Questions About Controller Options

[Jeff Kaos]

I'm setting up an older entry level gaming system I have for my 6 year old's birthday present and I'm looking for some controller options. Right now on my gaming rig I use a wireless Xbox 350 controller with a receiver plugged into a USB port. This works pretty well but I'd prefer to find an alternative. Doing a little research on various controllers I'm left with several questions that I'm certain can be answered here.

Will a wireless Xbox 360 controller plugged into a PC with a USB battery recharge cable work the same as a regular wired Xbox 360 Controller? It seems like wireless Xbox 360 controllers are actually cheaper than wired controllers and I already have 2 rechargeable battery packs and a USB recharge cable so I was wondering if this would work. I'm at work right now so I can't test this myself.

I was also thinking of buying a Steam controller but from what I can tell it seems like it only works with Steam. Will a Steam controller work with any games that have native controller support in other gaming apps like Origin, Uplay or GoG? Or will it only work for games that are running through Steam? If not can I add a non-Steam game to my Steam library and launch it through Steam to make the controller work?

And finally since I'm doing this for a pretty young kid does anyone know of a PC "mini" controller? I bought him a really nice mini-Xbox 360 controller that's perfect for his small hands but unfortunately it isn't recognized by Windows. He can use a standard sized controller without difficulty but I wouldn't mind surprising him with one that's a better fit for his little hands.

 

[Dethan1999]

You would need to get a wireless Adapter for the 360 Controller for it to work with the batteries (and not wired to the PC). I dont recommend a Steam controller. The layout makes it pretty hard to play certain games.

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Wireless-Receiver-Windows/dp/B000HZFCT2

This is a wireless adapter for the 360 controllers. Plug this in, Sync it with your controllers (with the little button on the back, and the button on the adapter),and you are good to go.

 

[Jeff Kaos]

You would need to get a wireless Adapter for the 360 Controller for it to work with the batteries (and not wired to the PC). I dont recommend a Steam controller. The layout makes it pretty hard to play certain games.

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Wireless-Receiver-Windows/dp/B000HZFCT2

This is a wireless adapter for the 360 controllers. Plug this in, Sync it with your controllers (with the little button on the back, and the button on the adapter),and you are good to go.

I already have this setup on my gaming rig. I'm wondering if a wireless Xbox 360 controller will work without a receiver if I connect it to my PC using the USB dongle that recharges the battery pack when plugged into an Xbox 360.

 

[Dethan1999]

You would need to get a wireless Adapter for the 360 Controller for it to work with the batteries (and not wired to the PC). I dont recommend a Steam controller. The layout makes it pretty hard to play certain games.

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Wireless-Receiver-Windows/dp/B000HZFCT2

This is a wireless adapter for the 360 controllers. Plug this in, Sync it with your controllers (with the little button on the back, and the button on the adapter),and you are good to go.

I already have this setup on my gaming rig. I'm wondering if a wireless Xbox 360 controller will work without a receiver if I connect it to my PC using the USB dongle that recharges the battery pack when plugged into an Xbox 360.

Oh okay. My bad, I read too fast. I don't think it would work without the receiver. I have the same setup as well, and I recall testing it out. Unfortunately, you still need the receiver even if you use the USB Dongle. The USB Dongle will work, but you'd need the Receiver plugged in as well.

On my setup, I have the receiver and the USB Dongle and it works fine. Just takes up more USB Ports. Hope that answers your question.

Now, I am only 95% positive. For all I know, I could've screwed something up. You could test it out to be sure. Worst thing that could happen is that the controller wouldnt work.

 

[madmatt30]

A wireless pad won't work as a wired one with a cable mate - only works for charging a battery pack.

Not sure why you'd want to veer away from using 360 wireless controllers??
Apart from the Xbox one pad I still think they're the best controller around.
Third party wireless dongles are like $6 each from Amazon/eBay.

I use 360 controllers myself , I also own a steam controller & honestly don't think it's anywhere near as comfortable to use.

But yes , if you add a non steam game to steam you down download preconfigured pad profiles for just about any game out there - you can also configure it as an official ms/360 pad for specific games if you wish

The steam controller is a very very configurable piece of kit, its well made & good quality.
Optical track pad & gyroscopic motion controls too but I just don't find it comfortable to use though personally at all.

 

[Jeff Kaos]

A wireless pad won't work as a wired one with a cable mate - only works for charging a battery pack.

Not sure why you'd want to veer away from using 360 wireless controllers??
Apart from the Xbox one pad I still think they're the best controller around.
Third party wireless dongles are like $6 each from Amazon/eBay.

I use 360 controllers myself , I also own a steam controller & honestly don't think it's anywhere near as comfortable to use.

But yes , if you add a non steam game to steam you down download preconfigured pad profiles for just about any game out there - you can also configure it as an official ms/360 pad for specific games if you wish

The steam controller is a very very configurable piece of kit, its well made & good quality.
Optical track pad & gyroscopic motion controls too but I just don't find it comfortable to use though personally at all.

Thanks. I'm thinking of just putting my wireless Xbox 360 controller setup on my sons PC and buying an Xbox One controller setup on my gaming rig. I keep hearing mixed things about the Steam Controller and since the "bad" stuff I hear is REALLY bad I probably won't go for it; I hate the idea of needing profiles and prefer the simplicity of plug and play MS controllers on Windows.

 

[madmatt30]

^ I don't think the steam controller is particularly 'bad' really - its a nice bit of kit but once you're used to a 360 pad really the only other pad you're going to feel comfortable with is the xbone pad .
I can swap between the 2 (I do own a xbone aswell as a gaming PC but stick to the 360 pad for PC) without any hassle at all because they're very similar to hold.
Like you say nice that virtually every game works with them natively (latest steam beta also lets you use them in non supported software by configuring them manually) & gives proper button prompts & instructions

All you need to use a wireless xbone pad on pc is a Bluetooth BTW (tried mine with a cheap £3 blutoorh USB stick)

Has to be the newer model (which should be all they have in stores nowadays)

http://support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-on-windows/accessories/connect-and-troubleshoot-xbox-one-bluetooth-issues-windows-10


The xeox pro isn't a bad controller if you can get em at the right price , fully MS pad compatible & slight smaller than an official pad.

 

[Jeff Kaos]

^ I don't think the steam controller is particularly 'bad' really - its a nice bit of kit but once you're used to a 360 pad really the only other pad you're going to feel comfortable with is the xbone pad .
I can swap between the 2 (I do own a xbone aswell as a gaming PC but stick to the 360 pad for PC) without any hassle at all because they're very similar to hold.
Like you say nice that virtually every game works with them natively (latest steam beta also lets you use them in non supported software by configuring them manually) & gives proper button prompts & instructions

All you need to use a wireless xbone pad on pc is a Bluetooth BTW (tried mine with a cheap £3 blutoorh USB stick)

Has to be the newer model (which should be all they have in stores nowadays)

http://support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-on-windows/accessories/connect-and-troubleshoot-xbox-one-bluetooth-issues-windows-10


The xeox pro isn't a bad controller if you can get em at the right price , fully MS pad compatible & slight smaller than an official pad.

I just ordered a camo print Xbox One controller for my PC (ex military and a sucker for this type of thing and it was only $3 more) and plan on using it wired for the time being since I have at least a half dozen micro-USB cords lying around the house. I might look into the bluetooth adapter though because that seems like a better deal than the $24 Microsoft adapter. Did you have any problems pairing the controller to your PC using bluetooth?

 

[madmatt30]

No mate , paired straight away , also works on a 4 year old dell laptop with integrated Bluetooth.
Only reason I don't use the xbone controller for PC is I only have one , whereas I have 7 or 8 360 controllers + its a constant issue desyncing / resyncing to use on the Xbox one console again.

Ex forces myself - can honestly say I don't own a singular camo print anything nowadays though ;-)