Why do PC Gamers Oppose Using a Controller?

[kingthrall]

I have heard many current PC gamers describe needing a controller for a PC game as "heresy," and a lot of the replies to this threat seem to support that. My question is, if needing a joystick to play PC games was acceptable back in the 90s, why is the same not true of controllers?

Joysticks and things similar are used because they enhance the experience of gaming by adding something the keyboard/mouse combination cant. Joysticks are easier to use for flying games than trying to use a mouse/keyboard, pedal/steering wheels are better for racing games.

A controller doesnt do that. They offer less precision than aiming with a mouse so they arent adding anything for fps games, they dont have enough buttons for more complex games.

Controllers are designed to be held with two hands, because you play on consoles on your TV sitting on your couch. YOu sit playing computer games usually at a desk, so having a controller in two hands has no benefit either.

Its not that we are opposed to them, its just that they arent designed for it, and dont offer anything we want.

jOYSTICK ARE AWESOME AND FULL OF JOY, ITS JUST A SHAME THAT NO PUBLISHER HAS RELEASED A DECENT DOGFIGHT GAME FOR THE PC IN AGES! My god im all goeey inside for this idea of a star wars remake of the X-wing alliance game.

 

[RaNDM G]

I love using my controller for games as long as they don't involve shooting. Though this is mainly due to me being a lazy bum wanting to sit back in my chair while playing. Anyhow, I don't have anything against controllers.

I actually want kind of a crossover between K/M and controllers. Replace the keyboard with a pad with an analogue stick and loads of buttons up and left of it, the other hand on the mouse as usual. Perfection.

Spoiler: Something like this might catch your fancy.

I will always prefer a controller, mostly because I grew up with the SNES and N64, partly because there's less to worry about than the 100+ keys and near infinite number of commands available on a keyboard. Of course, I won't have the same level of precision in shooters. But there's more of a tactile feeling, a greater sense of being in control of a game when I have my hands wrapped around a controller. A row of buttons can't give me the same feeling.

My only exception is with RTS and point-and-click games. Starcraft is impossible to play with a controller, and as engrossing as Walking Dead is, the analog sticks were a pain to use for quick-time events. Still if I had to pick, I'd rather go with a game-pad than without one.

 

[kingthrall]

Pretty sure the term "Master Race," is pretty much the epitome of "discrimination."

it makes no sense considering technology isn't exactly beaming of any lifelike properties to consider it a member of any species in the first place.

 

[Da Orky Man]

I've used a controller on console and mouse/keyboard on PC. All-in-all I prefer mouse and keyboard, and not only because I have a great fondness for RTS titles, and I doubt Total War games would work well with 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).