So, a few days ago I beat BioShock on Hard with the Vita-Chambers disabled; since the only computer I have is my laptop and I don't have a mouse or wired controller, it was all done with a trackpad, as has been the case with all of the game experiences I've had since taking up PC gaming about a year ago. Granted, even on Hard with no Vita-Chambers, BioShock is so forgiving (the first few Rosie fights notwithstanding) that doing so isn't that much of an achievement. But I've also beaten Painkiller on Nightmare difficulty (fittingly, that room with the tanks in "Military Base" will forever haunt my dreams) and gotten gold medals on all of Portal's challenges, neither of which (especially the latter) I'd consider a mean feat.
Which isn't to say that I don't get why the mouse is highly preferred over the trackpad: The fact that trackpad gaming more-or-less requires the use of the pointer finger for all mouse-like functions essentially means that I can't aim and shoot at the same time or use the right mouse button for zoom/iron sight aiming, a problem somewhat exacerbated by my lack of a mouse wheel that forces me to map the left and right arrow keys to the task of weapon selection. But even so, the frequent throwing around of casual comments like "Ever tried playing a first-person shooter on a laptop? It can't be done without an external mouse" [http://www.pcworld.com/article/201978/4_Reasons_Apple_Magic_Trackpad_Wont_Kill_the_Mouse.html] stands out as odd to me.
So basically, my question is twofold: 1) Am I crazy, and as desperately in need of a mouse setup as everyone seems to be suggesting? 2) Am I alone in this, or does anyone else out there game using a trackpad?
Which isn't to say that I don't get why the mouse is highly preferred over the trackpad: The fact that trackpad gaming more-or-less requires the use of the pointer finger for all mouse-like functions essentially means that I can't aim and shoot at the same time or use the right mouse button for zoom/iron sight aiming, a problem somewhat exacerbated by my lack of a mouse wheel that forces me to map the left and right arrow keys to the task of weapon selection. But even so, the frequent throwing around of casual comments like "Ever tried playing a first-person shooter on a laptop? It can't be done without an external mouse" [http://www.pcworld.com/article/201978/4_Reasons_Apple_Magic_Trackpad_Wont_Kill_the_Mouse.html] stands out as odd to me.
So basically, my question is twofold: 1) Am I crazy, and as desperately in need of a mouse setup as everyone seems to be suggesting? 2) Am I alone in this, or does anyone else out there game using a trackpad?