Controller for PC gameplay?

[Vada]

Can anyone recommend a 'controller for PC gameplay'? DS has asked for one. I typed it into amazon and the range of options almost made me hyperventilate! Want to spend as little as poss without getting one that's total rubbish if that makes sense? It's to plug into our laptop.

Thanks Miaow. I've just gone on amazon and the cheapest seems to be £8.99- do you think you need to pay more for quality or does it not matter so much? (I'm clueless about thus sort of stuff).

I tend to find that the cheaper versions of [whatever] don't seem to last very long (according to their reviews), and have a short term life, rather than being durable products. Read some of the reviews on the cheaper vs the slightly more expensive products, and go from there.

How techie are you, because I'm getting the idea "not very" :)

You can use a Playstation 3 controller, or third party controller, but you need special software, it's not always easy to set up, they are temperamental and you'll get more frustrated with it than it's worth. And that's from watching DH who is a hardcore PC gamer, works in a games company, has done this for years and years.

The official Microsoft Xbox 360 wired controller is plug and play, but it absolutely won't be £8.99 - they go for about £30-40 usually. Third party ones don't work, whereas Windows is already set up for the Xbox 360 ones, and they work with pretty much every game on Steam. And get a wired one, not wireless - you can get receptors for the wireless controller, but again, DH finds they work for a few months and then stop.

It's quite a "big" present really. How old is he and what kind of games does he play?

OK this is cheaper, but the one you want. £19.99
www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Xbox-Common-Controller-Windows/dp/B004JU0JSK/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1418372960&sr=1-1&keywords=Official+Xbox+360+Wired+Gamepad

Oh dear - I've just bought DS the wireless controller & receiver thinking it would be a 'better' present - it's all he's asked for.

Thanks Bertie - yes you guessed correctly re the 'not very' techie! And thanks for the link, that's awesome. Just wondered - you might know the answer to this - DS is keen on having a controller especially coz it makes playing in 2 player mode easier (so you don't have 2 lots of hands crowding the keyboard). If you had one controller could one player use the controller and the other use the keyboard? Or does the controller override the keyboard? Or would you need 2 controllers to play in 2 player mode (eek £££)?

Err I'll ask DH! :) lol

Eastpoint not to worry - if he gets fed up with the wireless one, he can trade it in at a games shop for the wired one. And if he's asked for it then presumably he's up to setting it up etc himself.

No he just asked for a controller and I thought, as it is literally the only thing he has asked for, that I'd get him something fancy. This is the boy who only had one pair of trousers & one t-shirt, one pair of school shoes & a pair of trainers & no phone as a teen as he has no interest in material items... As he is so undemanding I try to get him something special when he thinks of things he would like.

Oh, perhaps you have time to swap it Eastpoint? I know that the wireless ones do work. It's just the receivers DH says are dodgy. On a PC you don't really need the length that you do with a console, because you tend to be sitting in front of the screen, unless he has it rigged up to a TV.

XBOX 360 Controller for pc is the best all rounder, my dp has one and swears by it, easy to set up and most games if not all are already set up for it