Volkov
05-19-2008, 02:38 PM
http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/traitor.jpg
For the past 15 years, the mouse and keyboard have ruled my heart with an iron fist. I found out this weekend that a good gamepad can enhance your gaming experience ten-fold, even if your thumbs may get a little raw. What? I haven’t built up a hard callus, like you console punks.
When a Xbox 360 controller is brought into conjunction with computer gaming, the tendency to clutch your own PC fanboyism is overwhelming. As soon as mine came in the mail, I had to fight back the urge to violently throw it back at the postal carrier. So, calmly place those feelings of rivalry in your pocket, just for a few minutes.
It’s Easy!
While the controller doesn’t work on a PC right out of the box, a small driver download from the Microsoft website fixes that issue fast. As long as you have a working internet connection, and a free USB port, you should be fumbling those analog sticks in no time.
Game developers have occasionally programmed gamepad buttons into the default settings in the past, but as of late, most games work right out of the box. If the title is under Microsoft’s Games for Windows spiel, it usually will come programmed with the exact same controls the console version had.
It makes some games 100 times better!
Trying to steer a helicopter or land on a 3D platform is next to impossible using the WASD schematic. The mouse and keyboard provide a great platform for shooters and strategy games, but if you ever need to move in more than four directions, the controller makes it all possible.
So once you get the hang of fondling your 360 controller, try all the games you once thought to be console dominant. Boot up Prince of Persia and let the platformer frustration sink in. Play a Need for Speed clone. Sports games may still suck, but they are no longer out of reach.
It’s heavily customizable!
Thanks to computers, and their ability to do whatever the f*ck you want with them (thanks, Techno-Jesus), an open-source driver for the controller has been developed. This can be used in collaboration with Xpadder, a program that allows you to bind keyboard and mouse buttons to controller buttons. Manipulate your mouse with the analog stick, control media functions to adjust the volume or change the song on your music player, or if you have a female companion (or you are in fact a woman), make it vibrate when you press R1.
It’s social!
Unless they have e-girlfriends, computer gamers usually play alone. Console tards have it right - the image of the geek hunched over his desk, pwning noobs at Counter Strike 1.6, is accurate to the T.
Once you bring in a controller or two to the mix, invite a friend over. Find a multiplayer PC game like Lego Star Wars or NHL ‘08, and go to town. Single player works too; even non-gamers can work a console controller. Less buttons for more feeble minds.
It’s a challenge!
This may not apply to everybody, but my journey into consoles was a bumpy path. It was nothing but ownage on a PC, but every time I hopped on something else, my ass would get handed to me. There’s no fun in not knowing how to properly handle one of those things.
So, not only can you challenge yourself to learn something new, your gaming skills across all platforms will improve. Force yourself to play a shooter with it, and learn the tricks of the trade. You’ll get obliterated in your first attempts, but it’s for a greater cause!
Every time someone buys a 360 controller for the PC, the gap between two worlds gets a little narrower. If we can come together as gamers and learn how to get along, then we can move forward in history, leaving bitter rivalries at the door.
For the past 15 years, the mouse and keyboard have ruled my heart with an iron fist. I found out this weekend that a good gamepad can enhance your gaming experience ten-fold, even if your thumbs may get a little raw. What? I haven’t built up a hard callus, like you console punks.
When a Xbox 360 controller is brought into conjunction with computer gaming, the tendency to clutch your own PC fanboyism is overwhelming. As soon as mine came in the mail, I had to fight back the urge to violently throw it back at the postal carrier. So, calmly place those feelings of rivalry in your pocket, just for a few minutes.
It’s Easy!
While the controller doesn’t work on a PC right out of the box, a small driver download from the Microsoft website fixes that issue fast. As long as you have a working internet connection, and a free USB port, you should be fumbling those analog sticks in no time.
Game developers have occasionally programmed gamepad buttons into the default settings in the past, but as of late, most games work right out of the box. If the title is under Microsoft’s Games for Windows spiel, it usually will come programmed with the exact same controls the console version had.
It makes some games 100 times better!
Trying to steer a helicopter or land on a 3D platform is next to impossible using the WASD schematic. The mouse and keyboard provide a great platform for shooters and strategy games, but if you ever need to move in more than four directions, the controller makes it all possible.
So once you get the hang of fondling your 360 controller, try all the games you once thought to be console dominant. Boot up Prince of Persia and let the platformer frustration sink in. Play a Need for Speed clone. Sports games may still suck, but they are no longer out of reach.
It’s heavily customizable!
Thanks to computers, and their ability to do whatever the f*ck you want with them (thanks, Techno-Jesus), an open-source driver for the controller has been developed. This can be used in collaboration with Xpadder, a program that allows you to bind keyboard and mouse buttons to controller buttons. Manipulate your mouse with the analog stick, control media functions to adjust the volume or change the song on your music player, or if you have a female companion (or you are in fact a woman), make it vibrate when you press R1.
It’s social!
Unless they have e-girlfriends, computer gamers usually play alone. Console tards have it right - the image of the geek hunched over his desk, pwning noobs at Counter Strike 1.6, is accurate to the T.
Once you bring in a controller or two to the mix, invite a friend over. Find a multiplayer PC game like Lego Star Wars or NHL ‘08, and go to town. Single player works too; even non-gamers can work a console controller. Less buttons for more feeble minds.
It’s a challenge!
This may not apply to everybody, but my journey into consoles was a bumpy path. It was nothing but ownage on a PC, but every time I hopped on something else, my ass would get handed to me. There’s no fun in not knowing how to properly handle one of those things.
So, not only can you challenge yourself to learn something new, your gaming skills across all platforms will improve. Force yourself to play a shooter with it, and learn the tricks of the trade. You’ll get obliterated in your first attempts, but it’s for a greater cause!
Every time someone buys a 360 controller for the PC, the gap between two worlds gets a little narrower. If we can come together as gamers and learn how to get along, then we can move forward in history, leaving bitter rivalries at the door.