Is buying a XBOX 360 controller for the Pc worth it?

yes its worth it, anyone telling you otherwise is an idiot.

Hell yes. Unless you're playing RTS or an FPS, it's definitely an upgrade to mouse and keyboard.

It all depends on the type of game you play. I have a controller but it's mostly gathering dust as I very rearely use it. I'm more of a mouse and keyboard person I guess. There is the occasional game however where I wouldn't go without it. There used to be a time when the Xbox controller wasn't much supported and I wouldn't have recommended it, but now it's the other way around and newer games sometime don't even register standard controllers and only detect the Xbox one.

If by some chance you have a PS3 controller you could use that plus motion-joy. If not, thats really up to you. I've only used a controller to play Super Meat Boy, and Dead Rising 2 (Since it's a pain in the ass to rebind they keys properly) on my PC.

Thank you for the answers. I'll save enough for a controller, since they seem to be worth it. Thanks everyone :)

no. you will get destroyed by everyone.

Yes, I bought one after some recommendations, and they were all right. It's the best way to go, for a basic controller.

I still have my Microsoft Sidewinder. But no game port anymore. :(

360 controller all the way, and never by an off brand one (a cheap one at the most) it will only last you a short period of time. By Microsoft, Razor, or any other recognized brand, but never and unknown cheap generic 360 controller. Other gamepads work fine, but most of the time you need to use a third party software to emulate the mouse and keyboard.

Excellent if you like twin stick shooters such as Renegade Ops.

Absolutely worth it if you're into playing with gamepads. It's stylish, comfortable and there are games that run with a 360 controller only or are optimized for being played with it. I own two other gamepads as well (a Logitech RumblePad 2 and a Genius G-12U, both of which are great), but this one is definetely my favorite.

This is what I've been using for the past no-idea years (the associated IGN review for that image is from 2005). Combined with x360ce it handles 95% of the Xbox-controller-required games I throw it at. (Most of those games don't require a controller, but if you choose to use a controller, they require the Xbox controller.)
Every once in a while, it's a pain to configure x360ce for a new game, but on the whole it's been good and worth saving the cash I'd otherwise have to spend on an Xbox controller. I particularly like the fan on it, since my hands freak out and sweat buckets as soon as I touch anything.

If you don't already have a controller and are just asking generally... then yeah, there's plenty of games where I'm happy that I have a controller, and I'm nearly a die-hard keyboard/mouse guy... I still keyboard/mouse racing games.

Also, I don't recommend Nyko's Airflo Xbox controller. Bought one for a friend and a couple years later, it's the only one that doesn't work anymore.

Worth it if you often find yourself playing dodgy ports. Get a wireless one and sit back and relax

I use my 360 controller for a lot of games, but mostly racing. I find that, the amount of control it gives me versus a keyboard can be very advantageous. But I wouldn't use a controller for FPS or something. If I wanted that, I'd just play a console and I have all three.

I found it worth it for the games that played better with a 360 pad. Assassins Creed 2 for instance, Renegade ops.

I use a PS3 controller.

Only downside is sometimes the game will say press X and I don't know the 360 layout because I've never own an xbox...

Depends. Do you play a lot of games that would be more comfortable with a gamepad? If so, go for it.
Keep in mind that you can get a cheaper one and if it's good you won't feel much of a difference (do some research first).
If you feel like getting something better check out the Logitech F710 or Saitek P3600 Cyborg (this one is even cheaper than the X360 one).

i got myself 20-25$ controller which is not 360pad and im happy with it, but if you haven't played with pad on steam i must warn you, steam doesn't like other pads than 360 one but you can fix it easy with program called x360ce

Totally worth it.

personally i prefer the 360 wireless controller for 3 reasons:
-excelent community that makes a lot of mini programs for the controller that are very cool
-its very confortable. The PS3 shaped controllers dont work well with me because i prefer tumbsticks (with the exception of fighting games). in those controllers my tumbs sometime collide with each other and that is really anoying
-it uses AA batteries.i think it's an advantage for 2 reasons:

• rechargeable AA batteries can be used in all electronic devices (like wii controllers, TV remotes, graphic calculators, etc.)
• you can substitute the battery in a matter of seconds so you dont have to plug the controller to the PC

that's my opinion

Depends on the games you have and on the games you want to play. So if you want to play shooters and rts games, you don't need a controller at all. I also recommend getting the official Xbox controller, it may not be cheap I know, but it's the way to go. All games with pad support recognize it right away, no hassle and no button mapping needed. I used to have a cheap controller, but only a few games recognized and using Joy2Key or Xpadder for each to be able to play was a pain in the ass. So yeah, the official one can be expensive but it's well worth it.

Buy it =). I've got Chillstream - there are no feedback and it's not wireless but still very comfortable, especially for arcades and console ports. Playing games like Metal Gear Solid or Devil May Cry on keyboard isn't really awesome (it sucks actually).

I have tried the X360 controller and well, I don't exactly like it. The analog sticks feel so springy it gets annoying after you've used other controllers. I prefer to use a PS3 controller and Motioninjoy, the PS3 controller is so much more comfortable than the X360's. Also, anything that doesn't support it natively WONT let you use the analog triggers as buttons, at least not press them at the same time. PS3 + Motioninjoy can.

Also, you'll get a nice dpad, ANYTHING is better than the 360's dpad.

Also, DON'T get a cheapo controller, and don't get one that doesn't support Xinput, many new games ONLY take Xinput controllers (which is what the X360 controller uses).

In the end, that's just my opinion and, if the 360's controller doesn't annoy you in the ways I mentioned (except the dpad, there's no way you can like the X360's dpad, unless it's the silver controller's twisty dpad, I haven't tried that one though), go for it.

This comes from someone with both X360 and PS3 controllers who doesn't have either console :P

I'm not really one for controllers, but I do have to say the 360 controller is one of the best I've ever used. It feels nice in the hand and is comfortable to play with for long periods of time. The directional pad, as some have noted, is not the best but I rarely find myself using it anyway.

The one and only problem I have with it is that to use it games need to support "dead zones" (I think that's what it's called) otherwise the analog sticks will slowly move in one direction because they're very sensitive. Not sure if it's a universal issue or just one specific to the 360 controller.

Also from what i heard from my brother and friends that have 360 controllers is that they usually break, as in the dead zone on the anologs get bigger and the buttons seem to fail. IMO i love the pressure sensitivity of the ps3 controller, and i have had the same controller since the ps3 came out and the first dualshock that was released for the PS3 and they both work great.