Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

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Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

Post by Tsui »

Now, prior to, what, yesterday? I'd never really played on a Nintendo 64 before, so when I decided I was gonna try out that copy of StarCraft 64 I had laying around, I was not familiar with the controller's buttons to the point where I had to constantly look down at my controller to make sure I was pressing the right buttons. And because it's a joystick instead of a mouse, I couldn't just quickly zoom around to the minimap and back and forth and...

So I thought to myself.

Why am I playing this on the N64 when I can buy the PC version since I'm already familiar with Blizzard RTS controls??

Like I said, I could multitask and get to things quicker with a mouse than a joystick and buttons I'm not accustomed to. However, when I play WarCraft III, I pretty much only use the mouse, even though pretty much everything (other than maybe moving units) can be done with a keyboard.

I've also mentioned before that I play Overwatch with a controller instead of mouse and keyboard, which is probably not a good thing but I'm already used to it oops.

However, I am also one who insists on mapping all my spells to keys around my left hand in WoW, and I also use mouse + keyboard in Heroes of the Storm, so it really depends on the game, how I learned to play it, and how much I suck at it.


Anyway this was supposed to be a sort of discussion or debate on where your hands go when you play the video games


Summary: I'm a filthy casual as opposed to a Pro Gamer who would use the keyboard over everything else, also sorry the entirety of this post is Blizzard games but Blizzard owns my soul so whatever man
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Jeffery Mewtamer
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Re: Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

Post by Jeffery Mewtamer »

I've logged thousands of hours on handhelds and thousands more on home consoles, but can't say I've more than dabbled in PC and mobile games, so I've got a bit of a bias for gaming controls.

That said, the one genre of computer game(can't really call them video games if I want to include this genre) that I can still play and enjoy fully, namely text adventures/interactive fiction, was made for the keyboard and I can't imagine adapting them well to anything else(though I sometimes wish I could map the compass directions and some common commands to the numpad or that these old games included such modern command line features as tab completion and command history.

That said, I'd also like to add that, for the sighted:
Mice are a nice supplement to the keyboard, and given a good interface, really only lose easy text-input.
Touchscreens are a great supplement to gaming controls, but are quite limited on their own and are a piss poor replacement for a keyboard when inputting text(then again, everything except a keyboard is terrible for text input).

Both are pretty useless for the blind, though. Though if electrostatic vibration catches on, I might have to amend that to traditional touchscreens are useless to the blind. And I do hope electrostatic vibration catches on and that viable, everyday life tactile user interfaces become a reality in my lifetime.
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Re: Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

Post by Ivogoji »

Never touched computer games personally.
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Re: Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

Post by Nano »

I feel like some games, and game concepts, are just plain better with certain controllers. FPS as a genre forces you to play with mouse and keyboard if you ever want to move up to upper level gameplay.

Point and clicks just work better with mouses.

Fighters and 2D platformers just feel better with a controller most the time.
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Re: Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

Post by Sable »

what aidan said is basically true, especially the point about shooters - precision aiming is nearly impossible with stick and that's why the GTA console games, etc. have auto-aim
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Re: Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

Post by chaoadventures »

Metroid Prime Trilogy. The only reason I don't accept Keyboards and Mice as the best way to play FPS games. Also the only time I will say the Wii Remote is actually good.

With that, other than text adventures and point and clicks, there are no advantages I can think of that are worth using a keyboard. In fact, it's usually worse in my experiences with them.
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Re: Mouse vs. Mouse + Keyboard vs. Game Controller

Post by Lamby »

i wish the controls for metroid prime 3 weren't an erratic nightmare in my universe #berenstain

but nobody who wants to be taken seriously in this industry says nintendo controllers are ever good anyway, so mouse + keyboard isn't surprising in that instance. but seriously, i can't use mice or keyboards due to disability so ummmm, controllers are what i get
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