Controller or Mouse & Keyboard? The Battle Continues.

If you’re a console video gamer, you’ve likely been made fun of by a PC gamer at least once in your life. I grew up with consoles but have recently turned to PC gaming, and I’ve been interested in the whole gamepad vs mouse & keyboard combo, so I did a little experiment. I played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox 360 and PC, and took screenshots of my stats to compare.

Mouse & Keyboard

Gamepad

These results probably aren’t what you expected. I should add a few disclaimers, however. 1) I played on PC first, so by the time I tried it on Xbox I was already somewhat familiar with the game. 2) On PC I played a combination of Kill Confirmed and Team Deathmatch, while on Xbox I played mostly Kill Confirmed. 3) I have way more experience with a gamepad than I do with mouse and keyboard. 4) I played with the exact same class (same weapons, same perks, etc) on both systems. 5) My PC is connected to a 24″ monitor, my Xbox is connected to a 42″ Plasma. 6) This study is in no way scientific.

I got about the same number of kills on both systems, but died a lot more on PC, probably because I don’t have as much mouse and keyboard experience, as I said above. I scored way more headshots, and my accuracy is actually higher with the gamepad, which is exactly opposite of every claim out there. But with my stats being pretty identical on both systems, I can only conclude that as long as I’m on a level playing field as everyone else (meaning I use the same hardware to play the game as everyone else,) using a mouse and keyboard does not give me any advantage over using the gamepad.

But what if I don’t use the same hardware as everyone else? I recently got a XIM3, which basically lets me use a mouse and keyboard (or any other PC compatible joystick) on my Xbox. I know this raises a few questions of ethics for some people, and I’ll share my opinion on this later.

XIM3

I played for 4 hours and 18 minutes using the XIM3, pretty much the same amount of time I played each with the gamepad and mouse & keyboard.

Now for some more disclaimers. 1) I still used the exact same class. 2) I was already a lot more comfortable with the game at this point. As you can see my Kill:Death ratio and my accuracy have gone up (and continue to go up.) So what does this mean? Why do I (apparently) play better with mouse and keyboard on my Xbox than I do on PC. Maybe it’s because I am using the supposedly more accurate mouse and keyboard combo while everyone else is stuck with a gamepad, but I think it has more to do with me finally getting used to playing a new game.

Is It Cheating?

Now on to whether or not I think using a mouse and keyboard on Xbox is cheating. My short answer: No. My slightly longer answer: It’s basically the same thing as using a racing wheel for racing games, a joystick for fighting games, Sony’s Sharpshooter for Killzone 3, or the Zapper gun for Duck Hunt. I personally don’t care if I’m playing Call of Duty with a controller against someone using a mouse and keyboard, because I feel I’m good enough with the gamepad to keep up.

Time for a history lesson

Let me share some personal history with you. I grew up gaming on consoles, and every time I tried playing a shooter on PC I quickly gave up because I couldn’t get used to it. I bought Halo 2 for PC, and I always used a controller. I have never liked Halo’s multiplayer (because I suck at it,) but I decided to play a match. I was using my wired Xbox controller plugged into my PC, while everyone else was (presumably) using mouse and keyboard. I had never done so well playing Halo multiplayer; I actually finished with a postive K:D.

I still stuck with console gaming, until I decided to go into debt to build my gaming PC, (a lifelong dream of mine.) I could never get used to using a mouse and keyboard for shooter games (like Call of Duty or Halo) so I decided to practice with a couple of slower-paced games like Fallout 3 and Borderlands. I was delighted when I finally got it down, which I learned wasn’t really that hard.

I now realize that this short detour has little to do with the whole gamepad vs mouse and keyboard debate, I just like to talk about myself. The point I was trying to make is it really doesn’t bother me to play online shooters with a gamepad knowing who I’m playing against is using the mouse and keyboard, and my little experiment tells me that I am equally good (or bad) no matter what hardware I use, but I’m sure there are plenty of people who would disagree. I will eventually post some videos comparing me playing MW3 with a gamepad and XIM3.