Gamepads, KB/M, joysticks, all that stuff

[Hypernetic]

Is there any point to the thickness? Because the thinner variant is much cheaper.

I haven't used the thinner one, but this one is pretty heavy for a mouse pad so it stays put. I don't know if it really matters that much though, you probably would be fine with the cheaper one. I didn't even know there was a thinner one, I just bought this off amazon a while back while looking through mousepads because my mousing was starting to destroy the finish on my desk. I wanted something really big because I had become accustomed to using a large portion of my desk for mousing and wasn't used to isolating my mouse movements to a small rectangle. I've been really happy with it so far, I've had it for about 4 months or so.

[Kelron]

Is there any point to the thickness? Because the thinner variant is much cheaper.

Don't think so. I have the mini one and it doesn't slide around my desk, the base has plenty of grip.

[postinternetsyndrome]

Got the pad the other day! It's huge! Haven't had an opportunity to try it out in games yet though, because of school stuff. Grumble.

[NoodleFighter]

Razer Hydra, Razer Onza, Logitech F310, some old logitech steering wheel and pedals, generic keyboard and mouse

[NoodleFighter]

How do you find the Hydra, and what do you use it for?

I have recently been looking into controllers and combinations of controllers with high analog axis count for playing Descent-like games, and I have to say the options do not look so great. There is professional equipment like 3dconnexion's gear, there's the Hydra, hacked Wiimotes, etc. Even HOTAS setups tend to have surprisingly few axis constantly available.

It's alright but the screen be a bit shaking which is why I put it on low sensitivity, I have this dual analog mode for games like Killing Floor where I let the the analog do most of the aiming and I use the motion controls to assist it.

[NoodleFighter]

The only real advantage they bring is that they come with a decent sensor. If you find the mouse skipping or losing input at high speed then you may find a better sensor helps. There are more vague things like advanced profile support and sensitivity switches but they're pretty minor. The profiles is mostly convenience and supported by plenty of normal mice and the sensitivity switches can take a lot of getting used to before you'll start to see any kind of benefit.

My tale of peripherals is one of using completely overspecced devices for what I'm actually doing. I get a new toy, I use all the advanced things it can do and over time I end up dropping them bit by bit until I'm only doing the basics with it, just like I did on the simple peripheral it replaced.

I used a logitech MX revolution for a long time and loved the extra rocker on the thumb. The primary use ended up being volume but it's an otherwise empty part of the mouse that I wish more mice would copy. Sadly, when I moved last the wireless stopped being reliable for quick movements and I had to switch back to a wired mouse. I'm now using a G9X (cheap because it was Call of Duty branded) and I don't do lots of the things I could do with it. I set the weights to what I wanted and forgot all about the feature. I picked the shell I wanted and forgot all about the feature. I changed the sensitivity buttons into volume buttons and forgot about the feature. I do like the feel of it, I just don't think I'm really taking advantage of all it could do.

Similarly, I have a G15 keyboard and now don't use any of the functions or macros. The screen is either a clock, the current music or a list of who's talking on voice chat. Again, completely overspecced for what I've ended up doing.

The last move of apartment also meant a change of desk and chair, which has made it nearly impossible to use my wheel (Logitech G25) at my PC. I got a wheel stand to use it on my sofa but getting the PC connected to the TV requires more cables and extra cards than I want to spend at the moment, so PC racing sims are basically out of the question. A good wheel with pedals was definitely worthwhile and I highly recommend it to anyone who plays more car games than just arcade racers. I still think the wheel sucks for anything vaguely arcade as I have to saw it back and forth, destroying my arms.

My joystick (an old Cyborg) is abandoned because of a lack of games I want to play. I have some fun memories of games played with it but any recent game that I might have considered a joystick for has been easier with a pad. I guess I don't play many flight sims now and nobody seems to make space sims. Luckily I've managed to resist getting a newer joystick with separate throttle controller, though I came close quite a few times.

My pad (360 wired) is a frequent companion and I couldn't go back to not having a pad available. I don't think it's because of terrible ports, I think some games just work better when you have an analogue input. Sometimes I don't need 30 keys and a cursor to hand. Games for Windows is great for making so many games work out of the box with a 360 pad with sensible binds and prompts changed to reflect my buttons. I don't miss old pads where I had to go bind the keys and remember which button was 'button 7' when I looked back at the bindings again later.

For racing games have you tried hooking up an Xbox 360 steering wheel?