OS Neutral Which Gaming Controller(s) Do You Use?

[Huntn]

Which do you use?
Although I frequently say I play with keyboard mouse on my PC, I am using programmable devices so I have a Razer Nostromo (replaced with a Tartarus) which is like a little keyboard with extra input gadgets and a Razer Gaming mouse with 12 buttons on the side, both are fully programmable. If I was using a generic keyboard and mouse, I would not find that adequate for many games.

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Oh my, I had no idea there was such a thing! Looks beyond cool. I have to see that rig in person to try it out.

The Nostromo has been replaced with the Tartarus Pro which is about $100. This kind of device has gotten rather expensive.

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I remember a time when I was sold on trackballs for gaming. Why move your arm when you can just move your fingers? Alas trackballs, I wonder if they still make them? And today I’d choose the buttons of a gaming mouse. My favorite was the Microsoft Trackball Explorer, although it only had a couple of buttons. A refurbished model, they want $250 for, ha ha.

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Microsoft Trackball Explorer

Microsoft Trackball Explorer

www.porterelectronics.com

Today for a gaming mouse I have to wonder what is going on with Razer, are their 15 mouse gaming mouses history? Here is another discontinued item someone wants $250 for. Fortunately there is Red Dragon.

Razer RZ01-01610100-R3U1 Naga Chroma - Ergonomic RGB MMO Gaming Mouse- 12 Programmable Thumb Buttons & 16,000 Adjustible DPI

Introducing the next great mouse in Razer's arsenal, the Razer Naga Chroma. The Razer Naga Chroma's revolutionary 12 button thumb grid has been outfitted with mechanical switches to give you tactile and audible feedback, so you can be assured of every actuation. Now with 16.8 million color option...

www.amazon.com

Fortunately there is the Red Dragon M908 for $35 at Amazon.

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Infrequently I use an Xbox controller on my PC when the game forces me to. It has never been my first choice especially when I went from playing Marathon (Bungie game for Mac) on keyboard mouse to playing Halo on the Xbox with a controller, which I detested the inaccuracy of the controller compared to a mouse.

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[velocityg4]

If a game is a console port. I'll most likely use a controller. I know a lot of PC gamers prefer a keyboard and mouse. I don't. At least not for the games I play. For that I'm using my venerable old XBox 360 controller. Been using it for over ten years. I didn't even notice it was wearing out until I played Soul Calibur VI. Which works better using the D-Pad than stick. Then I noticed the stick frequently sticks going up. I'm thinking of one of the new XBox controllers. I'm just concerned reading that the latest gen XBox controllers are already failing. I want something which'll hold up for ten years.

XBox 360 White Wired






On more complex titles designed for keyboard and mouse. I'm not that serious about it. I've got a gaming mouse I like and my keyboard serves me well enough. I'd sort of like a mechanical keyboard. But I don't like any of the wireless options. So, I'll just stick with my old Logitech. Although a number of the keycaps have their letters worn off.

Logitech MX518


Logitech MK700

 

[garnerx]

I’d say the best thing to use is the latest Xbox controller, but that makes a mockery of the fact that I’ve spent far more on specialist peripherals than I have on the actual PC. Xbox is fine for most things but I use these other ones where appropriate:

^ Razer Orbweaver and Logitech G501 Hero mouse.

The Orbweaver was bought to replace a Nostromo (similar thing) that had gone all greasy and horrible. It has mechanical keys, which are great. The downside is the software, which is intrusive and annoying and permanently online, and has a big startup impact. Every time there’s a minor Windows update it demands a password. I leave it turned off now.
The mouse is great - best mouse I’ve owned.

^ Glorious Mechanical Keyboard with custom keycaps and switches.

Very nice small keyboard that doesn’t make you stretch your hands too far apart to reach the mouse. For when I can’t be bothered to activate the Orbweaver software, which is most of the time these days.

^ Virpil joystick and throttle.

These are amazing for flight sims. I have them on Monstertech table mounts, they clamp either side of my chair and can be set up or removed in seconds.

^ Fanatec wheel base with custom wheel rim (from an actual car) and magnetic gear paddles.

This is a pain to set up and take down because of the heavy mounting plate. It weighs a ton. Works great though, and capable of giving you sore hands in a long race if you don’t wear gloves. I put Sugru clay on some of the buttons so I can locate them while wearing a VR headset.

^ Fanatec car pedals and VKB aircraft pedals.

The VKB pedals are designed to be used at a desk - they have vertical travel so you don’t push your chair backwards while using them.
The Fanatec pedals need to be braced against something, as does the chair, because the brake has a load cell (like on a set of bathroom scales) that measures the force you put into it. It takes a lot of pressure. There are rumble motors on the pedals but I still haven’t found a game that uses that feature.

 

[Tsubame]

If I use a controller it is my PS5 controller, but that is only used 90% on the PS5 itself. I rarely sync it to the desktop, because if I am playing a game better on controller I will just play it on the console.

As for my iMac setup, I am using a Razer Naga mouse (I play a lot of MMOs and having 12+ buttons at fingertip is amazing) and Steelseries Apex Pro keyboard. If I bought any new peripherals, they would probably be SteelSeries just because they seem to be the only gaming peripherial manufacturer with really good Mac support; all their configuration software have mac versions that work really well.

The Apex Pro was pretty pricy, but I like it a lot.

 

[whooleytoo]

Only just got an Azeron Compact, and it's taking a bit of time to adjust. I still have to mentally go "Ok, wait. I don't have to distort my pinky to kit the Ctrl/Alt/Z key etc., I can just use any other finger...". The keys are insanely sensitive, which I'm getting used to. It's easy to accidentally hit the buttons even when just putting your hand on the controller.

I also didn't know about the 'simultaneous input' issue; where (I think!) many games won't allow analog input from multiple devices, so if you set up the thumbstick as analog it'll interfere with the mouse-input and vice-versa. In those scenarios, you have to just map the analog stick to WASD buttons to get it to work.

(Also have a Virpil MongoosT-50 throttle, VKB Gunfighter Pro stick, TrackIR for head tracking, Crosswind pedals, and a Blackhog b-explorer button extension, and Xbox One gamepad. Yes, I realise i have a problem).

 

[Huntn]

I’ve not used my joysticks for a decade, although I did get one out for a brief look at a VR space sim. Nausea made me put it away.

 

[Huntn]

I’d say the best thing to use is the latest Xbox controller, but that makes a mockery of the fact that I’ve spent far more on specialist peripherals than I have on the actual PC. Xbox is fine for most things but I use these other ones where appropriate:

View attachment 1796787
^ Razer Orbweaver and Logitech G501 Hero mouse.

The Orbweaver was bought to replace a Nostromo (similar thing) that had gone all greasy and horrible. It has mechanical keys, which are great. The downside is the software, which is intrusive and annoying and permanently online, and has a big startup impact. Every time there’s a minor Windows update it demands a password. I leave it turned off now.
The mouse is great - best mouse I’ve owned.

View attachment 1796788
^ Glorious Mechanical Keyboard with custom keycaps and switches.

Very nice small keyboard that doesn’t make you stretch your hands too far apart to reach the mouse. For when I can’t be bothered to activate the Orbweaver software, which is most of the time these days.

View attachment 1796789
^ Virpil joystick and throttle.

These are amazing for flight sims. I have them on Monstertech table mounts, they clamp either side of my chair and can be set up or removed in seconds.

View attachment 1796790
^ Fanatec wheel base with custom wheel rim (from an actual car) and magnetic gear paddles.

This is a pain to set up and take down because of the heavy mounting plate. It weighs a ton. Works great though, and capable of giving you sore hands in a long race if you don’t wear gloves. I put Sugru clay on some of the buttons so I can locate them while wearing a VR headset.

View attachment 1796791
^ Fanatec car pedals and VKB aircraft pedals.

The VKB pedals are designed to be used at a desk - they have vertical travel so you don’t push your chair backwards while using them.
The Fanatec pedals need to be braced against something, as does the chair, because the brake has a load cell (like on a set of bathroom scales) that measures the force you put into it. It takes a lot of pressure. There are rumble motors on the pedals but I still haven’t found a game that uses that feature.

Wow, nice stick. I really like my Razer Nostromo, predecessor to Tartarus.

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I also have a Tartarus (follow-on to Nostromo, I assume Orbweaver predecessor?) waiting in the wings for when my Nostromos die. What I really appreciate with Razor is the software that remembers key sets.
Orbweaver- $300 When I checked online. Seems overpriced. Has that been discontinued?

 

[garnerx]

Wow, nice stick. I really like my Razer Nostromo, predecessor to Tartarus.

View attachment 1807999​

I also have a Tartarus (follow-on to Nostromo, I assume Orbweaver predecessor?) waiting in the wings for when my Nostromos die. What I really appreciate with Razor is the software that remembers key sets.
Orbweaver- $300 When I checked online. Seems overpriced. Has that been discontinued?

My Nostromo was fine until the rubber coating on the palm rest started to decay and went all sticky. It was disgusting.

I paid a third of that for the Orbweaver, I guess it must have been discontinued or there’s a new one coming out. Orbweaver has really good key switches and the various parts can be extended or angled to fit your hand. The software is annoying, though. Why should I have to sign into a cloud account just to use a keyboard? Seems like a security risk to me, I don’t trust the likes of Razer with my personal info.

 

[Huntn]

My Nostromo was fine until the rubber coating on the palm rest started to decay and went all sticky. It was disgusting.

I paid a third of that for the Orbweaver, I guess it must have been discontinued or there’s a new one coming out. Orbweaver has really good key switches and the various parts can be extended or angled to fit your hand. The software is annoying, though. Why should I have to sign into a cloud account just to use a keyboard? Seems like a security risk to me, I don’t trust the likes of Razer with my personal info.

When I launch it Synapse, it syncs key sets with the cloud. Not sure how much personal info is shared.

 

[garnerx]

When I launch it Synapse, it syncs key sets with the cloud. Not sure how much personal info is shared.

Every account I'm forced to make is a security risk, and the more old and broken single-use accounts that are out there with various bits of info on them, the more likely it is that somebody will put them all together to make something genuinely useful in terms of fraud.

All I want it for the software to save key bindings for different games, but I can't use that feature of the hardware (that I paid for) without logging into their servers. They never told me about last year's security breach, when they leaked customer data for about a month, and they didn't fix it promptly despite being warned repeatedly. They are absolutely not to be trusted.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/14/21436160/razer-data-leak-elasticsearch-sever-misconfiguration

edit: this is a better account of it. Apparently Razer have now removed the forced online requirement, although I can't find that option anywhere and can't start the software without logging in. They awarded one hacker 28 bug bounties in a single year for all the vulnerabilities he found in this thing!
https://arstechnica.com/information...ta-leaked-due-to-misconfigured-elasticsearch/

 

[Huntn]

Every account I'm forced to make is a security risk, and the more old and broken single-use accounts that are out there with various bits of info on them, the more likely it is that somebody will put them all together to make something genuinely useful in terms of fraud.

All I want it for the software to save key bindings for different games, but I can't use that feature of the hardware (that I paid for) without logging into their servers. They never told me about last year's security breach, when they leaked customer data for about a month, and they didn't fix it promptly despite being warned repeatedly. They are absolutely not to be trusted.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/14/21436160/razer-data-leak-elasticsearch-sever-misconfiguration

edit: this is a better account of it. Apparently Razer have now removed the forced online requirement, although I can't find that option anywhere and can't start the software without logging in. They awarded one hacker 28 bug bounties in a single year for all the vulnerabilities he found in this thing!
https://arstechnica.com/information...ta-leaked-due-to-misconfigured-elasticsearch/

It’s been a long time now, but I think to establish my Snapse/Razer account I used password and email, don’t remember if they wanted my address, but that in itself is not that big a deal is it?

 

[garnerx]

It’s been a long time now, but I think to establish my Snapse/Razer account I used password and email, don’t remember if they wanted my address, but that in itself is not that big a deal is it?

In itself, maybe not a big deal, but when you have large databases full of leaked email addresses from here, passwords from there, postal addresses and purchase histories from elsewhere, it can be cross-referenced to form a more complete picture. My email address shows up as having been in 6 separate data breaches in the last 5 years, and it's largely because companies like Razer demand pointless accounts.

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

 

[erayser]

I mainly game on keyboard and mouse... so I only have a cheap $17 wired Xbox knockoff controller. It does what I need it to do... so I'm not really interested in upgrading it. My keyboard is a Drop CTRL Mechanical TKL, and the mouse is a Glorious Model D. I guess the mic is a gaming peripheral for games like Phasmophobia. The mic is an Elgato Wave 3.

I also do VR Gaming with a Quest 2.

It's a cheaper VR headset, but I love that I can play Steam PCVR games wirelessly at 90 to 120 fps... depending on the game. The VR headset is an eye sore on my desk, and takes to much space... so it's only on my desk for the photo.

 

[garnerx]

I mainly game on keyboard and mouse... so I only have a cheap $17 wired Xbox knockoff controller. It does what I need it to do... so I'm not really interested in upgrading it. My keyboard is a Drop CTRL Mechanical TKL, and the mouse is a Glorious Model D. I guess the mic is a gaming peripheral for games like Phasmophobia. The mic is an Elgato Wave 3.

I also do VR Gaming with a Quest 2.

It's a cheaper VR headset, but I love that I can play Steam PCVR games wirelessly at 90 to 120 fps... depending on the game. The VR headset is an eye sore on my desk, and takes to much space... so it's only on my desk for the photo.

That’s a super clean setup. My games room / office is a tip, my VR headset lives on the floor under a light coating of dust.

I like the light around the middle of the keyboard. I looked those Drop ones but they’re not easy / cheap to ship to this country (England) so I found a Glorious one on eBay and got a set of Tai Hao keycaps.

I’m looking at getting a complete new PC, since my current home-made one has started cutting out or throttling under load. The CPU and motherboard are nearly 9 years old. Buying a pre-built PC seems to be the only way to get hold of some of the parts at the moment.