OK, I have to give it up to the Xbox 360 as their controllers will hook right up to a Windows PC. Guess the Playstation will have to work on that one.

Most PC games are made to be played with the keyboard and mouse, and that’s a bit of a problem, frankly. There are plenty of great games that would shine on the PC, if only the developers could rely on everyone having a game pad. Scarce though they are, many PC games support, and are played best with, a decent game pad—sports games and the occasional platformer (Psychonauts, Rayman), for instance.

The problem is, there’s no standard for PC game controller. If you’re a game developer, you don’t know what you’re working with. Does the pad have one thumb stick, or two? Is there a D-pad at all? Analog triggers, or simple shoulder buttons? Are there six buttons on the face, or four? Do the 1 and 2 buttons start on the top row of buttons, or the bottom row? [Read the rest]

Tags: xbox 360, controller, pc games, analog triggers, d-pad