Of Mice and Men
 

I asked my dad for a new mouse for my birthday, I had been using for ages a novelty Lego brick one that was neither ergonomic nor accurate but snapped the usb bit by mistake. Anyway, I was expecting a bog-standard computer mouse but instead he got me a ridiculous gaming mouse, the G502 Proteus Core Gaming Mouse. It has a thousand buttons, a sensor for optimised performance on whatever surface you're using it on, a way to switch between dpi settings on the fly for accurate sniping (Which would be really handy if I played any PC FPS games and had the mental acuity to think to switch dpi settings every time I hit the zoom in button) and a softly glowing light on the top.

Anyway, it's completely ridiculous but got me wondering what other ludicrous controllers you guys use for your master-race gaming? Also what useless bits of plastic that used to be console attachments you have littering up your closets.

In terms of old console tat, I have a mouse and one of those huge twin stick joysticks they made for the PS1, a g-con for the PS2 and used to use a Gameboy Advance as a controller for the Gamecube. I also have a bunch of old plastic guitars and drum bits for Guitar Hero and a DJ Hero turntable. Other than that I generally stick to fairly normal controllers.

I've got an x52 pro flightstick kicking around that i'm not using at all because Star Citizen isn't out yet and Elite: Dangerous is too expensive. I've also got an arcade stick that i've used all of maybe 3 times and a mechanical keyboard which doesn't actually help anything but makes clackity sounds which make me happy inside.

I am that weird guy that has eschewed using a mouse in favour of a trackball, which has been the case for well over 10 years now. Yes, even for FPS. It probably affects my gameplay, but I'm not trying to break into e-sports or any of that nonsense so I haven't really ever felt like it's been too much of a hindrance.

I switched to a mechanical keyboard for the first time less than a year ago, and I love everything about it. It feels so much easier and more fluid to type with to the point where I notice how much worse my old keyboard is by comparison whenever I have to use it, as it's hooked up to an old computer in the basement.

The most specialized input device I have is an arcade stick which gets a lot of use for Street Fighter. I eventually reached a point where I felt my performance was being negatively impacted by using the awful 360 pad and couldn't take it anymore. In retrospect, it was well worth the investment.

I toyed with the idea of a trackball a few years back but I tried a few out in a store and wasn't convinced it was for me. I played a bit of Serious Sam last night and after dicking about with a few different key bindings came up with using the right mouse button for melee attack, one thumb button for reloading and another for secondary fire with sprint and jump as alt and the spacebar on the keyboard and it's great. Not used the variable dpi settings yet, might give that a go this evening. Also I forgot to mention before the mouse has weights you can move around for the ideal balance which is very silly indeed.

I use the same mouse, Shin. The only complaint I have is my thumb occasionally grazes the back/forward buttons. Otherwise, could not be happier with the purchase. You'll think the weights are silly until a couple months down the line you want to do some fine-tuning and find that you are able to because, hey, they thought of that.

For keyboard, I use the same one as Diss, which has made using the keyboards in the library at school a significantly worse experience.

Otherwise, I'll use a wired Microsoft 360 pad.

I view my computer monitor through a high-powered telescope and communicate with its operator via semaphore flag. I'm not sure what input devices he prefers.

At work, I use a RollerMouse Pro2.

I use a Corsair K95 mechanical keyboard, a razer nostromo and a Razer Naga 2014. Love each and every one of them.

They are definitely not for everyone. It is hilarious to watch someone try to use one for the first time; I seem to recall that it took about a week of regular use before I started to feel comfortable with it. I don't see myself ever wanting to go back outside of niche applications like drawing, but there are better peripherals than a mouse for things of that nature (tablets, etc.) anyway.