Non-Onlive games? Sorry, it doesn't do that

I started using the OnLive controller and dongle on a laptop — probably the least unique use of the controller, as there are plenty of options in this realm, but by far the most practical. Technically, there's nothing stopping you from ditching the dongle and pairing directly via Bluetooth, but OnLive recommends using it for better performance. For what it's worth, I wasn't able to tell the difference between the two, though it is marginally less work to pair with the dongle.

Once OnLive is launched, the controller takes over right away, and the OnLive interface is well-tailored to work with it. On this point, it’s worth mentioning that several other controllers are supported by the service, including my wired Xbox 360 gamepad, which was able to do everything but pause, rewind, or fast-forward the brag clips. As would be expected on a PC-based service, you won’t be able to use a gamepad with every game: launching AaAaAA!!!, for example, will prompt you to switch back to a mouse and keyboard. But for most titles, you won’t have a problem.

Outside OnLive, however, the controller simply doesn’t work. The gamepad’s input was recognized by my computer, and several of the games I launched recognized that it was connected. However, for whatever reason, the controls were almost useless. About half the games, including Shank 2 and LA Noire, would let me scroll through options with a stick or d-pad, but I couldn’t make selections or use any other controls in actual gameplay. Other games, like Prototype, didn’t recognize that a controller was connected at all.

Of the non-OnLive games I tried, I had only two marginal successes. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 allowed me to map some of the buttons successfully, although it didn’t recognize any sticks or face buttons and labeled the others incorrectly — mapping one of the triggers, for example, got me a label of "start." Left 4 Dead, meanwhile, mapped the controls automatically after I had created a custom joystick configuration file, but my character wouldn't stop running, making even this victory somewhat limited.

When we contacted OnLive about the issue, we were told that the company "hadn't tuned the controller" for non-OnLive games, although support might be coming in a later update.

Within OnLive, the biggest issue is differentiating this device from the other gamepads that the service supports. The media buttons certainly help with this, as does the ease of pairing and ability to connect more than one controller via Bluetooth or (as far as we can tell) a single dongle. The apparent lack of support for non-OnLive titles, though, makes it difficult to recommend if you’re looking for a general-purpose PC gamepad.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnampfZ3xzf45rb2psaWeDcLvNpaCvnV2qu6rCxKuqmqRdrLazscueqqxlk6S7tb7OpaOeql2nsre1xLA%3D