Summit: Have you tried to play FPS game using a pad? I can't do it.
Recently i tried to play Fallout 3 on xbox and even though there was VATS i had to give it up. I don't know how people do it.
It is a skill like any other; it requires practice. I do know your pain though. I only just recently bought a PS3 (when the slims came out), and I don't think I had played a console for more than 2 or 3 hours in the previous 15 years.
I have only finished a few games (Drake's Fortune, Assassin's Creed 2, and Metal Gear Solid 4) on the PS3, and I would say that I am about 80% as competent with the dual-shock controller as I am with a keyboard/mouse. Not that bad since I have at least 1,000 times more hours clocked with the keyboard/mouse than with the console controller.
As an example, by the end of Drake's Fortune I was pretty much headshot killing everything on normal mode (I never played the tougher settings, so the AI probably gets better). Assassin's Creed 2 gave me headaches with some of the timing with the platforming (the bouncing off walls at right angles, in particular), but with some trial and error, and quite a bit of patience, I was able to muddle through it. By the end of the game it was all second nature.
Aliasalpha: After a while you adapt, its never as accurate but the light autoaim (or heavy depending on how shit the game is) and familiarity end up letting you get by
Exactly. And, actually, I don't think I ever had auto-aim on in Drake's Fortune (not even sure it was an option, probably was). I eventually got pretty good at the 'run and gun' skill, all the same.