An Evolving Lifeform:

Computer controllers have taken the interactive experience to a whole new level. Newer controllers are more complex than controllers from the past and allow the player to interact on many different levels in video games. PC controllers have evolved just as rapidly as controls for game consoles and now include a host of new capabilities. “PC joysticks are different than the joysticks you would find on some older computer systems. If you push ‘up’ on the joystick, it isn't just up, it's a degree of up. Sort of like a mouse doesn't just move left, right, up, and down” (PC Builder’s Guide). PC controllers have advanced considerably in the recent decade. Now, “most joysticks and game controllers require some sort of calibration to keep consistent. Older PC joysticks weren't even self centering, and they were expensive. Today there are much better alternatives that offer fighter-plane sensitivity and even force feedback for added realism” (PC Builder’s Guide). The continuing trend in video game control is complete interactivity with the game. As a reflection of that trend, controllers are also starting to look more realistic. Controllers for flight simulation games look almost identical to actual airplane yokes and on-screens gauges are consistent as well. Joysticks also look more realistic and are capable of facilitating a lot more interaction than in the past.

Game-Specific Benefits of PC Control:

As many a gamer will tell you, the personal computer is king of both first-person shooter and real-time strategy genres. Where conventional console controllers lack definite accuracy and pin-point playability, the point-and-click nature of a mouse allows for distinct aiming and exact cursor movement. This aspect of control is key for both the FPS and RTS genres, simulating a simple point-and-click idea (either shooting through a rifle's scope or selecting an army's units to command). To further clarify this distinction between consoles and PC control, one can easily acknowledge the differences of cross-platform games of both genres. The recently ported Half-Life 2, a highly acclaimed FPS originally for the PC, has been altered to adapt to the XBOX platform. Publisher Electronic Arts retooled the aiming system to assist the player, helping players aim by slightly auto-targeting enemies on its own. Switch over to the "God play" style of the RTS and a similar relationship follows. Games like Warcraft and Command & Conquer have you hovering above a battlefield to click units and organize war commands. Starcraft, one of the genre's most successful titles, is one of the few RTS games ever to be ported to console. This lack of real-time strategy games on home consoles is an obvious indication of the platform's weaknesss toward the genre. Starcraft 64, the ported version of the game appearing on the Nintendo 64, was met with mediocre praise and was plagued with the inability to live up to its PC partner as joystick control could not match the accessibility of a point-and-click mouse.

Until recently, the PC's use of a keyboard has also been a definitive control point of the platform. Text-based story games became very popular among computer gamers where the player entered words and sentences to progress. More recent online games have also become major successes, and with the help of the keyboard, allow players to communicate with others in the game world (although many newer games offer voice capability).

PC vs. Console:

Despite the PC's dominance of the FPS and RTS genres, it should not be misinterpreted that the PC offers better control overall. As we proceed into the future, where mice, keyboards, and controllers have been produced for both realms of gaming, the apparent differences between the two begin to fade away. Also, as game designers continue to expands their knowledge and creativity, they will continue to think up new and unique ideas to help all platforms support any genre. Technology offers a similar adaptation in the future. Already, Nintendo's Revolution controller has managed to not only create new styles of play, but also reshape the console's capabilities by providing a similar "point-and-click" nature of a computer's mouse.

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