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tekboi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 9, 2006
731
145
EasŦcoast
I've been playing alot of games on Steam for MAC and I really HATE using my apple mouse and track pad. Has anybody here used an xbox 360 controller for gaming on their Mac? is it worth the hassel?
 
I use of of these Aimon XB Wireless controllers on the Xbox 360.


Be warned: You do need an Xbox 360 "wired" controller to make this work, and apparently it works on PC too. I'm going to be trying this on my iMac when I get it and try using it on a bootcamp version of Battlefield 3.

Are you looking to use the controller in Windows or Mac OS X?

AFAIK, XBox 360 controllers only work in Windows.

I know the official Microsoft ones will work, I heard aftermarket controllers may have issues.
 
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You'd probably be better off getting a decent mouse. The Apple mouse isn't good for gaming because it won't register two button clicks together - for example, you can't zoom in with the left mouse button and shoot with the right. A bigger gaming mouse is more comfortable too.

I've got an Xbox controller for Steam but I haven't used it all that much. Some Windows games like Batman and Hotline Miami are better with the controller but I find most things are easier with the mouse.

Also - Battlefield 3, you won't have much fun using a controller versus mouse / keyboard players, they'll tag you before you can even turn to look at them.
 
I use of of these Aimon XB Wireless controllers on the Xbox 360.


Be warned: You do need an Xbox 360 "wired" controller to make this work, and apparently it works on PC too. I'm going to be trying this on my iMac when I get it and try using it on a bootcamp version of Battlefield 3.

Are you looking to use the controller in Windows or Mac OS X?

AFAIK, XBox 360 controllers only work in Windows.

I know the official Microsoft ones will work, I heard aftermarket controllers may have issues.

Only on PC? That sucks. But I have windows on bootcamp so I can make it work. And I know to buy the official controllers, but, they are expensive.

----------

You'd probably be better off getting a decent mouse. The Apple mouse isn't good for gaming because it won't register two button clicks together - for example, you can't zoom in with the left mouse button and shoot with the right. A bigger gaming mouse is more comfortable too.

I've got an Xbox controller for Steam but I haven't used it all that much. Some Windows games like Batman and Hotline Miami are better with the controller but I find most things are easier with the mouse.

Also - Battlefield 3, you won't have much fun using a controller versus mouse / keyboard players, they'll tag you before you can even turn to look at them.

What would be a good gaming mouse and keyboard for Mac.
 
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I'm using a PS3 controller

I don't know why you specifically asked about using an xbox controller, but I just started playing Castle Crashers, which is tough with the keyboard controls. However, getting a PS3 controller wirelessly working with my Mac (OS 10.8) was not a big deal, and it's working flawlessly with CC.

As has been mentioned, the magic mouse is not a great gaming mouse and many don't use it. I do, however, and it suits my KB/M gaming needs. I rarely play FPS.
 
I don't know why you specifically asked about using an xbox controller, but I just started playing Castle Crashers, which is tough with the keyboard controls. However, getting a PS3 controller wirelessly working with my Mac (OS 10.8) was not a big deal, and it's working flawlessly with CC.

As has been mentioned, the magic mouse is not a great gaming mouse and many don't use it. I do, however, and it suits my KB/M gaming needs. I rarely play FPS.

Yeah, well I have an xbox. And my controller has seen better days. So I figured I would buy a new one and also use it for PC gameplay. Two birds w/ one stone. :cool:
 
I've got a Logitech G500 mouse, which works pretty well on Mac via a third-party driver called Steermouse. It's so much more comfortable than the Apple mouse, it's almost like a different type of device.

The Apple keyboard is fine for games, I actually like it a lot.

You can use a wired Xbox controller on Mac, there are a couple of drivers that will work with it. USB Overdrive might even handle a gaming mouse at the same time.

If you've got the option, though, get a copy of Windows and run your Steam games through that. I installed Left 4 Dead 2 on my Mac and found it to be a bit glitchy. Installed Windows (not fun at all) and it runs much faster, it has more graphical options, the mouse is more responsive... I don't install games at all on the Mac side any more.
 
I've got a Logitech G500 mouse, which works pretty well on Mac via a third-party driver called Steermouse. It's so much more comfortable than the Apple mouse, it's almost like a different type of device.

The Apple keyboard is fine for games, I actually like it a lot.

You can use a wired Xbox controller on Mac, there are a couple of drivers that will work with it. USB Overdrive might even handle a gaming mouse at the same time.

If you've got the option, though, get a copy of Windows and run your Steam games through that. I installed Left 4 Dead 2 on my Mac and found it to be a bit glitchy. Installed Windows (not fun at all) and it runs much faster, it has more graphical options, the mouse is more responsive... I don't install games at all on the Mac side any more.

Yeah, I think i'm going to do that! I went ahead and bought the xbox 360 controller. I would love another mouse also, but I really love the functionality of the gestures on my magic mouse. I would hate to give those up for a more standard mouse.
 
Good choice buying one. I was in the same boat and it's proven to be most wortwhile accessory I've purchased for my Mac. It doesn't work with every game (ie, things released prior to the 360 or that were never devoloped for 360), but for some games it's downright required.

I bought Arkham City:GOTY edition when it was on sale in the App Store, and found that it wasn't really on sale at all since I practically had to buy a $40 controller to play it. It works with a KB/M but it's not much fun.

Having said that, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of it. For shooters I still prefer KB/M for the most part, but I recently beat Bioshock Infinite, and could not have done it without the gamepad. It's just how I'm used to playing that particular franchise.
 
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