360 pad on PC?

Or in fact, any pad with two analog sticks.

I know some of you are using this setup…how`s it going? Can you use it in all (newer) games or just some specific titles?

I never thought it`d come to this, me - an old Quake faithful - denouncing the great keyboard/mouse combo. But the lack of speed control whilst moving/panning really grates on me now. Of course, in FPS shooters it`s still king (though "walk" button sucks) , but in 3D games with exploration its becoming a chore. Especially given that the new ports are hardly optimised and I have to tweak like mad just to get my mouse working smooth.

Pads don't always work, and it depends on the game. Some titles are coded specifically for the mouse and keyboard (Mass Effect 2, for example) or it'd be utterly pointless to do so (Civ IV with a pad? No thanks).

If you get a pad, it's always worth having a tool such as XPadder (There's another but I forgot the name) around, as it allows you to set up controls for games with poor/no pad support, and as such vastly increases the utility of it.

The 360 pad is guaranteed to work with any and all Games for Windows games (Both Live and not), and it does work naturally with some other games. I would recommend, if you get one, to keep it disconnected unless you're using it. Some games (Fallout: New Vegas as an example) seem to have the controller set as a priority method and will overrule the KB+M, whereas others (Batman: Arkham Asylum) switch beautifully between the two.

I'm not sure if there's any truth to this, but I'd consider getting two pads to increase compatibility - It might not be needed with things like XPadder, though.

Thanks for the exhaustive info I`ll borrow one and give it a go…X Padder sounds rather interesting, I knew there would be trouble otherwise.

I'm using a wireless Xbox 360 controller and bought a wireless receiver for it. It works really well (Windows 7). I don't think rumble/vibrate is supported, though, which is a shame. I don't remember how well mapping software worked, since it's been a while since I tried it and the emulators I tried so far have support for the Xbox 360 controller, but I wouldn't worry. I think most of them will even have specific support for this controller.

Also, it's a really nice controller.

By the way, if you get the wireless controller, the system won't see it until you switch it on. And it switches off by itself, so you can keep it switched off without problem if what Dwagginz is saying is true.

P.S. Get the wireless controller.

Rumble/vibrate seems to be fully supported for the X360 controller on a PC - at least for all games I've tried, and for the wired controller I'm using

Other than that I agree - just get a XBox 360 controller, plug it in.. and you won't have to worry about anything else

After struggling somewhat with GTA4 and keyboard/mouse, I gave up and bought an Xbox 360 controller which was much better. To be honest, that is the only recent title I've used it on though, keyboard/mouse are still (usually) best for me.

Originally Posted by KasperFauerby
Rumble/vibrate seems to be fully supported for the X360 controller on a PC - at least for all games I've tried, and for the wired controller I'm using

Other than that I agree - just get a XBox 360 controller, plug it in.. and you won't have to worry about anything else

The wireless controller are a little different. Windows talks to the wireless receiver unit plugged into USB. Games For Windows games are probably a little different and will support it, but I haven't found it working anywhere else. But most of my experience with the controller was on XP, might be different on 7.

Doesn't the "games for out of the window" logo imply that a game MUST be able to work with gamepads ?

Originally Posted by coaster
After struggling somewhat with GTA4 and keyboard/mouse, I gave up and bought an Xbox 360 controller which was much better. To be honest, that is the only recent title I've used it on though, keyboard/mouse are still (usually) best for me.

Walking, driving and shooting had worked good with keyboard-mouse. But I was unable to control a helicopter. So I bought a 360 controler and used it for GTAIV.

Previously, I had been playing Arkham Asylum. That was before I had gotten stuck on that Killer Croc level. I hadn't touched it in months when I thought "What the hell" and I tried playing it with the 360 controler.

I also played Assassin's Creed II with the X360 pad. And currently I'm playing Darksiders with it.

I used to use my old xbox controller in combination with joy2key, but I had problems getting it to work with some games. The Wired X360 controller was plug-and-play for the above games.

As you can see, they are mostly action-adventure games.

I have wireless x360 controller and it never give me any problems. If you use it regularly after period of time, you will get better at using it. However, few games such as action titles still play best with keyboard - mouse combination.

PS3 Dualshock controller > X360 gampad.

Obvious console titles works great with the 360 Controller, such as Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto IV, Force Unleashed, Red Faction: Guerilla and Dead Space. The setup is native so you do not need to change your settings. Vibration have worked as well. Personally I prefer mouse+keyboard in first person shooters, but in 3rd person shooters the controller works well.

I have a wireless receiver which was pulled from the market since a fuse breaks after a day or two of use, but if you know how to solder you can make it work permanently with ease (good instructions for this float around the net). The games above notice when the wireless shut itself off and pause the game.