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Why aren’t there more PC-first gamepads? Valve don’t know, but they "did see an opportunity" for the new Steam Controller
(www.rockpapershotgun.com)
this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2026
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Beating mouse + KB is hard and people already have good enough Xbox/ps controllers to justify buying another
This is the correct answer. I use a controller on console because I have to. There are very few game genres (imho) where a controller is superior to a mouse.
To add onto your point, a lot of games where mouse+keyboard isn't the best set of inputs, neither is a controller. Things like flight games or racing games.
Exactly, honestly fighting games are the only genre I can think of where a controller is better than keyboard/mouse.. maybe platformers?
Edit: again this is my personal opinion. I knew a guy back when lan parties were still a thing that would play shooters with a trackball and he would annihilate everyone. We all got our preferences :)
Souls like games are pretty much always far superior on controller imo over m+kb. M+kb just feels janky for me in souls likes
Yeah they don't make them with mouse and keyboard in mind or even pcs at all despite elden ring launching on steam at the same time. First version of Elden ring you couldn't two hand a weapon, not possible with the default key binding. Also first patch had the funniest item on it, something like "Fix to use the GPU".
Rock Band drum kit is the only non-pleb way to play soulslikes
Yea I can see that -I suck so bad at souls games I tend not to play them much anymore
I actually bought a Logitech trackball mouse shortly after I got my PC. My grandpa used to use one and I thought it might have been good for some gaming, but it had been too long since I last used it so it didn't feel right.
Controllers are definitely the best option for racing games.
nah, steering wheel is
I don't know how playing something like redout 2, screamer or inertial drift would go on a wheel(they all use twin stick driving).
Sim racing is definitely a wheel, but arcade racers are mostly controller for me.
Redout is fun with a flightstick
If you like steering wheels more power to you, but I have no desire to play with one.
Jimmy Broadbent suddenly sits up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily
TBF I'm pretty sure Jimmy is always sweating
he's outta line, but he's right
I don't know what that means.
It's just a personal experience thing for some games. I use controller (8bitdo Pro PS style) for FFXIV, Monster Hunter games, and a few smaller games that use third person overhead (Isometric?) as well as general turn based RPGs, but almost never for anything that feels similar to a shooter. Ark, Warframe, BG3, and a bunch of other survival/builder games, X4 etc are all keyboard and mouse.
There are some that may seem like they're in the wrong category, like the Horizon games are controller for me despite having a lot of aiming mechanics, but again it's all personal feeling of comfort. I don't argue for either one to other people; just use what feels good to you.
I have a third-party Xbox controller that's my main gamepad, and I bought a PS3 controller a while back for emulating PlayStation games (there was one game I played that I literally needed the controller for a specific mechanic/functionality).
My Xbox controller actually has a couple extra buttons on the back/bottom that you can program to be other buttons; I set them to be alternate bumpers so I don't have to hold the controller in that weird claw way.
lol I too know the pain of relying on PS3 controllers for games with pressure-sensitive button inputs.
Mine was a motion control mini game that I couldn't just skip
At least gyro is a pretty ubiquitous feature at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if pressure-sensitive face buttons die with the PS3.