Ways to connect a game controller from PS3 to PC

Today fans of the virtual gaming space are divided into two sides – fans of playing on a personal computer and fans of consoles (game consoles). Both areas of the gaming industry have a strong position in the entertainment market and a huge fan base, as well as many enterprises that are engaged in both the creation and modernization of gaming electronic devices, and the release of content for a specific platform.

The biggest difference between these two areas is the difference between the player’s interaction with the platform. On set-top boxes, these devices are called “joysticks” (gamepads), while on personal computers they use standard input peripherals (keyboard and mouse). And both management methods have their positive aspects.

Many times users have asked the question: is it possible to play a computer game using a game console controller? Indeed, there are many PC games that are much easier and more convenient to play on a gamepad.

Connecting a DualShock 3 Controller Using MotionJoy

Trying to connect the DualShock 3 Sixaxis joystick to a personal computer. Included with the controller is a USB cable, which, in fact, we connect and press the central button (with the inscription PS). Windows will detect and install drivers for the controller, but it will only charge and will not be able to use it on a PC.

Note. If Windows failed to detect the device and install the driver, try downloading it from the official website and installing it manually (this problem usually happens when using an OS older than Windows 7).

Officially, it is not possible to connect a gamepad to a computer, but there are many third-party programs available to address this issue.

We use the very useful Motioninjoy program, set up the connection of the gamepad:

1. First, download the program by following the link https://motioninjoy.ru.uptodown.com/windows.
2. Unpack the archive and install the utility.
3. We launch the DS3 Tool file, always with administrator rights (since the program is loaded from the server, it will not work without permission to transfer data).
   
4. We connect the USB cable to the gamepad, our device will immediately appear in the window of found devices.
5. In the profile, select the desired joystick emulation, in our case the PlayStation.

Note. Judging by the reviews, many users, sharing their experience, recommend using emulation of the Xbox 360 Controller for playing on a personal computer.

6. We leave the utility enabled, launch the game we need and test the joystick.

And also in the program, you can determine the device and install the appropriate driver if Windows could not do it yourself. We go to the Driver Manager tab, the driver we need should already be in the list. Check the box and press the Install All button.

Connecting a gamepad to a PC via SCP Toolkit

The main feature of this connection method: a PS3 gamepad using SCP Toolkit is recognized in the system as a game pad for XBOX 360. And in Windows it is with an XBOX gamepad that it is fully compatible. The only drawback is that in games, the tips will indicate exactly the buttons from the XBOX layout (instead of a circle, triangle, square and cross – A, B, X, Y). Vibration is supported, triggers work like analog buttons (that is, the degree of pressure is taken into account).

But there is a nuance: there is no support for Dinput when using the SCP Toolkit. So you won’t be able to play the old games. But in all modern ones, where Xinput support is implemented, there will be no problems at all. And, by the way, through the SCP Toolkit, it will be possible to connect a gamepad to a PC not only from PS3, but also PS4 (both of the first and second revisions). But the additional settings are a minimum.

So, the SCP Toolkit program itself is distributed through Github. The current stable and beta versions are always available at https://github.com/nefarius/ScpToolkit/releases. Judging by the reviews, you can use the beta without any problems – any flaws in it are extremely rare.

Before installing the program, the gamepad must be disconnected from the PC (and removed from Bluetooth devices). The installation is normal, just run the downloaded installer and follow the instructions on the screen. During the installation process, you will be prompted to connect a gamepad – you can use both Bluetooth and USB. Next, be sure to restart your PC.

If the user has a PC with Windows 7, Vista and XP, then in addition, it may be necessary to install drivers for the Xbox 360 controller – you can download them on the official Microsoft website. And starting with Windows 7 (SP1), they are already integrated into the system.

Connecting a gamepad using Steam

Full PS3 gamepad support is now available on Steam. First, you just need to install the PS Now package (the official driver from Sony for dualshock). The connection is carried out as follows:

• start Steam;
• connect a PS3 gamepad to a PC via Bluetooth or USB cable;
  
• go to Steam settings (gear shortcut in the upper right corner of the screen);
• go to the “Controller” tab, then “Basic controller settings”;
  
• in the next window, check the box “Custom Playstation settings”;
  
• select your gamepad in the Discovered Controllers section;
• here you can set a name for the device, enable or disable vibration (and for a PS4 controller, you can also select the backlight color, as well as use the touch panel);
• select “Accept”.

After that, all games from your Steam library that support joystick control can be played with a PS3 controller. What’s more, all in-game hints will be displayed with the correct layout! That is, not A, B, X, Y, but a cross, a circle, a square, a triangle.

If you need to use the controller in a game that was not installed via Steam, then you just need to add it to your personal library:

• in the Steam window go to the “Games” tab;
• in the drop-down list, find the column “Add game to the library”;
• select the executable file of the game (with the .exe extension).

But in this case, the layout in the tips is more likely to be displayed from the XBOX360 controller.

In total, the preferred connection option is via Steam (full functionality, including a touch panel) or SCP Toolkit (emulating an Xbox 360 gamepad). It makes sense to use MotionJoy only in cases where the game of interest only supports Dinput input (most of those that were released before 2010).