Joystick or Keyboard?

[tepples]

I typically play Lockjaw on a gamepad, either an N64 controller through a USB adapter or the pad built into my DS Lite.

I started out on a gamepad but eventually moved over to the keyboard. I just love the keyboard's versatility across many different games.

And I love the gamepad's social aspects.

Rosti_LFC: You claim gamepads cause RSI. But if you have friends over, and they don't have laptops for Wi-Fi gaming, nothing beats a PC or a console with four gamepads and a flat-panel TV. Or should people buy four joysticks instead of four gamepads? Or should the host of a party buy (sticker shock) separate computers for each planned guest? And what would you recommend for handheld gaming, or would you rather carry and play on a netbook?

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]I've been recommended to try out a stick by a few, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It's definitely a lot more specialized for TGM style games.[/quote]
The only stick I have is an NES Advantage, a relatively cheap 8-way stick for the NES. I tried LJ65 with bottom rotation (my imitation of Ti ARS) and the up-down strokes common to <1G felt more natural than they did on the Control Pad of an NES or N64 controller.

SecretSalamander: I used to use a Model M like that, but when its N key started not sending keypresses, I switched to a cheap Logitech. Have you any guides for Model M keyboard repair?

KevinDDR: If *that joystick* is good for Tetris, is this one good for KSirtet?
[!--ImageUrlBegin--][a href=\\\"http://pinocchio.jk0.org/lj/8ufitetsf.png\\\" target=\\\"_new\\\"][!--ImageUrlEBegin--][img width=\\\"400\\\" class=\\\"attach\\\" src=\\\"http://pinocchio.jk0.org/lj/8ufitetsf.png\\\" border=\\\'0\\\' alt=\\\"IPB Image\\\" /][!--ImageUrlEnd--][/a][!--ImageUrlEEnd--]

[Rosti_LFC]

Rosti_LFC: You claim gamepads cause RSI. But if you have friends over, and they don't have laptops for Wi-Fi gaming, nothing beats a PC or a console with four gamepads and a flat-panel TV. Or should people buy four joysticks instead of four gamepads? Or should the host of a party buy (sticker shock) separate computers for each planned guest? And what would you recommend for handheld gaming, or would you rather carry and play on a netbook?

You're just countering my argument of "gamepads are nowhere near as good as a keyboard or joystick" with "what about when you have to use a gamepad?"

I don't play the majority of my Tetris on a bus/train or with three other people. Therefore I don't need to use a gamepad. Obviously for scenarios where I have to use a gamepad I use one, but that's only out of necessity. If I could easily hook a keyboard up to my DS for Tetris DS I would.

[m__]

I wish I had a joystick for the computer, I have a Hori Wii fighting stick, but the using bluetooth with it seems to give me a good deal of lag input. I was surprised to see someone in this thread can use it. I might need to try the buletooth dongle again on my newer computer.

there is honestly no lag with my fighting stick and my macbook pro's built in bluetooth.
these things send data to the wii via bluetooth as it is.
what host are you using to get input from the wiimote into the machine?

[Red_Star]

there is honestly no lag with my fighting stick and my macbook pro's built in bluetooth.
these things send data to the wii via bluetooth as it is.
what host are you using to get input from the wiimote into the machine?

Kensington Bluetooth dongle. My bro bought it to try out the wii stuff on his computer.

[tepples]

You're just countering my argument of "gamepads are nowhere near as good as a keyboard or joystick" with "what about when you have to use a gamepad?"

"Better" has multiple dimensions. It can mean "better when you have a choice", which may favor keyboards, but it can also mean "more available", which may favor gamepads. Sometimes worse is better.

[tr3_tris]

I still have to try a stick but i'm pretty sure that it is better than any keyboard out there

[Kitaru]

Or should people buy four joysticks instead of four gamepads? Or should the host of a party buy (sticker shock) separate computers for each planned guest?

No, I don't think I'd run out and buy four sticks. If anything, start with one if you're interested and let the hardware accumulate. I started with a wood box and some American parts, slowly passed the American parts to my friend as I replaced them with Japanese ones, and bought a retail stick with Japanese parts. Now I have two sticks that can be used on various platforms (including PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation, and Neo-Geo) and my friend has built a stick with the hand-me-down parts. When we get together, we have plenty of hardware for all of the shoot 'em ups and fighting games we want to play.

This brings up another point. If your friends have hardware of their own, why not have them bring it to a gathering? If most people can bring one or two laptops, desktops, -- what have you -- then you should be able  to cover everyone for a rousing LAN party.

Thirdly, some PC games do support multiple keyboards. It isn't usually the case, but this also helps if there is an input device dilemma. I would give an example, but talking about the example most relevant in this situation would break Rule #7 of the forum guidelines, hehe.

And what would you recommend for handheld gaming, or would you rather carry and play on a netbook?

I prefer to play on my laptop, as this gives me the most options in input devices. I typically play with a USB keyboard, but I can also use USB gamepads. If I'm looking to have a more dedicated setup for a LAN party or anime convention, a laptop and Street Fighter IV stick fit in my backpack and still have some room in the main pouch for other miscellaneous things I need to carry. It isn't exactly fit-in-your pocket portable gaming, but I tend to need my laptop around for non-gaming purposes anyway.

I still have to try a stick but i'm pretty sure that it is better than any keyboard out there

They both serve their own purpose, which is why I voted both. Keyboard is a general purpose weapon of choice and the faster option for things without entry delay like 40 Lines, whereas stick is specialized to TGM and the like. I definitely think both tools are worth using.

[tepples]

If your friends have hardware of their own, why not have them bring it to a gathering? If most people can bring one or two laptops, desktops, -- what have you -- then you should be able  to cover everyone for a rousing LAN party.

Why not? Because their parents won't let them take the family's desktop PC out of the house.

I prefer to play on my laptop

Do you know of any tetromino game for PC that supports ad-hoc multiplayer in much the same way as Tetris DS?

[Tenchan4]

I'm using this [!--ImageUrlBegin--][a href=\\\"http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1387/nesusb.jpg\\\" target=\\\"_new\\\"][!--ImageUrlEBegin--] so I prefer a gamepad layout when I play.

[PetitPrince]

Hahhaa, the keyboard used at schools.

I'd like to know which school had Model M keyboards. Mine were full of Mac. Bad Mac Keyboard.

Anyway, 'sticks are really pleasurable to play with (note: do not take this part of the sentence out of context), but keyboards are more convenient.

[hienwa]

^My elementary school had them. I remember playing Oregon Trail and other crappy games on 5.25 floppy disks.

[Kitaru]

Why not? Because their parents won't let them take the family's desktop PC out of the house.

Yes, that would be something of a roadblock, fair enough. If you ever happen to accumulate additional PCs or laptops though, it might work.

Do you know of any tetromino game for PC that supports ad-hoc multiplayer in much the same way as Tetris DS?

If I recall correctly, L2Stack had preliminary work on said functionality. One machine acts as the host and the other as the client. However, it had no garbage sends when I last played it. Caffeine and I had some interesting Secret Grade races, haha.

[KevinDDR]

Here's my reasoning for using a stick when I do:

In arcade TGM, you have to use a stick. If you want to become good at actual legitimate arcade board TGM, you have to use a stick (unless you wanna wire a keyboard to a JAMMA setup).

If you want to become good at BB/SRS/40lines/LJ/whatever else, use whatever you want. You can use a TV remote for all I care. Whatever works best is within the acceptable control parameters for the game.

[TGM]

keyboard is fast, but it hurts my hands more than TDS. So I use a stick on PC.

[BigAl95]

I think I would like a joystick more, but have yet to try it yet. Usually keyboard and sometimes NES to USB.