from atomicpoet@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world on 08 Jul 18:41
https://lemmy.world/post/32669053
The original Steam Controller is undoubtedly one of the coolest pieces of gear I own—and one of the most innovative, too.
I got mine right when it launched in 2015. I wanted to solve a very real problem: I was trying to turn my PC into a console.
You see, Valve had Big Picture Mode, which truly turned your PC into a console-like experience. The problem was that some of my favorite PC games didn’t support controllers. They were keyboard-and-mouse only.
But then—here comes the Steam Controller. Suddenly, I was able to reprogram all the inputs. I could take basic keys, like the spacebar, and map them to a button on the controller—like the A button. And once you did that, you could share your controller configuration with the Steam community, or reuse a config someone else already made. It was pretty awesome.
And those dual trackpads? They were swank. Incredible for first-person shooters and real-time strategy games. They were the next best thing to a mouse. And because of the angle of the handles, it all felt very comfortable in the hand—probably the most comfortable controller experience I’ve ever had.
It’s funny—just a little over five years ago, gamers hated it. Not because they ever used one, but because it was a failure. And as we all know about gamers, there’s nothing they hate more than a failure. It was dismissed as a novelty—something no one would ever use again.
Well, Valve had the last laugh. A few years ago, they released the Steam Deck. And what do you know? It’s a direct evolution of the Steam Controller. And now everyone loves the Steam Deck.
Just take a look at it—it’s got so many of the same things the Steam Controller had: dual trackpads, back paddles, the ability to remap buttons and customize layouts. Having owned a Steam Deck since launch, I can say this confidently: the most killer features on the Deck originated with the Steam Controller.
That said, it wasn’t perfect. There were a few quirks I wish they had fixed. For one, it would’ve been nice if it had dual analog sticks instead of just one. Using a trackpad in place of a right stick is fine in theory, but let’s be real: a trackpad does not replace an analog stick.
Also, unlike most modern controllers, this one didn’t have a rechargeable battery. You needed AA batteries. Now, to be fair, those batteries lasted a long time—but it still would’ve been nicer to just recharge it and forget about replacements.
Then there’s the back paddles. Only two of them. In hindsight, yeah, Valve knew they needed to evolve. I’ve grown so used to having four back paddles on the Steam Deck. They’re incredibly useful—especially in games with lots of inputs. Just good to have.
Still, this was one of the first mainstream controllers to even have back paddles. So hats off to Valve for that.
Honestly, I really wish there was another Steam Controller on the market. I know Hori makes a licensed controller for the Steam Deck in Japan, but it’s missing a core feature the original had: the dual trackpads.
To me, the dual trackpads make the Steam Deck experience. It’s something almost no other handheld has. My wife has a Legion Go, and it does have a trackpad—but only one. And honestly? That makes all the difference. It’s fine. But man… it would’ve been a better handheld with two.
Definitely one of the most innovative controllers ever made.
And yeah, I still use mine. I use it when I dock my handheld. Or when I’m on my living room PC.
threaded - newest
I agree, WAY ahead of its time. I have two but unfortunately they’re both stuck at my parent’s house for when the nephews come over and new (even used) ones are practically “unobtanium”.
The steam controller wasn’t for me (the lack of a 2nd stick and a d-pad to a lesser extent were dealbreakers for me), but I do hope valve releases a standalone steamdeck style controller :3 we had those leaks and whatnot a while back, and it certainly has everything I’d want
Yes, that’s the other thing: the trackpad D-pad is not as good as a button D-pad.
I love the touchpad as an auxiliary input, and in that regard it does a lot more than a d-pad, but for any games where you want it as a primary input it wasn’t optimal, yeah… currently I use a ds4 controller and having a touchbar on that is great with steam input tho, cause it can just do so much (looks at my 500 minecraft mods with all the keybinds), it can be annoying sometimes accidentally hitting the sticks cause of how it’s positioned tho (and also no paddles) so it would still be cool to see a steam deck type variant controller featuring the touchpads and all the other inputs you’d expect :3
Same here. The thing was neat and innovative, but missing the dpad and right stick really brought it down significantly imo. The steam deck got it right - the trackpads are incredibly useful when used as a supplementary feature, but rarely as a full replacement for traditional inputs. Plus the form factor. Dear god the thing was MASSIVE. Incredibly uncomfortable to use and such an awkward shape.
Here’s hoping the leaks come to fruition, because a 2.0 version based on the Deck would be 10/10.
I use a steam controller everyday and it feels like my first handjob every time. Given, or received.
What a way with words LOL
I respect it but it’s not for me. It feels very defined for one hand size in particular, thing gives me cramps.
The steam deck controller addresses all of these issues. I was literally an anti-controller (wasd gang) zealot and the steam deck controller converted me because I can literally play city skylines in bed now…
Yeah :3. The steam deck layout honestly looks really good, and if valve does release a controller featuring everything it has it’s probably gonna be a buy from me
At the moment most of the controllers on the market would require either giving up the features my current one has, shelling out hundreds of euros for a couple of extra buttons, or literally getting the same deal, a steam deck style controller would offer quite a bit more and it would hopefully be more reasonably priced than the “pro” controllers
Unfortunately for steam controller users the touchpads were an downgrade in size, shape, and location for those who liked using them as their main inputs. So even people like me who use dual touchpads on the Steam Controller opted for joysticks on the Deck, since they weren’t satisfied with the touchpad experience.
Which was unfortunate, since there’s lot of options for dual joystick controllers but I’m still searching for a Steam Controller upgrade.
I’m glad at least someone else here had that feeling. I ended up not liking mine at all and sending it back. I couldn’t get used to the pads at all even though I wanted to like it a lot, maybe it’s just my hands. I use my steam deck all the time, first an led and now an oled, and I can count the times I’ve used the trackpads on it effectively on one hand.
I loved it, but I rarely use it anymore these days. Often enough, trying to remap the inputs on it errors out in the Steam Input interface, and I’ve gotten tired of fighting with it. I also never used the left pad for anything and would have preferred an actual D-pad. The right trackpad, especially when paired with gyro controls, is so much better than a right stick for every function you could use a right stick for, and I’ve put it through its paces; but that only works when you can map an actual mouse. Often times, the game will explicitly switch between “controller mode” and “mouse and keyboard” mode, and I hate playing with a controller but seeing keyboard glyphs. Also, due to my preferences, and where the market has headed lately, there have been very few games coming out where I need to “aim”, which is where the Steam controller beat a traditional Xbox controller by the widest margin. So unfortunately, between the software being a pain and there not being a compelling reason to bother putting up with it, I haven’t been using my Steam controller lately.
I feel a right stick is more useful for games deliberately designed as twin stick shooters. Geometry Wars is a good example of this. Using a trackpad for aiming is fine, but that doesn’t really feel like an arcade experience.
I have done twin-stick shooters like Streets of Rogue and Enter the Gungeon, and I found it to only control better than a second stick.
I got more use out of the Steam Link mine came with than I did the controller.
No d-pad is an instant dealbreaker.
Edit: Y'know what I'll properly expand on this. The Steam Controller failed because it tried to replace vital functionality people expect from a controller. The Steam Deck learned from this mistake and just supplemented that functionality.
TBH, the way I see it, the Steam Controller was designed for games I don't want to play on controller, while being bad for games I do want to play on controller.
That’s the key. If you’re wanting to play something like Street Fighter VI, the Steam controller probably won’t fly.
But because I wanted to play Dungeon Siege on my TV, it works far better than a traditional controller ever could.
For the Steam controller to work for you, you have to come in with the mentality of it replacing a keyboard-and-mouse.
They’ve made it too niche, basically just fps and rts pad. I loved mine for Rocket league but was really missing the right stick. And the shoulder buttons were super stiff. And you also absolutely had to set up controls because it was so different and the pads were atrocious replacements for dpad or sticks
Hey, the Steam controller is good for one other kind of game I play quite often: Diablo-style hack-'n-slash RPGs that are mouse-driven.
Ok, valid! But it’s basically same controls as rts tbh
For me it mostly excels in games that were designed exclusively for mouse and keyboard. Ime it’s pretty bad for fps games though, maybe if you used the gyro, but I haven’t tried that much personally. I love it for Rimworld, Dwarf Fortress, and lots of little indie games that don’t have gamepad support ootb.
It’s absolutely fantastic for FPS. I use it for games like Doom Eternal and The Finals.
That last paragraph is on point. That’s why I have two controllers at my desk, one regular and one Steam Controller! I love playing casual Civilization or XCOM on it and it’s surprisingly great with some FromSoftware games, especially Sekiro (for no reason in particular, it just felt good and the touchpad worked without any issues).
agreed to all of the above. I also found the texture on the trackpads to be quite irritating after a while.
Honestly, IMO the lack of D-pad was less of an issue than the lack of a second analog stick. The lack of a second stick made the controller almost impossible to use in any game that was designed with 2 sticks in mind. For example Nier Automata 9S hacking minigame was a horrible experience with the Steam controller.
One tip that could make twin stick experience better on the touchpads is to bring down the range where the joystick does max output. That makes it much more responsive over default where twin joysticks do not need small granular movement. Ramblecan has video covering it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXC2f_dD0g0
It walked so the Steam Deck could run.
It has a D-pad, though…
Where?
The left touch zone is pressable, and four zones are four separate buttons. It’s a bit less convenient to use than a regular d-pad, it’s bigger and you need to reach slightly further, but other than that it works.
That is not a d-pad. That is a touchpad with a plus drawn on it.
It’s actually the other way around, it’s a big d-pad with touchpad capabilities plastered over it. It’s the same physical mechanism as a d-pad, 4-way button, it’s just big.
If you don’t count arbitrary clusters of buttons as a d-pad, I think this is an invalid comparison.
Do you count, e.g., the A/B/X/Y buttons as a d-pad?
D-pad for me, functionally, is a 4 directional buttons clustered together, oriented along the X-Y axis. To conserve parts, it’s quite often made not as 4 buttons but as a combined shifter, because you realistically wouldn’t be pressing the opposite buttons at the same time.
The left track area on the steam controller is that. The buttons are fuzed together (which is normal for D-pad) and big and harder to tell apart (which is less normal)
Thanks For Your Amazing Reply Missingno
Agreed on it being a bad replacement for controller games. I got one around the time one of the FROMSOFT games came out (I think it was Sekiro?) and I tried using for that and it was just not usable for something like that. I haven’t really tried it for anything else since then because I don’t really play games away from my PC, so I don’t have a need for a worse but acceptable way to play M+KB games.
If the Steam Controller was designed the way lot of people wanted it than it wouldn’t have been a Steam Controller and just another Xbox or Playstation controller and added nothing new. Would have been more successful but in the end another generic twin joystick controller. So even if it didn’t succeed it brought new things to the table like touch activated gyro and touch pads that could be considered for other controllers in the future.
Yeah, but counter point.
It’s got Steam branding.
Another win for the good guys.
Why are Valve the good guys?
Because they’ve been good guys so far. They made PC gaming so much easier and have pushed linux into the mainstream.
Because the Cult of Gaben says so.
Yeah, I consider them “better guys,” since they’re better than their competitors. I say this because:
I was being sarcastic.
Valve are monopolistic, popularised micro transactions, directly profit from loot boxes and gambling.
If gamers weren’t so brainwashed and Stockholmed syndromed they would realise that.
Definitely needed the /s there. I’m sure you saw the 3 or so other comments who were explaining why Valve are good guys, lol
That’s why I don’t put the /s there. Always draws out the Stockholmed masses.
It didn’t fail because of a lack of a dpad but because of lack of two joysticks, but I’m glad the controller exists because I came to absolutely love the dual touchpads. And I wouldn’t trade the left touchpad a dpad, since I like using it for movement.
I wouldn’t trade the right touchpad for a joystick either, since I like using it to do quick 180s, quick swap between 5-10 inputs to bypass reloading in games like Doom Eternal by setting a dpad modeshift on a click, and touch activate gyro all on one touchpad.
Will probably be the last controller of its kind but I’m glad at least one did get made, since otherwise I’d still just be using a xbox or playstation controller like I did before getting Steam Controller.
At least the basic movement from that video could easily be done with a regular joystick, it’s just the developer chose to not implement it.
It could but I prefer it over joystick because large touchpad makes it so its easier to not accidentally activate sprint on the outer edge.
But, the biggest part is being able to use the touchpad clicks for added move sets like dash, slide, crouch. Which lot of people wouldn’t even enjoy doing with joystick click.
Exactly, I’d rather lose a D-Pad than a joystick, and the Steam Controller lost both. That’s why my Steam Controller sits on my desk largely unused, while my PS4 controller gets all the love (I prefer XBox controllers, but PS4 has better Linux support).
I’d love to see the Steam Deck controller be made standalone, it’s super comfy and preserves both joysticks and the d-pad while having useful trackpads.
Sad thing is for me I don’t find the touchpads on the Deck useful, since unlike most users of the Deck I want to use them for movement and camera and quick input switching. And I haven’t found the Deck touchpads good for primary use in place of joysticks, so I end up ignoring the touchpads on the Deck for the joysticks despite using my Steam Controller for most games on the desktop.
I use them for point and click games and other games where a mouse is better.
I’m a controller player so it might be why I warmed up to it when it first came out, since I went from using Xbox controller on the PC to being blown away by touchpads moving as fast as a mouse without joystick speed limitation while being able to aim precisely with gyro without having to use aim assist.
So maybe an outlier as a PC gamer who preferred gamepads to mouse and keyboard, but wanted to find an improved method of using controller without reliance on aim assist.
I also prefer controllers (grew up playing Halo on controller), and gyro aim is sweet, but touchpads never felt good to me. I like physical buttons for d-pad style input (even a joystick is fine), and the right touchpad felt too much like a mouse to the point where I’d rather just use a mouse.
The Steam Deck strikes the right balance for me. The touchpads work when the mouse really is preferable, and they stay out of the way when I use the joysticks.
I like touchpads because I like being able to turn the camera as fast as I can swipe like a mouse while retaining X and Y axis control unlike stuff like the flick stick approach. And I like that I can also click up, down, left, right, center and also hold the left grip to set up chords for an additional 5 inputs for a total of 10 I can quickly change to without having to reach down to the facebuttons.
And that’s where the Deck fell short for me because I didn’t find it good for that type of functionality I want to use the trackpads for compared to users who primarily use the sticks.
Yea the only target audience for the Steam Controller seems to be people who want to play kbm games with a controller if they’re playing on a TV or something. But I reckon most PC gamers who get a controller use it to play on their usual PC setup for games that play better on a controller, they’ll just use kbm for their kbm games.
I agree that not including the D-Pad was a bad move, but if you play games that use the d-pad just for functions like map or switching of equipment, there was the option to use the trackpad like a weapon wheel where you could define i think 8 functions with OSD, and using one of the back buttons made that 16 functions you could define freely - you could replace the hotkeys of a game that used half the keyboard with this thing lol
The touch zone is the d-pad, it’s pressable and you don’t need to do anything, just use it regularly
i know that it’s configured as a D-pad by default, but it’s missing haptic feedback - there’s not enough of an indicator where on the touchpad your finger rests, and if you lose the central position, have fun finding it again without looking. i often tried it. but it’s simply inadequate as a D-pad.
I didn’t say it was a good d-pad
It actually has d-pad, it’s just combined with one of the touch areas, you can press it like a button, and 4 zones behave like a d-pad. Granted, it’s a bit inconvenient so if you need it often, it’s not the best. But it’s there.
Yeah, it seemed to be for a time when controller support on PC was shit.
I still cry when I remember that they were clearing them out at $5 a pop. I’ll cling to mine until the day it dies.
I bought three of them when they went on sale for $5
I remember seeing the headlines but they were already sold out when I went to look :(
I remember the couple of times you could pick up a controller and steam link for free. And my dumbass still didn’t do it :(
I’ve owned one since the beginning, and the only major downside to the controller is that it requires relearning. No d pad, touch pads, back buttons are something not found on other controllers, so there is no familiarity you can bring to the device. As a result, you need to rethink and relearn how to use a controller. If you do end up learning it, it can bring a lot to the table because there is nothing like it in terms of customisability.
Sadly i never put in the time and only played simple games on it. I still bust it out for mario kart.
The other minor downside is its not exactly comfortable to use. The handles are angled upwards instead of down which feels unnatural to me… again, probably because no other cobtroller does ot that way.
I keep saying to myself if I ever boot up cities skylines on the TV, I’m waking up the steam controller for it.
The steam deck controller is the final culmination.
Literally perfection.
Had this one since 2017 and I just wonder when it will die. Will mourn a bit
I couldn’t get one myself. The battery issue is none for me. It’s not rare that battery replacement becomes (nearly) impossible for final users once it reaches its EOL, so I switched to gadgets that use standard size rechargeable batteries if possible.
I’ve used a rotating group of four steam controllers for years with no leakage, i use rechargeable eneloops. Is this written by a bot?
No, I’m not a bot? What do you mean?
The steam controller takes AA batteries. Doesn’t get much more “standard size” than AA.
Which is one of the reasons I’d still buy one.
I honestly wish the Dualsense took AAs. I’ve really grown to appreciate how Xbox controllers have always been two AA. Making a small investment in a bunch of Eneloop batteries and chargers is SO worth it.
Lovely to see you share this!
It was a good 5+ hour learning curve, but I now swear by it for all Souls games (except DS remastered, since you can’t use joystick + mouse movement at the same time). In Elden Ring: Jump and dodge on the grips, holding LB engages gyro for aiming with the bow, and touch instead of click left trackpad for dpad input. Being able to swing the camera around instantly, or just being able to maneuver it while sprinting is so nice. Customizing the guide chords is great too: Guide+X = save OBS replay, Guide+Y = turn off controller, Guide+A = toggle MangoHud, etc.
Although, I’d probably trade the left trackpad for an actual dpad, though it is nice for typing if i ever need it. It’s a shame they removed “require clicks” for navigation in the new Big Picture mode. I also wish the LB/RB weren’t so clicky and loud. Maybe there’s a DIY mod for that.
Sadly I didn’t like the steam deck for Souls games. Maybe it’s because the trackpad is too far down and just feels more awkward to use. Steam controller just fits so nice.
EDIT: forgot to mention that I use Guide+right trackpad to simulate right analog stick, since in Elden Ring you need it for zooming the map or adjusting the camera angle during dialogue or character creation.
I personally love the left touchpad for movement. When the game lets you set a sprint hold over a sprint toggle I love to set an outer ring bind for it at the edge to go in and other of sprint without clicking. And I like setting up stuff like dash, crouch, slide on a touchpad click. Frees up buttons for me to be able to bind other stuff to.
I have two original Steam controllers and I absolutely hated them. The track pads, whereas a cool innovative technology, weren’t good for 90% of my games. I needed that D-pad, or at least a joystick. I hardly used my controllers, and now I just hold onto them as a piece of Valve history.
Mine came with the physical Steam Link box. I bought two of those boxes, so I could use Steam from a couple different places in my home away from my gaming desk. Instead of the controller, I just plugged in a keyboard and mouse to the Steam Link box. They did away with the hardware though, and now it’s just an app on Smart TVs and app stores. So I can’t use my keyboard and mouse without some extra steps.
You can still use the box, it even got a new firmware in 2025
Thanks for this! My friend has one and he says it’s great as well.
Still got mine and use it. I bought mine very early on, and ran into an issue I’ve long since forgotten. I let Valve know and they comped me their entire Valve library, and the issue got sorted later.
An incredibly cool controller, I love the hell out of it.
I also still got mine, love it.
I love my Steam Controller. I got a second before they went out of production! The two big pads are so versatile.
Same, second one never saw a battery yet in fear of leakage.
Strong disagree. If anything, it was the opposite.
The Steam Controller was AMAZING for playing games that did not have gamepad support. And I still think it is the best way to play Stardew Valley. But it also came out at a time when PC ports to console were more or less expected and even RTSes had gamepad support out of the box.
At which point you have a controller that only makes sense for a very limited subset of games.
That said, a Steam Controller 2 that is basically the deck minus the display would be amazing.
Okay, but I didn’t want to buy a new console. Instead, I wanted to use my PC as a console replacement.
But also, there’s a surprising amount of games that never got a console release. For example, Blood and Septerra Core—never arrived on any console. I own those games, and the Steam controller let me play them on my TV very easily.
“ahead of its time” to let people play a game from 1999 is kind of my point.
The Steam Controller was very much designed with 90s/VERY early 00s gaming in mind where you might have a closet full of controllers for every game you like. A wheel for racing, a HOTAS for flight sims, a different HOTAS for mech sims, a gamepad, a guitar controller, a spinning knob, etc.
But it came out at almost the exact same time that the entire industry standardized on xinput with different face button labels. AND when xinput was making it trivial to just use that xbox controller on your PC.
And yet, when I look at my library, only half of new games released within the past five years support X-input. They are still exclusively keyboard-and-mouse.
Granted, that’s way more than what was available 10 years ago, but it’s still a problem.
Or it would be if the Steam Deck didn’t make it trivially easy to adapt keyboard-and-mouse controls to a controller. Which happened because of the innovation first introduced with the Steam Controller.
It’s now at the point where keyboard-and-mouse is optional—just a preference if you want to use it.
I mean… if you look at what I bought in the past five years you would think everyone was obsessed with spreadsheets and 100 hour CRPGs. That doesn’t change the fact that the vast majority of games are made with cross platform in mind and many historically “M+KB only” games have excellent gamepad support. Sometimes, annoyingly, only in the console build but…
Yes. I do think Steam Input is awesome (even if it was basically just a cleaner interface to xpadder/joy2key). That isn’t the Steam Controller. The Steam Controller is what Valve was using to promote The Steam Machines which was their failed attempt at a console.
Again, just to make this clear: I am not saying the Steam Controller was bad. I am not saying Valve is bad. I AM saying it was not “forward thinking” and was very much rooted in a PC gaming era that was ending as orders were being shipped out.
You’re not wrong that the market has changed.
I often tell people that the biggest innovations in PC gaming are not graphics but form factors and inputs.
I got mine as soon as they were being sold and was disappointed. It felt incredibly awkward to use in comparison to both a K&M and a traditional controller. I ended up selling it about 5 years ago and don’t miss it.
I never got fully used to the trackpads, but the Steam controller is still the only controller I’ve ever owned where the back paddles didnt break/become unresponsive after enough use. Big fan.
We really need a new version
One analog stick? That just looks weird with that layout.
I used mine just a few hours ago while playing Brotato. I’m usually not a controller guy and try to stick to mouse and keyboard but in cases where controllers are just the better choice, I strongly prefer the Steam Controller over any other one.
I have to strongly disagree. The killer feature is Proton (if you consider that a feature) 😀
That’s more of a killer feature for Linux in general.
And I can’t undersell how big of a deal that is. When Windows 10 dies, I’m switching my desktop to Linux simply because Proton makes me want to use Linux.
Was it around before the Steam Deck?
Yes, otherwise the Steam Deck would probably not have as much game support as it did when it came out
Unless it was released with the Steam Deck…?
No, it took time to get Proton to where it is now. If it was released together with the Steam Deck, it just wouldn’t have had as much game support. Proton already existing also made the SD that much more trustworthy. Proton’s initial release was in 2018
Proton is an evolution of wine, an open source project. Wine has been around since… 1993 according to Wikipedia.
Why not.now, the earlier the better
Don’t wait, you’ll thank yourself after you switch. In very frequent cases Windows games literally run faster in Linux under Proton. Get that state-sponsored spyware out of your home!
Yup, the touchpads are cool, but I would’ve bought a Steam Deck without them, but I wouldn’t if Proton didn’t exist. I was on Linux already when the Steam Deck came out, so I was already familiar with Proton.
Big fan of the steam deck layout, seems to resember the steam controller.
Use NiMH batteries in it, then you can recharge them. They also don’t leak as easily as alkaline batteries.
Speak for yourself. Mine has 14 lol
<img alt="" src="https://feddit.uk/pictrs/image/a07d30d8-760c-4333-8b0d-708acbefc0ab.webp">
Lol omg no
When your villain origin story is getting banned from a truck simulator mod because you forgot the macro to turn the headlights on.
Pretty sweet. Original back shell, and battery cover?
You can download an stl for the battery cover. I modified it to allow the backpack controller to attach to/detach from the main controller. The original is in a box somewhere safe and well.
<img alt="" src="https://feddit.uk/pictrs/image/51df9c04-e644-41cf-8842-19f55e53db16.webp">
The hackability and first-party endorsement thereof was another big underappreciated feature of the Steam Controller.
I admire the cut of your jib.
whole new buttons or just remap face button functions?
It’s an extra 12 button Bluetooth controller using an esp32 dev board. So your games need to allow you to use multiple controllers. You could also program it to send keyboard keys but I haven’t tried it.
That sounds super useful for simulator games.
I assume you’ve been mass reported in whatever game you made this for
I actually made it because I got banned because I couldn’t use my lights in euro truck simulator 2 multiplayer mod. I’m not sure I’d want to use it in any competitive games as it’d likely break off if I got mad.
wtf
If traffic rules were that strictly punished in real life there’d be like max 7 cars on road globally
Sounds like a good thing, honestly.
Real life: yes
Game: harsh
Like, they could have put him in the naughty corner or something. I don’t like the idea of banning as a game mechanic.
I think it was only like 24 hours. It’s all automated though. So you get a thirty second countdown mashing buttons to try and work out how to get your headlights on if you spawn at night.
I wish
Idk which model you got but mine did charge via usbc. It also broke so idk if I would prefer yours lol.
I also didn't mind not having a second stick, I got very used to using the trackpad to move the camera in games like dark souls, so much that I could turn it waaaay faster than with whatever stick and with way more precision. very important to mention, I did not put it in "controller mode" but in the "controller and mouse mode" where it took the trackpad input as mouse movement, which made it work flawlessly with swift movements. It's true that the controller mode was lackluster since swiping the trackpad repeated times to turn the camera felt bad. But eh, easily fixable option with an alternative superior to any other controller I've ever tried.
Yep, the key is to use mouse instead of joystick-mouse.
I got mine way back when they were discounted to $5 bucks. I used it like once and wasn’t a fan. Plus, back then, I didn’t really play too many pc games. Funny enough, my friend texted me a few days ago and told me the controllers are becoming goldmines online now selling for $150-$200. It makes me want to find mine and sell it. I even have the box it came in still somewhere.
It still is ahead of its time. I think it was the learning curve that held it back. There wasn’t really a tutorial for how to use it fully. But through the years it grew on me and paired to my steamdeck on tv. It’s my main way to play now.
I know this is gonna sound crazy but switching the triggers so left is zoom and right is fire changed everything for me. If your aiming with your left thumb and also using your left finger to fire it throws off your aim.
I’ve got 2 and my main ones thumbstick is worn down to the plastic under the rubber now.
If they release a new version I will buy it in a heartbeat.
Joystick can be popped out and replaced with the 8bitdo joystick replacement.
steamcommunity.com/app/…/601909079151044660/#c601…
Fits great, but still can sort of degrade into dust slowly. Not sure what conditions precludes making the 8bitdo stick do that. My fingers are smooth af but it still wears sorta quick. Air conditioning around 70f most of the time.
I put some generic switch/ps4/xbox joystick covers on my Steam Controller joystick long ago so I’m still using the one I picked up back like half a decade ago. I put joystick cap covers on all my joystick from my Sony to Xbox to Deck joysticks.
Same for touchpads on my Steam Deck and Steam Controller, since use can make the surface start getting shiny. So joystick cover might be worth doing to protect the physical joystick top.
This might be a quicker solution than replacing the stick. Thnx
Oh sick thanks!
I wish it had a d-pad rather than the left trackpad, but otherwise yeah
If only mine weren’t broken 🥲
Yeah, the left trackpad sucks. I think they could also fit another joystick if they made the right trackpad a little smaller.
I love the left trackpad. I love it for movement, since I like setting stuff like dash, crouch, slide to it on a click which doesn’t feel good doing the same with a joystick click. And I like setting a sprint activator on the very edge which is easier to avoid not accidentally triggering, because of the trackpad size.
I’m actually opposite where I wish the left joystick on the Steam Controller was a dpad.
I also want six face buttons for fighting games. Somebody, please release a controller like this already. I haven’t seen one since the Sega Saturn.
Modern fighting games aren’t really designed for 6 buttons. I guess if you want to play SF6 with only face buttons that could be neat, but you’d still want to map parry and DI to shoulder buttons. The reality is that developers know that most pad players have 4 face + 4 shoulder buttons and most stick and leverless boxes have 8 buttons.
That said, 6 face button pads definitely exist. Most of the ones I’ve seen are from Hori, but there are quite a few brands that offer one.
Okay lol maybe I want them for other games too.
Six face buttons, two joysticks, a D-Pad, a touchpad, four triggers (two being analog with a click at the end of the range), four paddles (like the Steam controller), HD rumble. That’s what I want in a controller. Nothing less. Such a controller does not seem to exist.
There’s a whole class of controllers, often called “fightsticks”, which have a full-size arcade-style joystick and a ton of buttons, to reproduce the feel of arcade fighting games.
www.reddit.com/r/fightsticks/
!fightsticks@lemmy.world (not very active)
www.amazon.com/Arcade-Sticks/s?k=Arcade+Sticks
But I don’t want a fight stick. I want a single controller that can do it all.
8bitdo M30. Phenomenal.
Not quite what I’m looking for (but thanks). I should probably mention that I also need dual joysticks, quad triggers, quad paddles, a touchpad, and a D-Pad. Basically everything you can get on both a Steam controller and an XBOX controller, except with two extra face buttons.
Left trackpad is also a d-pad though
I always wanted one, but by the time I had the personal economy to buy one they weren’t available any more.
I honestly love the idea of it more than using it for most gaming. I’m going they make a new one that mirrors the layout of the Steam Deck a little more.
I still use my 2 steam controllers. I want to game on couch so this is the most mouse-like thing I’ve found, back in 2016. What’s up, why don’t they sell these anymore?
pcgamer.com/valve-to-pay-dollar4-million-in-steam…
THEY PATENTED BUTTONS ON THE BACK OF THINGS? WTF, this is patent troll level shit
It absolutely is.
Thanks. Discontinued since 2019 lol… I’m kinda late on the news.
I’ve picked up spares over the years on ebay. Used the key words “steam controller 1001” and sorted by price low to high. Once I’ve picked up have been in good condition, since most people just used them once and put them away.
Well I’m glad someone likes it
The entire industry has agreed on a de-facto standard for controllers, which is pretty much the PS1 controller:
You can add things on top of that (trackpads, gyros, making some of these digital buttons analog), but if you don’t have that - your controller won’t work for games that expect these inputs to be available.
If I had to put a date on when this became the established standard, I’d say 2005 or 2006 - the years when the XBox 360 and the PS3 were released, since both consoles had these capabilities (Nintendo kept doing its own thing, and only supported this standard starting with the Wii U). So when the Steam controller was released in 2015 - this standard was already established, controllers for PC made sure to support it - and even PC games stuck to it.
This is why I think the Steam Controller failed - you had to map it. You couldn’t use it like you would a standard controller even if the game was made for standard controllers.
The original PS1 controller didn’t have joysticks, and when it did, the position sucked for larger hands. I have always preferred the XBox layout.
Did you? I thought most games worked fine, though admittedly I only played a couple because I never got used to the trackpads.
I think it wasn’t very post all popular because it was so different. Even if it worked as expected out of the box, a lot of people dismissed it at first glance. It was also only available through steam, so there was less reach.
But even then, I still don’t think it failed on its own merits. I think there wasn’t a compelling reason to get it without a Steam Machine, which flopped because Valve didn’t commit to it.
Right. I meant the second PS1 controller, not the original one. The design changed over the years, but the general specs stayed as the baseline of controllers.
The XBox layout with its six face buttons did not stick, and the XBox 360 conformed with Sony’s design of four face buttons and two triggers. Which makes more sense for shooters (since you have more buttons while keeping your thumb on the right thumbstick)
Sure.
It’s important to note that the PS1 also borrowed from previous designs, namely the Super Nintendo with 4 face buttons and N64 (the controller with joysticks came out a year after).
Xbox’s main innovation was the offset joysticks, which may have been due to patents more than anything, but I preferred it. I also didn’t mind the two extra buttons, and was a little sad when they went away, because they were largely replaced by the joystick buttons, which I think are hard to use properly.
But yeah, design stagnated a bit after the PS1 controller.
I find I keep accidentally clicking the thumbstick buttons, and I have the same problem with clicking the trackpads on the stream controllers. When the game gets tense I tend to increase my grip causing the clicks.
Weren’t the black and white buttons replaced by triggers? The joystick buttons already existed in the first XBox.
Sort of, but the functions changed a bit. For example, in Halo, the black button changed the type of grenade and the white button triggered the flashlight, both of which weren’t really needed frequently. On the XBox 360, it changed to:
Both control schemes are fine, but I honestly thought the black/white buttons were decent. Having some buttons you rarely push but can is nice.
Loved my steam controller, just like all the best stuff it took some configuration to get it perfect, but once it was set up it was the best controller. I am firmly a fan of configuring my stuff to work the way I want to use it, not adapting to how someone else thinks I may use something.
I wanted to like it, I really did, but between the buttons being too small and clustered together and accidentally hitting the touch pads it just wasn’t the controller for me. Mostly played Rocket League when I got it and the number of times I’d shitflip or accidentally turn off ballcam was too high
For my configs I set up a dpad modeshift with an inverted outer ring on the right touchpad so that clicking up, down, left, right, center is different inputs. So I use that over using the facebuttons and gives me the added benefit of not losing camera or gyro control, since I use the touch activated gyro.
Comes in nice for swapping between weapons in Doom Eternal to bypass reloading without reliance on the weapon wheel, and other games like The Finals for gadget swapping without losing camera or movement control.
I love mine. Don’t use it for much, but still love it
I love your passion for this controller. Awesome post.
I think I have my two around somewhere (as well as my original Steam machine thingy, which was really awesome). I still cherish them and love the idea of them. Nice boxes, too. But I honestly thought the controllers were real turds, especially after so many reviews gurting so much pole slaw over them.
It’s actually quite comfortable to use, despite it feeling like an Xbox Duke with anaphylaxis and as thin and cheap as the Wii U gamepad without the battery in it. I’m sure that they did much better with the Steam Desk and eventual rumored Steam Controller 2 but they definittknownwhat they’re doing.
The touchpads always made my thumbs feel weird after a short time. It was a functional marvel, but I couldn’t use it for long.
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/pictrs/image/e3fbb4ad-ece5-4db2-9a1f-aace776650b0.webp">
It’s an outstanding controller for games with mouse input, but it’s less than fantastic for traditional controller games, imo.
It’s also very divisive. I love it for couch Civilization, but I have an 8bitDo for expedition 33.
Yeah, I couldn’t get on with it at all. Most games are designed for a right analogue stick, and not having one just kills it.
It is the best controller ever made by far and I am willing to die on this hill.
sometimes a product fails because it is bad
I still use mine all the time! Works great for computers hooked up as gaming consoles because it’s a mouse and a bunch of very useful keys all in one.
It failed because it offered too much customization. Really.
Physical construction was shit tier. I should know, I early adopted November 2015 and in total I went through 17 not counting the 3 DOA. My ear actually became attuned to the specific mini-crunch that signaled the impending demise of a shoulder button.
It also had undeniable layout and design issues. The D-Pad they implemented was a joke. Fanboys wouldn’t shut up about it but truth is, it was completely unacceptable to put a track pad in it’s place and it was more or less unusable. Other buttons and inputs were juuuuust a little cramped or off-kilter and it was common to input mash accidentally.
The configuration software was also a nightmare. Ever try setting up a Mouse Region for a twin stick game? Sweet jeebus. They tripled the efficiency of the configuration screens in recent updates and it’s still a nightmare. It’s 30 inputs just to tweak something like a deadzone, then you have to menu out… then test in game… then drill allllll the way back down to tweak a little more.
But back to my assertion at the top. It made SC gamers literally unfairly better. Gryo aiming, effectively programmable macros, mode shifts, radial wheels, action layers, targeted mouse clicks, button toggles, sliders, regions, I can’t even remember it all from back before it got heavily neutered. It got out of control to the point where you could bypass “cheating” standards and macros in big online games, etc. You could simulate inputs.
Design iterations would have fixed the other issues, but it became a deadly-unfair device for competitive gaming and a lot of companies hated how the Steam Controller hardware and software customization… basically allowed people to “cheat” their systems in a sense. It opened a huge fucking can of worms. Something like it will probably never be seen again for these reasons.
I don’t remember SC being singled out for that. Steam Input actually started providing third party support fast introducing it for the Sony DS4 in 2016 with all the same configurations possible, and expanding support to other controllers over the years. Now it supports 8bitdo too letting the extra buttons have unique keys mapped to it and supporting analog triggers with gyro, which until then Sony was one of the few non-discontinued controllers to have that support in Steam Input. pcgamer.com/steams-dualshock-4-support-is-now-in-… Don’t remember this period of the Steam Controller being a " deadly-unfair device for competitive gaming", since if it was it would have been more popular and caught on like Cronus and Xim as opposed to from its release to discontinuation being a niche device among enthusiasts while many complained because they expected it to be like a regular dual joystick controller. This thread itself and others on other sites seems to support that with people saying they tried it and didn’t care for it, don’t get the touchpads, and some not even knowing of gyro. I even had a conversation in this thread with someone who believes people who say the Steam Controller must be good are being contrarian, since they can’t imagine how people could possibly consider it good over regular controllers.
What I remember is that aim assist got cranked up over the years to the point some mouse users started dropping it for gamepad, which led to complaints about rollers growing. And then more complaints happened about rollers as regular controller users in games like Apex used Steam Input to set up movement exploits in Apex through macros and moving while going through their inventory like mouse and keyboard users. Then rewasd with it offering recoil script. And that took a while to happen with Apex releasing in 2019, which by then SC was discontinued the same year. Rewasd was especially notorious because of not only the recoil script, but being able to map controller inputs to keyboard and mouse for people wanting to XIM on PC.
I also disagree on that too much customization was why it failed. Steam Deck has the same “too much customization.” Difference is it has dual joysticks. Many people who picked up a Steam Controller just approached it like a dual joystick controller so were disappointed, and they didn’t want a controller that needed setup. I’ve been using Steam Input many years and aside from UI changes people disagreed with, Steam Input has become much more advanced and feature rich as opposed to “neutered” as you say. Introduction of things like chords, being able to set up multiple gyro activator inputs, touchpad gestures like in Sony first party games, and mouse delta to name a few over the years.
I was happy with the Steam Controller because I didn’t pick one up expecting it to offer an experience like my Xbox controller I was using on the PC at the time. I got one because I wanted the touchpad functions the Xbox didn’t have and picked it up intending to map mouse to gyro and the touchpad. But, most people don’t want that. They want a pick up and play controller, no setup, and just be like the dual joystick controllers they used and they didn’t need Valve for a dual joystick controller either with xbox offering plug and play support with no setup with no need for Steam. And if they wanted accuracy they’d just pick up a mouse.
Even gyro is niche among all controllers, which speaks to how much people just want a Xbox experience of plugging in a controller, getting controller icons, and just playing and don’t care for aiming without aim assist. They don’t want to set up anything, and that is what having dual joysticks lets people do.
I disagree about the batteries. Give me replaceable AA cells any day over a built-in Li-ion. Rechargeable AAs are readily available and quickly swappable if you keep hot spares. Much better option for long term serviceability.
Swappable Li-Ion cells like 18650s are even better. I find recharging AAs too slow
I think the availability of AA batteries is higher, 18650 is much less standard than AA in most people’s homes. I would rather have options, so saying AA but having a swappable battery tray is how I would go, but I like kludgey stuff anyway.
That said, I just did a battery replacement for a lithium pouch on some TWS headphones and it was a fairly simple process. Making it a port rather than soldered wires would make it much easier and would make battery replacement a quick and routine task. Hopefully more companies will more towards ports for batteries and maybe even a standard port that is the same for a given voltage/amperage combination so swapping out can be done with confidence.
Microsoft did something like this with xbox controllers. There are additional contact points inside the battery chamber for a li-ion pack, so you could use a pair of AAs or their rechargeable pack that just fits into the same space.
Going to bat for xbox or Microsoft right now is a death sentence on the internet so by internet law I have to downvote you. Sorry, it’s just the way things go…
That said, I agree. Being able to buy a $30 plug and play pack with rechargeable battery packs or being able to buy rechargeable AAs or just normal AA batteries is the best of all the current first party options.
If you have spares to swap in, then it doesn’t matter how long it takes to charge.
Which would be 2 hours if you charge at 0.5C.
Also, I think I’ve seen Li-ion in AA form factors nowadays …
Other than just feeling a little light/cheap, I liked it. I actually liked that it used standard batteries so I could just use rechargeable AAs. Only reason I don’t use it anymore, is that I mostly game on PS5 now, and mostly only play strategy games on PC. I used to use it while streaming from my PC to my Kodi/Steam Raspberry Pi in my living room.
Is this the AI slop hyphen use I’ve heard so much about?
The em dash? I always use it—love it—you’ll have to take it from cold, dead hands.
Windows: Alt+0151
Linux: Compose - + - + -
Yeah sure, emdashes and curly quotation marks were designed and put into Unicode specially for AI. Take some book or newspaper and look at what characters it uses
This feels written in an AI generated voice as well though
Plus, it uses a very generic argument about why everyone else is wrong for not liking the controller, even though from the comments here it’s pretty clear the main reason is not having a d-pad
Behold! The perfect controller layout, from the far future:
spoiler
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/fdafc80c-adae-49d0-8df0-dc0bb359e3fe.jpeg">
It’s weird how quickly Sony discovered the perfect layout and how little it’s changed since.
Analogue triggers are the only really great addition since the original Dual Shock.
The gyro aim on the PS5 (well technically all the way back to the PS3, only not as good) are actually really nice too, but I can count the games that use it on one hand. I’ve no idea why devs are so adverse to using them.
The PS4/5 touch pad would be OK if it wasn’t just used as a giant Select button, because for some reason the actual Select button is now “Share” which literally nobody ever asked for.
If only it wasn’t made for tiny hands.
You’re an original Xbox controller kind of guy aren’t you?
From the PS4 onwards they did at least acknowledge that most people don’t have tiny child-sized hands, and that most consoles are bought by adults.
But you can reach all the middle buttons without changing grip.
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7394223a-57b1-4316-ba06-9a00fa615e78.jpeg"> Can confirm. Mine is about 22 years old. Unfortunately the USB adapter isn’t working anymore.
I have one too. I love it so much. It’s really, really good. Could map things exactly how I want them! Use it mostly playing Sekiro and Elden Ring.
I love the TouchPads really makes it easier to control those small movements
I really love mine and necer realised how “hated” it was. For me the biggest downside is that the level of customisation is almost overwhelming. Which is a good problem to have, honestly, but it led me to sometimes use the shitty xbox controller instead of fumbling with options.
Yeah for sure, I know what you mean. But like, the ability to activate gyro aiming when holding down right bumper past its “click” for those accurate shots is just cheifs kiss
Is there some meta to using the touch pads? I never use them on my deck due to the lack of being able to have continous motion like a joystick. If I’ve just been using them wrong I’d love to try them out in the way that makes people rave about them
I think some of it comes down to what your brain is used to.
I usually use mouse/keyboard, that kind of constant movement from holding the stick in a certain position is kind of foreign to me. Whereas having the right track pad basically emulating a trackpall mouse instantly felt really natural. In this case it’s like a mouse in that your movement directly translates to camera movement.
You may just be more used to analog sticks
I think it might just be one of those things you get used to. There are so many different ways of setting them up as well,
When I play Sekiro or Elden Ring, I have the right one set to “ball” or “mouse ball” or something like that, basically, so I can flick the camera and also just drag, the left one is on joystick mode I’m pretty sure, with various deadzones that I felt comfortable with.
What’s nice is things like on the right trackpad, I have it set on a tilted axis, because I don’t swipe my thumb perfectly horizontal, I swipe up towards the right, but you can account for that. So when I do my normal swipe, the camera still moves horizontal. I don’t know about the deck, I don’t have one. But the various settings and options for all the things you can set it up with is incredible.
I know on the left, movement. I have a certain zone that if I’m within it, you’ll move slowly, but once you go to the edge you move quickly. In short terms, it’s not linear, because I don’t want it to be.
I do certain actions of “fast pull”, where you press the bumber quickly past its “click”, and another if it’s a slow one. Can probably get very overwhelming but you just find what you like and set it up do it. If you want it a certain way, chances are very good there’s an option for it.
I’ve had one since the release 2015. The best controller and, unfortunately, the most worn out of em all. I really need a SC2. It still works just like the first day (well, better since it got software updates), but it’s so damn worn out. Fuck, I’m actually, seriously considering paying those crazy amounts people are selling them (HAS TO BE NEW!) for online. It’s sick how good it is.
I would love to get ahold of one for my PC. I’m hesitant to buy a used one though. Maybe one day Valve will make more or even better, make a SC2. Until then my PS5 controller will continue to serve me well
I prefer the Wii U Pro Controller, similar layout but with a proper d-pad. I got to have a proper d-pad.
I still have one, but never used it.
Wanna sell it ?
Sure, if you’re in the EU. PM me
If I wanted a console I would buy a console.
If you can get most of the games on PC, why would you buy an entire console? Just buy a controller and now you have a keyboard, mouse, And controller to cover all the different game types.
if I wanted to only play half my games at twice the price for only a few years on hardware i can’t upgrade with fewer functions and content due to exclusivity, I would buy a console
I have three. One still fully packaged for when the other two die
I’m struggling to wrap my head around how a controller without two joysticks is supposed to word in the year of our lord 2025
It has two trackpads, which can be used as an alternative to joysticks. It’s actually kinda cool since it kind of works like a mouse with quick flicks and whatnot.
Eh I am not a big fan of the track pads, I have them on my deck and the only real useful ness for them is having them emulate a mouse in games so I can use a mouse for ui navigation instead of the joysticks or dpad. Having to constantly readjust my thumbs to keep moving in a direction and lack of ability for smooth continuos motion just makes them super impractical
I don’t like them either, but that’s because I prefer the feel of joysticks, not because of any functional reason. For the Steam Controller trackpads, you don’t need to readjust anything, you just hold in the direction you want the camera to be changing, just like a joystick, and they’re massive so you have a lot of range of motion for controlling speed.
It’s a different feel than on the Steam Deck, so I can totally see someone liking the SC trackpads and not the SD ones.
Ah that makes sense, I’ve never tried the SC so I just assumed they worked in a similar manner to the decks track pads. I think I would still probably prefer joysticks but now I can see the appeal for some regarding how the SC track pads work.
If you are curious here is some of my gameplay video in games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, The Finals, etc.
Was the first controller that allowed me to completely drop aim assist for good and not feel slow against PC players and offer keyboard like functionality for input swapping.
By the way I don’t like the Steam Deck trackpads either since I found trying to use them as primary inputs in place of joysticks like on the Steam Controller was not ergonomic for my hands,and camera swipes weren’t as consistent on squares compared to concave circular pads. So on the Steam Deck despite wishing I could use the touchpads I opt for joysticks. So I don’t really see Deck touchpads as a good endorsement for using as primary inputs, since even I can’t find myself using it like the SC.
That’s sounds truly awful lol
Some people really like it, especially combined w/ the gyro. I think it’s fine, I just prefer the feel of joysticks.
Understand the Steam Controller came out 10 years ago and was meant to be used in the decade or two prior to that when “real PC games” didn’t support gamepads. Contrast that with today where CRPGs and RTSes often have official bindings.
There are two ways to use a trackpad. The first is to swipe (like a laptop trackpad) and the second is press and hold. For the former, the delta between where your thumb is and where it was is used to translate to cursor movement. For the latter, think of it like an analog stick. The center of the trackpad is 0 and your input is the delta between 0 and the location of your thumb at this moment.
So press and hold lets it emulate an analog stick and swiping is very useful for moving a cursor on the screen. And there are/were plenty of ways to switch between the modes on the fly.
For real it looks like complete garbage. Joysticks are good, not bad. I’ll take a Playstation controller any day over this shit
.
I have one somewhere. The right track pad can work like a joystick, but without the physicality and feedback it just was awkward and unpleasant. Using tracking as a mouse also felt off whenever you needed any sort of precision. Right track pad/dpad seemed to be impossible to click just right to press a direction without also activating the trackpad mappings sending both inputs at once or the wrong one. I could not really get use to it and forgot about it in a box somewhere.
Didn’t hate it, just couldn’t find a use that mouse and keyboard couldn’t cover enough to get a feel for it.
If you are curious here is some of my gameplay video in games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, The Finals, etc.
Was the first controller that allowed me to completely drop aim assist for good and not feel slow against PC players and offer keyboard like functionality for input swapping.
I use mine everyday. Best controller I’ve ever bought.
Nice try, but that’s not why I hated it.
This smug revisionism triggers me hard. As a hard core steam fan I loved the idea of the SC, I bought it and really tried to use it, but the reality was just too clunky for primary use. It has no dpad, a single crappy convex analog stick, terribly placed ABXY buttons, horrible shoulder buttons, and just a bit too much input lag on the trackpads. On top all that was (actually, still is) a remapping system that’s way too convoluted to use regularly. There’s also the sad fact that alarmingly many games don’t allow simultaneous gamepad and mouse inputs, and simulating the mouse through right stick inputs feels like shit. I really didn’t find any use case where it’s ergonomically superior to a regular gamepad beside the always cited Civ on the Couch, and I’ve tried with sooo many games.
The deck’s control layout fixes most of the issues – the placement is better (except maybe the Salvador Dali inspired B button but I digress), there is a great d pad, two pretty good analog sticks and the input is snappier. Surprise surprise, the deck is a success.
Was the SC innovative, bold and ahead of its time in many ways? Sure. Was it a good controller to play games with? Hell no.
Fully agree. I tried to make the SC work and wrote off a lot of it as “I’m just not used to it”, but it really is asking a lot. In its defence, it was a first run product. The fact that it’s still ass usable and as weird is impressive enough to me. But it’s better as a piece of gaming history than a good product. It was just a good try.
I also agree with the Steam deck controls being actually good. I want the SC2 that’s just a steam deck without the screen or computer.
So I guess the opposite of the steam brick.
I’d gladly pay $100 to have a steam deck like control scheme for my desktop. Rechargeable batteries and a Linux first design would be awesome. I don’t mind just using cables all the time, but I would like better wireless options for Linux gamepads (though to be fair, I haven’t tried connecting a wireless controller to a Linux box in 5 years).
Hard truths.
Why did they feel the need to replace analog controls with these weird, inconsistently responsive, difficult to map touch controls when every other console platform had already demonstrated why that’s a bad idea?
NO. It was kitsch and poorly engineered and obviously not play tested sufficiently before release. It was a hobbyist’s attempt at reinventing the mousetrap that got shoved into a major distribution pipeline when Playstation and Nintendo and XBox had already demonstrated why you don’t build controllers this way ten years earlier.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. The DS4 had a trackpad that was clearly positioned and intended for menu navigation. Nobody used trackpads as a primary game control input before the SC. That’s not because sticks are some god-given pinnacle of technology but because potentiometer-based sticks are cheap and people are used to them. Analog sticks were always, and still are, a crappy way to control a camera. Building a 1:1 thumb based input source into a controller absolutely was innovative and, like it or hate it, I don’t see how you can contest that. The Steam Deck’s pads are actually pretty great to use.
Again, what are you talking about? The SC was released in 2015.
I have one of these, and it’s my least favorite controller I’ve ever owned. The touch sticks feel like the touch controls in my car… They leave me wanting real, tactile controls.
It was truly a piece of shit. Imagine trying to play a game with a cheap touchpad. Worst controller I’ve ever owned.
I think it’s been fine in Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, The Finals, etc.
Was the first controller that allowed me to completely drop aim assist for good and not feel slow against PC players and offer keyboard like functionality for input swapping.
.
No. The touch pads were fucking stupid and it needed 2 actual joysticks.
Any move towards less physical controls and feedback is bad.
With respect, this doesn’t make any sense. If you want a joystick controller, just buy an Xbox controller that everything’s compatible with anyway?
The trackpads shine when one needs to emulate a mouse/kb in non-controller games; a nightmare with joysticks.
Yeah thats kind of the point. It doesnt have 2 joysticks so I just buy an Xbox one instead. So it cant compete with the gold standard of crontrollers.
And you can say it has pursose in non controller games but its still worse than a traditional keyboard and mouse in that repect as well as a keyboard with an integrated trackpack.
So theres maybe a small niche of playing non controller games in situations where you dont have a desk and you dont want to use an integrated keyboard, where it does a bit better than the competition. Any other situation you have better options. Which IMO if its worse in most use cases and only a bit better than the competetion in designed niche, then its not really a good product.
Not everyone’s a big kb/mouse fan. My sister refuses to use one on the HTPC.
Hence I think that was its non-insignificant niche; couch usage. Portable keyboards are really awkward and clunky on laps, and the steam controller is way better and more ergonomic than an integrated trackpad.
Personally I think it was a smart business decision, because of this:
No one’s going to buy a steam-branded Xbox controller, but making it different does. And I think what killed it is that it wasn’t plug-and-play enough, eg it didn’t work out of the box with many games.
this thing looks like an abomination to mankind
I loooove my steam controller for first-person games. The right track pad for camera controls just clicks with me. I guess it’s because I’m a PC gamer first and foremost, so I’m used to mouse-like aiming rather than the analog-style stick aiming.
I never really used the left track pad though…
That being said, I was let down by the steam deck trackpads. Maybe I just have big hands, but I could never use the right track pad the same way I do with the steam controller.
Also a general comment: AA/AAA is the best if you get some rechargable batteries. No waiting for charging when something is out of juice! Plus you can just get a new set of batteries if they ever die instead of a whole new controller
My sister still has a working one that she treats like a religious artifact, as it’s the best way to play mouse/KB games from the sofa.
I see why they discontinued them though. They need custom configs for most games, and I think most people don’t like that much tweaking.
Mine hasn’t gotten much use lately because the steamdeck itself has indirectly usurped it but man I love my steam controller. It’s genuinely the best controller ever made for certain types of games. I find it very difficult to play FPS games without it (or the steamdeck) due to getting so used to gyro aiming with the capacitive touch sensors. My only real gripe with it is the subpar build quality. They’ve learned a lot since then in terms of hardware manufacturing so I can’t wait for them to put out a new steam controller.
My dream steam controller 2 would be the steam controller layout with the large circular concave touchpads in the top most position, better bumpers, two extra bumper buttons like the 8bitdo, 4 back buttons in total, alpakka quality gyro, and nice premium feeling material used for the shell.
But, they’ll go with the Steam Deck layout if there is one, which unfortunately has not been good for using touchpads as primary inputs for my hands. Which has me hording Steam Controllers, since it’ll likely be the only dual touchpad focused controller around. And hoping Alpakka comes out with a standalone gyro module I can stick on the Steam Controller to at least have the gyro component updated.
I’ve had a PS5. Gave it away. I still have an Xbox. I don’t even know if its plugged in. The steam deck got me back into gaming in a way that I haven’t been in years. I feel like a kid again with the amazement of a piece of technology that can entertain me the way the steam deck can. I even bought a dbrand skin for it just because I love it so much. I’m playing prototype 2 and my fiancee is playing baldurs gate. When we have money we want to buy another one so we don’t have to share lol
It’s a brillant device, I often use it more than my PC.
It gives me the feeling that playing the Gameboy as a kid gave me. The switch would only make my hands cramp because the controls are only made for small hands.
I have 2. I absolutely love it. I prefer it for playing 3rd person games like the witcher and monster hunter too. I like the granular control and momentum for panning around the world.
I bought the second one for $5 when valve was doing the discontinuation liquidation sale. Someone commented that the Vive wands use the same track pads and other parts, so it’s a no brainer to buy one to have the parts on hand. At this point the Vive wands are extra parts for keeping my steam controllers going.
I love my steam controllers. Surprisingly where they shined best for me was in racing games. Single joystick was enough for steering. Trackpad+gyro was great for flicking to look around and if there is nos or boost in the game I would always map it to the button for full press on the trigger. Legitimately not an experience you could replicate with any other controller.
I prefer AA for controllers actually. Rechargeable AAs are good these days and you can just swap them out. I actually really hate this trend of integrated batteries in things where it isnt necessary. Yeah we need new form factors of replaceable batteries, but the switch from replaceable and standardized to neither is definitely causing problems and costing us money.
Trying to find replacement batteries for integrated batteries is a pain too, since might not be able to find an OEM replacement or battery from a reputable brand. So you end up having to go with whatever random no name battery that could be worse than the OEM battery and end up dying after less than a year.
My preference is rechargeable AA or AAA. And even better if the controller itself can recharge the battery like drone controllers.
I got some good rechargeable AA for my controllers about three years ago and will never go back. I have one pair more than controllers and I always have a charged pair read to switch out if needed.
I got 2500mAh batteries from duracell and the charge lasts for days of activity on my xbox controllers. Longer than my PS4 controllers with integrated battery for sure.
I’m still using the same AA eneloops I used since I picked up my Steam Controller all the way back in 2015-2016. And I also used it with my 360 controller too. Just keeps chugging along being good for a month before I need to swap.
Yeah the PS4 battery life has been crap and I don’t know why. Was finally able to replace Sony controllers with 8bitdo now that Steam provides support for the extra buttons to be mapped to unique keys and use analog triggers and gyro together. So been nice not having to spend money on the dualsense, which doesn’t even have hall effects/TMR sticks.
I bought two packs of Eneloops from Dell in 2007 that are still constantly in use. I haven’t noticed any degradation. I can only imagine how many alkaline batteries these things have replaced.
I prefer 38650 batteries.
Took me a long time but I settled on Xbox one controllers. I use rechargable batteries but can run the AAs if u want. AA batteries have longer shelf life if u let the controller sit long periods vs rechargeables always seem to discharge. Support in just about every game. Can be had reasonable price on sale now and then and lots of parts available for them. Id never buy a controller with a non replaceable battery!
8Bitdo controllers are pretty hit and miss, but this is a big hit for them. The Pro series (and maybe others) comes with a rechargeable battery but the slot also fits 2 AA batteries.
If only they could get their software more feature rich and consistent.
I mocked Xbox controllers for years due to them using AA batteries… until I actually started using one with my PC. Now, I wish all controllers used them. It’s vastly more convenient than charging via USB cable.
I was really hoping they’d release a next generation with some of the issues I read online ironed out.
I didn’t like it. I got it on sale and tried it. I just have muscle memory for Xbox style controllers and that didn’t give me any advantages that made it worth retraining.
I have mine, I used it a few times, I did not care for it. I can’t stand using a touchpad in place of physical sticks. I found it to be worse than a mouse for mouse needs and worse than a standard controller for controller needs. All just felt a bit gimmicky.
It was a neat idea, but just didn’t work as well as a traditional set up. Seemed more like a prototype than a full retail product.
Really hoping the rumors of a new steam controller are true!
Typing on this thing was a dream.
Which version? The daisy wheel or the dual thumb keyboard?
I kinda miss the older circular mode, it was hard to get used to, but it was really quick and precise
I think I remember the dual thumb, but I just remember being amazed at how responsive it was
I wanted to like this thing so bad. I tried it so many times I just cannot get used to the trackpad for anything beyond top down environment or platformers. Once I need a second joystick as an input it was game over.
I had a setup for fromsoft games that activated the gyro when I touched the track pad. So I could swipe the pad for fast camera turns and use the gyro for fine aim. My steam controllers battery terminals were both damaged by cell bursts though. I miss the camera agility now.
How did you use the touchpad. My approach has been to adjust the sensitivity of the touchpad until an edge to edge swipe does a 180, and for gyro having a 90 degree rotation of the controller do 675 degree rotation in game for first person and 450 degrees for third person. Made it a consistent aim experience no matter what game I played as long as the mouse input in the game was good and didn’t do things like emulate a joystick causing negative acceleration.
And for the right touchpad I set a dpad modeshift with an inverted outer ring bind so clicking up, down, left, right, center output different inputs so I didn’t have to reach down to the facebuttons as often. And depending on the game I’d set up a chord so holding the left grip and clicking would output a different set of 5 inputs.
And I just saved the template so I didn’t need to set it up all the time.
Liked it for Doom Eternal, since I could activate gyro, swipe the camera to quickly turn, and click to swap between weapons every shot to bypass reloading all on the right touchpad.
And pvp games like The Finals clicking the right pad to switch through gadgets and using the touchpad to quickly turn and activate gyro, and not feeling like my inputs were too slow versus mouse users. And not having to bother with aim assist.
Mind sharing the setup, please? I’ve played The Finals on my Steam Deck and gave the trackpads+gyro a fair try, but couldn’t land a scheme that made me really comfortable and let me perform well at the same time - lots of unintentional clicks as well as not pressing shoulder buttons to activate the modifier.
Having a trackpad act like a touch-sensitive dpad with gyro felt very close to perfect, though. Just couldn’t tweak the entire scheme well enough.
I uploaded the config for the Steam Controller with the name “Dualpad with Gyro Updated…”
Problem is that if you try to use the config on the Steam Deck I don’t think it’ll work the same way, since on the Steam Deck trackpad click is set up through soft press as opposed to the physical click that the Steam Controller uses.
I did play around with trying to set up something similar in the past on the Deck touchpads and did it through action layers instead of mode shift. Set it up so that clicking the touchpad switched to the action layer where the touchpad was set up as a dpad that I had stuff mapped too, and release press removed the same action layer to return back to the default action set.
imgur.com/…/steam-deck-dpad-modeshift-workaround-…
But, when I did this workaround modeshifts weren’t available in the current UI yet, so maybe a normal dpad modeshift setup would work on the Deck pads now. This was how I set it up in the old Steam Input UI youtu.be/4vN1Jj7EPZk. If not then action layer approach is the other method.
Update: so I decided to try it on the Steam Deck and I was able to set up a dpad modeshift on a pad click and even get the chord function to work so the inputs change if I hold one of the left back buttons. Only issue is I couldn’t find a way to adjust the pressure required to register a click for the touchpad when it came to the modeshift pad click.
I don’t think the idea was mature enough. Yes it did try to innovate and do new things but it also was trying very hard to be familiar to an audience that was never going to embrace change while not changing enough for a new audience to develop around it. I would compare it to the Dvorak keyboard, a device that offered only marginal improved efficiency and use while requiring the user to completely relearn from the ground up and have to fight muscle memory for those who used the popular medium it meant to replace. And in the end, most people said it wasn’t worth it.
I was initially intrigued by having buttons on the bottom of the controller, where your fingers naturally would be thus freeing your thumbs to stay on the pad/sticks. And imagine my frustration to realize those rear buttons are just extensions of triggers already on top. Huge missed opportunity imo that a redesign could have given dedicated buttons on the back of the controller to each finger and expand the possibilities for input combos a player can perform.
TL;DR I think the controller was a valiant effort to innovate but didn’t go far enough or do anything sell enough to stick.
Actually, those rear buttons are unique. They are not the same triggers and buttons. They are highly useful in FPS games for functions like crouch.
On the steamdeck maybe, on the steam controller they are only r1/l1 buttons, I tried many times to change them and the software can’t different them
This isn’t true, the back buttons on the steam controller can be mapped independently.
You are most likely misremembering, there are many controllers that do similar things to what you describe, but the steam controller isn’t one of them.
No they weren’t. I used to play Elite Dangerous and the paddles were used as modifiers, so for example the left paddle held down would change all the face button inputs to distributing energy while the right pad would swap them to common cockpit functions (landing gear, fsd, lights…) Meanwhile both bumpers and triggers remained as a single function: yaw and weapon groups
My set up approach to having both my thumbs stay on the pads a majority of the time has been to set up a dpad modeshift with an inverted outer ring bind so clicking up, down, left, right, center output different inputs. And depending on the game I’d set up a chord so holding the left grip and clicking the right pad would output a different set of 5 inputs. And my right grip is set to jump so with the left grip chord function for 5 additional inputs on a right pad click if needed for a total of 10 that’s been my way of doing that.
So for like Doom Eternal I swap between weapons every shot to bypass reloading through the right touchpad. I like that approach better than using stuff like weapon wheels, which in some games actually slows down the actual gameplay and interrupts the flow.
I spent more time fucking with that thing’s settings than actually playing games. Give me a normal controller every day of the week. Just cause it was niche doesn’t meant it was good.
I was confused when I saw that it was discontinued. I bought several in 2015 and still have them.
I got a $50 GameStop gift card in 2015 as part of some hackathon I went to— which was cool since as a kid didn’t have a credit card or anything; and bought the steam controller with it, would play CS:GO with it between class. Still my favorite controller and one of the only ones that lets you change the turn on sound too.
I really liked it, especially for FPS/TPS
One thing I think it was missing is some kind of native API. It emulated keyboard/mouse or gamepad, or both. And it kind of worked, but sometimes a bit clunky. Like if you tried to use it as mouse for aiming and as gamepad stick game would be confused and switch control hints from gamepad to keyboard/mouse and back.
With native API developers could’ve directly implement it as another type of controller and add things like hints saying “use right trackpad to aim”, tweek controls mapping for it’s layout, sensitivity, etc
Not sure how many developers would’ve supported that though
Prey was great in that department actually having a config that mapped mouse to the right touchpad instead of emulating a joystick like so many games did, and then had different action sets that automatically switched depending on if it was gameplay or you were in the menu. And showed proper icons like the touchpad click to reflect Steam Input mappings people set it to.
Ive never been a fan of joysticks, so when they announced this I was super excited for the track pads. I wanted to love them, but I could never get used to them. They feel super unnatural, even for FPS, to the point where I was longing for joysticks.
The difference is that the Steam Deck actually uses fairly traditional controls. Two joysticks, face buttons, d-pad (not that anyone uses the d-pad), multiple back triggers.
This thing was been really weird with its three analogue inputs (how am I supposed to use three analogue inputs) and every other button was limited. It also existed in a world where I can just get an Xbox controller and plug it into my PC, and it just works, so what’s the point anyway?
This thing isn’t even particularly good at controlling the steam deck, which kind of proves the point that it never really made sense as a product.