We may have seen Windows 8 on touch screen tablets, TV and laptops/convertibles as well as on the traditional PC’s with mouse and keyboards but, imagine using Windows 8 with gamepads like we use on gaming consoles like Xbox and Play Station etc. People are already experimenting using Windows 8 with gamepads. You can perform the following tasks using the gamepad like navigating, opening/closing apps, accessing Charms Bar, clicking and switching between apps etc. Almost all the functions which are possible using the keyboard can be used on the gamepad also.
The folks at
MSWIN.me (◄ this is in russian) were successful in running Windows 8 using the Xbox game controller. He is using an old Xbox controller with wire but, it works pretty well. He was able to perform the following tasks using the following gamepad buttons.
• Left/Right/Up/Down on the gamepad works like arrow keys for navigating
• Button 1 on triangular axis for closing apps
• Button 3 on the right side to bring the Charms Bar
• 3 button brings the app bar
• 4 button switching between most recent apps
• Shift 4 Start Screen Setting panel
The above key mapping has been made possible using an app named as
JoyToKey for Windows 8 which lets you set different keyboard shortcuts for buttons on the gamepad.
Embedded below is a video showing the same gamepad working on action on Windows 8 and the commands work perfectly. Playing with Windows 8 with wireless gamepad and seeing the Windows 8 on a huge screen would be awesome.
VIDEO We intend to test the same process on our Windows 8 PC using the gamepad and we will let you know our experience soon.
source: MSWIN.me via windows8core
