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Author Topic: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?  (Read 3420 times)

Geneoce

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Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« on: October 25, 2011, 08:56:23 am »

Being a horrendously large fan of the Eve series naturally Dust 514 will be an instabuy for me.

Unfortunantly, it will also be my first console shooter. I'm no stranger to FPS on PC so the prospect of playing on the PS3 isnt that terrible.

Its just the controller that gets me hehe. So after a quick browse of the net I came across a few different varites of m/kb adaptors. Forking out $80> for one of these with nothing but the odd review on the product side (totally reliable and unbiased....) I decided to check if any of us Bay 12ers have used such a product before.

So, thoughts?

Thanks in advance  :)
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Re: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2011, 10:01:37 am »

I know your pain.

I loved resident evil 4. But it was nigh unplayable on the console. Consider me surprised when I found out the pc version was a direct port. With the horrible use the mouse keys to move your laser pointer around control scheme. That was a big let down. Luckily they made a mouse to gamepad patch later.

Thank god for the later port to the wii.

I hope such an adapter will work correctly for you. Since emulating a game stick with your mouse is quite difficult. And I'm certain different games use different game stick ranges. So I hope the one you will eventually buy can be changed internally.
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Shadowlord

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Re: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2011, 01:48:54 pm »

You can plug a keyboard directly into an XBox 360, but that only allows you to use it when prompted to enter text (names, passwords, etc). You can't set up controls in games for it or the like. I don't have any experience with the PS3, and haven't tried connecting a mouse to my XBox.
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MonkeyHead

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Re: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2011, 01:52:31 pm »

In my teens I came to prefer the 2-stick layout of a gamepad rather than WASD and mouse. More so for the left stick movement than anything else. I would reccomend getting used to it personally, but thats not the advice u wanna hear is it....

PrimusRibbus

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Re: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2011, 04:04:04 pm »

In my teens I came to prefer the 2-stick layout of a gamepad rather than WASD and mouse. More so for the left stick movement than anything else. I would reccomend getting used to it personally, but thats not the advice u wanna hear is it....

Mouse & Keyboard is still a better setup for competitive play, even after you've gotten used to controllers. 2-stick is perfect for when you're sitting on the couch with friends and having a beer, but even at 10 sensitivity you do not make the snap precision movements that you can make with a mouse.

If he was talking about a casual game like Halo it would be one thing, but in my experience EVE players do not mess around.

Being a horrendously large fan of the Eve series naturally Dust 514 will be an instabuy for me.

Unfortunantly, it will also be my first console shooter. I'm no stranger to FPS on PC so the prospect of playing on the PS3 isnt that terrible.

Its just the controller that gets me hehe. So after a quick browse of the net I came across a few different varites of m/kb adaptors. Forking out $80> for one of these with nothing but the odd review on the product side (totally reliable and unbiased....) I decided to check if any of us Bay 12ers have used such a product before.

So, thoughts?

Thanks in advance  :)

The big problem here is that console FPSs are generally slower paced than PC FPSs. As such, the mouse/keyboard adapters that I've personally tried felt like playing underwater. Your view just plain will not change fast enough for it to feel like natural PC mouse movement.

However, it's still an advantage over a controller and all the competitive console FPS players I know use a Mouse/Keyboard adapter. There is a reason why the adapters are banned in some tournaments.

But is it an $80 reason? I'd say no, but I'm cheap as hell and have never paid more than $30 for a console controller or fight stick this generation.
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lordcooper

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Re: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2011, 04:13:36 pm »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eagle-Eye-Mouse-Keyboard-Converter/dp/B0040UAYI4 comes recommended by a few of my mates as a way to use your PC keyboard and mouse.  I can't really speak for it one way or the other, as I bloody love me some analog sticks :)
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Geneoce

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Re: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2011, 11:03:24 pm »

MonkeyHead: I have no trouble using the controller for other games. Its quite natural with stuff like FF and some of the racers i've gotten but i'm a bit set in my ways with shooters. Thanks anyway  :P

PrimusRibbus: Ahhh, Thats reassuring to known. Slower pace i'm sure I would be able to get used too. From your personal experience did you enjoy it? Was it fluid? No strange happenings? Also you didnt happen to see which model they where using?

Sorry for the bombardment hehe

Lordcooper: Thats the one i've seen most kicking about. Recommendations are always helpful but i've heard somewhere they spontaniously brick themselves
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PrimusRibbus

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Re: Keyboard and mouse adaptors for console: Any experience?
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2011, 12:38:35 am »

PrimusRibbus: Ahhh, Thats reassuring to known. Slower pace i'm sure I would be able to get used too. From your personal experience did you enjoy it? Was it fluid? No strange happenings? Also you didnt happen to see which model they where using?

I've personally used XFrag and Max Shooter (which may have been the same product rebranded), and one of the FragFX mouse/controller combos.

The XFrag/Max Shooter did improve my gameplay thanks to the ease of access that the keyboard provided, but they were not particularly enjoyable to use. The mouse made movement feel like it was underwater, and it was frustratingly unfluid.
The upside is that you can find them really cheap. $30ish retail in most online stores, and it's not uncommon to find them in the $10-$15 range on eBay and elsewhere.
I wasn't too impressed, but I have a couple friends who love them.

I really don't have anything good to say about the FragFX. I used a FragFX Pro, and it made the XFrag/Max Shooter feel high quality. The mouse is just plain abysmal for responsiveness, and the novelty of the Wii-like controller wears off quickly.

I have heard very good things about the Eagle Eye and the XIM3, though. From what I understand, the "underwater feeling" of the low quality M/KB adapters is because they don't compensate for deadzones, sticky reticles, aim-assist or anything like that (another problem being that all those factors are different from game to game; for example, Halo has a square deadzone, while CoD has a round deadzone). Higher quality adapters like the Eagle Eye, XIM3 have a CPU built in that compensate for the effect of those factors, and supposedly results in a much more fluid experience.
Be warned, though, you will need a mouse with at least 1600dpi to get the full experience from these adapters (from what I understand, the sweet spot for DPI is between 1600 and 1800).
The downside, of course, is that they cost a lot more.

There's also the Aimon mouse/controller combos, but I don't know anyone who's tried one.
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