Recommendations for Game Controller for Mac

March 18, 2007 4:39 PM

Mac Gaming Filter: Recommendations for a Controller? Like playing first person games. Can't seem to find one that looks good.

My PS2 got stolen and since I have a new Mac, I thought I'd see how I like games there rather than buy a new system. I like the relative simplicity of the PS2 controllers. Too many more buttons and I just get confused. Also, if folks have recommendations for good games on Mac, that would be swell. Thanks.

posted by krudiger to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Have you actually played a first person shooter on your Mac yet? The mouse and keyboard are the acknowledged best controllers for FPS. I understand that console games will generally auto-aim a bit for you as a rule, even if you don't realize it, because the controls are so suboptimal.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 4:44 PM on March 18, 2007

I play World of Warcraft on my MacBook with a Nostromo n52 configured using ControllerMate. It's a great combination.
posted by Kristan at 5:19 PM on March 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

You're only going to want a gamepad for third person games. Really. Controllers do not work for first person anythings, except maybe racing games.
posted by floam at 5:24 PM on March 18, 2007

I agree with Tim. There're specially designed left-hand (if your right is on the mouse) controllers for easy access to stuff in FPS games; they look like small keyboards and generally just give you quick access to weapon change buttons/movement keys. However, you're losing out if you're not playing the games with a mouse (or trackball). Native computer FPS games are pretty much built for that.

If you're really desperate, RadioShack sells a $10 PS2 controller -> USB converter. I'm not sure how/if they work on the Mac, though.

If you like FPS games, check out Deus Ex (the original, not Invisible Army). Otherwise, the Fallout series (postapocalyptic Western RPGs) was released for the Mac as well and that's an RPG everyone should play. As far as exclusives, the Marathon series was originally designed for the Mac by the guys that made Halo.
posted by griphus at 5:26 PM on March 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh, good. The thing that Kristan posted is exactly what I was talking about (my google-fu was weak on that one). A friend of mine swears by it for FPS/TPS games.
posted by griphus at 5:29 PM on March 18, 2007

I'm not sure how/if they work on the Mac, though.
My cheapo Playstation2->USB adapter works just fine on my Mac.
I also use an XBox360 Wired controller, but I had to install a kernel module to get that working, so don't recommend it in general. I think Wii and PS3 use standard bluetooth, so you could probably get either of those working too, with sufficient tinkering.

PS2 controllers are mostly useful for emulators, since very few PC/Mac games are designed for Console controllers. The only exception seems to be some games which are released for both PC and Consoles (I'm thinking Psychonauts and Dreamfall:TLJ) retain the console controls. There are also old PC games, like Commander Keen (which could be emulated under DOSBox on a Mac) which are much better with a controller. But, yeah, RTSes and FPSes are really Keyboard+Mouse affairs.
posted by blenderfish at 6:00 PM on March 18, 2007

*insert jpeg of keyboard and mouse here*
posted by public at 5:25 AM on March 19, 2007

As strange as it sounds, a Wired XBOX 360 controller and these drivers. Quick and easy to setup.
posted by Nik_Doof at 7:05 PM on March 19, 2007