I'm pondering on getting a 360 controller for PC but first I wanted to know what games benefit more from using the controller over using the keyboard+mouse combination. Which one should I get? Wireless? wired?

I have one, some games play better with it. Fallout 3 and DNF for instance seem to play better with a controller. But, typically it's mostly for console ports. If you get something like xpadder you can use it when you play retro games. A few games here are better with it. I think Psychonauts is the main example of that.

You do give up some accuracy by going with a gamepad rather than keyboard + mouse, but it's more comfortable.

It really depends upon your personal taste. The wired controller cable is quite long, so you shouldn't need the wireless one apart from wanting to be wire free.

if you buy a wireless controller you need an adapter.
Dead Space has horrible lag if you use a keyboard and mouse. I think there's a workaround for that to allieve some of it, but I believe it's still not as good using a controller.

I found Super Meat Boy pretty damn hard using a keyboard
I heard some people say they prefer using a controller over keyboard and mouse for The Witcher 2. I haven't played much of it so far, so I can't say which one is better.


also I agree with hedwards about psychonauts

The Witcher 2 works really well with a 360 controller.

The 360 controller is pretty awesome for PC gaming. Not only will any regular 360 controller (IE not wireless) automatically work with a Windows PC, but the design, cost & availability all make it a superior controller. If you're looking for something to use with emulators or just have problems constantly using the keyboard for gaming, it's a very good solution.

If you want Wireless, the only choice you have is a wireless adapter. Microsoft discontinued them. There were claims that the adapters had a nasty habit of doing serious harm to PC's, and weren't very functional.

I have one and it works perfectly with damn near every game, even old ones. I mostly use it for racers and some third-person action games like Assassin's Creed.

I suggest the wired, there are games that have trouble with the wireless one.

Beware, the 360 controller's Dpad is garbage. You'll probably want a different controller if this is an issue for you.

For everything else it is fine, but 'tis true, if you want a D-pad for fighting games you need to get a fightstick instead.

The emulators work well. You can pretty much choose your controller, then get the emulator to work for whatever games are XBox oriented. I've got a logitech dual action, works a treat. The again, I'm told you can pick up a 360 controller for £10 of Ebay, so it's really up to you. Give that the xbox is the lowest of denominators, if you want better, pick better and let the emulator downsize it for the shit games.

Games I can't play without the 360 controller:

Crysis 1 & 2, Assassins Creed, Gears of War, Grand Theft Auto IV, Dead Rising 2, Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil V, Saints Row 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Just Cause 2, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Splinter Cell Conviction. Probably a lot more. Generally any game designed for consoles will benefit from an Xbox360 controller.

or a controller that can look like a 360 controller ;)

Well some controllers can be a pain to get working. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for example is a complete bastard. It's like Raven coded it to work with the 360 controller and ONLY the 360 controller.

Oh yeah, arcade sticks can't be beat for fighting games. I was thinking more in terms of games that were designed around heavy D-pad usage. Stuff like the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive collection.

For flying and racing games the best is a joystick/flightstick and steering wheel controller respectively.

Unless, of course, your game is like the sloppy console ports that a friend encountered only yesterday (what's with driving games that don't support driving controllers, only keyboard or xbox360 gamepads!?)