Best Played With a Controller: A Video Game Rant

[ClanCrusher]

Let me start off my rant by saying that while I do have a good PC and a PS3, I don't really identify myself as a console or a PC gamer. I honestly don't have a preference when it comes to games, except perhaps the price tag. Most times when I buy a PC game, it's because the games are available exclusively there, a Steam sale is in progress, or it's available on the Xbox and PC but not the PS3.

In this particular case, I purchased Super Meat Boy on the PC at a very reasonable five dollars, because I don't have a 360 and I have no plans on getting one any time soon. And then, the first screen I saw was that "This game is best played with a controller," along with the helpful image of a 360 controller. I didn't think much of it at first, as I'd gotten the same image from Bit Trip Runner 2 (which played just fine on the keyboard), but then I actually started playing the game.

So, for those of you who don't know, in order to use the sprint action and clear absurdly long distances with your jump, you need to hold down a button. On a controller, this is simple since all the buttons are right there at your fingertips, but on the keyboard, they decided to relegate this button to the left shift key.

Now, since they have the jump button set to the space bar, this forces your hand to tilt at an odd angle since you use the sprint almost as much as you use the jump. After playing through a dozen levels, my pinky was in enough pain to bring me back to my Guitar Hero days. So I decided to try and change the key layout to something more favorable...

Oh wait, no, I couldn't. There is no option to change your key bindings. Why? I don't know. I also don't know why they didn't decide to put the sprint key to something more reasonable, like, perhaps the Left CTRL which is right next to the space bar and far more friendly for a human hand. Or maybe even make the jump key optionally be the Up Arrow so you could just hold the sprint when necessary and jump with your right hand. But no, instead all you get is a mocking image telling you that a controller isn't necessary, but neither is bathing. Think about it. Yes, they actually say that.

So here's my question. Why in the bloody nine hells would they assume that me, a PC customer, would have an Xbox360? Did they assume that I was going to re-buy their game for the PC? Was that the target market? Am I supposed to have a 360 controller laying around for these occasions, or a special game pad for my PC?

I don't think I'm terribly out of line when I say that if you're planning to make, or even port a game to the PC, your chief goal should likely be to make the game playable on a flipping keyboard and mouse and not assume that your PC gamer is going to have a controller just laying around, and if you're not confident in your keyboard layout, let the customer change their setup. Off the top of my head, I could think of three different button layouts that would have benefited this game, but sadly I can't use any of them. Why? Well, the only explanation I can think of is that the developers are just that lazy, especially considering the dozens upon dozens of games that let you change your controls and already have an optimal layout on the keyboard.

And, unfortunately, while I found Meat Boy to be challenging, engaging, and oft times hilarious, this stupid inflexible control scheme really colored my opinion of it.

Unfortunately-er, this seems to be a common trend. I really liked the game Bit-Trip Runner Presents Runner 2 Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (despite it's ridiculous name), yet it still had an odd habit of making you use the A key to dance while relegating everything else to the arrow keys and space bar. And again, you couldn't change the controls. Again, the Left CTRL key would have been a much better choice overall...and they gave me that same smarmy message that I should use a controller instead.

In conclusion, I hate this trend. I hate it with a passion. I hate lazy ports, and I despise these games telling me that I should use a controller when I bought it specifically for the PC. So Escapist, what do you think? Have you had similar experiences to mine?

***Side Note: I have beaten Super Meat Boy and Bit Trip Runner 2 in their entirety, so please come prepared with a better argument than: "You're just not skilled enough."

 

[Vegosiux]

I hate controllers. They keep leaving me thinking about what my hands are doing, and distracting me from the actual game.

Now if the control scheme is fully customizable on M&K I'll keep quiet, do that, and enjoy my game.

If not...well, fuck you, devs. I do not enjoy my game with a controller, it's not a better experience for me, and if "sucks to be you" is the best you can give me, I will, as I do with any business that treats me with such a smug dismissive attitude, take a few of your business cards, hand them out to people and tell them to avoid you.

 

[repeating integers]

I hate controllers. They keep leaving me thinking about what my hands are doing, and distracting me from the actual game.

Heh, other way around here. The keyboard confuses me in the heat of the moment and I'm not even any good at aiming with the mouse on my desktop (seriously, I've lost track of the amount of times I've accidentally opened the wrong program or closed instead of maximised because of my terrible aim). Controllers will always be the way of truth for me.

But yes, for what it's worth, I agree with the OP here. The game is being unreasonable. How hard can it actually be to just enable changing key bindings?

 

[Another]

With the number of poor ports the pc gets, a controller is almost a necessity, in addition to being optimal for platformers and fighting games. Should it be necessary? Depends. Some games simply operate better with analog control as opposed to digital. I know that even with the M&K tweaks for Dark Souls, the game still doesn't feel right without a controller.

Personally, I have a receiver for my Xbox controller and used to run with a $15 Logitech controller. Just works better sometimes. However, Super Meat Boy really should have no problems on M&K, and it is just criminal for a game to not have rebindable keys.

 

[tippy2k2]

Yeah, that is kind of ridiculous.

My love of my controller over the mouse and keyboard is widely known by at least two people but that just sounds silly to me. Sure, the game MIGHT be better with a controller but if you don't want to support the regular input device for the system you're developing for, then don't develop the game for that system.

Turn this on it's head and have a game developed for the 360 that requires a mouse and keyboard if you don't understand what the problem is here.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Some games are just objectively better to play with a controller than M&K. Platformers, brawlers and fighting games most notably. In the same way shooters and RTS games work better with mouse and keyboard, platformers and fighters just work better with controllers.

The reason they put up an image of the 360 controller is prolly because it's one of the most popular gamepads to use for PCs. Atrocious D-pad aside, it's a very well designed controller, and better than the majority of third-party pads.

Maybe developers should make more of an effort, but I really don't see the appeal in playing a game like Meat Boy or Runner without a controller. I tried playing Rayman Origins without a controller, and it was horrible. Just get yourself a cheap gamepad, and give yourself the best platforming experience possible.

It's more than that. The 360 controller uses Xinput, while most other game controllers use Direct Input. Starting with Vista, microsoft really started pushing Xinput, and the 360 controller is kind of the standard Xinput controller. There's other ones you can buy (Logitech makes a couple of models with a nifty switch that you can flip to use the controller in either Xinput or Direct Input mode), but the 360 controller is the basic Windows controller these days.

In other words OP, the devs aren't assuming you have a 360. They're assuming you have the standard game controller that all modern Windows games with controller support are designed around. You don't even need a first party 360 controller. I've got a third party one that lights up and has a better D-pad than the official one, cost me all of $25.

As for Super Meat boy, I guess it was kind of crappy of the devs not to include keymapping, but it's not really a game that works with the keyboard at all. Even the best control scheme you could work out (probably movement with arrow keys/numpad and jump/run on the left side, or flipped with WASD movement and stuff on the right for the buttons) wouldn't work as well as a controller, and this is coming from someone who is hardcore mouse and keyboard for first and third person games. Incidentally, can't you move with the arrow keys to begin with? Why not try moving with your right hand, instead of your left? That's how people did it in the old Dos platformer days, assuming they didn't have a controller. Incidentally, there was a standard suggested controller back then, too: the Gravis Gamepad.

 

[Fappy]

Some games are just objectively better to play with a controller than M&K. Platformers, brawlers and fighting games most notably. In the same way shooters and RTS games work better with mouse and keyboard, platformers and fighters just work better with controllers.

The reason they put up an image of the 360 controller is prolly because it's one of the most popular gamepads to use for PCs. Atrocious D-pad aside, it's a very well designed controller, and better than the majority of third-party pads.

Maybe developers should make more of an effort, but I really don't see the appeal in playing a game like Meat Boy or Runner without a controller. I tried playing Rayman Origins without a controller, and it was horrible. Just get yourself a cheap gamepad, and give yourself the best platforming experience possible.

My thoughts exactly. While devs should always allow you to change key bindings, I think people should wake up and realize that some control schemes simply work better for certain games. As a PC gamer and console gamer I have become accustomed to switching between M&K and controllers depending on the game. it's never really bothered me that I had to do that, but I can understand the OP being pissed considering PS3 controllers are not compatible with PCs... normally.

 

[Alcaste]

I can understand it to an extent... Some types of games just feel better with a controller.

That said, it's possible to use a PS3 controller on your PC, I used mine for Super Meat Boy (and many others, of course). The reason the images use the 360 controller is because its common, and easy to use (Its plug and play, whereas the PS3 controller takes some work to get functioning)

 

[DazZ.]

You can change the controls of Super Meat Boy, just not in game, needs to be done in the .ini.

I also played Super Meat Boy with a PS3 controller, so you could have used a PS3 controller I assume you own.

 

[The Lunatic]

Expecting a game to "Play better with a controller" on the PC is like expecting a game to "Play better with a keyboard and mouse" on a console.


Auto-aim and various other mouse emulating mechanics built into the game are there for the sole purpose of ensuring playing certain games on a console in which a mouse and keyboard offers a wider array of function are matched as closely as they can be.

Preferring a controller is absolutely fine, to some people, some games may feel better with a controller. That's fine.


Games being unplayable without the use of a controller, that's just lazy and is a clear indication no effort was put into making the game playable on the format you're releasing it to.

 

[porous_shield]

I think it's just lazy to not allow rebinding of the keys I had the same problem with Super Meat Boy but also with Limbo. I don't prefer a controller for anything so I not going to have one just laying around and I don't own a console.

I also hate how many console ports make you exit out of the game to change any graphical setting or rebind your keys. It took me at least an hour to get keys for Arkyham Asylum rebound to something that was more comfortable because I had to exit out of and re-enter the game five or six times.

 

[UrinalDook]

Expecting a game to "Play better with a controller" on the PC is like expecting a game to "Play better with a keyboard and mouse" on a console.

I really don't think that it is. Game controllers have been around for the PC since long before consoles even learned the value of dual analogue sticks. Not to mention that one of the primary draws for PC gaming is the ability of the PC to be adaptable, to be customisable and to allow for a much more diverse array of setups. Consoles are the ultimate 'plug and play', the appeal of console is the lack of complications. You get everything you need to play games right out of the box, and you barely even need to do any setup to use the software, therefore demanding the use of a peripheral is directly counter to the console philosophy.

While I would agree if a PC game refused to work at all without a controller, I don't feel it's expecting too much to offer the advice that a game might play better with a controller. After all, would you judge a flight simulator unfavourably for daring to suggest that it might play better with a joystick?

That said, there is very little excuse for not allowing custom keybindings in a PC game, even if it is a port (and even if, in fairness, Lshift and space are the two standard keys for sprint and jump respectively)

 

[piinyouri]

I hate controllers. They keep leaving me thinking about what my hands are doing, and distracting me from the actual game.

This has never been a valid argument though.
Anyone who uses something they aren't familiar with or haven't grown up on is going to be at a disadvantage and not know where their fingers are.

Today I play a combination of PC and console and can use both well, but once upon a time, I was cutting my teeth on the keyboard as a game pad playing Neverwinter Nights for the first time.
It sucked at first, I felt completely lost, the same way someone who grew up on M&K would if they were suddenly handed a controller. I raged at not being able to hit the right key when I needed it most, cursed every god under the stars when I hit a key and meant not to.
But I kept on trying, because I loved that game.

And now today, I can M&K pretty well. : )

Now in my opinion some games are more controllable with different methods.
I can still play FPS's on a console/PC with a controller, but M&K offers much more control. You can be infinitely more precise, accurate and much quicker.
RTS's are also objectively better with a mouse. I don;t think anyone would dispute that.

Things like platformers, fighters and games that require quick/precise timed button presses can be played on a M&K with varying degrees of skill and success, but a controller will always be better for that, once again in my opinion.

I lost track of where I was going with this, so I'm gonna go eat now. >.>

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Dammit, I only own two consoles with USB peripherals.

Why the hell would PC developers expect me to have an easily available controller on hand!?

What bullshit.

 

[TelHybrid]

Are you seriously complaining about this?? Seriously?? Wow...

Some games work better with a controller, some work better with a keyboard and mouse. Just get a PC gamepad. I know tonnes of PC gamers who own Xbox 360 controllers for these kinds of games, who don't own an Xbox.

Geez, next you'll be complaining that the FPS you played on a console doesn't handle as well as on a keyboard and mouse. At least on PC you have a choice of control schemes.

 

[Altorin]

some games just play better with a controller. I couldn't stand Space Marine before I got the corded 360 controller. The game's technically a shooter so the mouse would seem to be better, but it's designed liked a console game is is heavily focused on Melee which I just couldn't wrap my head around using a keypad to move. Once I had the controller in my hand, it was perfect.

and I'm no slouch with a M&K, it's just that the game's design choices (requiring you to step into melee in order to heal specifically, and a large aiming reticle designed for more sweeping shots then precise shots) make playing it with a controller preferable. I tend to play all my PC games with a controller now, at least those that make sense to.

That being said, the inability to use a keyboard and mouse with a PC game is silly, but as someone pointed out, it's not impossible to keymap, just awkward, and to the other people who say you can't control Meat Boy properly with a keyboard, the original Meat Boy was a flash game that exclusively used a keyboard and you could do almost all the same stuff in that.. the controller just gives slightly better control.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I prefer a controller any day. I don't care if a mouse is more precise, when it comes to most games, a controller just feels way better to me.

However, as far as RTS and MOBA games goes, mouse and keyboard is really the only legitimate way to play. I know they've made it work for consoles but it's way better on PC.

 

[TehCookie]

I think I'm missing something, you have a controller and find the M&K layout uncomfortable... so why not use the controller? The reason they showed a 360 controller because that's supported by windows and simple to plug and play while a PS3 or other controller requires some fiddling. They weren't saying you had to have that specific controller.