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benefits of xbox one elite controller with various pc games vs. keyboard mouse, Casual gamer here, should I pull the trigger

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Have an opportunity for xbox elite controller for 100 bucks, new condition, however i am skeptical for the benefits for say exploring new game genres, currently i play fps games with keyboard/mouse. Do have many classic emulators as well. So inputs and opinions for this deal are welcome.
 
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i only enjoy it for some driving games that are simple, when Im too lazy to bring my wheel to the desk.
 
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I use a regular XB1 controller for all sorts of non-competitive games. They're not too bad... I'm sure the elites feel less cheap though, heh. Been playing a lot of adventure games, where the edge up is minimal ime. I'd say mouse/kb are generally superior in all ways but comfort. I'll sit back and play with a controller when I can get away with it. Most PC games have support for console controllers built in.

Emulator games, a controller is a must imo... but if we're talking classic consoles, the d-pad on XB controllers still sucks... it's like a flat, mushy analog stick. Much preferred PS3 controllers for thier responsive, accurate, and tactile pads... though it used to require some driver spoofing to get your machine to even detect it. Not sure if that's still true now. Either way from there most emu software now lets you map the buttons how you like.
 

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The control method you use really comes down to personal preference. However, I don't think I'd ever consider an Xbox Elite controller. The reason being the D-Pad on it sucks! You need a good D-pad for old-school emulation. IMO, the PS4 controller has the best D-pad between the Xbox One/Xbox Elite/PS4.

I personally use the PS4 controller any time I have to control a vehicle, and a lot of 3rd person games. First person games I have to use a Keyboard/Mouse for though.
 

hat

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You can use a simple xinput wrapper for the PS3 controller. No MotionInJoy driver required, however, a lot of things won't work properly out of the box (seems like they never do anyway). Take FF7 for example, even the re-release on Steam. FF7 expects dinput, and when you're running xinput, some things just don't work properly. I recall my L2 and R2 buttons not working, and L3 and R3 taking the place of them. The d-pad also didn't work, but the analog stick did. You can get around this by also using JoyToKey, which is a program which translates controller inputs to mouse and keyboard inputs. For example, if I set up the controls in FF7 so that numpad8 is up, 4 is left, 6 is right and 2 is down, I can map those keyboard keys to d-pad up/left/right/down and then it will work properly, even though the game doesn't understand xinput, because what's really happening is you're pressing 8, 4, 6 or 2 by pressing those d-pad buttons.

It's an absolutely convoluted mess, that example, but it is an example of a game that doesn't work perfectly with a controller that can be made to work. JoyToKey makes it possible to play any game with a controller by forcing it to work... even if it's a game that has zero controller support. Emulators, on the other hand, work pretty well without much fiddling. ePSXe works perfectly even with the hackjob PS3/xinput setup, because it has an option to use xinput directly. In other emulators, even if xinput isn't an obvious option to select, there's usually at least a GUI controller configurator that allows you to click on a button on a visual controller on screen, then you get to map whatever button you want on your physical controller to that button by pressing it. If the button doesn't register at all (like L2/R2 not working in FF7) use the JoyToKey trick again.
 
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Emulator games, a controller is a must imo... but if we're talking classic consoles, the d-pad on XB controllers still sucks... it's like a flat, mushy analog stick. Much preferred PS3 controllers for thier responsive, accurate, and tactile pads... though it used to require some driver spoofing to get your machine to even detect it. Not sure if that's still true now.
I haven't personally double-verified, but I'm pretty sure the 8bitdo receivers should work with Playstation controllers on a PC straight out of the box.
 
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nice to know about the ps4 d-pad, however for compatibility i consider a native ms product. it will require either bluetooth or usb receiver, the latter will support headphones audio plugged to the elite.
 

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I prefer Xbox 360 controllers because they're bigger.

Here's a list of games I played recently and what I used with each:
Project: Highrise - KBM
Human: Fall Flat - XB360
Distrust - KBM
Syndicate Plus - KBM
Obduction - KBM (there was some wonkiness though that made me ponder using the controller)
Watch_Dogs 2 - KBM on foot, XB360 in vehicles
Hyper Light Drifter - XB360
Hutant Year Zero - KBM
Unheard - KBM
Pharaoh + Cleopatra - KBM
Tunestruck - KBM
Valkyria Chronicles - XB360 (used mouse occasionally for really long range aiming)
City of Brass - KBM
Overcooked - XB360
GNOG - KBM
X-Morph: Defense - XB360
The Church of Darkness - XB360

Keyboard/mouse tend to have much longer useful life than controllers do. I'm on my second controller and the left joystick is already leaning to the right. The spring doesn't have enough tension remaining to pull it back to center. :(
 
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I haven't personally double-verified, but I'm pretty sure the 8bitdo receivers should work with Playstation controllers on a PC straight out of the box.
If you have steam installed ,ps4 and xbox work with it and other non steam games while steams loaded , i use a ps4 pad via Bluetooth on the motherboard, with no further action then enabling ps4 pads in steams big picture mode.

Only issue I have is you have to power the pad up before some games start , post game start the pad can go undetected by the game.
 

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Only issue I have is you have to power the pad up before some games start , post game start the pad can go undetected by the game.
Yeah...that's a game-by-game thing. Some allow hot plugging controllers, some don't, some don't allow switching inputs mid-gameplay while some do.

Advantage of USB/always plugged in, is that this is a non-issue unless the game is forcing you to use the controller when you don't want to. Then simply unplug the controller and redetect and it should go back to KBM. Worst case scenario, you have to restart the game.

Some games can get finicky when a wireless controller turns itself off to save batteries too.
 
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Yeah...that's a game-by-game thing. Some allow hot plugging controllers, some don't, some don't allow switching inputs mid-gameplay while some do.

Advantage of USB/always plugged in, is that this is a non-issue unless the game is forcing you to use the controller when you don't want to. Then simply unplug the controller and redetect and it should go back to KBM. Worst case scenario, you have to restart the game.

Some games can get finicky when a wireless controller turns itself off to save batteries too.
True but the couch is damn comfy compared to my chair yet farrer away, and you can wire that ps4 pad up just as easily, anyway I am only passing on options.
 

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Get a wired Xbox 360 controller. It's the best controller for PC. Use it for platformers, fighting games, and the Arkham style combat games. Use the keyboard for everything else.
 
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A controller are more comfortable to play for action combat games like devil may cry and platforming games imo, for emulators you must get a controller
 
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I used to only game by mouse and keyboard. Now I pretty much only game by controller. I use a DS4, and I am happy that many games support it directly and map it like a console. I mostly play Destiny 2, and it’s quite fun with the DS4. It’s really about what works for you.
 
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I used to only game by mouse and keyboard. Now I pretty much only game by controller. I use a DS4, and I am happy that many games support it directly and map it like a console. I mostly play Destiny 2, and it’s quite fun with the DS4. It’s really about what works for you.
Me too. I bought the DS4 to play Forza Horizons 4. I have started using it in other games such as witcher and for casual GTA V runabouts. The bluetooth works very well with very low input lag. I use a generic BT dongle with Inputmapper and Hidguardian. Even though Inputmapper has ads and gets bad reviews I find its the best app when multiple controllers are connected e.g It runs 3 controllers over BT without any drops for a Fifa session.
 
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Use Xbox 360 wired controller for everything I play except shooters or games with shooting mechanics like Tomb Raider reboot.
 

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I prefer to use modded XboX controller with additional triggers on it.
 
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