When it comes to control snobs the best example is the PC Gamer, after all it is true that the PC is the best for precision control in FPS and RTS games. I however am a controller snob. I enjoy playing my PC but when I am shooting someone, attempting to navigate a tricky section of platforming, or driving, I prefer to have a controller in my hand. I particularly enjoy the XBOX 360 controller and with a fancy dongle-doohickey device I am able to use one on my PC. This is nice for games like GTA where I prefer the controller to the mouse and keyboard controls. Yes, it may seem silly that I would prefer a console controller to my mouse and keyboard but blarfgh…

Anyway yesterday I downloaded a pair of games from Steam, those being Mafia and Knights of the Old Republic. Both were released on consoles quite some time ago, Mafia on the PS2 and KOTOR on the XBOX. I had played a small bit of Mafia when it was released but at the time I wasn’t able to play KOTOR and with Mafia II being something of a small hit and KOTOR being a game everyone has told me I should play, I felt the $20 investment was well worth the go. Today I sat down to try out Mafia, I got out my dongle-doohickey device, set up a controller on it and launched the game. I then spent a good ten minutes or so setting up the controller via the in game menus. Everything seemed like it was going to work out fine until I launched the tutorial and my guy just spun around in a circle. So I tried a couple other things to get it to work and poof nothing was working.

I just want to play Mafia with a controller, which uses a controller like mine on the PS2, but the game won’t let me. When I brought the issue up in forums I was basically laughed off the computer. “Why would you want to use a 360 controller to play it anyway, everyone knows mouse and keyboard is the best.” “n00b!” “Silly console gamers don’t know how to play games the right way.” How about instead of insulting me, you direct me to how to actually make it fucking work. Playing this game via the mouse and keyboard should be classified as torture. It is clunky, makes my hands hurt and worst of all I don’t like it.

So I ask you nice people, any ideas on how to get my controller to work?

When it comes to control snobs the best example is the PC Gamer, after all it is true that the PC is the best for precision control in FPS and RTS games. I however am a controller snob. I enjoy playing my PC but when I am shooting someone, attempting to navigate a tricky section of platforming, or driving, I prefer to have a controller in my hand. I particularly enjoy the XBOX 360 controller and with a fancy dongle-doohickey device I am able to use one on my PC. This is nice for games like GTA where I prefer the controller to the mouse and keyboard controls. Yes, it may seem silly that I would prefer a console controller to my mouse and keyboard but blarfgh…

Anyway yesterday I downloaded a pair of games from Steam, those being Mafia and Knights of the Old Republic. Both were released on consoles quite some time ago, Mafia on the PS2 and KOTOR on the XBOX. I had played a small bit of Mafia when it was released but at the time I wasn’t able to play KOTOR and with Mafia II being something of a small hit and KOTOR being a game everyone has told me I should play, I felt the $20 investment was well worth the go. Today I sat down to try out Mafia, I got out my dongle-doohickey device, set up a controller on it and launched the game. I then spent a good ten minutes or so setting up the controller via the in game menus. Everything seemed like it was going to work out fine until I launched the tutorial and my guy just spun around in a circle. So I tried a couple other things to get it to work and poof nothing was working.

I just want to play Mafia with a controller, which uses a controller like mine on the PS2, but the game won’t let me. When I brought the issue up in forums I was basically laughed off the computer. “Why would you want to use a 360 controller to play it anyway, everyone knows mouse and keyboard is the best.” “n00b!” “Silly console gamers don’t know how to play games the right way.” How about instead of insulting me, you direct me to how to actually make it fucking work. Playing this game via the mouse and keyboard should be classified as torture. It is clunky, makes my hands hurt and worst of all I don’t like it.

So I ask you nice people, any ideas on how to get my controller to work?

Buy a console?
/Elitist PC jerk
 
Anyway, are you sure you didn't turn the analog stick when you plugged in the controller? Is the analog stick loose? If there's no deadzone configured in the game, even a tiny adjustment could cause your character to turn.

Try using a third party controller app. You'll have to map the controls yourself but it lets you set it up how you like. Also there seems to be a common problem among 360 controllers where if the analogue sticks are perfectly centred it will detect it as movement and go crazy.
Hopefully someone else can suggest a good third party one. I don't use one any more, since most games I use it for have native support.