There is a great divide amongst gamers when it comes to console vs. PC gaming. After much research and personal experience, we want to highlight how many games are better experienced with a keyboard and mouse than with a controller. While racing and fighting games are definitely easier to play with a controller, in general, first person shooters, role-playing games, real-time simulations and turn-based simulations provide a much better experience when the player is using a keyboard and mouse.
One of the best arguments for using a keyboard and mouse came when Microsoft started a project that would’ve let PC and Xbox gamers face-off. They brought together console gamers to play PC gamers at the same time to test this system. The end result was the PC gamers crushed the console gamers every time. As you can imagine, this would’ve been devastating to the Xbox, and the project was quickly dropped.
There are three major areas where the keyboard and mouse combo top controllers for gaming: precision aiming, keybinds/hotkeys, and macros.
Precision aiming is one of the biggest reasons to use a keyboard and mouse. Try aiming at a small point with a controller and then with a mouse. The mouse is much more precise and a faster way to pinpoint a target than a controller stick. Even with auto-aim enabled for the controller, most gamers find a mouse aims much quicker. When playing competitively, this is truly an instance where every second counts.
Keybinds or hotkeys are where the keyboard really shines in video games. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to controls, and which keys are most comfortable to use as action keys when gaming. This is evident in the typical use of the WASD keys to move characters in game. The keys are convenient and located in a way that the hand can strike each key with little movement. Some people prefer to use the ESDF keys for the same purpose. That’s what makes using a keyboard for gaming so great, it is easy to set up the keyboard the way you want it, which will always result in a better gaming experience.
The final argument for keyboard and mouse gaming is macros. Macros are a more complex version of key binds where instead of just 1 action being bound to a key, the user programs multiple actions. Not all games handle macros, but the ones that do often enable gamers to complete a wealth of tasks with a simple key stroke. A perfect situation for using a macro is when entering battle. Most players use the same items or the same actions in the same order with every mob they fight. By creating a macro that performs these actions in a particular order, it is possible to save time and be more efficient. Macros take a little time to setup, but the payoff is huge. Anyone is going to be quicker than a controller when they can press one button and cause a series of actions to occur.
We want to be clear that there are pluses and minuses to both console and PC gaming, much of which is dependent on the type of game and personal preference. How do you prefer to game?