Game Controller for Mac

[sharif44k]

I would like to get a controller (preferably Bluetooth) that can be used with most games. My current games include Civilization V, a couple of Call of Duty games, Assassin's Creed II, Left for Dead 2, among others.

Basically what I want to do is that plugin my laptop to the TV via HDMI and then use the controller to sit back and play as if I was playing on a console.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sharif

[KittenCanaveral]

I sadly do not know about bluetooth controllers, but the 2 I have had the best luck with are wired xbox360 and a wired logitech, I have gotten the wireless xbox 360 controller to work but Deailg with battaries was a pain, and they died at the wrong times for me. I am sorry I could not be more helpfull.

[runvus4]

I was looking into the same thing. From what I have been able to figure out is that the PS3 controller can pair with OSX via bluetooth and works fine. The XBOX 360 controller can be used wirelessly with OSX, but you need a wireless controller receiver (it does not pair via bluetooth). They both work fine wired, they both work fine in big picture mode. The main decision points are if you prefer one controller over the other, and if wireless, if you hate the wireless controller receiver for the XBOX360.

There are drivers for the XBOX ONE controller floating around, but they are under active development (read possibly not 100% reliable). The Dualshock 4 controller can pair via bluetooth and is seen as generic wireless game controller. The controller mapping is not plug and play as a generic controller - you may have to make mappings of each button for any given game (or download custom plist files for any given game). The touchpad does not work under the generic controller. Unless you don't mind the fact that they are not plug and play and may not work at all for a new game, then you should not get on XBOX ONE or Dualshock 4 controller today to use with a Mac.

[Sawcy333]

Currently all Feral Interactive games support the DualShock 4 on Mac. I've only tried it with Hitman: Absolution and Batman Arkham Origins. My guess is in the next year or so both the DS 4 and the Xbox One controller will get good support, but fo now you should go with an Xbox 360 controller. Also in the app store you can buy Joystick Mapper for $4.99 and it'll get you going for games that don't have controller support. In my case I'll stay with the DS 4 since I don't have an xbox or don't want to pay 30+ for a controller I won't use much

[swc78]

How do you go about pairing the PS3 controller to the Mac?

[vKe3p3R]

And the Wii controller? Any chance?

[JoshWood]

I suggest the 360 controler, there are great tutorials on how to set it up... it does cost an extra $5

[Klown1863]

Chido

[twillsie]

Originally posted by runvus4:

I was looking into the same thing. From what I have been able to figure out is that the PS3 controller can pair with OSX via bluetooth and works fine. The XBOX 360 controller can be used wirelessly with OSX, but you need a wireless controller receiver (it does not pair via bluetooth). They both work fine wired, they both work fine in big picture mode. The main decision points are if you prefer one controller over the other, and if wireless, if you hate the wireless controller receiver for the XBOX360.

There are drivers for the XBOX ONE controller floating around, but they are under active development (read possibly not 100% reliable). The Dualshock 4 controller can pair via bluetooth and is seen as generic wireless game controller. The controller mapping is not plug and play as a generic controller - you may have to make mappings of each button for any given game (or download custom plist files for any given game). The touchpad does not work under the generic controller. Unless you don't mind the fact that they are not plug and play and may not work at all for a new game, then you should not get on XBOX ONE or Dualshock 4 controller today to use with a Mac.

I would like to add one piece of information to this post. You can easily pair a PS3 controller to the mac, however, the left and right triggers are not always treated as axis's, sometimes they are treated as buttons (especialliy with in-home streaming), so it's not exactly 100% perfect, it's more like 99.9% perfect.

[twillsie]

Originally posted by swc78:

How do you go about pairing the PS3 controller to the Mac?

This works in Mac OS X Mavericks and Yosemite:

1. Plug in your PS3 controller to your mac with a USB cable and hit the PS/HOME button.
2. Click on the bluetooth icon in your menu bar and click "Open Blutooth Preferences..." (or click on "System Preferences" > "Bluetooth")
3. Right Click on "PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller" and click "Connect"
4. Unplug the PS3 controller.

[Johan F]

The PS3 controller works great in OSX but I recently bought a PS4 controller and it doesn't work without the cable in Super Meat Boy. It's probably the games fault though since it works perfectly in Steam in Big Game Mode via Bluetooth.

[jaam]

I used Logitech F310 with my Mac and set the switch at the back to D (DInput). It works with few of my games on Steam.

[N7Chasti]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I've been surprised how much trouble I've had with this. (I was told everything was easy with a Mac and always worked perfectly.) One thing that didn't work for me was using a generic wired PS3 controller. I couldn't get it to do anything but rumble, which it did for as long as it was plugged in. Hopefully I'll have more success with the wireless version.

[NomexSniper]

I'm using my MacBook Pro running OSX 10.9.3 with a bluetooth connected PS3 controller. If I try to plug it in, it will only charge the device but won't register it unless I disable bluetooth.

Originally posted by Todd:

Originally posted by swc78:

How do you go about pairing the PS3 controller to the Mac?

This works in Mac OS X Mavericks and Yosemite:

1. Plug in your PS3 controller to your mac with a USB cable and hit the PS/HOME button.
2. Click on the bluetooth icon in your menu bar and click "Open Blutooth Preferences..." (or click on "System Preferences" > "Bluetooth")
3. Right Click on "PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller" and click "Connect"
4. Unplug the PS3 controller.

[NickWizz]

Yeah I have had problems with both xbox 360 and ps3 controllers. I have read that a lot companies are now building in ps4 controller support.