Theory explains why gaming on touchscreens is clumsy
New research challenges the belief that touchscreens are worse input devices because they lack physical buttons. The reason is that key press timing in touchscreen input is unpredictable. When timing is made more predictable, performance improves. Ref. Source 7e.
I super agree with this. I also find using a touchpad makes the reaction time slower as well as inaccurate. It can be really frustrating when you are touching a part of the screen and its registering another move elsewhere.
With modern devices, I think touchscreens are accurate enough to know where you touched (Though it is a recent improvement), but the timing is still off. I enjoy playing games of skill, where you have to perform an action at just the right time to accomplish a goal, but it is very frustrating on a touchscreen device. I have learned for my personal devices the timing delay and it is relatively constant for each device, but there is no way to transfer from one device to another. I still prefer a physical controller with button and 'joysticks' to control action and reaction, but they are too clunky to carry around on a portable device like a phone.
If you've played a game like Spider-man unlimited for Android you'll know that a touchscreen can be a hassle. There are split second moves that have to be made in the game that just don't work well on a touch screen. I've read about using a controller via the mini-USB port but haven't tested it.