Controllers for PC

So I upgraded my pc - that is to say I got a new pc - recently and I plan to do some more gaming on it than I had been. Up until a few months ago I'd been using my trusty pink wireless Xbox 360 controller with the Xbox 360 wireless adapter on my pc. But then the wireless adapter finally died. Its the 3rd one that Ive had that finally gave up the ghost.

Im looking for a new option as far as controllers are concerned. Are bluetooth controllers any good, or should I stick with a wired controller? I also dont really want to spend upwards of $60 or whatever for a controller.

Xbox One controller
PS4 controller
Logitech F series (310 is basic, 510 is wired with rumble, 710 is wireless)

Any of the three functions basically the same with the right software (I use Antimicro). All solid build quality too.

I'm still using my trusty old 360 wired controller and it does a awesome job. I think I tried the PS4 and XB1 controller but I had to jump through a few simple hoops to get them to work. It wasn't direct plug and play like the original 360 controller.

RAZO said:

I'm still using my trusty old 360 wired controller and it does a awesome job. I think I tried the PS4 and XB1 controller but I had to jump through a few simple hoops to get them to work. It wasn't direct plug and play like the original 360 controller.

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Yeah that's what I loved about the 360 pad. Work(s) /(ed) flawlessly. But I had one of those wireless adapters to avoid wires. They're still out there, but they apparently die randomly, and even when someone sells an "official" one, it's not necessarily official and can be a cheap knock off.

I even tried my old ps1 dual shock with one of those adaptoid things I've had in a box for ages. Windows sees it great. But Everspace and Chasm don't notice it.

HornheaDD said:

Yeah that's what I loved about the 360 pad. Work(s) /(ed) flawlessly. But I had one of those wireless adapters to avoid wires. They're still out there, but they apparently die randomly, and even when someone sells an "official" one, it's not necessarily official and can be a cheap knock off.

I even tried my old ps1 dual shock with one of those adaptoid things I've had in a box for ages. Windows sees it great. But Everspace and Chasm don't notice it.

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Yup, I recall having different issues depending on the Emulator or Game I was playing. The Original 360 Controller is the only controller I've owned that pretty much works with everything I throw at it without the need for additional apps to get it to work. It works with Newer games, Older Games, Emulators, whatever.

HornheaDD said:

So I upgraded my pc - that is to say I got a new pc - recently and I plan to do some more gaming on it than I had been. Up until a few months ago I'd been using my trusty pink wireless Xbox 360 controller with the Xbox 360 wireless adapter on my pc. But then the wireless adapter finally died. Its the 3rd one that Ive had that finally gave up the ghost.

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Are you buying the official Microsoft/OEM 360 wireless adapter? There's a lot of knock-offs out there. I had two of the official ones for about 3 years now working perfectly - including standing up to 9x kids ages 4-11 (who have destroyed like 3x Raspberry Pi 3's we use these with lol).

Xbox controllers have their own USB subclass - they don't appear as normal HID game controllers. Games/emulators on Windows that use Xbox controllers generally go through the XInput library, which doesn't support anything else. So there's a variety of hacks that cause a PS3/PS4/Switch/whatever controller to appear alongside actual XInput devices, but they won't be supported natively. This has been the situation since the 360 launched. (The third-party wireless adapters sometimes misidentify themselves as the wireless transceiver in the 360 itself, rather than the slightly-different PC dongle that MS sold. So they have a bit of a hacked driver to support that, too.)

More recently, the SDL2 set of libraries has a "game pad" section which supports a plethora of controllers, and VALVe is throwing their weight behind it. Games that have "full controller support" on Steam use this, I believe (certainly under Linux and maybe Windows too). SDL2 will enumerate all kinds of different things as game controllers - anything that looks vaguely like a Dualshock is probably supported, and can be configured through the Steam Big Picture interface. Assuming other developers get on board, this should be more common going forward.

(Oh, and Sony distributes a library for using PS4 controllers natively on the PC... "libpcpad" or something similar. I haven't seen anyone use it commercially - it was originally intended for development use only.)

Dochartaigh said:

Are you buying the official Microsoft/OEM 360 wireless adapter? There's a lot of knock-offs out there. I had two of the official ones for about 3 years now working perfectly - including standing up to 9x kids ages 4-11 (who have destroyed like 3x Raspberry Pi 3's we use these with lol).

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Yeah. I've gone through 3 of em. Mine was working great, but the new pc wouldn't notice it. So I tried it on two other laptops, one of which I was using just prior. No dice. I think it finally died.

I went ahead and got an Xbox One S controller used at game stop. It works great for Chasm, but not great for Everspace due to needing to hover up and down. I'm prob gonna have to get a flight stick with a hat.

I've been having a blast on Everspace.

Steam Controller 4 lyfe.

WoodyXP said:

Steam Controller 4 lyfe.

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I saw one guy on youtube review it, and it just looks weird to me. Kinda like those pads that used to be around during the SNES days that had a 'touch sensitive' d-pad. I haven't tried it, so I cant knock it. But it just looks like it wouldn't feel right in my hands.

Just buy an Xbone pad and move on. If you liked the 360 pad, it's all that plus a better dpad.

I have an Xbox 360 wired controller and a PlayStation 2 controller (using USB adapter and x360ce) connected.
Since x360ce seems to work so well, the sky is the limit for what controllers you can use on PC.