The director of Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Jurassic Park, and many more classics has long spoken about his love of video games, stretching back to 1982 when he revealed the instant thrill and ego “massage” that playing games like Donkey Kong and Tempest provided.
Guys, it really depends on the type of game.
I’m in the same camp, although I wish it wasn’t so. I’ve gotten okayish at Rocket League with mouse and keyboard, but that really is a controller game.
Based.
In all seriousness some games work better on controllers. I’ve found it much easier, and significantly less frustrating, to play souls-likes using a controller. It also would have been next to impossible to play the Ascent (twin stick shooter) without one. I used to get all PCMR about only using keyboard and mouse but nowadays I use the best tool for the job.
I play rocket league with a keyboard and mouse. Have gotten up to champ in 2v2 and 3v3 ranked.
Also beat ds1 and 2 using keyboard and mouse.
In other words git gud.
Oh I played the hell out of the Prepare to Die edition of Dark Souls. Keyboard and mouse was the objectively wrong way to play the game lmao
Haha what an absolute masochist! I’m impressed.
I played through Jedi: Fallen Order, which was my intro into the genre, then tried it for Elden Ring and got hard stuck in the opening area. Still pretty useless at them overall but no longer feel like I’m battling against the control. It’s 100% just a skill issue.
To be fair, I did use a controller, so it wasn’t that bad. It even ran way better with the hd mod than the 360 version ever did.
I did get kind of masochistic with it though lol. My last run was a soul level 1 that I think I stopped playing around Anor Londo. If I remember correctly, the archers were rage inducing and I never got back into it. It’s probably still my all-time favorite game, jank and all.
I played Grand Theft Auto V with both. KB&M on foot, controller for vehicles
Saaaame! Vehicles are so much better with a controller, but aiming suuuuucks with a controller.
My first souls game was Dark Souls 2. Played it with keyboard and mouse and only found out you can lock onto enemies about 100 hours in…
He wrote E.T on a spilt keyboard in vim and managed to exit it first time… True story John Candy told me.
<…> managed to exit it first time <…>
That is not possible…
Controller is more comfortable to me, so unless I’m playing an fps that requires a lot of precision, I play on controller. I already have to sit at a mouse and keyboard for work everyday
Random celebrity has opinion: news at 11.
That’s no random celebrity, that’s The Director.
Of BoomBlox obviously
I don’t care that his work has made me ugly cry in awe of profound humanity, he’s a random celebrity on this subject.
He’s a random celebrity who has made games before, including directing the masterpiece BoomBlox.
Never heard of it. Was it played with a keyboard and mouse?
No, something much more elegant.
The Wiimote.
So… Now do you see what’s funny about this article?
He really is a videogame fan. When he co-created DreamWorks he pushed for a gaming arm of the company. If anyone played Metal of Honor (especially the first one) it’s because of him.
Also, ET helped cause the videogame crash in the 80’s!
I really hate how many people haven’t really picked up or understood the profound difference that gyro aiming makes for controller players.
Gyros are absolutely key going forward
And he’s right too
It depends on the game.
Trying to play a platformer using a keyboard is miserable. On the flip-side, trying to play an RTS with a controller sounds like one of the worst experiences imaginable.
it’s only miserable if the developer doesn’t care about mkb.
Analog sticks beat WSAD for movement any day and the mouse beats analog sticks in aiming.
Different tools for the job.
There are keyboards with hall-effect/magnetic switches that allow precise measurement of how much any given key is held down. With that said it’s be possible to map the signals from WASD to emulate a controller’s left stick (at least in games that allow simultaneous kb+m and controller inputs, but that’s fairly common in my experience).
I have a keyboard like that on pre-order and I’m definitely looking forward to trying it. 4mm of travel isn’t much, but it should still be better than a binary signal.
(and thus another 20 page long argument about gamepads and kb+m was started on the interwebs)
nah
nah
to each their own.
I much prefer controller for anything that’s not FPS. Steam Input makes this glorious.
Funny, the game I most associate with him is BoomBlox on the Wii. It’s a really great game, and I guess the wiimote is kind of mouse-like, particularly in that game.
He’s been involved in several games though, even had an office at EA for a while. Most famously, of course, is the original Medal of Honor. Arguably the success of MoH as a franchise led directly to Call of Duty and thus to the current state of gaming today.
The only controller I’ve ever really enjoyed using is the steam controller. Just about everything else felt worse than playing using a mouse and keyboard. To each their own though, if you like controllers then more power to you.
Its excellent for certain types of games but the lack of a right joystick made it useless with the vast majority.
I mean like “oh no, I’m being shot from behind, just give me 5 seconds to swipe 6 times on this touchpad and line up a shot”
oh no, I’m being shot from behind, just give me 5 seconds to hold my joystick all the way to the edge and line up a shot
I agree that the touchpad isn’t best for every game, but your example just sounds like your sensitivity is way too low. I used to have a couple steam controllers, I have a steam deck, and I used to play a lot of mobile shooters before I could afford a pc. In any case, I like my sensitivity to be 1 full swipe = 180° in game. Add in gyro and I’ll make that about 1-to-1 device rotation to in-game rotation (or if anything a little more sensitive).
your example just sounds like your sensitivity is way too low
I mean you can increase sensitivity but then it’s terribly difficult to aim for shit. That’s the problem.
It could totally be setup to feel/work like a trackball, remember playing a bunch of warframe with mine and being able to “throw” it and have it stop when you touch the pad again, took getting used to but substantially more flexible than a regular analogue stick.
I like both depending but M/KB are my favorite most of the time.
A controller was designed to play with it. Keyboard and mouse were not. People got used to it.
