It’s not that PC gamers were opposed to using controllers. PC gamers love our peripherals. The problem was support for it. Most of the controllers beforehand had proprietary connectors that would never work in the PC. And then even if you could connect the controller there was no guarantee it would work. But now with more standardization around USB and Bluetooth adding and better driver support for the controllers we can finally use them.
Most of the controllers beforehand had proprietary connectors that would never work in the PC.
That was in the 90s… 20 years ago I was gaming on PC with a PS1 dual shock using a cheap adapter, and then switched to the Xbox 360 controller which used a standard USB port.
All depends on the game. PC players have options.
Games like Palworld and GTA are better with a controller. Games like Cities: Skylines and any game requiring significant precision are better with a mouse and keyboard.
I prefer over the shoulder games like GTA with keyboard mouse and controller.
Controller for general navigation and when a firefight starts to go down, my right hand switches to the mouse and my left hand is still on the controller, resting on the desk. When the firefight starts getting hectic the controller gets dropped and it’s WASD from there on out.
Only reason it may seem “better” is because Palworld has horrible building mechanics.
But nothing about that game makes it easier with a controller.
Well, yeah. Racing games, platformers, and action games are generally more comfortable with controller. Third person shooters, FPS, anything that requires aiming, or RTS games are still best done with mouse.
I don’t really like playing platformers with a controller.
I played through Celeste, Super Meat Boy and Rayman on PC only with keyboard and played Super Meat Boy, Rayman and N++ on the switch. I prefer the keyboard.
For 3D games (even platformers) I prefer the controller though.
Steam Deck and the console users that pivoted to PC gaming during the scalpers riddled PS5/Xbox launch are probably the most likely causes for this.
I hate controllers. I use them only on games that suggest they are important. I don’t tend to like those games.
