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PC Controller Recommendations

fred420170 said:
Xbox Elite. Best controller on the market imo
Click to expand...

oh god no.
stay away from those as far as possible.


@topic: anything that has hall/tmr/capacitive sticks and an x-input mode should be fine.
everything else is down to how much you want to spend, for increasingly diminishing returns.

8bitdo will release their new high end controller in a few weeks. the Xbox Ultimate 3E.
that one seems to he the whole package.

Xbox compatible, gyro support, replaceable buttons, replaceable d-pad, different stick types, additional shoulder buttons, paddles, TMR sticks, hall effect triggers with Xbox Impulse rumble support, 1000hz polling rate, 2.4ghz support with dongle, Bluetooth support for PC and mobile.

02-s.jpg

8BitDo Ultimate 3E Controller for Xbox | 8BitDo

Discover the 8BitDo Ultimate 3E Controller for Xbox — a pro-level, fully customizable gamepad with swappable modules, TMR joysticks, wireless charging dock, and 1000Hz polling on PC. Officially licensed by Xbox.
www.8bitdo.com www.8bitdo.com

I'm not sure when exactly it's coming out tho, but soon.
 
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poodaddy said:
I second 8bitdo, great controllers.

I'm interested in this Gamesir, is this a great new brand I haven't tried? If I wanna give it a shot, what's the best controller they offer? Thanks ahead of time :D
Click to expand...
Gamesir is the new major player, imo they are better than 8bitdo.

I have a G8+ for my Switch and the G7 is also great for PC

gamesir.com

PC Controllers

GameSir PC Controllers | Innovative Self-Developed Gaming Controllers for PC, Delivering Superior Performance, Precision Controls, and Ergonomic Design
gamesir.com gamesir.com
 
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kevboard said:
oh god no.
stay away from those as far as possible.


@topic: anything that has hall/tmr/capacitive sticks and an x-input mode should be fine.
everything else is down to how much you want to spend, for increasingly diminishing returns.

8bitdo will release their new high end controller in a few weeks. the Xbox Ultimate 3E.
that one seems to he the whole package.

Xbox compatible, gyro support, replaceable buttons, replaceable d-pad, different stick types, additional shoulder buttons, paddles, TMR sticks, hall effect triggers with Xbox Impulse rumble support, 1000hz polling rate, 2.4ghz support with dongle, Bluetooth support for PC and mobile.

02-s.jpg

8BitDo Ultimate 3E Controller for Xbox | 8BitDo

Discover the 8BitDo Ultimate 3E Controller for Xbox — a pro-level, fully customizable gamepad with swappable modules, TMR joysticks, wireless charging dock, and 1000Hz polling on PC. Officially licensed by Xbox.
www.8bitdo.com www.8bitdo.com

I'm not sure when exactly it's coming out tho, but soon.
Click to expand...
Dang, That looks expensive.
Check it out. It has wireless charging. I bought a dock for my Quest 3 that has wireless charging for the controllers, it's the only other controller that I've seen do that.
They should make these things Magsafe with the magnets so we can just magnetically attach/store and charge the controller to the sides of things.
 
Magic Carpet said:
Dang, That looks expensive.
Check it out. It has wireless charging. I bought a dock for my Quest 3 that has wireless charging for the controllers, it's the only other controller that I've seen do that.
They should make these things Magsafe with the magnets so we can just magnetically attach/store and charge the controller to the sides of things.
Click to expand...
Ultimate 2 was reasonably priced including the charging dock. My issue with it was that it was a bit too small and dpad was meh, but this one seems to have a swappable one.
 
Its because they use xinput. Xinput was not a "real" driver, it was Microsoft attempt to force there way on once yet once more. They won, again... HID was the driver to be used, Xinput is a hacked stripped down, forced junky driver replacement. In the end we all just use xbox now, our controller just advertise as xinput.

If you really want HID, then you need to stick with Bliss-Box, raphnet, or like adapters.
 
alf717 said:
I use an 8BitDo adapter. My only gripe is every controller you setup shows up as an Xbox controller. So if you use a WiiU Pro controller or Switch Pro you are stuck with "Microsoft's lazy patented copy pasta just flip the face buttons™" layout.
Click to expand...



Its because they use xinput. Xinput was not a "real" driver, it was Microsoft attempt to force there way on once yet once more. They won, again... HID was the driver to be used, Xinput is a hacked stripped down, forced junky driver replacement. In the end we all just use xbox now, our controller just advertise as xinput.

If you really want HID, then you need to stick with Bliss-Box, raphnet, or like adapters.
 
Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma and V3 Pro are considered to be my gold standard as far as Xbox and PC controllers go.

I have an Xbox Elite Series 2 that I sent in for warranty repairs twice. Now it drops the occasional A and RB button inputs which is unforgivable. I'll never use it again and I can't even sell it since it's not reliable.

I have a few 8bitdo controllers that make for great Switch 2 controllers, but aren't good enough to replace my Razer controllers on PC.
 
alf717 said:
I use an 8BitDo adapter. My only gripe is every controller you setup shows up as an Xbox controller. So if you use a WiiU Pro controller or Switch Pro you are stuck with "Microsoft's lazy patented copy pasta just flip the face buttons™" layout.
Click to expand...

it's not Microsoft's layout, it's Sega's layout. Microsoft just based theirs on Sega's.

Saturn
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vvvvv
Microsoft Sidewinder
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vvvvv
OG Xbox
HknpeQcG4FVw6QiN.png



which reminds me...
Microsoft should absolutely bring back Black and White for Xbox Magnus!

it was so nice having these small additional buttons there for less important stuff. like on Halo the flashlight was mapped to white, and swapping grenade types to black.
and racing games often mapped swapping camera views on them.

nowadays stuff like this has to be put on the hard to reach start/select buttons or even the d-pad...
basically, we need more buttons! and adding them also gives you a semi-six-button layout which is neat
 
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Just get an xbox controller ffs. You don't need one of those 8bitdo thingies or especially that piece of shite dualshock or whatever its called.

PowerA makes excellent ones and they are cheap as chips.
 
kevboard said:
oh god no.
stay away from those as far as possible.


@topic: anything that has hall/tmr/capacitive sticks and an x-input mode should be fine.
everything else is down to how much you want to spend, for increasingly diminishing returns.

8bitdo will release their new high end controller in a few weeks. the Xbox Ultimate 3E.
that one seems to he the whole package.

Xbox compatible, gyro support, replaceable buttons, replaceable d-pad, different stick types, additional shoulder buttons, paddles, TMR sticks, hall effect triggers with Xbox Impulse rumble support, 1000hz polling rate, 2.4ghz support with dongle, Bluetooth support for PC and mobile.

02-s.jpg

8BitDo Ultimate 3E Controller for Xbox | 8BitDo

Discover the 8BitDo Ultimate 3E Controller for Xbox — a pro-level, fully customizable gamepad with swappable modules, TMR joysticks, wireless charging dock, and 1000Hz polling on PC. Officially licensed by Xbox.
www.8bitdo.com www.8bitdo.com

I'm not sure when exactly it's coming out tho, but soon.
Click to expand...
Damn, that looks goooooood. Wasn't aware 3 was on the horizon.
 
using xbox controller for years, but some might not agree.
in my place that's the easiest to repair, easier to buy, and almost all places have it ready
 
I have the Vader 4 Pro, but I guess the Vader 5 Pro might be a small upgrade. I would choose the Vader 4 Pro if you can get it really cheap.

I like having extra buttons to suit my needs. For example, in System Shock Remake, the controller layout is very limited compared to all the inputs you have on keyboard. I also recommend it as a replacement for L3/R3.

But I have some doubts about the D-pad's longevity
 
MrJangles said:
Just get an xbox controller ffs. You don't need one of those 8bitdo thingies or especially that piece of shite dualshock or whatever its called.

PowerA makes excellent ones and they are cheap as chips.
Click to expand...
This is the equivalent of putting a fisher price steering wheel in a Ferrari.

8bitdo Ultimate 2 is the best option just now. Until the Steam Controller 2.0 comes out.
 
I'd go for DualSense. In many modern games you get adaptive trigger and haptic feedback support. If a game has it, I don't want to miss it. In the early PS5 days it was the reason I went for the PS5 version sometimes instead and not PC, despite having an 3080 at that time.

For games that don't support the DualSense natively, you can set it up easily via Steam Input and the touchpad of the DualSense offering practically even more buttons.

Face buttons are also very silent compared to let's say the Xbox controller. The built-in microphone is also pretty good given it's just a controller mic and is a viable option your mic/headset is either out of order or you're too lazy to switch from speaker to headphones on your PC.

In short, it gives you plenty of options. Only downside might be that bluetooth support of the controller's advanced features is a bit wobbly, but it's getting better (slowly). I have it wired all the time on PC anyways, so no battery issues, no BT-issues.
 
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I'm a bit surprised a lot of people are praising 8Bitdo. I mean I have one and i like it.. but it's smaller than the Xbox controller and I it took some time to get used to that.. And I have small, woman-like hands. Would not recommend for people with big or even just normal sized man-hands.
 
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