Never used a traditonal controller in my life, what did I miss out on?

[VirusDumb]

So I was watching the latest game theory video, it was about introducing babies and non gamers ("If you've even played sudoku on your phone, you're a gamer"- PewDiePie) to video games, I decided to watch it and was watching cuz it's entertaining and last of the game theories from matpat, but I suddenly realised, I've never played a game with a controller, I have never owned a console, I grew up playing games on my PC and phone, most were Single Player games from early 2000s and the only multiplayers I played were shooters and strategy games, did i miss out on too much? Also should I get a cheap controller as my first controller to try out what i missed out on

[zinco]

yea of course. you're not missing out on much, but its definitely a whole new thing playing on a controller, and getting used to it will bring some joy to you. Same with me though I don't use controller anymore, it will at least give you a short term enjoyment

[Stahlmann]

If you want to get a controller for Windows, get the latest Xbox controller and buy a USB wireless adapter for it. You will soon realize that some games just play better with a controller than with mouse and keyboard.

 

Even on PC i'm pretty much 50/50 between the different input devices.

[porina]

I saw that video too. It made me feel old. The earlier controllers were much more simple than current console ones. My brain is not wired to cope with buttons everywhere on a controller. If you treat the analog sticks as if they were a D-pad, there's over 22 buttons on a modern controller. I grew up with just the D-pad, up to a few buttons, and maybe a start button of some kind.

 

Some games can be more comfortable on a controller than keyboard + mouse. Possibly in part because many games are designed with console play in mind. Looking forward to Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth release on Friday, and that is a controller game as far as I'm concerned even though I got it on Steam.

 

Other games I prefer to play on k+m, like Genshin Impact for example. This might be more a case of what I'm used to than any particular advantage. I do occasionally try it on PS5 but I'm way slower at doing things. Just can't build up that muscle memory fast enough.

 

A wired Xbox clone controller is possibly the cheapest way to give it a try with best Windows compatibility. I prefer the PS style controllers but they can be more work to configure for some games.

[PDifolco]

I'm kinda in the same boat, played some sims with a (poor) joystick in the early 90s, some GameCube and Switch games with kids early 2000s,  but then only used K+M up to 3 years ago, bought a XBox wireless controller, and man I suck with this !!

 

[Mark Kaine]

it depends on the game, some 3rd person shooters for example are much easier with controller (old Resident Evil games for example) but mostly mkb is better because its more precise using a mouse than a tiny wobbly "joystick".

 

also fighting games are definitely more intuitive with a controller even though a keyboard can work just as well (basically it becomes a "hitbox" then, yeap, that's the technical term)

 

for me i just use controller 99% because i did so all my life and can't get used to kbm *at all*... 

[Mark Kaine]

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

bought a XBox wireless controller, and man I suck with this

you can play fighting games or rhythm games... that's how you'll memorize everything and train muscle memory...

 

but, tbf, xbox dpad sucks, so that might not be the most useful tip.

[Holmes108]

There are lot's of advantages to a controller. 

 

While subjective, certain genres are much more comfortable to play with a controller, like racing games, and arguably fighting games, etc.

 

And while M/KB are more accurate in an FPS, for many games you may not care about getting maximum frags. Especially in single player. Having analog movement is probably the biggest benefit in my mind. Especially for things like stealth mechanics.

 

Also, having analog triggers/sticks and force feedback can lead to some fun and immersive mechanics for things like lock picking, etc.

 

Really, the main benefits to kb/m is simply the mouse accuracy for competitive games, and the plethora of extra keys you can bind. My least favorite aspect is using the keyboard for movement.

 

But otherwise, yeah, controller is great for almost any purpose. Especially in a more relaxed situation, and for games designed around it. Definitely worth having one around, I'd say.

[Mark Kaine]

49 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

Really, the main benefits to kb/m is simply the mouse accuracy for competitive games, and the plethora of extra keys you can bind. My least favorite aspect is using the keyboard for movement.

yup... mouse is obviously superior... but kb... ? omg...

 

 there's usually a gazillion buttons you have to memorize and accurately hit without even looking?? 

 

i get it, with practice its doable,  but it'll always be the clunkiest, most unintuitive thing to me lol