Was looking to purchase a controller to use for PC games. Preferably just one that I could plug in via USB, not very fancy, but would be compatible with or suit me for most games. Could someone point me in the right direction?

Wired Xbox 360 controllers work fine and are supported by just about all modern games that have controller support.  There is also a device that can be used to connect up to four wireless Xbox 360 controllers to your PC at a time, but PK would be the one to point you in that direction, pretty sure he has one.

I picked up an Afterglow 360 controller from Gamestop for $25.  It's a glowy blue one and it works really well.  I was surprised honestly.  I'd recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Gaming-Receiver-Xbox-360/dp/B003WFYZCY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363266962&sr=8-2&keywords=360+wireless+controller+adapter

 

I believe this is the one I use. The small driver disk looks like the one I have.

Wired 360 controller works great.

With the adapter, you can split screen in games on PC. Cheaper than buying a wired controller, if you already own the wireless ones that came with your 360.

Wired Xbox 360 controllers work fine and are supported by just about all modern games that have controller support.  There is also a device that can be used to connect up to four wireless Xbox 360 controllers to your PC at a time, but PK would be the one to point you in that direction, pretty sure he has one.

Indeed and hell... even the N64 emulator I have has 360 controller support.

There is also a program called MotionJoy with which you can plug in a PS3 controller via USB and have it act basically exactly the same as the 360 controller as far as Windows is concerned.  I much prefer the ergonomics of the PS3 controller and I'd do that more on the few games that I use controllers for, but the PS3 controller is really weird about it.  It doesn't seem to ever shut off afterwards, and the battery isn't removable.  If you unplug it from the computer it will keep flashing until it either turns on your PS3 (you'd have to leave it unplugged to avoid this), or time ends, or maybe until the battery runs out.  Whichever comes first.

I have to recommend the wireless adapter or the wired controller. The adapter is the way to go if you already have wireless controllers. 360 controller that is.

Sweet. Thanks guys. Ever had any issues with the wireless adapter? Saw a few reviews on Amazon and I was like ehhh

A few times I had to reinstall the driver manually, which isn't a big deal. However, it should automatically be found. I believe that's the issue most have with it. I've also read reviews where people say their internal fuse blows or whatever. I've had mine 3-4 years and it's still going strong. Even if it died tomorrow, I would have got my money's worth.

Just got this shipped in the mail...had a bit of a scare though. I bought a genric brand, not the official Xbox one. Finding the correct driver download off of the internet was a bitch...computer wouldn't recognize it at all. Finally got it working though, thanks. Played a bit of Half Life 2 with it.

 

I really want to download Bioshock Infinite...but I'm not 100% sure my computer has the specs to run it.

 

 

System Requirements

Minimum:

• • OS: Windows Vista Service Pack 2 32-bit
  • Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz
  • Memory: 2GB
  • Hard Disk Space: 20 GB free
  • Video Card: DirectX10 Compatible ATI Radeon HD 3870 / NVIDIA 8800 GT / Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics
  • Video Card Memory: 512 MB
  • Sound: DirectX Compatible

Recommended:

• • OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit
  • Processor: Quad Core Processor
  • Memory: 4GB
  • Hard Disk Space: 30 GB free
  • Video Card: DirectX11 Compatible, AMD Radeon HD 6950 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560
  • Video Card Memory: 1024 MB
  • Sound: DirectX Compatible

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My specs: 

 

 

Operating System

• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
•  
  Processor Intel® Core i3-2350M CPU @ 2.30GHz, 2300 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
  Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 6.00 GB

  Total Physical Memory 5.92 GB

  Available Physical Memory 2.43 GB

  Total Virtual Memory 11.8 GB

  Available Virtual Memory 7.70 GB

   

Edit: Graphics card shows up as 1696 MB total memory.

 

 

Copied straight from system information, since I couldn't find my exact model online. Looks to me as if I might be able to scratch it, but not sure...any opinions?

Go here, type in Bioshock Infinite and run the scan

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri

Says I meet every requirement except for "dedicated video RAM." Which is apparently lacking by a lot. Not sure how much of a deal that would be.

Which isn't making a whole lot of sense to me. It says I don't have a good enough video card for the first Bioshock game, but yet it says each spec for the video card meets requirements. And Bioshock is a few years old now, but does it really require less than 1/4 of the video memory of the new Bioshock? Seems weird to me.

Might be that you have an integrated videocard that uses shared memory.

That's a pretty big issue, isn't it? I mean, I dunno. I haven't played many games on my PC yet. Half Life 2 ran smooth as can be though.

Basically what I'm getting is...I am failing the test because I have integrated video memory. But when I bring up my info for available memory on the video card...it's saying about 1696 MB. The game requires of 512 of "dedicated" memory. But would my graphics card make a difference in that case since I should have enough memory to play the game?

Newer games need dedicated video memory. Things like virtual memory aren't constant and change as needed. Disk space can be used as virtual memory as well as RAM. By your video card having its own memory, it won't fail because there wasn't enough shared memory to process something.

 

My second to last laptop had the same problem. It was a good laptop, but the videocard was integrated. It really sucks when you have all the right gear except for one little thing. This is one of the main reasons why I stopped buying laptops. If it broke down outside of warranty, it was cheaper to buy a new one instead of repairing it. Also, it's difficult to upgrade when you need to. I told myself, if I want to be a PC gamer, I'll have to be able to upgrade and easily swap out broken/outdated pieces. For me, that meant a desktop.

I don't see your graphics card listed. What is it?

Intel HD Graphics Family. So really crappy lol.

If its the hd 3000 or better series it will probably work, but it won't run great.

I'm looking around on eBay for something that might help me run games. Not quite sure what to trust though. Looks like in most cases I'd spend a pretty penny for even the slightest bit of dedicated gaming memory.