X-Box 360 controller for PC

[LRguy]

Do 3rd party controllers work the same way as Microsofts official ones on the PC? Will drivers still work with them? I notice they were cheaper and I'm thinking of getting one.

 

[tuteja1986]

well , xbox 360 controller is about to become standard with Windows Vista , Like every Games for Windows will have XBOX 360 controller support ... so racing , fighting , RPG and even FPS ect will have support.

 

[CVSiN]

dont buy the one that says for windows... just get the 360 corded cable... its a few bucks less but doesnt come with a driver.. (doesnt need one it auto gets it from windows update when you plug it in anyway)

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
dont buy the one that says for windows... just get the 360 corded cable... its a few bucks less but doesnt come with a driver.. (doesnt need one it auto gets it from windows update when you plug it in anyway)

yeap
and its one of the best controllers ever made.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Homerboy

Originally posted by: CVSiN
dont buy the one that says for windows... just get the 360 corded cable... its a few bucks less but doesnt come with a driver.. (doesnt need one it auto gets it from windows update when you plug it in anyway)

yeap
and its one of the best controllers ever made.

I don't know if it's the best but it's indeed a great controller. Comfortable, sturdy and responsive. Unfortunately there's no way of using the wireless one on PC (AFAIK). I've tried it on 360 and it's an AAA product.

 

[Homerboy]

I don't know if it's the best but it's indeed a great controller. Comfortable, sturdy and responsive. Unfortunately there's no way of using the wireless one on PC (AFAIK). I've tried it on 360 and it's an AAA product.

TECNICALLY I said "one of the best"
and they are coming out with an adapter for the wireless too.

 

[duragezic]

Yeah AFAIK there is no support for the wireless one, but MAYBE Vista will change that.

For the most part, the 3rd party 360 controllers are supported. You'll want to not use the XP driver though. Get XBCD + XBCD 360 driver. XBCD was made for configuring the original Xbox controller on the PC. The 360 drivers simply add support for the official 360 and like 10-12 3rd party ones.

Then you have complete control over the controller and it works in just about every game. Some games are weird, so it's easiest to just get profiles made by someone else. I have about 10 that are pretty handy. Like some games you'll want the triggers on separate axes, or as digital buttons, and you can adjust pretty much everything including deadzone, and people will for example, make the San Andreas profile to mimmick the Xbox controls exactly. Devil May Cry 3 was a crappy port, but someone finally posted a working XBCD profile. Same with NHL 06. I made my own for some racing games.

So maybe I can post up my profiles if anyone needs them. It takes a little more time than simply plugging the controller in, but once you have profiles for all of your games it's simple.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: duragezic
Yeah AFAIK there is no support for the wireless one, but MAYBE Vista will change that.

For the most part, the 3rd party 360 controllers are supported. You'll want to not use the XP driver though. Get XBCD + XBCD 360 driver. XBCD was made for configuring the original Xbox controller on the PC. The 360 drivers simply add support for the official 360 and like 10-12 3rd party ones.

Then you have complete control over the controller and it works in just about every game. Some games are weird, so it's easiest to just get profiles made by someone else. I have about 10 that are pretty handy. Like some games you'll want the triggers on separate axes, or as digital buttons, and you can adjust pretty much everything including deadzone, and people will for example, make the San Andreas profile to mimmick the Xbox controls exactly. Devil May Cry 3 was a crappy port, but someone finally posted a working XBCD profile. Same with NHL 06. I made my own for some racing games.

So maybe I can post up my profiles if anyone needs them. It takes a little more time than simply plugging the controller in, but once you have profiles for all of your games it's simple.

Right...however new games coming out and are "Windows games" as deignated by MS will ahve NATIVE 360 support (see Madden 07) The game is DESIGNED with direct support for the 360

While the XBCD drivers were practically NEEDED to get anything useful out of the 360 before, going forward the 360 will pretty much be THE DEFACTO controller in Vista and XP games.

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: duragezic
Yeah AFAIK there is no support for the wireless one, but MAYBE Vista will change that.

For the most part, the 3rd party 360 controllers are supported. You'll want to not use the XP driver though. Get XBCD + XBCD 360 driver. XBCD was made for configuring the original Xbox controller on the PC. The 360 drivers simply add support for the official 360 and like 10-12 3rd party ones.

Then you have complete control over the controller and it works in just about every game. Some games are weird, so it's easiest to just get profiles made by someone else. I have about 10 that are pretty handy. Like some games you'll want the triggers on separate axes, or as digital buttons, and you can adjust pretty much everything including deadzone, and people will for example, make the San Andreas profile to mimmick the Xbox controls exactly. Devil May Cry 3 was a crappy port, but someone finally posted a working XBCD profile. Same with NHL 06. I made my own for some racing games.

So maybe I can post up my profiles if anyone needs them. It takes a little more time than simply plugging the controller in, but once you have profiles for all of your games it's simple.

MS has released or is releasing a windows usb device that works with the wireless controllers.

At E3 06, Microsoft announced a wireless adapter, which would allow wireless gamepads to be used on PCs.

 

[bibitob]

And that adapter will also work with the wireless headset. I am 100% going to pick up both since I really don't have a good headset for the PC.

 

[LRguy]

Originally posted by: duragezic
For the most part, the 3rd party 360 controllers are supported. You'll want to not use the XP driver though. Get XBCD + XBCD 360 driver. XBCD was made for configuring the original Xbox controller on the PC. The 360 drivers simply add support for the official 360 and like 10-12 3rd party ones.

Do you know where I can get a list of all the 3rd party controllers that will work?

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
dont buy the one that says for windows... just get the 360 corded cable... its a few bucks less but doesnt come with a driver.. (doesnt need one it auto gets it from windows update when you plug it in anyway)

That's what I did. Works great as a game pad.

 

[TheSlamma]

Sweet! I thought I had to wait for Vista/DX10 to use the 360 controller. Glad I found this thread, thanks guys!

 

[secretanchitman]

they have the wireless adapter available for 20 bucks. supports 4 wireless controllers AND 4 wireless headsets. excellent buy IMO.

and yes, everyone is right. if you want the wired controller, just buy the regular one from the xbox360 section and NOT from the pc gamepads section. you'll save 5-10 bucks that way.

 

[cw42]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
they have the wireless adapter available for 20 bucks. supports 4 wireless controllers AND 4 wireless headsets. excellent buy IMO.

I don't think the wireless adapter is available until later this month.

btw there are already games that have native support for the 360 controller, ex: madden 07 works fantastic with it.

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: LRguy

Originally posted by: duragezic
For the most part, the 3rd party 360 controllers are supported. You'll want to not use the XP driver though. Get XBCD + XBCD 360 driver. XBCD was made for configuring the original Xbox controller on the PC. The 360 drivers simply add support for the official 360 and like 10-12 3rd party ones.

Do you know where I can get a list of all the 3rd party controllers that will work?

Check out xbcd360guide_50_webs_com (won't let me post that address, so replce those underscores with periods). Pretty crappy page and whatnot, but the forums are useful. For some reason, the main page makes the Firefox on this Fedora machine take a dump and have to quit, so I can't give you a direct link right now. Anyway, I remember seeing a list of 3rd party controllers in the Forums, possibly a sticky. So look around there, otherwise I can try and find the list directly later tonight when I'm at home.

So until more games, Vista, or Games for Windows add good native support for the 360 controller, I still use XBCD (config utility made by redcl0ud), XBCD 360 drivers (add support to XBCD for the 360) from Mattland, and profiles from that page's forum that I linked.

I actually haven't tried recent games without XBCD (using MS drivers). I heard Scarface had good native support, and maybe some of the new EA games do? Still using my NHL 06 profile for NHL 07, because I figured EA was too lazy for proper 360 support, and a lot of people had problems with the right analog stick which the profile fixes.

 

[Slickone]

Why is that pad so much better than any other like from Thrustmaster, etc?

Also just curious why hasnt M$ just made an equal gamepad for the PC without calling it an xbox controller that works in windows?

 

[LanceM]

Originally posted by: Slickone
Also just curious why hasnt MS just made an equal gamepad for the PC without calling it an xbox controller that works in windows?

I don't get it... what would be the point of different packaging for the exact same piece of hardware?

EDIT: Also, it's my favorite controller of all-time. I quite dislike any controller with Dual Shock-like stick placement, and much prefer the 360's triggers to the Dual Shock shoulder buttons.

 

[Sniper82]

is it worth getting over my logitech cordless wingman?

 

[GimpyFuzznut]

I think so. I mean, just go check out a Xbox kiosk and see if you like the feel of it. I personally love it. The good thing too is that, compared to all the overpriced accessories, the wireless adapter for the PC is only like 20 bucks! It supports controllers, headsets, AND the new steering wheel. I think that's a great deal if you already have the 360 controllers/accessories and want to use them on your PC.

Does anyone know if the Xbox Live webcam works on a PC? I'd pick one up but its uses seem kinda of limited if it only works on Live.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Sniper82
is it worth getting over my logitech cordless wingman?

I've never been a fan of any controller other than official 1st party console controllers. Companies like Logitech can make decent stuff but it often just feels half-assed compared to the 1st party stuff put out Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony. Heck, most PC gamepads are largely based off of the Sony dualshock blueprint if not a straight up clone.

Originally posted by: Slickone
Why is that pad so much better than any other like from Thrustmaster, etc?

Also just curious why hasnt M$ just made an equal gamepad for the PC without calling it an xbox controller that works in windows?

Microsoft was in the PC controller market before coming out with the XBox, it was part of the reason why I believe they've had relative success right out of the gate with their controllers.

However it just isn't cost effective to create two different products when they're pretty much in the same exact niche. Besides, this all fits with Microsoft's plans with everything coming together and being interconnected; 360 being more than just a gaming machine, Vista supposedly going to be a very game friendly OS and the two connecting and getting along (PC and console gaming that is)

Heck, a standardized controller already established on a successful system also standardized for the PC could really help turn PC gaming around. A problem with PC gaming has always been the lack of a centralized control scheme other than the keyboard+mouse. While the KB+mouse is perfect for some games such as FPS and RTS, it just doesn't really cut it for platformers and sports games and certainly not non-network multiplayer (if a keyboard isn't even perfect for one player, good luck sharing it amongst two or more)

 

[Sniper82]

What if I already have a S controller and a home made XBox/USB adapter? I haven't messed with a Xbox 360 controller in a while and can't remember if its any better than the standard S type Xbox controller.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: GimpyFuzznut
Does anyone know if the Xbox Live webcam works on a PC? I'd pick one up but its uses seem kinda of limited if it only works on Live.

Yes, I have one, and it works on your PC just fine .

Originally posted by: cw42
I don't think the wireless adapter is available until later this month.

That's what I read in an article on... IGN I think it was .

 

[Inspector Jihad]

hmmm...i might have to get the wireless adapter and a couple of controllers. PC gaming with standards ftw!

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: Sniper82
What if I already have a S controller and a home made XBox/USB adapter? I haven't messed with a Xbox 360 controller in a while and can't remember if its any better than the standard S type Xbox controller.

Not really worth the money IMO. I have a Xbox->USB adapter as well that I got on Ebay for $7, but I ended up getting a 360 controller earlier this year. I didn't actually own a Xbox controller (they are my roommate's) so I had to buy something, and I had money at the time so I just got a 360 controller.

But overall, the 360 controller hasn't changed much from the original. Both are excellent IMO, and the 360 is a little better. Main difference is the black and white are now shoulder buttons above the triggers. Design is slightly changed and fits in my hands a little better than the S. I guess the 360 one will have better compatibility when Vista and Games for Windows have native support, but XBCD takes care of that for the original Xbox controller just fine.

So I guess it'd have made more sense for me to buy a generic Xbox S for maybe $10 clearanced instead of the MS brand 360 for $40, but it is a really nice controller . If you're still unsure, try demoing one at a store that has a 360 setup, but overall its hard to justify the cost since you already own the S and adapter, and again compatibility/support barely matters when you have XBCD.