Do you use your trackpad to play games?

[Neutral Gamer]

The whole point of a laptop is to be portable and so having to carry an external keyboard and mouse with you becomes a bit of a hassle. That's why I always try and use the trackpad if possible whenever I'm in the mood to have a quick game.

The trouble is playing first person shooters with a trackpad and built in keyboard really is a bit of a joke personally, unless you've got three hands or something! So for LAN sessions the trackpad's out of the question.

But I can imagine other genres of games would be acceptable to play. So what do you lot do? Do you always keep a keyboard and mouse handy for your gaming needs or do you you like your portability and go for the compromise of using a trackpad?

 

[TheStu]

The whole point of a laptop is to be portable and so having to carry an external keyboard and mouse with you becomes a bit of a hassle. That's why I always try and use the trackpad if possible whenever I'm in the mood to have a quick game.

The trouble is playing first person shooters with a trackpad and built in keyboard really is a bit of a joke personally, unless you've got three hands or something! So for LAN sessions the trackpad's out of the question.

But I can imagine other genres of games would be acceptable to play. So what do you lot do? Do you always keep a keyboard and mouse handy for your gaming needs or do you you like your portability and go for the compromise of using a trackpad?

I keep a VX Revolution in my bag for FPSs and times when the trackpad just doesn't jive with a particular game. But for the games that I play (GuildWars, RTSs, RPGs) the trackpad is just fine since i seldom need very fast, hyper-precise movement that my VX gives me. I also keep the VX for when I have to use Windows since their trackpad cursoring is painful compared to OS X's (as far as I am concerned at least)

 

[skyrider007]

No, I could never successfully use the trackpad for game control. I rarely play games anyway, the only game I have right now is Pirates of the Caribbean online from Disney .

 

[eluk]

I have no gaming needs.

 

[-Josh-]

I have no gaming needs.

Dito, I stopped playing games.
But I'd imagine the tackpad is a **** to play games.

 

[Neutral Gamer]

I have no gaming needs.

Dito, I stopped playing games.
But I'd imagine the tackpad is a **** to play games.

Oops, I should have added an option to the poll for "I don't play games on my laptop". Considering the poor graphical performance of the Macbooks and the fact that a lot of PC / Mac games are ported over to consoles nowadays it would make sense that a lot of people use other hardware exclusively for gaming.

 

[anirban]

I rarely ever play any games- but when I do (mostly FPS), I HAVE to use a mouse. Therefore, I play only when I am at my house (I have an external keyboard and mouse).


But if someone decides to give me some crap in my college lab, I have to duel it out in counterstrike or UT... then I am stuck to the trackpad.

I would not necessarily say that only n00bs use trackpads for playing games. Sometimes, portability is way too big of a factor to pack in a mouse.

 

[skyrider007]

I rarely ever play any games- but when I do (mostly FPS), I HAVE to use a mouse. Therefore, I play only when I am at my house (I have an external keyboard and mouse).


But if someone decides to give me some crap in my college lab, I have to duel it out in counterstrike or UT... then I am stuck to the trackpad.

I would not necessarily say that only n00bs use trackpads for playing games. Sometimes, portability is way too big of a factor to pack in a mouse.

Nice machine you've got there, wish I have the extra cash to upgrade my ram to 4GB!