Poll: mouse or controller?

[nuba km]

so I always find that using a controller is much more natural then using a keyboard as I never have to look down to make sure that I press the crouch button not the grenade button (which would be followed by me hitting the crouch button and not the run for your life button). When ever I play a very combat orientated game on a console I find things to be very smooth and natural most of the time (when it isn't it is normally due to crappy button lay out), while on a computer it is very plain. Now of course this is biased as I have used controllers more then key boards and there are many that find keyboards to better (if anyone brings up shadow run (at least that what I think it is called) I am going to say it is one game).

I want to know escapist what to you like to control your games with?

It entirely depends on the game, most FPS game i'll want M&K controls because they simply give you more control. But something like arkham asylum or super meat boy then I will use a controller.

99% of the complaints controller users have about M&K controls just boil down to practice IMO, if you use M&K lots it becomes second nature, you don't have to look at the keys and you don't even realise you're holding a mouse.. the cursor on the screen just becomes an extension of your arm.

Personally with a controller I'm constantly having to look at buttons or hitting the wrong ones or moving the stick in the wrong direction... thats not because the controller is bad its just because I have about 20,000 hours gaming with M&K controls and about 50 hours gaming with a controller.

yea I have about 500 hours of M&K under my belt and thousands (1,000 in borderlands alone) of hours for controller under my belt but 200 hours of those were spent on 1 month of team fortress on my brothers computer (till an update made the game to hard to run on it) and I still had those problems so it may be due to experience but I think I am just better with controllers then M&K.

 

[nuba km]

I played a bit of Red Dead Redemption on my friend's PS3 once (btw, R*. PC port. NOW!) and I was playing some random mission, and at some point I was attacked by dudes on horseback. So, following my friend's instructions, I pulled out my Rifle, pointed it in the general direction of the rider and pressed Aim...

The crosshair became superglued to the guy's chest, and as he circled around me, it just remained there, perfectly in position. I looked down at my thumbs to check if I was somehow expertly controlling it by accident, or if someone else was controlling it.....but my thumbs weren't even touching the sticks. I fired, and the enemy went down.

In summary, are controllers supposed to turn shooters into Quick time events? If I wanted to play Heavy Rain, I would play that instead of....well, RDR? Seriously is it always like that, or was it a prob/setting on my friend's Dualshock? Cause if it's the former......BWAHAHAHA!

no don't worry that is just with CoD and RDR with other fps games it is slight aiming assist maybe by a 1cm or 2 but you can turn it off if you want do.

 

[GBlair88]

Mouse and keyboard all the way. Only exceptions being when I want to drive a vehicle with the controller as the steering is smoother and I have more control over my speed.

@OP: It would be very hard to hit the grenade button instead of crouch as the grenade button (if the game has one) would most likely be 'G'. Whereas the crouch button would is generally 'Ctrl' so you would be more likely to press sprint (Shift) than grenade. To the best of my knowledge I haven't played a game where you can just press a button and toss a grenade, generally speaking you have to select your grenade then 'fire' it.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I can't do anything more complicated than a rail shooter with a mouse and keyboard

It's the fact that you point the mouse off screen to turn around in FPS's, it always fucks me up and it feels unnatural

 

[Macheteswordgun]

I would take game controller but if i had a mouse like my brothers which is the razor naga i'd take that instead

 

[WolfEdge]

I prefer a controller for pretty much everything but first person shooters. The thumb-sticks are just better suited for concise movements in action-oriented gaming, platforming and the like, in my opinion.

 

[nuba km]

Mouse and keyboard all the way. Only exceptions being when I want to drive a vehicle with the controller as the steering is smoother and I have more control over my speed.

@OP: It would be very hard to hit the grenade button instead of crouch as the grenade button (if the game has one) would most likely be 'G'. Whereas the crouch button would is generally 'Ctrl' so you would be more likely to press sprint (Shift) than grenade. To the best of my knowledge I haven't played a game where you can just press a button and toss a grenade, generally speaking you have to select your grenade then 'fire' it.

that was an exaggeration for comedic effect, it just sometimes ends up as me hitting 'H' or 'F' during a hectic fight.

 

[bpm195]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2011/1/24/

This article is mostly the lead designer of Monday Night Combat explaining why the keyboard mouse set up is superior by detailing some of the game mechanics they had to change while converting the game from Xbox to PC.

The substantial difference is that using a joystick takes linear time while using a mouse is nearly constant time. There are some games where joysticks and analog buttons prove very useful (i.e. racing games) but cases where a controller is superior to a mouse and keyboard are very rare.

 

[Coop83]

I feel that I must say "other" to this question, simply because it is dependent upon the game which I play, as to which controls suit best.

When it comes to Strategy games, such as Command & Conquer, Theme Park, Civilisation et al; point and click games like Discworld, Planescape Torment and so on, I feel that I absolutely need a mouse to play with. Sure, first person shooters, driving games and the like absolutely must be played with the controller - hence why consoles were made. I think I have come to one exception, which is Portal, which I am quite happy to play with a mouse, though had I had the option to play with a controller, I would have preferred it, since my dexterity with a controller is much more suited to the quick fire controls that are required there and then.

You've got to get in your comfort zone with the games and while I'd like to see some MMOs that you could configure your controller for, such as LORTO, I'll just have to stick with the mouse until then.

 

[fates_puppet13]

mouse and keyboard
nothing wrong with controller but i just fine it easier
can't stand touchscreens though