Compatibility of controllers for PC games

Question

As the number of console ports seems to increase, there are more and more games that are meant to be played with a controller like on a console. The keyboard controls are sometimes pretty clumsy.

If I want to play games with a controller on my PC, are there any compatibility problems with different controllers and games? Are there some standard controllers that work with most games?

So, could I just choose any controller and happily play my games or do I have to be more careful in my selection?

Asked by Fabian

Answer

Short answer:

XBOX 360 controller

.

Why:

1. It is, and will be, officially supported by many new PC games, so no configuraiton needed (not even remapping buttons), especially Games for Windows titles, XBOX 360 ports and some other games no more than a few years old. (Super easy).

2. Where not officially supported, it's still recognised as a windows DirectX controller, so any windows game from the last 10 years or so that supports any joystick/joypads will work. You may have to re-map buttons, or even fiddle with config files, though. (Easy enough).

3. Where there is no/broken joystick support, you can use a utility that turns control pad commands into key presses and mouse movements like xPadder. (Do-able).

4. It's a pretty well-built controller. 3rd party controllers are almost never as accurate, responsive and comfortable as the ones that ship with the major consoles.

Any controller you can buy for PC can do 2 and 3, but not 1 and 4. (I have the pc dongle and wireless x360 controller, as well as many other controllers).

Answered by MGOwen

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