Why do PC Gamers Oppose Using a Controller?

[GoaThief]

1: Oh, those elitist PC players don't like controllers.
2:Yeah. Dumb elitist.
1: More games should use controllers only. Take them out of their comfort zone.
2: Yeah, so they realize controllers is the superior alternative.
1: Stupid elitists.

Yeah, that is really annoying, if you go back to the first page you can see several posts starting similarly hostile, for instance GoaThief, Zhukov etc.
Instead of arguing for or against something they start to insult this nebulous group of people they have set in their mind.

The true master race doesn't discriminate against specific control options but knows that one of the biggest advantages of the PC is how versatile the things are.

Two things, have you read the entire thread and have you ever asked a simple question such as, "Hey guys, does this game have controller support?" on a forum other than the Escapist with a hardcore PC following?

 

[Gottesstrafe]

People do that? I thought the whole advantage to PC gaming was, in addition to having access to a larger catalog of games, more customizability? Why complain or discriminate against the ability to be able to switch between mouse and keyboard, joysticks, arcade cabinets, and controllers on the fly when it's inclusive to your own system?

 

[Pebblig]

I predominately use my USB 360 controller for top down games or platformers. Certain games (I feel) just handle better when played with an analogue stick (or two).

For example, Hotline Miami plays much more nicely with a controller, using a mouse just felt cumbersome for me. Meatboy, Bit Trip Runner etc are all better with it too.

Although, any FPS, RTS and some RPGs should all be moose and kurrburd only.

 

[CountryMike]

I have used a keyboard and mouse to play games on the PC since the early 90s. I know instinctively the WASD setup and mouse aiming and I really don't feel the need to spend money on a new controller which I will have to speed ages trying to remember what key does what.

Yeah, because using a controller is like rocket science. So complicated to remember all those buttons :'(

 

[Monster_user]

Joysticks and things similar are used because they enhance the experience of gaming by adding something the keyboard/mouse combination cant.

X-Wing/Tie Fighter. I did play that series on my Macintosh with a mouse, but the Joystick+keyboard made for an incredible experience.

Joysticks are easier to use for flying games than trying to use a mouse/keyboard...

Not always. Actually, I can't fly an Apache in BF1942esert Combat, unless I am using a mouse and keyboard. Can't fly any airplanes with a kb+m to save my life though.

I don't know if they did proper development with actual flight controls, or if it is actually easier to fly a helicopter with a kb+m rather than a joystick/flightstick. With a kb+m I can circle strafe, hover, bank, and land in an Apache. With a controller I can roll, spin, and crash.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Personally, I don't oppose them in any general sort of way. They're fine for certain games. Shooters, though, demand a mouse since on PC they don't throw in all the aim assists necessary to make it work well. Same goes for strategy games I suppose for entirely different reasons.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

its not an either/or with a PC.

never has been either.

the only generally expressed preference is for a keyboard and mouse in shooters.

and a keyboard and mouse in shooters simply IS better.

Yep.

Alot of PC FPS games do have controller support, and it's fine, whatever you like... do it. I just wouldn't expect to be terribly competitive online using a controller against people using mice.

 

[LAGG]

As long as a PC game isn't dumbed down, forced to a controller situation I think there is no loss for PC gamers.

If there's anybody that actually has anything against controllers it's certainly about using them for FPS, and more specifically in the context of how developers now seem to make most FPS games having controllers in mind which, in the end, makes for games that feel very boring and dumbed-down for KB/M users.

Personally I love using my gamepad for the right genres.

I'm also a huge defender of the idea that trackball-controllers should have been norm for gamepads from the beggining.

This is the best gamepad FPS player ever (he was ranked #1 dueller in Quake 4 on XBox forever while it lasted), playing on PC against KBM users, with a special driver he made to make it possible to tweak all minors settings so he can get the controller to work well:

Spoiler

On Quake (his main game, there also an interview in the video while game is on background):

On Counter-Strike (highlights from his first session, according to him he played all the night):

This is me after 80-ish hours using a thumb-trackball for gaming (I actually use mouse to play, but), playing on PC against mouse players (I'm still using keyboard):

Spoiler

On Quake (my first session ever, after doing the basic training courses and watching a strafe-jumping guide on YT):

On Counter-Strike (my main game, on a low-skill server):

More Counter-Strike (high-skill server where players warm up before tournament matches, I wanted to put the trackball to test against good players):

We're not opposed to using controllers for the correct games, we're opposed to games being dumbed down to adjust to wrong input devices.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

Depends heavily on the genre.

For shooters, if I'm playing online then let's face it, you simply can't beat the speed and precision of M&K.

For something more laid back, then I'd rather just sit back in my chair and pick up a controller. Adventure games or more relaxed single player shooters are a good example.

 

[tonyh900]

It really depends on the game for me if I'm playing something like TF 2 or doom 3 then I'll just use wasd and mouse but if I'm playing something like splinter cell or deus ex where you need to sneak up on enemies at points then I'd prefer using a controller to be able to walk slowly with out having to continuously tap the key for the direction I'm moving to try and sneak.

 

[hawkeye52]

Because back in the 90's a lot of popular games were things like flight sims, racing games with the occassional space combat game thrown in. The Joystiq had a specific purpose and was good for that with the mouse and keyboard being the more generalist tool. The console controller fulfills the same purpose as M+K but is not as able to do the job in most occassions. For example you would never catch me playing any form of fps or rts on a controller however if you were to give me a game like dynasty warriors or Tekken I would prefer the controller

 

[MHR]

The answer is that Mouse-keyboard are superior. For most things. I have 25 buttons I can use just with my left hand, 5 more I can reach with my left hand not as easily, and 5 more buttons and a precision mouse I can use with my right hand.

I've used a controller since I was a kid and know it very well for those rare times where I have to use a USB controller to play some games. However for almost all the games I play, M/K is better. There are a few game types that are better with a controller, Fighting games, racing games, and precision platformers mainly. I don't dare try to play something like Super Meat Boy seriously without a controller, but M/K is better for everything else.

I don't see who could be uber-opposed to using a controller for those things, but people DO oppose using a controller for shooters. Controller for shooters is stupid. Aim assists and big hitboxes; I rest my case. Sure if someone wants to play a shooter "laid back" they can use a controller for it, but if they want to WIN they'll be using a mouse/keyboard.

 

[Kinitawowi]

Because some are too engraved in their "PC Master Race, Mouse & Keyboard are superior to everything!" mindset to realize that controllers are not only better for certain games, they have been a part of PC/Computer gaming since the very beginning. In fact, back in the 80's keyboard controls were considered inferior to a proper joystick controller. Granted, part of that is due to the fact that back then most games were arcade conversions and having a joystick made it feel more like being in the arcade, but still. Having a joystick was considered essential in that era. And then there were certain games, believe it or not, like X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter (which was in the late 90's, but it still serves to back up my point) which wouldn't install if they didn't detect a flightstick plugged into your computer...

Controllers for PC/Computer games have been around since the dawn of PC/Computer gaming. Acting like you shouldn't use them on a PC just shows not only a massive amount of idiocy, it also shows a complete lack of knowledge of the history of the very platform you like to game on.

I'm sensing more than a whiff of leftpondianism about this post.

My gaming life these days remains informed by those formative years spent on computers in the 80s, and for me that meant the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. The first few models of this machine didn't come with a joystick port - if you wanted a joystick, it meant jamming one of these into the back of the thing:

Those things were heavy and expensive, and the expansion slot on the Spectrum was rubbish and usually quite loose, so it meant praying to whatever god it is you pray to that the thing didn't get slightly knocked out of position, because if you were fucking lucky that'd just reset the machine. If you were unlucky, it'd blow the interface and probably the Speccy too. It was infinitely safer to just not bother.

And the myriad arcade conversions you speak of? I can promise you there were a lot more games that weren't arcade conversions than were. Even that isn't a great comparison to make, to be honest. Most games were designed around the available inputs (Spectrum games designers were masters at making the most of the system's limitations). The only games where one could honestly argue that a joystick was better were the Daley Thompson's Decathlon-esque wagglers, but they trace their genesis back to Konami's arcade of Track & Field - which used buttons! Flight sims didn't derive much benefit from joysticks, because without very expensive interfaces, the system wasn't capable of reading analog inputs.

It's not idiocy, and it's not ignorance. It's literally what people grew up with. Yes, the Vic 20, C64, Amstrad CPCs and even later Spectrums (as of the +2) all came with joystick ports. But not everything did and not every game was automagically better for it.

 

[TreuloseTomate]

PCs are versatile, so there should always be options. Some games play better with a controller, some play better with mouse and keyboard.
But here is a fact for you: Every PC comes with a mouse and keyboard, but not every PC user owns a controller. So when a developer decides to port their game to PC, keyboard and mouse controls are mandatory.

 

[not_you]

I wouldn't mind using a controller for some games...
It's just that most games it's easier to use a KB/M

Shooters need a mouse for accuracy...
God-Games require mouse for controllability...
RPG's require the 1-0 keys for skill use...

It's just the way of things...

Driving games I'd much rather have a controller/steering wheel... But I don't want to shell out 50 bucks for a controller that I'll use hardly ever since I have a PS3 to play Gran Turismo on...

So... I just don't have a need for one... Although I don't have one due to cost VS requirement...

 

[Neyon]

It really depends on the game. I would never use a controller for a game that requires speed & precision like a FPS nor would I for something with complex controls such as an RTS or MMO. I am perfectly happy using a controller for something like fifa, platformers, fighting games, driving games (although a wheel is preferable).

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

It's not idiocy, and it's not ignorance. It's literally what people grew up with. Yes, the Vic 20, C64, Amstrad CPCs and even later Spectrums (as of the +2) all came with joystick ports. But not everything did and not every game was automagically better for it.

Not to mention that unless you were willing to lay down some serious bank for something like a Wico, joysticks had notoriously short lifespans (around 100 hrs on average, iirc). Even in the top quality sticks the contacts would eventually wear out.

Joystick only games were a pain because it often meant spending an hour dicking around with half a dozen broken joysticks to cannibalise them to throw together one working joystick that would last you long enough to last until you could afford a new one. Most of the computer gamers I knew in the mid- to late-80s had a box of broken joysticks, a roll of electrical tape, screwdriver, wirestrippers and soldering iron close-by their machines.

 

[Daygall65]

Copy paste answer from my last post in another KB+M =/= Controller thread.

My personal irk with a game that supports Controllers and KB+M is this.

Skyrim is my prime example, there are so many things I wish I could do in it that aren't an options because of the limitation of a controller. EG button mapping limitations.

I want to play as a Gandalf-esq character, which in Skyrim in all its forms including modded is so far impossible.

What I wish I could do is have my Staff and Sword in hand and it works base like dual wield but the staff has no power attack, holding blocks\deflects but push BOTH buttons and it's a combo swing like Gandalf did on the walls of Minas Tirth. With using the staffs ability *Fire ball, frost, lighting, etc* With a dedicated CAST button like Oblivion had for magick, but it's only for staff.

Above example, perfectly doable on KB+M, I'm not sure how they'd do it on a controller.

So for that reason, I cringe internally when I see a game say *Controller supported* Because the first thing that springs to my mind is simplified controls and lack of real options in gameplay.

But I'll never attack someone over it, that's just my personal pet peeve. The people that attacked you are... Unmentionables.

:EDIT FOR CLAIRITY:

That was just one example mind you, I'll use my controller and love every minuet of it in stuff like NFS, Driver SF, and Flight Sims... KB+M on anything that is simulating an analog input is... Unpleasant to say the least.

Oblivion did it, though not in the same way. You could have a touch based spell equipped in the same hand as a sword and use the cast magicka key to use the spell without sheathing the sword, so you could use like a drain life spell while the other guy was guarding against a physical attack, and then swing with the mouse key.

The Gandalf example was just a personal gameplay wish haha. My example was meant to be a template for "Multiple uses of X limited by key bindings*

 

[ZettieBeans]

PC Controllers have been around forever...the essence of pure-pc only fanboys is the attitude that a PC will somehow 'convert' into a console or it's harder to use a controller than mouse and keyboard from lack of experience....

Controller can make games easier in a way that mouse and keyboard combo can be cumbersome. Easier on the hands for those with carpal-tunnel or other forms of physical disabilities. As long as the game can be played smoothly there is no wrong between controller and mouse and key. Only preference.

I've been a console gamer for the longest but I've also been a PC gamer for the longest as well too. The benefit of controller is the ability to push buttons right then and there without having to reach all over the place on a keyboard to do the same thing along with a mouse. The only draw-backs are the amount of button commands that can be put on controller as well as accuracy for certain games and activities. FPS that are not coordinated with controller abilities get wonky and by using a controller there is no accurate time for typing...with a mouse and key it's easier to 'jump' to the spot where you want while controller forces a scrolling-like state to get where needed which is slower..

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Well I can aim with a thumb stick as accurately as I can aim with a mouse.
The only time controllers suck for gaming is when the interface requires a cursor, like a point and click adventures or strategy games. Then it's mouse all the way.

This reminds me actually.
My friend showed me this cool Mouse/controller hybrid, you got all the precision of a mouse for aiming and the precision of a thumb stick movement.

Not sure how it actually plays, but in theory it could be the master race of gaming input.