As a new Xim2 user for the last 2 weeks I wanted to give some feedback on the device formed from someone who has used it and understands how it works.
* Mouse: Different stroke, same result. The mouse is completely limited to the sensativity set by the game designers. You are hardbound by the gamepad and game design. In Halo 3 or BFBC I cannot turn faster than other players. This is an adjustment compared to some PC gamers where you can crank up the sensativity and with a high DPI mouse you could do a 360 with 1/2 inch of mouse travel.
* Good Gamepadders Abound. There are a lot of good gamepad gamers and a fair margin of great gamepad gamers out there. In Halo 3 Lone Wolf players at a 10-of-50 rank aim well and only get better above that point. 40-50 range are as good as any Halo PC gamers I ever saw. The ability for some gamers to aim with the sniper, BR, and even Spartan Laser as well as their ability to move (and aim) is uncanny. They would crush most PC gamers with a mouse with "PC-mouse" limitations, let alone a mouse with gamepad limiters.
* A mouse is No replacement for game knowledge. What I found interesting is that at lower ranks when I play new maps I would get crushed initially by really poor players in terms of aim. Even now there is no substitute for knowing HOW to play the game. In Halo specifically the speed of a Spartan is so slow that most encounters are defined by how well you utilize the map, weapon spawns, ad effectively use the Melee/Guns/Nades combo. Anyone who thinks being good with a mouse will allow you to rule in Halo 3 has misunderstood how the game works as well as the limits of a mouse... as well as the skill involved in being good in Halo.
* KB/MS Not so much an advantage against experience gamers: In a typical encounter with an average ranked player is if I do a BR shot at the same time as the opponent it will be a draw. Be it the mild auto-aim and adhesion, hit box size, or the fact a large chunk of gamepadders are good, the bottom line is that an encounter of equal weapons where neither party has an advantage in terms of surprise, angle, etc the mouse doesn't offer an advantage.
* KB/MS has some disadvantages. WASD is not analog is a big one. Also different weapons are setup different for the analogsticks, e.g. in Halo and BFBC turrents, at maximum movement, turn slowly. This is a problem for a mouse because you need to move fast and then pickup and start again. For weapons that also have time based acceleratin they work very, very poorly. Button/Key memorization becomes a chore as you will map different buttons for different games (Left-Shift may be B in one game, but Right Mouse button is B in another). You will also need to have your PC next to your console (within ~10feet) and will need to be using your PC the entire time you are playing. Profiles take some time and they will never feel exactly like a PC Mouse game because the games are not designed for that sort of free movement.
* More Fun... for a longterm Mouse user. My friend, a very good Halo gamer, summed this up well: "I suck at mice and am a LOT better with a gamepad than a mouse." So far he has proven that sufficiently to me. The biggest thing we have seen as that with the mouse all my mouse skills translate into the game and the hurdles I had with a gamepad over the last 5 or 6 years (thumb injury) went away. Instead of struggling NOT to look a the floor/sly (very embarrasing as this was never an issue years ago) I started just playing the games. Tactics and learning the nuances of the GAME came forward instead of "I hit that guy, and then he turned around and destroyed me because I missed my next ten shots." The nicest part is losing and it be related to a lack of gameplay skill and not some input device barrier. This is probably the euphoria of Wii gaming in many ways. Seeing as I am stuck on 11 Lone Wolf in Halo 3 the assumptions made by a few here about motives would conclude I am ticked that 80% of Halo gamers are still better than me--but the opposite is true. Playing a Shooter on the 360 is now about playing the game and not about struggling to do the most basic things. Further now that I don't constantly look at the floor Match Making works, and works well. Before even 1 - 3 level gamers were crushing me. Even when I knew the map and had a superior weapon and had a tactical advantage (most often: dude standing still turned away from me) my thumbs just would not do what I wanted. Why my thumbs are like that is a long story, but the bottom line is my gamepad friend hates mice and loves his gamepad and has no interest in a Xim. It offers nothing he wants. And for a lot of Xbox gamers that will probably remain true.
The Xim didn't make me a console gaming god. Some games I well enough with a pad to have fun, e.g. BFBC with a gamepad could be played in a way that I wasn't absolute fodder (no one can really jump, weapons are more powerful hence good tactics allow you to get a clean shot&kill instead of an elongated encounter that emphises movement, the game allows more hiding and is team, not kill, oriented) as well as Gears because it is slower. But any action shooters were a total waste. But you would think with my PC background as well I would be the king of the hill against inferior padders... but it doesn't work that way. There are situations where my skill level bumped up; I can "bumper jump" with the better players and on large open maps that are flat and have a sniping rifle/spartan laser, to use Halo as an example again, I am pretty dangerous but have founder above average snipers are a challenge and the really good ones really own. Sniping is something most typical lower level gamers really struggle with on a gamepad (very fine aim is required and doing small movements with a stick can be a challenge) so unless they picked up on straif-firing (you move slower left&right so it is a simpler way to get a slower movement from a less fine grained input--very similar to how nice PC mice have on the fly DPI changing).
All this to say that while I am enjoying shooters on the 360 a lot more, and the Xim works, players like NRP, AlStrong, Phaethon, Castaway, etc own me. iirc they are all in the 20s or low 30s right now in rank so while the Xim gives me the advantage of using a device that I am more comfortable, with some tradeoffs, ultimately every feedback given so far has been the same: You aren't doing imossible things in game. Good player still beat me. I am pleasantly surprised at the ability of a lot of gamepad gamers and only feel bad for gamers who were at where I was: the gamepad being unusable for human-based gaming. I salute those who like the pad and those who prefer mice and have problems with a pad I would recommend a Xim. It won't give you a competitive advantage but it will making the game more accessible.
The only people who will be mad are those that suck both at pads and mice (ouch), 12 year olds who cannot afford a Xim, and those with a false sense of prestige for learning a gamepad and want to leverage their skill as an advantage above everyone they can because for them being better, and not people enjoying the game, is what matters to them.
* Mouse: Different stroke, same result. The mouse is completely limited to the sensativity set by the game designers. You are hardbound by the gamepad and game design. In Halo 3 or BFBC I cannot turn faster than other players. This is an adjustment compared to some PC gamers where you can crank up the sensativity and with a high DPI mouse you could do a 360 with 1/2 inch of mouse travel.
* Good Gamepadders Abound. There are a lot of good gamepad gamers and a fair margin of great gamepad gamers out there. In Halo 3 Lone Wolf players at a 10-of-50 rank aim well and only get better above that point. 40-50 range are as good as any Halo PC gamers I ever saw. The ability for some gamers to aim with the sniper, BR, and even Spartan Laser as well as their ability to move (and aim) is uncanny. They would crush most PC gamers with a mouse with "PC-mouse" limitations, let alone a mouse with gamepad limiters.
* A mouse is No replacement for game knowledge. What I found interesting is that at lower ranks when I play new maps I would get crushed initially by really poor players in terms of aim. Even now there is no substitute for knowing HOW to play the game. In Halo specifically the speed of a Spartan is so slow that most encounters are defined by how well you utilize the map, weapon spawns, ad effectively use the Melee/Guns/Nades combo. Anyone who thinks being good with a mouse will allow you to rule in Halo 3 has misunderstood how the game works as well as the limits of a mouse... as well as the skill involved in being good in Halo.
* KB/MS Not so much an advantage against experience gamers: In a typical encounter with an average ranked player is if I do a BR shot at the same time as the opponent it will be a draw. Be it the mild auto-aim and adhesion, hit box size, or the fact a large chunk of gamepadders are good, the bottom line is that an encounter of equal weapons where neither party has an advantage in terms of surprise, angle, etc the mouse doesn't offer an advantage.
* KB/MS has some disadvantages. WASD is not analog is a big one. Also different weapons are setup different for the analogsticks, e.g. in Halo and BFBC turrents, at maximum movement, turn slowly. This is a problem for a mouse because you need to move fast and then pickup and start again. For weapons that also have time based acceleratin they work very, very poorly. Button/Key memorization becomes a chore as you will map different buttons for different games (Left-Shift may be B in one game, but Right Mouse button is B in another). You will also need to have your PC next to your console (within ~10feet) and will need to be using your PC the entire time you are playing. Profiles take some time and they will never feel exactly like a PC Mouse game because the games are not designed for that sort of free movement.
* More Fun... for a longterm Mouse user. My friend, a very good Halo gamer, summed this up well: "I suck at mice and am a LOT better with a gamepad than a mouse." So far he has proven that sufficiently to me. The biggest thing we have seen as that with the mouse all my mouse skills translate into the game and the hurdles I had with a gamepad over the last 5 or 6 years (thumb injury) went away. Instead of struggling NOT to look a the floor/sly (very embarrasing as this was never an issue years ago) I started just playing the games. Tactics and learning the nuances of the GAME came forward instead of "I hit that guy, and then he turned around and destroyed me because I missed my next ten shots." The nicest part is losing and it be related to a lack of gameplay skill and not some input device barrier. This is probably the euphoria of Wii gaming in many ways. Seeing as I am stuck on 11 Lone Wolf in Halo 3 the assumptions made by a few here about motives would conclude I am ticked that 80% of Halo gamers are still better than me--but the opposite is true. Playing a Shooter on the 360 is now about playing the game and not about struggling to do the most basic things. Further now that I don't constantly look at the floor Match Making works, and works well. Before even 1 - 3 level gamers were crushing me. Even when I knew the map and had a superior weapon and had a tactical advantage (most often: dude standing still turned away from me) my thumbs just would not do what I wanted. Why my thumbs are like that is a long story, but the bottom line is my gamepad friend hates mice and loves his gamepad and has no interest in a Xim. It offers nothing he wants. And for a lot of Xbox gamers that will probably remain true.
The Xim didn't make me a console gaming god. Some games I well enough with a pad to have fun, e.g. BFBC with a gamepad could be played in a way that I wasn't absolute fodder (no one can really jump, weapons are more powerful hence good tactics allow you to get a clean shot&kill instead of an elongated encounter that emphises movement, the game allows more hiding and is team, not kill, oriented) as well as Gears because it is slower. But any action shooters were a total waste. But you would think with my PC background as well I would be the king of the hill against inferior padders... but it doesn't work that way. There are situations where my skill level bumped up; I can "bumper jump" with the better players and on large open maps that are flat and have a sniping rifle/spartan laser, to use Halo as an example again, I am pretty dangerous but have founder above average snipers are a challenge and the really good ones really own. Sniping is something most typical lower level gamers really struggle with on a gamepad (very fine aim is required and doing small movements with a stick can be a challenge) so unless they picked up on straif-firing (you move slower left&right so it is a simpler way to get a slower movement from a less fine grained input--very similar to how nice PC mice have on the fly DPI changing).
All this to say that while I am enjoying shooters on the 360 a lot more, and the Xim works, players like NRP, AlStrong, Phaethon, Castaway, etc own me. iirc they are all in the 20s or low 30s right now in rank so while the Xim gives me the advantage of using a device that I am more comfortable, with some tradeoffs, ultimately every feedback given so far has been the same: You aren't doing imossible things in game. Good player still beat me. I am pleasantly surprised at the ability of a lot of gamepad gamers and only feel bad for gamers who were at where I was: the gamepad being unusable for human-based gaming. I salute those who like the pad and those who prefer mice and have problems with a pad I would recommend a Xim. It won't give you a competitive advantage but it will making the game more accessible.
The only people who will be mad are those that suck both at pads and mice (ouch), 12 year olds who cannot afford a Xim, and those with a false sense of prestige for learning a gamepad and want to leverage their skill as an advantage above everyone they can because for them being better, and not people enjoying the game, is what matters to them.
