What's so great about the mouse and keyboard?

Community Community & Industry Discussion
1

So, fellow members of the master race, I’d like to discuss what the mouse and keyboard offer. What are the main advantages to either of them for either gaming or any other use?

What are the mouse and keyboard like in relation to each other?

Are there ways in which they could be used but which have been left as largely untapped potential?

2

Some of the more obvious advantages that spring to mind:

KEYBOARD

  1. Text input is a viable method of getting input from the player. On a controller it takes several minutes just to input a sentence. Someone with even basic typing skill could do the same with a keyboard in a few seconds.
  2. BUTTONS. So many buttons. Various gameplay functions can be bound to single buttons rather than doubling options up or burying them in sub-menus.

MOUSE

  1. Precise aiming.
  2. Finer movement control. Kind of related to 1, but specifically meaning you can point and track positions on the screen to a greater level of accuracy than you would be able to manage with a thumbstick.
  3. Speed. Under the right settings, you can whip a mouse cursor or the field of view around lightning fast.
3

The mouse is the key. You can do either very precise and super quick movements with it, in a way simply not possible with a gamepad.

4

Try browsing the web with a gamepad controlling the cursor. Precision and speed.

5

I wasn’t a believer in the m/kb setup until I played a shooter on PC with it, then went back to console. As others have mentioned, the m/kb is more precise.

6

The one big downside to mouse + keyboard however is the lack of analog movement controls on the keyboard. I cringe every time I watch someone try to play a driving/racing game with a keyboard. Or having to hold Shift to walk slowly feels clunky when compared to gently pushing forward on an analog stick. Having a keyboard with analog WASD keys would make the M/KB setup perfect in all regards. And yes, those do in fact exist, but they’re not exactly mainstream yet.

7

M/KB > Gampad any day of the week but things like the Steam controller are a step in the right direction. The thumb-pad thingy on the Steam Controller isn’t as good as mouse but maybe we’ll have a trackball like input on a gamepad one day that can rival a mouse.

8

Macros.

It’s pretty funny to type ascii images in chat using macros just by pressing a single mouse button (while you’re still focused and playing the game)…
Or tell that infamous joke using macros * while playing *

9

This is the exact reason why the gaming industry has stayed away from adding in “cross platform” gaming. If you were to match up a K+M player against a pad player, the pad player would be at a great disadvantage (in most situations).

There are, of course, exceptions. Driving games, complex games with several actions (like Tomb Raider for example). I enjoyed god of war and cant imagine playing with K+M. Too many “complex” moves. Ever try Mortal Kombat on K+M? Disaster lol.

Just thinking: BF1 (or almost any from 3 on) the K+M is a pain in the rear when flying anything. Most (anyone i know at least) will drop the mouse and grab the pad in this instance. then back to K+M when playing outside of the aircraft.