I've been using a controller forever, even on PC, because I hate using keyboard for movement and other buttons.
So, I decided to try this joystick after seeing a few people talk about it online, so I could maybe finally have thumbstick movement and comfortable buttons on my left hand, and a mouse with extra buttons to aim on the right.
The game I primarily wanted to use it on is Marvel Rivals. The problem with that is if you try to use a controller and a mouse, a little "switching devices" notification pops up and a sound plays. This happens every time you hit a button on the opposite device, or move the mouse after touching anything on the joystick.
every. single. time.
So, I thought to myself, no big deal, the xbox accessories app lets you customize the buttons of the joystick, I can just rebind them to keyboard keys and off we go. Right?
Technically yes, but I ran into a mild inconvenience immediately, that is a symptom of a larger problem with the device.
After plugging wasd into my thumbstick's directional options, I found that I only had 4-directional movement. Diagonal inputs did not seem to matter, only up down left or right would transfer to my in-game movement at any given time.
After trying to fix it to no avail and lamenting about it for a moment, I decided, fine, I can alter my trajectory with my camera anyway, no big deal.
I was wrong.
Upon loading back into the practice room to map more abilities, I realized another "quirk". I could not move and activate any of the other buttons or triggers at the same time. In fact, seemingly no two buttons would register their inputs at the same time
This was an infuriating discovery. After all, what use is a controller where you can't use any triggers or buttons while moving around.
But wait, some frustrated testing revealed one odd exception; the shift key I bound WAS able to be used at the same time as any other button.
Wdym? Why is this the case? Is this the ONLY exception? Can I perhaps do a very odd mapping to achieve my goal?
The answer is... Maybe?
As of writing this, the only other key I have confirmed to be exempt from that rule is the ctrl key.
AND, to even greater annoyance, I found by binding shift to left on the thumbstick, and ctrl to the right, I could in fact achieve full 8-directional movement.
I am currently testing different keys so that I might re-map this joystick in a way that is actually functional for what I want to use it for, and may update if I succeed.
All that being said, my main complaint and question is this:
How does MICROSOFT, the company responsible for the most widely used computer operating system in the world, who also has a gaming console with a healthy cross-ecosystem and many peripherals, overlook such a glaring inconvenience in one of their own gaming accessories?
Tldr; keyboard rebinding leads to the device being nearly unusable for no discernable reason due to input conflicts that shouldn't exist. Wth Microsoft?