Using a Game Pad with a PC

Razor · 29-09-2008, 10:35 AM

There have been allot of threads started asking the same question. Can you play on the pc with a pad?

The simple answer is YES you can.

Allot of new games come with 360 pad support as standard and its just a matter of plug and play.

However there are allot of new and old games which don't have any pad support at all.

There is a simple solution to this problem and its with an excellent little program called Pinnacle Game profiler

Pinnacle basically maps the commands from the keyboard and mouse to your chosen pad. All types of pads are supported with the favourite being the 360 and Playstation style pad. Steering wheels can also be used with pinnacle for games that don't support wheels.

There is a 1 months free trial so you can see if you like this app after that there is a small one off fee of $19.95 (approx £14). Pinnacle is regularly updated for new games and there is a forum where you can request profiles for any game you wish if you find out it hasn't yet been supported by pinnacle. The owners of pinnacle run this forum and support it really well. I have been using Pinnacle Game Profiler for over 4 years now and I can't recommend the service enough. The program works a treat and the support is second to none. In all the time I have used this program I have never had any problems with Pinnacle, it has worked flawlessly.

A lot of die hard pc gamers turn their nose up at using a pad on the pc as the keyboard and mouse method is so accurate. However there is a need for pad support as a lot of people now have a PC or HTPC in the lounge and using a keyboard and mouse just isn't as comfortable as sitting back in a sofa with a pad a bit like a console owner would.

The most popular way of using a pad at a distance away from your pc is with a wireless 360 pad. If you want to go the wireless route with a 360 pad you will need the following.

360 Pad

Play.com (UK) : Official Xbox 360 Wireless Controller : Xbox 360 - Free Delivery

Crossfire Wireless Gaming Receiver

Play.com (UK) : Microsoft Xbox 360 Crossfire Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows : PC Games - Free Delivery

Simply plug the Crossfire Wireless Gaming Receiver into your pc and press the button on top of the receiver. Now switch on your 360 Pad by pushing the guide button and now sync your 360 pad by pressing the small white button on the top end of the pad. The green light will flash on the pad and then settle at one of the four positions. Your pad is now sync'd to the pc and ready to go.

If you do not have any need for a wireless pad then the normal wired 360 pad will also work with the pc and no Crossfire Receiver is needed. The wired 360 pad plug into any of your pc's USB ports and is ready to go straight away. If the 360 pad isn't your favourite design of Gamepad then there are a fair few other makes and designs of Gamepads which are all compatible with Pinnacle Game profiler.

Other Gaming Peripherals which can be used with the Crossfire Wireless Gaming Receiver

You can also use the Crossfire Wireless Gaming Receiver with the 360 Wheel and headset as shown below.

Steering Wheel

Play.com (UK) : Official Xbox 360 Wireless Steering Wheel with Force Feedback : Xbox 360 - Free Delivery

Wireless Headset

Play.com (UK) : Official Xbox 360 Wireless Headset : Xbox 360 - Free Delivery

Wired headset

Play.com (UK) : Official Xbox 360 Wired Headset : Xbox 360 - Free Delivery

How to use Pinnacle Game profiler

This little app is very easy to use.

Make sure your pad or wheel is plugged in or connected to your pc. Launch Pinnacle Game profiler and it will automatically scan your Hard Drive for known games.

It will then update its profiles for each game and present you with a list of your games.

Now select the game you wish to play by double clicking on the icon for that game and Pinnacle Game profiler will now launch the game with pad control.

To access the Pinnacle Help menu, simply press the F1 key on your keyboard while Pinnacle is open. There you will find answers to many frequently asked questions.

Useful Features

- You can calibrate the pad for all your games to suit your playing style. This can be fine tuned for each game or a global setting can be applied.

- You can control windows with your pad instead of your mouse.

- You can make your own profiles for games or modify existing profiles to suit your needs ie change button positions, invert controls etc...

- You can download user profiles from the pinnacle forums and request a profile if you find a game that isn't supported by pinnacle (the admin at pinnacle will make you a profile).

Pinnacle Game profiler is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 & 2008 and Windows Vista.

If a pc game already has pad support pinnacle is not needed. Most new Games for Windows have built in pad support and all that is needed is a 360 Game pad be it wired or wireless.

Drivers

You dont need a driver for the 360 pad and it will work out of the box with your pc. However If you install the driver you will get info on your battery life when you push the guide button which can be helpful. The Crossfire Wireless Gaming Receiver comes with an install disc but if you have lost that or are using a wired 360 pad here is the driver you need. Just select the options you need in the link to download the driver.

**Chaos** · 29-09-2008, 8:20 PM

Cheers mate. At some point I'll have a proper good look through this and add it to the FAQ somewhere. Nice work as usual!

**Steven** · 08-10-2008, 11:45 AM

If you have the wired 360 controller, I use this driver in preference to the official Microsoft one:

Xbcd 360 Install Guide

Works fine playing Pro Evolution Soccer and Flatout

PhilYerBoots · 10-10-2008, 11:29 AM

I've got the BigBen wired Xbox 360 pad and have tried following the above guide for installing XBCD.
However in Device Manager the controller is recognised differently by Windows XP than the Microsoft 360 pad and when following the 'update driver' section of the guide there is no choice of XBCD drivers to select from (where 2 choices are shown in the guide..).
Consequently when you open XBCD control panel there is no device recognised by the software to be able to configure.
Has anybody got this pad working with XBCD, or alternatively used any other software that can configure this pad in XP..?
Having said all the above, the pad is seen ok in the 'Game Controllers' section in control panel and works fine in Lego Batman (with the sticks and buttons correctly assigned automatically..bonus..!) but I would like to get the rumble feature working in games that support it...
Any ideas welcome...

ell-ess-dee · 11-10-2008, 4:18 PM

^^^^^

As above, I have exactly the same problem..

Razor · 12-10-2008, 12:59 PM

Just did a little google and it seems to be a known issue with this make of pad. If I was you I would just give up and buy an official 360 pad instead of the third party one you have now. I never have any problems with rubble on the official 360 pad.

namuk · 14-10-2008, 6:24 PM

rubble ?? in vista never new it was supported or even the pad did it

i have the wired version

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/842412...s/Product.html

Razor · 15-10-2008, 8:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by namuk

rubble ?? in vista never new it was supported or even the pad did it

i have the wired version

Play.com (UK) : Microsoft XBox 360 Controller For Windows : Computing - Free Delivery

Quiet a few games have the rumble feature. If you have crysis try it with the pad as it supports rumble.

namuk · 15-10-2008, 2:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor

Quiet a few games have the rumble feature. If you have crysis try it with the pad as it supports rumble.

crysis on a pad

will try that.. yea i did look for supported games only thing i found was if it says "games for windows" on box then the viberation is supported

but i do have this and get no rumble
Play.com (UK) : Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures : PC Games - Free Delivery

Razor · 15-10-2008, 2:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by namuk

crysis on a pad

will try that.. yea i did look for supported games only thing i found was if it says "games for windows" on box then the viberation is supported

but i do have this and get no rumble
Play.com (UK) : Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures : PC Games - Free Delivery

The games for windows bit sounds right to me as the 360 pad is supported out of the box.

I have Lego Batman and that has vibration, you have to switch it on in the game options.

Are you using the USB or wireless pad? If its USB maybe unplugging it and plugging it back in will sort it out.

namuk · 15-10-2008, 2:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor

The games for windows bit sounds right to me as the 360 pad is supported out of the box.

I have Lego Batman and that has vibration, you have to switch it on in the game options.

Are you using the USB or wireless pad? If its USB maybe unplugging it and plugging it back in will sort it out.

i have that batman comeing . yea i have the wired one i left it plugged in yesterday and run windows update there is a updated driver/patch for the pad .
i will try the lego indiana again but i never saw vibration in settings last time but it was a quick setup . the usuall max res, max all everything

play game

switich of nowing you can max that game NOW next one

Razor · 15-10-2008, 2:40 PM

Let us know how you get on.

namuk · 15-10-2008, 7:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor

Let us know how you get on.

tryed it mate no rummble setting in controls

odd with it being a pritty new game . even looked for a patch/mod nothing.. ah no worrys

supersub40 · 18-10-2008, 8:30 AM

you can also use a PS3 sixaxis pad on pc works great with a little tweak

namuk · 18-10-2008, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supersub40

you can also use a PS3 sixaxis pad on pc works great with a little tweak

i have the ps3 pad and a adator and for the life of me i could not get it to run on vista i even messed with the software i got the adaptor to link up but could not get it to showup the pad found out later that vista had taken some support out

supersub40 · 18-10-2008, 2:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by namuk

i have the ps3 pad and a adator and for the life of me i could not get it to run on vista i even messed with the software i got the adaptor to link up but could not get it to showup the pad found out later that vista had taken some support out

works fine in XP downlaod two little apps and thern it shows in control panel bobs yer mums bruvver

namuk · 18-10-2008, 2:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supersub40

works fine in XP downlaod two little apps and thern it shows in control panel bobs yer mums bruvver

yea it did just not on vista

was gutted i had to get the 360 pad witch is native support for vista

dannydee · 28-10-2008, 7:21 PM

Hi People
This is my first post and I am just starting to play games on my PC.
I have the MAME emulator also FUSION to play all Sega games the SNES9X for SNES games also using Project 64 to play NINTENDO 64 games and as a result i am used to playing games with a control pad. Im using a 'ThrustMaster DUAL TRIGGER 3 in 1' Control pad (sounds like a sex aid, i know LOL)
Anyway What i would like to know is what PC Games can i play with a controller like this? (It has 10 programmable buttons, a directional control pad, a 'Select' and 'Start' button and 2 Analogue sticks)
Please could someone help me with a list of games that i can play with a controller!!

Many Thanks to all in advance
Dannydee

Razor · 28-10-2008, 8:32 PM

Welcome to the forums.

You can play all pc games with the pad you have mentioned using pinnacle. I have 2 thrustmaster pads and used to use pinnacle with no problems at all. Pinnacle will map the controls to your chosen pad and allow you to customise the buttons if you so wish or use a pre defined layout created by pinnacle.

**Chaos** · 28-10-2008, 9:56 PM

Anyone tried playing two player using two pads on Pinnacle?

DrPhil · 01-12-2008, 12:06 PM

Scuse my ignorance but someone did mention using a sixaxis?

Can I use my PS3 wireless pad on my laptop running XP?

Would be lovely to be able to play FIFA on the laptop on night shifts!

**Chaos** · 01-12-2008, 10:24 PM

Pinnacle works with most controllers including the PS3. It is just most popular with the 360 pad.

DrPhil · 04-12-2008, 1:56 PM

Installed the pinnacle thing. When I plug in the PS3 pad it is recognised on the computer, and when you go into the control panel and controllers, it shows there, but when you go into to configure it, it doesn't seem to pick up any movement from the controller. I'm waiting for a game to arrive that I can test it on but am I doing something wrong?

SnowGruff · 15-12-2008, 6:08 PM

Im having the same problem

Did you ever fix it?

DrPhil · 16-12-2008, 9:26 AM

Never did. I got FIFA 08 but now discover that my graphics card is too poo to play it.

Will try to find another decent game to try it with but working 65 hours a week is not condusive to gaming!

mista_c · 19-12-2008, 8:44 AM

I need a cheap and cheerful controller for some occasional gaming on my HTPC. I see that Woolworths are selling a third party (ie not Sony) wired PS3 controller for £5, can anybody quickly tell me if this would work ok on my PC?

**Chaos** · 19-12-2008, 7:47 PM

If it is USB then there is no reason why it wouldn't. At that price it's got to be worth a go.

phunkyphreek · 03-01-2009, 11:34 AM

I have cod4 for my laptop and im finding it hard to use the keyboard. Anyone know where i can get a pad for it? thanks

DUAL_2512 · 03-01-2009, 5:02 PM

In my opinion the best pad to get is the Official Microsoft game pad for the pc. I have one and plays fine with all games and the rumble feature works with games like grid, prince of persia, and any other game that has the feature.

Once installed all games recognise the pad and no configuration is required, unless u want to change controls. iv not had any problems with drivers as some people mentioned as mine came with a driver cd.

Only £17.99 including delivery from ere!

You wont be dissapointed, I know the third party pads are cheaper but not all features may work!

Play.com (UK) : Official Xbox 360 Wired Controller : Xbox 360 - Free Delivery

IAmAI · 06-01-2009, 11:11 PM

If you have an Xbox 360 gamepad have a look at Xbcd. It's a custom set of drivers adds support for some of the features that aren't normally available for games that don't have specific support for the 360 controller.

Xbcd 360 Install Guide