Cross-Platform Connectivity

December 14, 2011 11:15 AM

Help me use my PS3 controller with my MacBook Pro!

I recently got a PS3 controller working with my brother's Windows PC so he could play some console-ported games without having to use a mouse/keyboard combo. Now I'm wondering if it's possible to do the same thing with my MacBook Pro, since there are a few indie games I'd like to play that would really benefit from a controller.

I've done a lot of Googling, and most solutions seem to involve buying a relatively expensive app to get the controller working. Does anyone know of a way of doing this without having to pay for something? Either USB or Bluetooth connectivity would be fine. I'm using a 2011 MBP with Lion, if that makes any difference.

posted by anaximander to computers & internet (6 answers total)

You should be able to get a wired Xbox 360 controller working pretty easily with a Mac.
posted by The Lamplighter at 12:32 PM on December 14, 2011

I've done this without any form of apps... You need to initially plug the PS3 controller into the Mac with the USB cable, but after that point you should have no difficulty connecting over Bluetooth without anything fancy.

I have an early 2011 MBP with Lion as well.

It is natively supported.
posted by smitt at 1:59 PM on December 14, 2011

I use a PS3 controller to play SNES roms, but the emulator has a build in controller mapping, and I'm not sure how many games would have that feature. I tried getting the controller to work outside of the game, but I couldn't find any preferences that would allow me to assign various functions to the controller's buttons. I'm guessing a third party app would be needed if controller mapping isn't available in the games you want to play.
posted by Homo economicus at 3:40 PM on December 14, 2011

Thanks guys, I just realised that some of the games I want to use it with do have native mapping. The app I was thinking of was to map keyboard keys onto the controller, letting you use it with anything. So I might be in luck!
posted by anaximander at 3:56 PM on December 14, 2011

Reviews indicate that this application is good for mapping PS3 controllers.
posted by oceanjesse at 5:23 PM on December 14, 2011

I just d/led that Gamepad Companion and it works pretty good. Didn't know I could use my PS3 controllers with the Mac so easily! Time to go redownload some stuff from Steam...
posted by chasing at 8:03 PM on December 14, 2011