So I've seen adapters for this. I'm wondering are a good majority of games supported or is it finicky? I would ideally use an xbox/playstation controller but the adapter is cheaper and I don't have an xbox/playstation controller (nor console, obviously).
Buy a xbox controller if you want modern games to "just work" most are designed for that. If you are playing emulations and older games any game pad will work, programs like xpadder might be helpful to get it working on more titles. Edit: with many adapters special features like rumble and LEDs wont work, if it matters at all. Buttons and sticks work most the time without problem
Thanks for the response. Yea, it's modern games, not emulators. Certain games I just feel would be better with a controller. like any platformer, racing game, or vs game.
My best bet would be Ebay if you're looking for a bargain. Brand new 360 controllers (wired) from somewhere like Amazon is still at least $30. Or if you are fine with used controllers you could always go that route. Most of the issues with used controller can be easily fixed by simply cleaning the inside and all it's moving parts. Or you could always try a knock off type controller. Like a Madcatz or a Logitech or something. Not sure if they're cheaper or not though. Imo adapters are just a mess and I personally have grown very comfortably with the 360 controller. I even have this "special" model that has a better d-pad.
Good game developers should never make the assumption that a XBox 360 gamepad is being used. It's not that hard to support any controller type with just a bit of code. However, lately there seems to be a tendency for them to use XInput rather than DirectInput (when using the DirectX APIs) for gamepad support, which is fine for a 360 gamepad, but useless for just about anything else. (Probably because they write the games to be cross platform with the XBox 360.) It's rather disappointing, as I dislike the XBox 360 controller. There are developers that use alternative libraries, such as SDL, which can handle a wide variety of controllers, and in the end, their products will have greater longevity, especially since DirectX is slowly falling out of favor. So sadly, you're probably stuck with the 360 controller as your choice, although if you don't have any games that require it, I'd get whatever controller you want and avoid those games in the future.
I don't have any that require it, but some are just a pain to use the keyboard - like castle crashers.
Ah, then just get a 3rd party PC gamepad. Saitek has some nice ones (though I haven't checked them in a while.)
OK, guys. thanks for the help. another time I really would prefer a controller over a keyboard is when the game doesn't have mouse support.
Some games require the availability of the Xbox button in the middle (or the equivalent button on the similar Logitech controller that is also usually supported). Big Picture Mode on Steam in particular suggests/requires that you use one of those two. The Gamecube controller also lacks a second bumper button and can't click the analogue sticks. I imagine a number of games wouldn't fully work.
