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[Sappho]

I'm very excited to report that yesterday I finally bought myself a couple of Xbox controllers to play games with friends on my beautiful gaming computer. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and I can't wait for the tournaments to begin.

But there's an issue: some of the games I most want to play together are old ones for the SNES, like Tetris and Tetris Attack. These games require precise movement on the gamepad to work. Using an emulator, I've gotten the controls mapped to the controllers, but they don't work very well. The Xbox controller's directional pad includes diagonals, and if I hit one of the buttons even slightly off-center, the pieces tend to go in the wrong direction. BIG problem for something like Tetris.

Has anyone else faced this problem and found a solution? Is there a way to deactivate the diagonals somehow, so they're not picked up by the system? Is there a different way to configure it? I'm SUPER bummed out about this. I couldn't wait to kick my friend's ass at these old games. Sure, we have loads of new, modern games to play together, but it's not the same. Any suggestions?

Also, I'm interested in general suggestions about which games are more fun to play with controllers than with the keyboard, including single-player ones. If anyone's up for making some suggestions, here's a link to my Steam library (I have enough games already, trying really hard not to buy more!).

Thanks!!!

[Sonlirain]

Well i can't help you much but maybe you could try deactivating the analog controls on the pad. It should make things run a bit better by making the controler only register the cardinal directions and diagonals without anything in between (there should be a button on the pad that lets you do that).

As for game suggestions... Hand of Fate is pretty good with the controler because it does not need much precision.
Beyond that most platformers/brawlers tend to work well with gamepads.
Elysian trail for example.

Also some people swear that Euro Truck Simulator 2 is better played with a pad rather than with a keyboard... the weirdos (Personally i think it's keyboard or wheel. Accept no plebian console substitutes when it comes to SCS truck sims but its up to you to check that out.).

[itisnotlogical]

Are they Xbox One controllers or just 360 ones? I've actually never used a 360 controller, but the buttons (and especially the D-pad) on the Xbone controllers are sublime. Very fun and satisfying.

[Sappho]

They're 360 controllers. Xbox One controllers were not available (unless I bought a whole console). I don't see any button to deactivate analog controls...

EDIT: I just double-checked and it seems no one is selling Xbox One controllers in this country, aside from the ones that come with the console. (Czech Republic) I could order them on amazon.co.uk but with the shipping charge, it would cost 2.5x what I paid for the ones I got. Noooooo thanks.

I'm actually considering getting another, cheap controller just for old games. Something like this with no diagonals.

[Frumple]

Yeah, I had looked a little earlier and it sounded like the diagonal thing is actually a problem somewhat specific to the 360 controller. Almost a known issue.

I've been using this for a few months now, and outside of some oddities with the sticks (and occasionally needing to use joytokey or somethin') it's been basically sublime and very good for older games (though it does look like some folks have issue with inconsistent quality, so YMMV and all that). And cheap, as controllers in my region go. No clue if they're available in your area, though.

So I'd probably recommend just grabbing a cheapo one.

[Sonlirain]

I don't see any button to deactivate analog controls...

Just checked. It appears you can't do that with any of the mosre expensive pads. The cheap ones you shown have the analog button tho...
I'm using a cheap corsair myself http://allegro.ferrosound.pl/Mediatech/MT1507/MT1507.jpg and it works well enough.

[PrimusRibbus]

XBox 360 have some of the worst d-pads of any modern controller. There's a lot of things to like about the 360 controller (the main one being that They Just Work on the PC), but the d-pads are roughly the quality of a mid-90's shady 3rd-party controller.

For SNES emulation, I recommend getting a Playstation 2 controller and USB adapter; they have perfect d-pads for emulation, fighting games and such, and they're dirt cheap these days.

[Egan_BW]

The PS3 controller I use has a decent d-pad, it's you have one of those.

[Vattic]

Had the same issue with 360 controllers. Ended up buying a converted USB SNES controller on eBay. They are inexpensive and well designed, but are without joysticks and the shoulder buttons are digital (on/off) rather than analogue (variable based on how hard you press).

[ejseto]

Try using a keyboard emulator like joytokey to map the dpad to arrow keys.

[Sappho]

Try using a keyboard emulator like joytokey to map the dpad to arrow keys.

The problem is, I'm trying to play multiplayer with a friend, and we want to use gamepads. I always use a keyboard for single player emulation, but it's not the same when you're playing with friends.

I just ordered the cheap controllers I linked to in my last post. They're very cheap, and if they don't work, I can always return them. So I can keep the Xbox controllers for my modern games, and use these cheap ones for classic gaming fun. Should work out well.

Since hopefully that issue will be solved tomorrow when I pick up my new controllers... Any other suggestions for Steam games that play best with controllers? How is Skyrim with a controller? I'm downloading Saints Row 2 now. I'm sure that will be fun.

EDIT: Whoa. Luxuria Superbia is MUCH better with a controller...

[BigD145]

Find a Retro SNES to USB adapter and some SNES controllers. Super Joy Box 5 for Playstation 1 + 2 to USB.

[ejseto]

Try using a keyboard emulator like joytokey to map the dpad to arrow keys.

The problem is, I'm trying to play multiplayer with a friend, and we want to use gamepads. I always use a keyboard for single player emulation, but it's not the same when you're playing with friends.

I think you misunderstood me. Joytokey turns gamepad input into keyboard input. It also ignores diagonals by default, I think, though you can enable 8-way dpad input if you want. I guess it doesn't matter anymore unless the new ones have the same problem.

[Sappho]

The new ones don't have diagonals, so I think they should be okay. I'll pick them up tomorrow.

[Ozyton]

You could get something like this
or this