My PC doesn’t have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. I don’t care about Wi-Fi as it’s my primary desktop tower (not a laptop). So there’s no need for it as it’s connected via Ethernet. Having no Bluetooth means I’ll need a USB wireless or wired controller.
Which do y’all recommend, a Playstation or Xbox controller? Not necessarily your “favorite”, but does one have a benefit over the other when it comes to Steam compatibility?
Once I decide on which to choose, do I need to tweak any settings here?
I can’t speak for which is best, because I don’t have a ps controller. I have an old knock off wired 360 controller that just worked. The only thing I’ve configured is to disable the xbox button bringing up big picture mode, and I don’t remember how I did that.
I would probably recommend an xbox over playstation controller, because most older games seem to support xbox.
Playstation vs Xbox controller is already somewhat of a religious question, which have a variety of opinions and answers.
Current original PS5 and Xbox controllers should work fine when connected via USB. But there are also great 3rd party controllers. So it’s hard to make a definite answer.
When it comes to wired (USB) I’m rocking an Xbox style GameSir G7 SE Wired Controller. Pros: Hall Effect sticks and two back buttons. Cons: Needs Windows software for customizing behavior if desired (i.e. at least having a Windows VM).
Controllers are a personal preference, it is most important to find one that is comfortable for you.
One thing I would point out is that almost all games are compatible with the XBOX button layout. The PS button layout will be hit or miss, especially for older games. The PS controller will work, but you will need to know that when it tells you to press A, you really need to press X.
EDIT: This seems too old, PS3 and such. I may just grab the 8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller. Best of both worlds. Xbox functionality with the PS4/5 feel.
Used to be a console gamer, with various Xboxen and PSnnn around. Always played wired rather than wireless. Xbox controllers initially felt “fat” to my hands, then PS controllers felt “small.” Now I’m a dedicated WASD player. Nothing I play is heavily twitch-dependent (too old for that sh#$) and I don’t miss controllers a bit.
I play with a PS4 controller. Works without a hassle. I also have a PowerA Gamecube controller for the Switch, which I used on my Switch before selling it. I use it for some GC games and Smash Bros games.
If I needed to get a new controller, I’d probably go with the Flydigi Vader 4.
For compatibility, Xbox controllers tend to “just work” with a wider variety of games, plus basically all PC games with controller support will have Xbox glyphs for button prompts by default.
If you are only ever going to play via USB connection, the Xbox series controllers are great. Because they don’t have internal batteries, they’re lighter than PS5 controllers. Plus you don’t have to worry about pillowing lithium batteries as the controllers age. If you ever want to switch to bluetooth later, it’s easy to do (you can use basically any Bluetooth 5.0 adapter) and you can just buy rechargeable AA batteries for the controllers.
I remember reading somewhere the there are playstation kernel drivers, also I find using a playstation controller is a better experience than when using an Xbox controller.
Also when you connect a playstation controller with usb, you will be able to see how much it has charged in your power settings, which is not the case with the Xbox controller.
Yeah, I know. I just don’t want yet another set of drivers to rely on.
Unless it’s a USB controller. So I don’t need to worry if it’s getting low or not.
I tend to agree here. But games on Steam that support controllers are mapped for Xbox. And the shapes/X button need to be remembered as a traditional X-Box layout of Y-B-A-X. So I chose the best of both worlds. The 8BitDo controller (Black Myth: Wukong version). It has the X-Box button/pad layout with an X-Box/PS5 hybrid physical look and feel.
I think the idea isn’t the hardware support, which is pretty good nowadays, esp. with the remapping going on, but that the Xbox controller was - and still somewhat is - the assumed default when using a controller with games on Windows. So Windows game devs expect(ed) a Xbox style controller and therefore it is supported somewhat better out of the box.
I have an xbox elite . . . it’s incredible. And an incredible PAIN IN THE FREAKING backside to get working consistently.
I got this one about a year ago and I couldn’t be happier (unless the elite worked). It’s been fantastic and it comes wit ha usb that it wirelessly connects to and your computer sees it as a normal wired xbox controller. Works fantastic.
It seems that most PC games assume that the user has an X-Box controller. And X-Box (and X-Box based) controllers don’t have gyroscope functionality. There’s a discussion thread about my specific 8BitDo Ultimate 2 controller and gyroscope here:
I actually have both a Playstation and Xbox controller and like you said I have noticed some games don’t really work correctly with a Playstation controller while no issues with an Xbox controller. Kind of wish Valve would find something for that as I prefer the Playstation controller. I also do like having Gyroscope for the playstation games that support it.
