PS3 Controller on PC: Alternative to Motionjoy?

Hey Bombers,

I'd like to set up my PS3 controller on my PC, but I'd like to know if there is an alternative to the MotionJoy DS3 tool. I set up the DS3 tool a while ago and it worked great, but it fucked up my drivers something fierce. I've scoured Google, but I've yet to find a reasonable alternative to the MotionJoy application.

Any ideas?

No. I am not aware of anything other than MotionJoy DS3. Though if it fucked up anything on your computer, it isn't MotionJoy's fault. There must be something else wrong with your computer. How long has it been since you formatted your hard-drive and reinstalled everything fresh?

I would always recommend just going for a 360 pad because that's what developers design their control schemes around. The DS3 tool stuff is mostly accurate but I still find it silly to use that thing over a 360 pad because of them stupid "triggers"

Sorry that doesn't answer your question but I definitely feel you're better off going for a pad that instantly works with no worrying about remapping the trigger commands to R1/L1.

You could try Xpadder.

@Sooty said:

I would always recommend just going for a 360 pad because that's what developers design their control schemes around. The DS3 tool stuff is mostly accurate but I still find it silly to use that thing over a 360 pad because of them stupid "triggers"

Sorry that doesn't answer your question but I definitely feel you're better off going for a pad that instantly works with no worrying about remapping the trigger commands to R1/L1.

Yeah, this. Plugging in a 360 controller (or using a wireless one with the PC receiver dongle) means you'll never have to touch control settings in any game with controller support. Even if you prefer the DualShock as a controller it just isn't worth all the config hassle you'll have to go through to use it.

@Brad said:

@Sooty said:

Sorry that doesn't answer your question but I definitely feel you're better off going for a pad that instantly works with no worrying about remapping the trigger commands to R1/L1.

Even if you prefer the DualShock as a controller it just isn't worth all the config hassle you'll have to go through to use it.

Not sure what you guys are talking about. I use my Dual Shock 3 on my PC with this software and I never remap anything. I just open the DS3 tool, click "Enable," and it's exactly like a 360 pad. Remapping the triggers to R1/L1 makes no sense, because then you have no bumpers. Why would you do that? The triggers on the DualShock aren't THAT bad.

@Brad said:

@Sooty said:

I would always recommend just going for a 360 pad because that's what developers design their control schemes around. The DS3 tool stuff is mostly accurate but I still find it silly to use that thing over a 360 pad because of them stupid "triggers"

Sorry that doesn't answer your question but I definitely feel you're better off going for a pad that instantly works with no worrying about remapping the trigger commands to R1/L1.

Yeah, this. Plugging in a 360 controller (or using a wireless one with the PC receiver dongle) means you'll never have to touch control settings in any game with controller support. Even if you prefer the DualShock as a controller it just isn't worth all the config hassle you'll have to go through to use it.

Never understood this argument. You have to install drivers for the X360 controller as well. The PC just does it for you.

As for configuration, the only configuration that I ever do is go into the DS3 tool and turn on the controller when I want to use it. Everything will map 1:1 with a 360 controller by default, except maybe the PS button, but PC games never use that anyhow.

It's almost a bonus to be able to turn the controller on/off without having to disconnect it. I can understand people liking one pad over the other for ergonomic reasons or whatever, but because of configuration? Setting that thing up was 1 installer and then done. Nearly no work. And then never need to do settings per game since its all at a system level. I guess you could re-map buttons if you want, but why?

I've been wondering the same thing except for Mac. I've seen one called Game Companion, but people don't seem to like it much based on the reviews on the Mac Appstore.

DO NOT ATTEMPT. The drivers for the PS3 controller bricked my entire installation of windows and forced a format and reinstallation. Make sure you check for any issues that might occur with other drivers or devices. I lost a lot of shit. The 360 pad on the other hand has official driver support and is MAD EASY to get working, in that you plug it in, and it just works (on Windows 7 and 8, at least).

@Rayeth: The difference is the drivers for the PS3 controller aren't official, they are made by some dudes, and as a result, have a tendency to not work at all and occasionally do some real damage.

@Sooty said:

I would always recommend just going for a 360 pad because that's what developers design their control schemes around. The DS3 tool stuff is mostly accurate but I still find it silly to use that thing over a 360 pad because of them stupid "triggers"

Sorry that doesn't answer your question but I definitely feel you're better off going for a pad that instantly works with no worrying about remapping the trigger commands to R1/L1.

Yeah, this. Plugging in a 360 controller (or using a wireless one with the PC receiver dongle) means you'll never have to touch control settings in any game with controller support. Even if you prefer the DualShock as a controller it just isn't worth all the config hassle you'll have to go through to use it.

I bought a little USB converter so I could use my PS2 pad instead. It's not the same as a PS3 stuff, but it works well.

Also there is a contingent of PC games which do not support an Xbox controller whatsoever (yes I have a wired "for PC" one). Such as games from DICE, Bad Company 2 in my case. It simply is/was not possible to remap the controller to recreate a 360 configuration. Not without endless tweaking. So the notion that "it always works, because it's the defacto" is false. The developer has to give a damn about supporting it. But overall it's better than tweaking an old Gravis. ;)

For OSX I (infrequently) use this driver: http://tattiebogle.net/index.php/ProjectRoot/Xbox360Controller (only version 0.10 as v0.11 hangs during install and steals mouse/keyboard control. Be prepared for hard reboots) He has made a v0.01 PS3 driver as well, but it doesn't seem necessary for OSX according to other threads. This bluetooth pairing trick works for me: (sorry to hijack the thread further, but it will hopefully help someone trying to mess around with it.)

@Brad said:

@Sooty said:

I would always recommend just going for a 360 pad because that's what developers design their control schemes around. The DS3 tool stuff is mostly accurate but I still find it silly to use that thing over a 360 pad because of them stupid "triggers"

Sorry that doesn't answer your question but I definitely feel you're better off going for a pad that instantly works with no worrying about remapping the trigger commands to R1/L1.

Yeah, this. Plugging in a 360 controller (or using a wireless one with the PC receiver dongle) means you'll never have to touch control settings in any game with controller support. Even if you prefer the DualShock as a controller it just isn't worth all the config hassle you'll have to go through to use it.

DS3 Tool has an option that emulates a 360 controller. I own a PS3 but not a 360 so I just use the controllers I already have. Using the "emulate 360 controller" option I have never really had to go through any other config hassle. If anything it is easier than setting up a wireless 360 controller, as pairing a PS3 controller to a USB bluetooth dongle is a lot easier than getting the 360 wireless PC dongle to work.

@MonetaryDread said:

No. I am not aware of anything other than MotionJoy DS3. Though if it fucked up anything on your computer, it isn't MotionJoy's fault. There must be something else wrong with your computer. How long has it been since you formatted your hard-drive and reinstalled everything fresh?

The drivers are made by an individual, an amateur possibly who created the drivers and there are a number of issues that surrounded it.

I'm not using it anymore because of a few reasons:

It actually messed up my Bluetooth settings and it took me months to fix because of the poor structure of the configuration tools.

Also, that bluetooth connectivity stuff? You have to turn a bluetooth receiver into a PS3 controller receiver and it can't function as anything else. The hell is that?

It requires web access to access the configuration tools for the sole purpose of making the guy money through ads. Kind of a shady way to make cash for this kind of project, but I guess those Microsoft patents have to be paid for in some way.

Also no, the offline configuration files I could never get working at all.

Motioninjoy is poor, and hasn't seen any regular updates after that time which is already enough to give up on those drivers. I want something more official and wish Sony would step up their game since I don't have four 360 controllers for my PC.

i tired using my after ps3 glow controller on my pc it would not let me look up or down.

@Bartman3010 said:

The drivers are made by an individual, an amateur possibly who created the drivers and there are a number of issues that surrounded it.

I'm not using it anymore because of a few reasons:

It actually messed up my Bluetooth settings and it took me months to fix because of the poor structure of the configuration tools.

This.

Recently, I bought myself a USB bluetooth receiver and, despite having uninstalled MotionJoy, Windows decided to apply the DS3 tool drivers to the new USB device. It took a couple hours of manually removing every trace of the MotionJoy drivers from my system, reinstalling my bluetooth receiver's drivers, and repeat. I hadn't even used the MotionJoy app for its bluetooth functionality, but it didn't matter.

TL;DR: MotionJoy drivers messed my shit up and were a bitch to uninstall.

Most versatile PC gamepad available is the Logitech F510

It acts as a 360 Controller when plugged in, but it also has a switch to change to 'directinput' to control older PC games that don't have 360 controller support. It has rumble, triggers, and a home button for GFWL. It's also shaped like the PS3 Controller.

@WarlordPayne said:

You could try Xpadder.

I'll give it a shot.

Update: didn't work with PS3 controller.

A wireless Xbox controller plus the official Microsoft USB dongle for PC is the best investment in accessories for PC gaming I have ever made. That + Pinnacle Profiler means I can do all the PC couch gaming I want. Trine 2 for PC + friends + 3 wireless Xbox controllers made for some of the best fun I have had in ages.

Well, it looks like I'm going to be using up my Gamestop store credit on a 360 controller.

Thanks anyways, dudes.

@bwmcmaste said:

Well, it looks like I'm going to be using up my Gamestop store credit on a 360 controller.

Thanks anyways, dudes.

Well, you could try an older version of MotionJoy. I prefer a PS3 controller for emulating older consoles since the d-pad is a million times better, but the newer versions of MotionJoy don't work. I just stick with the old one (5. something) and they work well enough, though the program is still a piece of crap.

Still, there are many games on PC that natively support the 360 controller, and Windows 7 and Vista themselves already have the drivers installed. XPadder recognizes it almost instantly. The support for a 360 controller is very, very good, and if you game on PC but prefer controllers then there are no better alternatives. Your money's well-spent on a wired 360 controller.

Yeah either get a 360 controller or use a PS2 controller with a converter such as the inPin.

Sorry dude, but so far MotionJoy has been working like a charm.

Other than that a 360 controller is the only option that will do what you want without any issues.

i recently tried motioninjoy and while i dont have a bluetooth setup on my pc, i recently have come to a similar awareness with this program namely because of the "must be online" aspect of it. Wow what a jip, got up early one morning and wanted to play skyrim and became unmotivated when i noticed that the website was down for whatever reason, oh look can't load the config tool, gotta play skyrim the vanilla way now. :(

@selvokaz said:

i recently tried motioninjoy and while i dont have a bluetooth setup on my pc, i recently have come to a similar awareness with this program namely because of the "must be online" aspect of it. Wow what a jip, got up early one morning and wanted to play skyrim and became unmotivated when i noticed that the website was down for whatever reason, oh look can't load the config tool, gotta play skyrim the vanilla way now. :(

Bummed out about this as well. Wanted to play some Sleeping Dogs just now, but MotionInJoy is currently down.

This has never happened before, and up until today, I never knew I had to be connected to anything for it to work. It just so happened that I never tried it offline. I guess in a way I can understand why this is the way it is (tool is free, they want their ad revenue) but it's still a bummer.

@selvokaz said:

i recently tried motioninjoy and while i dont have a bluetooth setup on my pc, i recently have come to a similar awareness with this program namely because of the "must be online" aspect of it. Wow what a jip, got up early one morning and wanted to play skyrim and became unmotivated when i noticed that the website was down for whatever reason, oh look can't load the config tool, gotta play skyrim the vanilla way now. :(

Bummed out about this as well. Wanted to play some Sleeping Dogs just now, but MotionInJoy is currently down.

This has never happened before, and up until today, I never knew I had to be connected to anything for it to work. It just so happened that I never tried it offline. I guess in a way I can understand why this is the way it is (tool is free, they want their ad revenue) but it's still a bummer.

@emem: Thanks for this. I'll be sure to give it a try when I get the chance.