Face it--when it comes to some games, a keyboard and mouse just aren’t the best input devices. For example, trying to land a 747 with a keyboard in Flight Simulator just isn’t easy. Having specific peripherals will make your gaming experience easier and more realistic.
The most popular gaming peripheral has to be the joystick. Years ago these needed to be plugged into the game port on a PC, but now they are almost all USB-based.
You don’t need to spend a lot of money, either. I find that even a cheap stick is infinitely better than using the keyboard and mouse.
I also have a gaming peripheral from the last millennium that I still use--the Microsoft Strategic Commander. This is a mini keyboard and mouse with programmable buttons. This was a sweet device but unfortunately Microsoft no longer supports it (fortunately the old drivers work on Vista!).
