Do you prefer a controller, or a mouse for FPS games?

[A Random Tiger]

I'm curious to what the general preference is with First Person Shooter controls.

Personally I like using a mouse more.

I feel it has more precision and better reaction time.

What do YOU prefer to use?

[Graycascade]

Mouse.

There's no contest.

None.

Specifically, I prefer point-and-click vs. the flight-sim effect

[Schwaltzvald]

The keyboard/mouse combo practically provides perfect accuracy and speed. A console controller/pc gamepad simply can not compare for FPSs.

[Bahamut]

I don't mind either, although if I'm playing an online game I'll prefer the mouse/keyboard.

[Darth Lime]

Mouse and keyboard. Too many things to concentrate on when you use thumbsticks and trigger buttons. I only want to do one thing while playing an FPS; kill all sons of bitches.

/L4D2 quote

[Geeky Stoner]

considering i was raised on console games I would have to say I prefer a controller.

Although I have played very little of pc shooters i can consider the accuracy point

but i really prefer the ergonomics of a controller over pretty much well.. everything

I prefer it over arcade pads for fighters and even peripheral games like guitar hero(weird i know)

[SonicSynthesis]

I find the controller a lot easier. It's easier to turn around to be honest. Doing say a full 360 is harder on the mouse. I find the buttons on a gamepad are easier to get used to than the keyboard as well. However i've always played using a gamepad. The only time i use keyboard and mouse is for Halo, which i almost never play any more. So i guess if you were raised on the keyboard and mouse you will find it to be better.

[Gollgagh]

for single player (which is what I play almost exclusively), it depends almost entirely on the game.

If the game is tooled toward controllers (Red Faction, iuno what else), that works for me.

If the game is KB+M (Half-life), then I use that.

[Darklink42]

I don't mind either. I grew playing stuff like Doom and Unreal, so I got used to the mouse and keyboard. But there's something to be said for the centralization of all the buttons in a controller too. Overall, I'd say I prefer keyboard, but only because I've used it for longer.

[Pope]

mouse/keyboard

I avoid console FPSs as much as possible because I hate joystick aim to the core of my being. I only play Halo when I absolutely have to (nearly every bachelor party I've ever been to was a Halo party, because my friends are all nerds, so I submit out of respect).

Halo is made even more complicated by the fact that I have to play with an inverted Y-axis, which hardly anyone does, so I always have to make a new character and do that, then when it's time to switch out to let someone else play, they're like wtf my controls are .sdrawkcab

It's also boring.

[The Coop]

I don't have a problem with using a controller in games like Halo 2, Disruptor, or even the Saturn version of games like Quake and Duke Nukem 3-D. But if given the choice, I'd rather use a keyboard/mouse combo.

[Macro11_1]

Mouse + Keyboard. Hands down, simply for the fact that I can customize the buttons any way I want, un-like controllers.

[Gollgagh]

shoot, my first post should have been "keyboardz only 4 lyfe"

[Flare4War]

For me a controller, just because that's all I really know. I don't game on my pc at all.

[Sinewav]

Mouse and keyboard easily. Way more precision and speed, plus you can customize much more.

I remember hearing about this 3rd party mouse and keyboard controller for the first xbox a long time ago... people were saying that when they used it, their average kills nearly doubled. Not a scientific study or anything, but I don't think there's much question about which method is superior.

Halo is made even more complicated by the fact that I have to play with an inverted Y-axis, which hardly anyone does, so I always have to make a new character and do that, then when it's time to switch out to let someone else play, they're like wtf my controls are .sdrawkcab

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you as far as submitting to Halo and dealing with non-inverted controls.

I've never understood why so many console FPS players don't play inverted... in fact I remember back in the day when inverted meant up=up and down=down. It just seems logical... IRL you tilt your head back to look up and forward to look down.

But I suppose at the end of the day, what's fun for you is what's most important.

[Eckerson]

I've never understood why so many console FPS players don't play inverted... in fact I remember back in the day when inverted meant up=up and down=down. It just seems logical... IRL you tilt your head back to look up and forward to look down.

And it's also the compatible method if you also play flight/space sims where pulling back on the stick means changing your pitch up. I used to play those before I started using the mouse on FPS games, so I was already used to down to look up.

Halo is made even more complicated by the fact that I have to play with an inverted Y-axis, which hardly anyone does, so I always have to make a new character and do that, then when it's time to switch out to let someone else play, they're like wtf my controls are .sdrawkcab.

I had the same problem here for that game. I think over the course of the main three (never played Wars or ODST), I managed to convert a player to inverted simply because they got used to it when they took over my controller.

I still have a similar problem with keyboard/mouse games. But not because of the inverted mouse. I don't use WASD to move which throws other people off.

[Poke'G]

Keyboard and mouse. The versatility and plethora of buttons can't be beaten.

Then wiimote, then normal controllers. Analog sticks just can't compare to mediums that allow quick reflexive aiming.

Kind of curious, does anybody still use PC joysticks like the sidewinder. I remember them being ridiculously popular way back when, but I haven't seen them quite so much anymore.

[SynthesizedStampede]

Definitely Keyboard/Mouse. I actually hadn't really played any FPSes on the PC until a couple years ago, but ever since then I really hate playing any FPS on a console now. I just love how precise you can get a Keyboard/Mouse can be, and, as mentioned before, how many buttons you can use.

The whole reason I got MW2 for PC was definitely because of the controls. I acknowledge that Live probably has the best online play due to the immense amount of people playing, but that just shows how much I despise dual analogue in comparison to KB/M.

[Brushfire]

Kind of curious' date=' does anybody still use PC joysticks like the sidewinder. I remember them being ridiculously popular way back when, but I haven't seen them quite so much anymore.[/quote']

On the rare occasion that I play Battlefield 2142, I break out my Joystick to fly a Helijet or something, as it is easier than using the mouse.

But other than that, there isn't much use for it.

[1337 1]

Its a tie for wiimote and mouse for me. While I'm much better with a mouse, if I had the same amount of practice, the wiimote method would easily be my better skill. Normal controller? Bah, useless!

[Doulifée]

keyboard + trackball.

of course some game (yes Fallout 3 i'm looking at you) are designed for controller and designer doesn't spent time to make a proper keyboard layout (and sometime doesn't even allow player( to fully customise the key setting) that's the only case where i play (or not ) with a gamepad.

i use a controller when i play emulated game of course, or on my console.

[Schwaltzvald]

I want to punch people in the face when they try to make the arguement, "OH BUT RESIDENT EVIL 4/5 AND DEADSPACE ARE FPSs AND THEY'RE BEST WITH CONTROLLERS!".

They are not fps... they are OTSS (over the shoulder shooters) and they are actually best with a pc-gamepad/console controller.

As for Fallout3, I actually prefer the KB+M; though I guess I'm of the few that actually took the time to map out the keys comfortably.

[lazygecko]

Console FPS tend to give the illusion of controllers being better than they really are by adding handicaps like auto-aiming. Fast-paced games like Unreal Tournament are also slowed down a bit for consoles.

[Geeky Stoner]

Console FPS tend to give the illusion of controllers being better than they really are by adding handicaps like auto-aiming.

This is very true i actually get kind of mad that some console shooters do this

it kind of throws me off sometimes,it gets really bad in halo for me.

not all do this however.(the orange box anyone(however i do believe it does have the slowdown when you have an enemy in your sights i think)

some do have the option to turn auto aim off

the only time i think i have used it is in goldeneye/perfect dark and halo series though

but most do have some sort of auto aim.

[Bahamut]

Console FPS tend to give the illusion of controllers being better than they really are by adding handicaps like auto-aiming. Fast-paced games like Unreal Tournament are also slowed down a bit for consoles.

It is possible to turn off auto-aiming.