Why Would I Need to Do This? Although many gamepads, like the Xbox One or Xbox 360 controllers, are usually calibrated for gaming on a PC right out of the box, others may need you to calibrate them before the system recognizes all their movements with complete accuracy. For example, if you use a Nintendo 64 controller with a USB adapter, it will almost certainly need to be calibrated before you can use it. In other cases, you may just have an old controller that needs a little help. For example, maybe you have a button that’s sticking and you aren’t sure just how much the computer is able to read from it on each press. Or perhaps your gamepad has a worn down thumbstick that doesn’t seem like it’s tilting as far as it could. The calibration tool can help you dial in your controller so it’s as accurate as it can be.

We’ll be using an Xbox 360 controller for this guide, since that’s what we have, but it should work pretty much the same for any gamepad you plug in. Open the Calibration Tool To find the Calibration Tool, begin by going down to your Start Menu, and selecting “Settings”. Once in Settings, click on the tab for “Devices”. After the next window, scroll down to the link that reads “Devices and Printers” inside the “Printers and Scanners” tab, and click on it.

(You can also get here by going into Control Panel Devices and Printers in all versions of Windows). RELATED: From here, the controller should pop up as long as it’s already connected. If not, make sure you have all the latest drivers installed for the controller of your choosing. Find the controller, and right click it to bring up the following drop-down menu. From here, click on the option for “Game controller settings”.

After you click this, the following window should automatically pop up. From there, click on the “Properties” button. The window that follows will contain two options: “Settings” and “Test”. To start, choose the Settings tab, and then click the button in this window that reads “Calibrate”. From here, the Calibration Wizard will automatically begin taking you through the process to get your controller set up properly. (This window is also where you’ll find the button to “Reset to Default”, in case you want the tool to automatically reset any changes that were made during a previous calibration run.) Calibrate Your Controller Again, we’re using the Xbox 360 controller here, so you may see slightly different windows depending on your controller, but most of it should be very similar. Click Next to start the calibration.

The calibration tool will start off with the “D-Pad” calibration, which on the Xbox 360 controller is actually the left thumbstick. At first, it will ask you to leave the thumbstick alone so it can find the center point. Let go of the thumbstick and click “Next”, at which point you’ll be taken to the next screen. Although it’s not necessary, we recommend selecting the “Display Raw Data” box, which will show you exactly where the resting point for the thumbstick is with quantifiable numbers. This data is valuable because it will tell you if either of your thumbsticks are starting to wear down due to overuse, and can help you to diagnose any reasons why your in-game accuracy might be slipping. From here, swing the left thumbstick all the way around its full range of motion a few times.

You should see the small cross hit all four corners in the box above, or at least touch all four sides of the box. Next, you’ll run through the same set of tools for any “axes” on your controller.

These could be pressure-sensitive buttons like the Xbox’s left and right triggers, thumbsticks, or they might just be regular buttons on some gamepads. In our case, the Xbox 360 triggers are measured along the Z-axis, and should register anywhere from 100% (resting) to 200% (pulled down completely). The X-axis calibrates the Xbox’s right thumbstick for horizontal movement, so for that, you just need to pull the thumbstick all the way to the left and the right, and see if the full range of motion is being appropriately registered. The same goes for the Y-axis (vertical movement). Swing it up and down, and as long as you see the numbers “0%”, and “100% at the extremes of both the top and the bottom of the thumbstick’s range of motion (as well as resting in the middle at 50%), your controller is properly calibrated. As you can see in the example above, the X-axis of my right thumbstick actually rests around 52%, the product of old age and a lot of intense rounds of Halo Online.

RELATED: Unfortunately, while the software side of calibration does help you to find out how well your controller is responding to your movements–and even course correct for a faulty thumbstick to an extent–the only hardware fix when it starts to get worn down like this is to head down to the store and pick up a new controller altogether. Or, if you’re feeling handy, you can buy parts like thumbsticks online and replace them yourself. Once you’ve run through all four calibrations, you can click “Finish” to move on to the testing portion of the process. Test the Calibration Once the calibration process is finished, it’s time to test out the results. In the same window you started from (with the “Settings” and “Test” tabs), now you’re going to want to click on the “Test” tab. From here, any movements or button presses you make will automatically appear on-screen. This is a good way to determine exactly how quickly the buttons are registering–if they’re registering at all–as well as making note of how close (or far away) the thumbstick is resting from an even 50% after you move it around a bit. Once you’ve finished your tests, make sure to hit Apply before you close out the window, and you’re done!

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Although most modern controllers will come calibrated out of the box to work flawlessly with Windows, it never hurts to go in and re-calibrate once every few months just to be sure you’re not missing any headshots due to a controller that’s out of whack. Image Credits.

Advertisement I used to play most of my games on the computer. All of that changed when the next (that is, current) generation of consoles came out. For one, these devices had a considerable assortment of games and great graphics. Another consideration – perhaps most vital in putting me over the edge towards console gaming – was the price-quality. In terms of hardware, consoles function as an opposite of gaming PCs. Usually, you upgrade a computer for it to match games specs.

Console games, on the other hand, are adapted to the console’s specs. I never got it over my heart to complete the switch, though. There is an amazing repertoire of indie games on the computer, the likes of which you just don’t find on a console. The next best thing is to bring a little console goodness to your desktop computer. You can even use your trusty old console controller to play games on your Mac OS X computer.

Flash games, indie games, blockbuster games; you name it. We’ll show you how to connect a game controller to a Mac, and make your Mac into a second console. Connect The PlayStation 3 Controller ($4.99) The PlayStation 3 Dualshock controller is a beauty. Black, slick, and with an impressive battery life. If you’ve tired of the This generation of games consoles is coming to an end, with the Wii U already having arrived to usher in the next-generation, and successors to both the PS3 and Xbox 360 expected in 2013.

That are out there, why not connect it to your Mac OS X computer while you’re waiting for some This generation of games consoles is coming to an end, with the Wii U already having arrived to usher in the next-generation, and successors to both the PS3 and Xbox 360 expected in 2013. Before we get started, gather your PlayStation 3 controller and its charging cable, and go to System Preferences - Bluetooth. You’ll be met with a pairing request, and asked for a passcode. Don’t worry about the passcode; you can enter anything you want here, but it should be something you’ll be able to remember.

I suggest using 0000 or 1234. After your computer finalizes the device pairing, you have to be quick. Otherwise, you’ll just end up with the device pairing screen again.

With your PlayStation 3 controller selected, open the cog menu at the bottom left of the screen. First, select Add to Favorites, then Update Services. Right now, your PlayStation 3 controller is connected to your computer, but it won’t do anything useful yet.

For that, we need an application to interpret the PlayStation 3 controller’s signals. We’ll be using. It’ll set you back $4.99, but it’s one of the best applications of its kind. Joystick mapper uses presets to interpret your PlayStation 3 controller’s signals. Selecting File - Load Examples will populate the application with a number of example presets. Chances are these are all you’ll need, as they already include presets for mouse, first person shooter and flash games. You can enable a given preset by ticking off the checkbox to the left of it.

You can define your own controls by editing a sample preset, or creating your own. Doing so is very simple. If you’re creating a new preset, you’ll first have to add a new joystick (your PlayStation 3 controller).

Then you can redefine, or add new control binds. Specify the input key of your PlayStation 3 controller at the left hand side, and the associated computer button at the right hand side. To make things even easier, you can press the scan button to let Joystick Mapper automatically detect a given key. Just make sure you put your controller on a flat surface so as not to accidentally trigger the motion sensors.

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Xbox 360 Controller If you’ve never used your Xbox 360 controller with another computer before, the chances are you don’t have the prerequisite hardware yet. As we can’t connect the Xbox 360 controller over Bluetooth, you’ll either need a,. Don’t bother trying to use the charging cable that came with your wireless controller, as it transfers no data. While you’re waiting for your order to arrive, have some more fun with your Xbox 360, and see if you’ve missed any of the At this time of year more than any other there will be a host of new console owners getting to grips with their system. And after they get bored of the games bought alongside their. To be able to use your Xbox 360 controller with your Mac, you’ll first need to install a driver. (which can be downloaded without charge) takes care of this, and provides a nifty interface for specifying the controls associated with your Xbox 360 controller.

After installing the driver, simply open the newly added tab in your Mac’s System Preferences. Wii Remote We already showed you how to How do you prefer to interact with your computer? Sometimes a mouse and keyboard just isn’t enough. Depending on what you’re doing, a completely different interface method is required for you to get the most. Connecting your Wii Remote (or Wiimote) to your Mac is a lot simpler!

You won’t need any additional hardware, or premium software for this to work. Before we get started, download, which can be found on SourceForge free of charge. Be advised that the official branch of DarwiinRemote doesn’t work on the later versions of Mac OS X. If it doesn’t work, you can download an updated version. With your Wiimote at hand and DarwiinRemote running, you’re ready to get things rolling.

Press the Find Wiimote button in DarwiinRemote, and hold the 1 button and 2 button until your Wiimote is detected by the application. At this point, you should be able to see some squiggly-colored lines populate the graph (this is data from your Wiimote’s acceleration sensors). If not, and if you’re using a recent version of Mac OS X, refer to the above paragraph. By default, Darwiin Remote is configured for your Wiimote to play well with Front Row. If you want to define other controls, just open the Darwiin Remote preferences. Here you can add and edit existing presets for your Wiimote, Nunchuk, Classic Controller, mouse and Balance Board. What controller are you going to pair with your Mac, and what games do you want to play with it?

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