What your favourite type of controller?

Whatever is the best option for the game I am playing.

Here was I playing Dead Space 2 on the PS3 and thinking that I prefered playing it on the PC with keyboard and mouse.

True that it depends greatly on the type of game the best controller, but for me nothing replaces the keyboard.

I tend to use a Gamepad on PC games if it is supported natively, and it plays fine with it. 
 
I don't mind using a M+ Keyboard but I guess I prefer a controller.

Controller most of the time, I love the NGC and Xbox360 controllers.
 
PC shooters or mmo's are straight mouse + KB though.
 
I once hooked up a xbox controller to my pc with some software and played World of Warcraft with it, its surprisingly doable at lower levels when playing a melee orientated class, good fun.

@Atramentous said:

Whatever is the best option for the game I am playing.

Gamepads are better suited for more genres of games. Mouse and keyboard are basically only better for FPS's and RPG's.

Xbox 360 controller specifically.

M+kb for real PC games, such as RTS, FPS, etc.

Otherwise I'll use my controller if it's supported.

360 controller or mouse and keyboard if I can't use the controller.

Overall gamepads, but definitely keyboard and mouse for some.

Usually I prefer a gamepad (I really like the 360 controller) but mouse and keyboard has its uses as well.

99% of the time gamepad.

Keyboard & Mouse 4 life!

When you are locked in the lighting booth for 3 hours with only a laptop for sustenance, you suddenly become very thankful for the fact that Burnout Paradise has native 360 controller support.

Gamepad

Microcontroller

Unless we are talking original xbox controller, mouse an keyboard for sure.

Since I mainly play strategy and first person, the mouse and keyboard.

It's usually better for third person action games as well when it comes to aiming.

Keyboard and mouse for my first person games.

360 controller for everything else, which is a controller I find the most comfortable which is ironic since I only own play station consoles.

It depends entirely on what I'm playing. If it's something like GTA, a gamepad. If it's a shooter (first or third person), a mouse and a keyboard. If it's a tactical RPG, a mouse and a keyboard. If it's a racing game either a wheel or a gamepad. Narrowing yourself between one or the other is stupid. Use the right tool for the right job. End of story.

Motion!

I use keyboard and mouse for first person and strategy games, gamepad for most other things, occasionally a flight or fight stick.

Generally I like the gamepad the best since it's the most versatile and ergonomic.

This is something I was thinking about recently. I'd say gamepad for any third person or side scrolling things, but if we're talking something that involves aiming then a gamepad's awful and I don't understand the proliferation on the PC platform. I just got into Metro2033 and really put the effort in to play it with a gamepad. Turns out nosalises move really fast and just using my thumb doesn't match the fidelity of my thumb/ring finger + wrist + elbow. Something like Fable or Super Meat Boy though I can really appreciate a button lay out on a controller - plus it's always heart breaking to try to navigate a third person game with a floating camera and only digital movement.

Controller for sure. I'm not into competitive multiplayer so I don't mind less responsive first or third person aiming, and I'm really accustomed to smoothly panning the camera around with the right stick in third person games. It's like I'm the director! Right guys? Right?!

Gamepad for most games, even on PC.

I prefer a gamepad over mouse & keyboard any time. Even Especially when playing FPS games.

I don't know why. It just feels natural. I know PC elitists would love to rip me to shreds over this. I have always had the opinion that WASD+mouse is a poor way to control a video game - and I only got my first console some two years ago, so I did use it for a hell of a long time.

KB+M for most games. Exceptions are stuff like Arkham Asylum/Assassin's Creed, or driving games, where I'll use my 360 controller.

Usually I prefer a gamepad. Also, isn't a Kinect a motion controller?

@AiurFlux said:

It depends entirely on what I'm playing. If it's something like GTA, a gamepad. If it's a shooter (first or third person), a mouse and a keyboard. If it's a tactical RPG, a mouse and a keyboard. If it's a racing game either a wheel or a gamepad. Narrowing yourself between one or the other is stupid. Use the right tool for the right job. End of story.

Pretty much this, only I can't think of many third person shooters where I wouldn't use a controller. I'd use a mouse on Resident Evil 5 if I had it on PC, just for headshots, but most third person shooters I'd want a controller on.

@Ne0teric said:

Maybe I'm the only person in the world who does this... but after buying my PC in December, I have since been using a mouse and 360 controller. I personally feel that keyboards are for typing. I get no feedback from pressing the letter S. The analog stick just feels better. Plus I get the added benefit of mouse precision. That leaves me with about 7 buttons on my mouse to bind, and 8 on the controller. (Not counting movement) I have yet to run into an issue where I don't have enough buttons.

You may think I'm wrong/stupid for having my own opinion. But I like it. :D

Nah, I don't think you're wrong or stupid, just weird :). Though I can't see myself doing it. If you want a button count, though, keyboard has pretty much everything still beat; even without moving more than one finger, you can reach 24 buttons by my count, not including WASD or mouse buttons.

Gamepad everyday of the week and hopefully for years to come.

Usually I prefer a gamepad. Also, isn't a Kinect a motion controller?

@Brodehouse said:

@Gamer_152

Usually I prefer a gamepad. Also, isn't a Kinect a motion controller?

An optical mouse is also a motion controller.

Mind = blown.

Since Quake (oh, those wonderful pre-Quake times when you used a keyboard to play an FPS, WASD? more like ZX/' and what's this strafe thing you're talking about) then keyboard and mouse has been my primary decision for avatar control (the god/sim game is a mouse thing as was showing the mouse's prowess for years before Quake, before thumbsticks then flight needed a stick, by the time driving games needed more than a keyboard then analogue trigger pads were around for me to adopt).

But WASD (remember when people used arrow keys and had fast access to the numpad rather than the number row?) is a terrible control method for any game that actually uses variable avatar movement for a core gameplay component (games that use the fine-grain movement directionality can be accommodated by use of the mouse to line up the 8 directions you can input with WASD to any direction you like so it takes a different skill but there isn't a clear reason to pick pad vs m/kb to perform well at it - the style you know how to do is the clear winner) and I play plenty of console games so I'm really comfortable moving with either (and using pad on the PC for games with benefits for not moving at max speed even when I have the kb/m option).

So it's really based on the game I'm playing. A good 360 style pad (location of left stick and feel of triggers is why I specify 360 and not dualshock style, again that is totally a learnt preference so could easily be the other way round for someone else); a good kb/m; a nice stick with twist 3rd axis, hat and buttons/trigger on top, throttle on the side and a keyboard for aux buttons. All three of these have their place and I bet, with practice, I could add a wheel setup as a core requirement (I don't like driving games that get more sim than Forza with assists off but automatic shifting on; I don't drive in RL). I tend of use kb/m where available and I'd say I'm better in an FPS due to being able to turn faster and more accurately than is possible with a stick (due to the max turn speed vs accuracy of small stick movements limitation as well as 5 years more practice becoming familiar with kb/m in FPS) but that doesn't invalidate the pad and there are plenty of game types where it's the obvious choice.

So, ye, this question doesn't really have an easy answer or an obvious meaning when asked in such a general way, especially as a lot of it will be personal experience level with each one, I bet with 20 years of practice then the PS3 move controller could be a really good FPS controller, but it's impossible to find anyone who has had those two decades of practice.

Gamepad....I'm not real comfortable with keyboard and mouse controls for some reason.

Gamepad for more action-y type games, Mouse for more precise games.

For an FPS, I'll gravitate to whatever system my friends are playing on, and learn the game accordingly

I'll default to a gamepad only because the 360 controller feels more comfortable in my hands than a mouse/keyboard - I spend so much of my time typing that to spend more time on it gets to me after a while. Variety!

Steelseries Sensei & Qpad Mk-85

When i'm actually playing a game i stop noticing which controller implement i'm using. However i voted Gamepad because i like being able to control the speed of my characters movement.

I normally prefer the traditional Gamepad or Motion Controller; the only real time that I vastly prefer the Mouse and Keyboard is for first person shooters and sometimes a third person shooter depending on how the shooting and aiming mechanics works. For example Splinter Cell and Grand Theft Auto IV are games which a mouse and keyboard needlessly complicated the controls and hindered the playability of the game. On the other hand, aiming worked far better in Mafia II with a mouse, but the driving segments worked much better with a standard controller. It all depends upon the game.

Gamepad for me, easily. I was born and raised on NES, SNES, Genesis, & PS1. And those controllers in particular, are my favorites, along with the oh-so-comfortable Saturn controller.

a xbox 360 controller feels great. except the D-pad is crap. keyboard and mouse is also great.

I prefer using a controller to a keyboard or mouse, despite owning a PC with enough power to play a fair few games now. My favorite controller, undoubtedly, is the standard 360 model. It is more ergonomic than the PlayStation controllers, in my own opinion, and has a bit more weight to it. Don't get me wrong, I like the PlayStation controllers, but I do feel the Xbox 360 controllers are a refinement of a similar design. I can't game on a mouse and keyboard all that well, but I'm doing a little better I guess. It just takes practice.

Kinect is my favorite because it blows my mind using it, I grew up wondering if something like that would ever exist and now I get to live out that dream.

In terms of what I use most often though, gamepad.

And in even more specific terms, original PlayStation pad is the best.

What about voice commands and mind control?

@Atramentous said:

Whatever is the best option for the game I am playing.

This, although I tend to find myself using more and more a gamepad with PC games. Even with some shooters.

Depends on the type of game. I'll just say keyboard and mouse to not be awkward.

Four years ago, I probably would have said Mouse and Keyboard, but I nowadays I much prefer a gamepad for most games that don't require the precision of a mouse. It comes down to the fact that playing with a gamepad is just much more comfortable than a mouse and keyboard (to the point where I played most of the single player campaign in ME3 on the PC with a gamepad). You don't have to be hunched over your desk, you can just sit back, relax and play the game.

KB+M most of the time, though some console ports work better with a 360 controller. And that one time I tried to play HL2:DM with a controller. Hilarious times.