the controller will look like. I consider the 360 controller to be the best ever, so I'm hoping that the 720 controller is a refinement of what's already there.

You've made a good point. I'm curious to see how that controller turns out & if it will be as much of use on the PC.
 
I remember walking into a Gamestop one day back in 2005 like a badass and cooly going over to the counter and asking to buy one while the console kiddies yearning for a new xbox360 stared at me with envy. I was such a boss that day.
 
Welcome to the club man. Here is another tip. Valve has built a "Big Screen Mode" into Steam so you can run your Steam application with the XBOX controller.

http://store.steampowered.com/bigpicture/

This is the reason I built a Home Theater Gaming PC in the living room. I have it hooked up internally with the Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver's "sync" button wired to the chassis reset switch. It's basically like an xbox 360 but 10x better.
 
the 360 controller actually makes playing GTA San Andreas possible on the PC :)

also improved the hell out of DA II, since that game was never intended for the PC
 
Well, better late than never.

Because of how seemlessly the 360 controller integrates with the PC, I'll be buying the Xbox 720 controller for the PC too. I'm very curious what the controller will look like. I consider the 360 controller to be the best ever, so I'm hoping that the 720 controller is a refinement of what's already there.

It's not the best ever. The D pad on the 360 controller sucks balls.
 
Because of how seemlessly the 360 controller integrates with the PC, I'll be buying the Xbox 720 controller for the PC too. I'm very curious what the controller will look like. I consider the 360 controller to be the best ever, so I'm hoping that the 720 controller is a refinement of what's already there.

720 won't have a controller. It will be Kinect 2.0 only :p
 
The 360 controller on the PC is a godsend. Combined with a HTPC it's like I've been playing the Xbox 720 for 5 years now.
The one knock on it is that often times games won't let you configure buttons even if you want. I didn't like any of the Max Payne 3 schemes, but I had no choice.
In terms of it being the "best ever" - for modern games that don't use a d-pad I think it is. However that d-pad not only sucks, it's ergonomically placed so it's even tougher to use.
 
One of the best aspects of having good support for controllers is that you can seamlessly switch back and forth. It's great being able to pick up the controller and drive in GTA IV, then go back to the kb/m when you go back on foot. And quite a few games are actually intelligent about it, disabling things like auto-aim and mouse acceleration as soon as you switch back.

But as far as I know there aren't any games that can actually accept input from both sources at the same time. A good time for this would be while committing drive by shootings in GTA IV, or something similar to that.
 
One of the best aspects of having good support for controllers is that you can seamlessly switch back and forth. It's great being able to pick up the controller and drive in GTA IV, then go back to the kb/m when you go back on foot. And quite a few games are actually intelligent about it, disabling things like auto-aim and mouse acceleration as soon as you switch back.

But as far as I know there aren't any games that can actually accept input from both sources at the same time. A good time for this would be while committing drive by shootings in GTA IV, or something similar to that.

You can use the 360 controller and a mouse at the same time. I occasionally do that. I'd rather control movement with an analog stick than a keyboard, so I'll keep the controller in my left hand and aim using the mouse in my right.
 
I had been using a PS3 controller + MotionJoy, but I found what I assumed was a Chinese knockoff wireless receiver on Amazon for like $10. I ordered it, and everything I got was MS branded...though I still assume it's a knockoff lol. While there's nothing wrong with MotionJoy, the 360 controller is way superior to the PS3 controller IMO. Definitely worth the very small investment.

The new Tomb Raider amazing, btw.
 
How important to get an MS branded pad, or will the cheaper knockoffs and logitechs do it? Want plug-play, it's for a family member.
 
most games are designed are for controllers. however I hate using controllers still for anything that requires aiming.
 
How important to get an MS branded pad, or will the cheaper knockoffs and logitechs do it? Want plug-play, it's for a family member.

From what I have read, the only importance of going with a genuine Microsoft 360 controller is the quality. Otherwise the 3rd party knock-off 360 controllers will work. The quality is especially true if you intend to use the wireless dongle on the PC. You'll want a genuine Microsoft 360 dongle as the cheap Chinese knock offs tend to not last that long.

With that being said, Logitech makes good peripherals.
 
you never need to use a controller for any PC game...racing games might be the only exception and even then it's still very playable with a KB/M...I have an Xbox controller in case I ever need to use it but I barely have ever needed to...I've easily played through a ton of games many people consider 'unplayable' with a KB/M- Assassin's Creed series, Dark Souls, Arkham City, Arkham Asylum etc etc

the key is to remap your KB/M buttons...never use the default keys...make sure all the important keys are within reach...too many gamers use the defualt layout, complain and then switch to a controller for it's ease of use :rolleyes:
 
You can use the 360 controller and a mouse at the same time. I occasionally do that. I'd rather control movement with an analog stick than a keyboard, so I'll keep the controller in my left hand and aim using the mouse in my right.

You may want to try one of these then. I use it with my XIM 3, it's very comfortable, feels like the left side of a controller.

sc_large.jpg
 
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