[ad_1]
I prefer to play many PC games on my TV with a controller. Some games, like Far Cry New Dawn, I feel better when I play using a joystick on my big TV. Yet while we now have more PC stores, with Epic Game Store, Steam, GOG Galaxy, Uplay and others, many of these stores are doing a terrible job supporting televisions and game consoles.
Steam
Valve has slowly improved the Big Picture mode over the years and, in its current state, the feature is really useful. Steam Big Picture fully supports the controller inputs and you can even customize the interface to the controller of your choice, which is very nice.
Even more impressive, Steam Big Picture lets you buy games with a controller. In all my tests, no other digital showcase allowed me to buy, pre-order or download a game using my gamepad. Steam even allows you to open the Big Picture mode from standard Steam with one touch of a controller. It's convenient, easy and it's very easy to play games on my TV.
My only major problem with the Big Picture Steam mode is that some games are not very enjoyable to play. Fallout 4 I will not throw unless I get up and use the mouse to click on the prompt that appears at the start of the game. But these are minor issues with the big picture and how it works.
Uplay
Technically, Uplay is better than other stores, but compared to Steam, it seems to have a lot of catching up. You can not control or access the Uplay menus when using a controller. What's strange is that once you use a mouse to click on a game, the main page of the game actually displays a prompt from the controller that will launch the game. That's literally all you can do .
Once in the game, players can no longer access the Uplay overlay or really interact with Uplay. When you exit the game, you can use the controller to close the pop-up that appears after closing a game, for example a message telling players that Watch dogs is for sale. But once you leave this pop-up window, you can not do anything other than start the game. I do not know why Ubisoft even allows you to do these minor things using a joystick, but at least the controllers are supported. Uplay does not support TV mode either.
Twitch Desktop Application
The only reason I include this app above others is that it has a basic full screen mode that works well on TV. But that's all this launcher has to offer. The Twitch app does not support any joystick. In a game, you can not access any overlay and apart from a game, you can not do anything.
Epic Game Store, Origin, GOG Galaxy, Shop Battle Net & Discord
The rest of the launchers I tried failed to provide basic support for TV modes or controllers. Honestly, I was surprised to see how these launchers are universally terrible for players using a controller. None of them let me buy a game, access an overlay, start a game or open notifications with the help of my controller. I tried to update them. I've searched through the settings looking for options to activate. Nothing.
The strange thing is that all these stores have games that support controllers. It seems logical to have basic support for players who want to play on their TV or prefer to use a joystick to play.
When I decided to compare all these stores, I was ready to find missing features and other more performing ones. Instead, I found it frustrating. Almost all digital launchers currently have no support for using their menus or stores with a joystick. The winner is clearly Steam, which features a surprisingly functional TV mode with full controller support .
For some, it will seem trivial or unimportant, but as many players of different skill levels and experiences get into the game and download these launchers, they will expect basic support for them. input methods with which they are comfortable. They should not be expected to download third-party software and configure a program to move their cursor through a store's menus using a controller.
These stores should also see this as an opportunity. Steam has long been the king and, although Epic has somewhat chipped this wall, Steam still has features that others miss. If Discord or Epic or Uplay wish to grow and gain greater market share, it would be useful to add more accessibility and useful features.
Currently, however, if you plan to play a PC game on your TV with a controller, I suggest you use Steam. It's easy, works well and has many standard Steam features.
[ad_2]
Source link