All depends on the game. PC players have options.
Games like Palworld and GTA are better with a controller. Games like Cities: Skylines and any game requiring significant precision are better with a mouse and keyboard.
I prefer over the shoulder games like GTA with keyboard mouse and controller.
Controller for general navigation and when a firefight starts to go down, my right hand switches to the mouse and my left hand is still on the controller, resting on the desk. When the firefight starts getting hectic the controller gets dropped and it’s WASD from there on out.
Gta on foot is mouse + keyboard but any driving or flying needs the controller
Only reason it may seem “better” is because Palworld has horrible building mechanics.
But nothing about that game makes it easier with a controller.
I don’t think it’s easier, since many of the ranged weapons in that game require good aim, which is better with a mouse, but I do think it’s more fun with a controller.
Really depends on the games.
Yeah, most 3rd person games I like to play with a controller, first person not so much.
Steam Deck and the console users that pivoted to PC gaming during the scalpers riddled PS5/Xbox launch are probably the most likely causes for this.
Right, PC gamers aren’t embracing controllers, console gamers are embracing PC gaming.
Well, yeah. Racing games, platformers, and action games are generally more comfortable with controller. Third person shooters, FPS, anything that requires aiming, or RTS games are still best done with mouse.
I don’t really like playing platformers with a controller.
I played through Celeste, Super Meat Boy and Rayman on PC only with keyboard and played Super Meat Boy, Rayman and N++ on the switch. I prefer the keyboard.
For 3D games (even platformers) I prefer the controller though.
I prefer games that can be played with a controller to be played with a controller just to mix up the ways I fuck up my wrists
for certain games controllers are so comfy, I’ve had a controller next to my desk for years for times I want to play something more casual that supports controllers.
I think it’s most likely that more people are playing genres like platformers and fighting games that are designed for controllers on PC than before.
I wouldn’t call those genres particularly popular atm
Usage triples <-> 15 % increase
Pick one. Triple is 300 % increase. Article says 15 % is the proportion using them, not the increase.
Yeah, this is just an issue with the Lemmy post’s title. The article is clear that 15% are using controllers now, up from 5% in 2018.
Thanks for bring this up, now I’ve fixed from “15% increase to " increase to 15% from 5%”. Should be more clear
Nothing will ever be as accurate as a 1:1 pointing device. Using a thumbstick sucks ass for general mouse-work why would it be suddenly good for FPS games? Thumbsticks are best at racing, platforming, flight sims, maybe RPGs and scrollers.
Right tool for the job.
Yeah I’m pretty sure people are just starting to use controllers for the controllers’ usecases. A lot of people (including me) played stuff like space simulators with mouse+keyboard, which are obviously not the right tool for the job.
Absolutely. I started cyberpunk again and it’s keyboard/mouse until I get in a vehicle, then it’s controller
I have no idea why Halo is the only game that uses mouse for direct on driving. So much better fine control, but the pc only people I knew got so confused by it when it was ported the first time. I always quit Half life 2 episode 2 at the Strider Battle.
Trackball controller
Wait, those are a thing?
You might find one as an accessibility option
I’ve been trying to make one in a normal form factor but can’t find anything on how to make a track ball from scratch/program a board to read it
What are your thoughts on the Steam deck’s Touchpads? I’d love to see them in a thumb ball type formfactor
My problem with touch pads is limited range, you constantly have to recentre. In a competitive environment that’s wasted ms where you are moving your finger back to make your next movement
The thumb ball reduces the amount of that
At least with the ones on the steam deck this is solved (for me) largely by software emulating the momentum of the trackball
I just played through Portal again, using a DualShock 4… up until Test Chamber 18. It was simply not possible to look left/right without ever-so-slightly moving, enough to miss falling back into the portal. Mouse and keyboard- cleared it instantly.
Edit: I may try again, using a controller that has 8-way detents on the analog sticks (i.e. GameCube gamepad)
Personally on the steamdeck gyro, once I got used to it, has become indispensable for a lot of games to solve this sort of problem
When playing through games with both shooting and driving (or horseback riding in RDR2) I keep my controller handy and swap between it and mkb. I find I generally prefer walking around with a controller until I need to shoot; I end up using the controller 75% of the time.
Can’t you use a controller + mouse combo?
I could but I’d rather not. With a controller in one hand and a mouse in the other there aren’t many buttons near my fingers, I’d have to let go of one to do some stuff anyway for some functions. Plus it makes UI glyphs flash between keyboard and controller which is irritating.
It’s not that PC gamers were opposed to using controllers. PC gamers love our peripherals. The problem was support for it. Most of the controllers beforehand had proprietary connectors that would never work in the PC. And then even if you could connect the controller there was no guarantee it would work. But now with more standardization around USB and Bluetooth adding and better driver support for the controllers we can finally use them.
Most of the controllers beforehand had proprietary connectors that would never work in the PC.
That was in the 90s… 20 years ago I was gaming on PC with a PS1 dual shock using a cheap adapter, and then switched to the Xbox 360 controller which used a standard USB port.
Not here to comment on whether you are right (because you are) but more to report the whiplash of realising 20 years ago is still in the 2000s. Mentally, 20 years ago puts something early nineties to me.
yeah, I’d have to solder a PS1 controller to printer port back then. even when controller moves to wireless(like dual shock 3) the protocol was proprietary until windows have a proper driver for them.
Steamdeck, platformers, racers, and fighters are all controller preferred games.
I remember in the 90s almost everyone I knew with a pc had a gamepad or joystick of some sort.
If I need precise aiming, then it’s keyboard and mouse. If not, then I’ll go with a controller just so I can lean back and enjoy things.
Games need to support it well with remapping and better UI and ways to control that make sense.
Fr. I can’t play Bayonetta cause they want me to dodge with one of the buttons on top (can’t remember if it’s r1 or r2) and holy shit I can’t do it. It’s either A or B otherwise I literally nvr get the timing right even once
I have to wonder what percentage of folks are using handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck or ROG Ally. Personally I’ve found that I game much more now that I have a Steam Deck and can mindlessly play stuff like Dave the Diver while relaxing on the couch with my SO, versus setting aside specific “gaming time” to be at my desk.
I said this for years but PC is the biggest thread for the Xbox and Sony, not mobile.
