You must log in or register to comment.
It costs $99/€99/£85/$149 AUD
This is funny, because amer*can currency is nowhere near strong enough to be comparable to EUR now
For reference, $99 are like 85€ nowadays.
I replaced the old one with an 8bitdo and it’s great. The old steam controller had configuration issues in many games.
Maybe not the controllers fault but rather the games that do not support it super well.
Xinput is extremely plug and play and steam controller was more time configuring than gaming. Claire obscure 33 did not really support it for me and xinput out of the box.
sadly it won’t work with the Switch 2 I assume :c
While I kinda understand the steep price, not being able to use with other than Steam is a deal breaker for me. Yes, you can create shortcuts inside Steam and use the controller like that probably but still. On the other hand, I can use the old Steam controller even on a browser alongside with the rest of my OS.
I think it’s only Windows and Mac that are like that. Linux you can install just the steam-devices package for Valve hardware drivers.
Good to hear, good to hear.
fuck em
Change my mind: Xbox-X controller are best controllers.
They are asymmetrical, arguably better from ergonomics. They have replaceable batteries (AA rechargeable batteries have been a thing for half a century). If the battery gets too old to hold a good charge, i can get new (rechargeable) batteries without having to fiddle about to change the internal batteries.
It’s about €60 which goes on sale occasionally and can grab it as low as €40. Perhaps lower but that’s the lowest I’ve seen.
The downsides: due to replaceable AA battery, hull effect sticks are impossible due to them requiring a consistent output. Mouse movement is not a thing unless if you are on steam then it can be programmed different ways (mouse bindings or pressing xbox button and right analog stick and bumpers).
Change my mind: Xbox-X controller are best controllers.
There is no absolute best controller, because everyones hands and preferences are different.
Xbox may be best, for you, and thats fine, its great you have a controller that fits your hand comfortably and plays well.
but, for example, for me? Dualshock/Dualsense controllers fit my hands better, and are more playable, because I prefer the symmetrical joystick layout, vs the asymmetrical of Xbox/Switch Pro.
I’m sure theres someone out there where the SNES style 8bitdo works and feels best for them, too.
I think we can, however, universally agree on prices being too expensive for all of them.
hull effect sticks are impossible due to them requiring a consistent output.
record skip
wat?
The downsides: due to replaceable AA battery, hull effect sticks are impossible due to them requiring a consistent output.
So basically it’s the worst controller imaginable?
Stick placement is not really a factor for ergonomics for me. I had used an xbox controllers for a long time, but now I have a PS5 controller as my current go to. The biggest thing that makes a difference is shape and how it sits in your hands, and for me the PS5 controller is just simply better than the Xbox controller.
I think the best way I can describe the difference between the two is that to be comfortable the xbox controller sits on my fingers where as the PS5 controller sits in my palms. I can also throw in a few other examples of this, PS4 sits in my fingers, but also has the worlds worst and most uncomfortable triggers. The Switch pro controller sits mostly in my palms and is better than the xbox controller but only has digital triggers.
As for the battery, internal batteries are annoying if you can not replace them. According to gamers nexus you can tear down and replace the battery fairly easily in the steam controller, and apparently valve plan to work with iFixit again for spares. So I don’t think this is a big difference either way because of the benefits you get from having the higher powered internal battery.
That also leads to by far the biggest pro. Repair-ability. The steam controller if it is supported like the steam deck is just going to be better.
Fuck. I was hoping to buy 4 for my kids. Imagine 5-8 y/o holding $400 in their hands.
each would be holding $99, innit?
2 + 2 friends, 4 controllers 🤣
Honestly I’ve never found a game where the track pads on the steam deck were ever actually… Useful compared to the normal thumbsticks. Or any games where they actually worked decently as a track pad for a cursor.
Genuinely what exactly is the point of them?
Aiming is way more precise. Not as good as motion aim + Joystick, but there is also no other controller that can dynamically activate motion aim depending on how you touch the Joystick.
It’s essential for navigating menus and windows. Both on a desktop or browser, as well as in any game that clearly has a layout for use with a mouse. I played GuilWars2 on my SteamDeck just fine, thanks to the trackpad (and abundance of modifier keys).
Absolutely essential in Strategy games, where you have to select one of multiple units, pick fields … I don’t get, how people can do this with a Joystick. I know, some of the games are available on console too and work completely with joystic, but it’s just so cumbersome and unintuitive, compared to the trackpad.
What I also used in Guildwars, is the radial menu from Steam, to bind hotkeys to nested menu entries, easy to navigate on the otherwise unused left trackpad. I basically went in and added something like that to most games I play on the Deck.
Opus Magnum, Dwarf Fortress, Noita, Rim World… so many games would be unplayable on Steam Deck without the track pads.
Any game which uses the mouse as it’s main use, Abu game which needs buttons and hotkeys, Abu game which uses analogue input. I don’t think you’ve learned how to use it properly, and that’s okay but something to work on.
I’ve gotten use out of it in minecraft as a numpad. Add 9 buttons, mapped to 1-9, and you can get to any item in your hotbar without shoulder button spam. It’s basically the only way I use it but most of my steam deck hours are in minecraft so it balances out.
I wouldn’t be able to play factorio without them. I also like to make touch menus for things
I’m about to buy two, let’s gooooo
Looks fantastic!
I cant pay 100$ for a single controller. Even if it seems like its everything I could want. Just cant spend that much.
I find it interesting that there appears to be a line (kids that grew up with a Nintendo DS) where people went from loving membrane buttons to hating membrane buttons.
To me, membrane buttons are an absolute Pro.
I’d be fine with membrane switches if there were split D-pad options for them. Don’t mind them for buttons, but ever since I got a Stadia controller, I haven’t looked back at membranes for D-pads.
Does anyone know if it functions as a normal xinput controller on windows without using steam?
The Controller requires Steam or the Steam Link app. I tested it on GeForce Now via my iPhone and while it did connect over Bluetooth
That doesn’t bode well, but thats also on an iphone.
According to GN’s video, from my understanding it’ll function as a trackpad+keyboard when not running Steam. Hopefully it’ll get an update or 3rd party solution to fix that at some point, but until then, I’ll probably hold off on looking for a way to buy it myself.
I have the old steam controllers and they behave like a mouse on my computers if steam isn’t running. Could be the same thing with the new ones.
According to gamers nexus that is the case.
Polling rate is a hit of a bummer, but then again the Xbox Elite controllers I’ve been using have a lower polling rate and I haven’t really noticed - probably because I’d never use a controller for anything competitive.
Looking forward to clicky switch upgrade kits, love the ones I have for Steam Deck :)
With regards to the polling rate, I wouldnt worry about it. Gaming Nexus did a deep dive into the latency of the controller, and it is really good. Which is going to be signicicantly more important that the minute difference you would get from increasing polling rate over 250hz.
