My quest to get a steam controller has failed
1mon 14d ago by lemmy.world/u/early_riser in games
This guy will have to wait for his younger brother.
It was available to buy starting noon local time. I refreshed the page until the buy option became available, but kept getting an error when submitting payment. Waited about half an hour and now it's sold out. Ni modo I guess.
DO NOT BUY THEM FROM EBAY!
or any other one of those websites ... the resellers are scum and you've waited this long, you can wait longer! hold strong!
No point anyway. It's not like they're difficult to manufacture or constrained by available components.
Don’t jinx us… we’re in the middle of a war, there are new tariffs every other day. I’m sure something could happen to the controllers supply chain.
Actually, that is a good point.. That being said, Steam as a company stays entirely apolitical.
However, of course, someone at Valve would simply need to whisper anything Anti-trump, and Trump would actively invoke laws to sabotage them, and call them woke or whatever
Or they could just be caught in the crossfire, like they already have with the RAM shortage
Are they manufactured in the US that seems like a bad idea.
They were shipped into the US from Hong Kong, so probably manufactured (or at least assembled) in East Asia.
Very interesting. The data shows that they stopped importing most controllers about three weeks ago.
Is that because it takes that long for a boat to cross the pacific?
Or was it their first batch and Valve is now waiting for the next one?
Trying to figure out how long they will be out of stock
💎✋🤚
Just give it a week and they'll be back in stock.
Ah, one of the dozen people who actually liked the original Steam controller! A rare sight indeed.
I actually didn't like it very much. Had to dig it out of a drawer for this photo. The face buttons are in an awkward position and the left trackpad is a terrible D-pad substitute. But I loved the gyro, and if it didn't invent grip buttons it was my first exposure to them at least, and both MS and Nintendo liked them, too, since the Xbox elite controller and switch 2 pro controller have them. I saw the potential and looked forward to Valve improving it, and by all accounts this new iteration is an improvement.
I'm also a sucker for mold-breaking attempts at better ergonomics. I own a Twiddler. Still can't get the hang of it, but nothing ventured nothing gained.
Exact same, I loved the features but it just wasn't very comfortable in my hands. The steam deck feels way better to me, and the new controller looks like that minus the screen, so I've been super excited for this.
That's interesting. The comfort was the number 1 feature of the original controller for me. The deck is the one hurting my wrists.
I guess it depends on the shape and size of your hands. For me the Steam controller sucked, the xbox controller fits much better in my hands but also isn't quite right sometimes.
I've heard a lot of other anecdotes from people who found the og controller really comfortable when others weren't, so you're definitely not alone there. Personally, I was constantly readjusting my grip but could never find that illusive sweet spot, so after awhile I'd start straining and cramping. I had a couple bumping around for a few years that I pulled out occasionally but I eventually sold them on eBay when their prices skyrocketed and mine were just collecting dust.
One of the things I did like about the original was actually the grips. I also loved the Gamecube style triggers, though I wish they had the same amount of travel as the GCN.
The old one was great if you just dropped the idea if twin sticks. I switched to a flick stick like setup without the stick and it changed the whole game. It only became unusable after I got the steam deck. I can't live without the touchpad menus.
if it didn't invent grip buttons it was my first exposure to them
Ironically, I think it was those very buttons that infringed on a preexisting patent and led to Valve getting sued
I loved my OG steam controller! I wished I had bought more than one when it died 7 years later. Thing was bomb proof. Never had any other controller last that long say for anything built after the N64 anyway.
It took a lot of getting used to. So great for pc games.
Hoping the new one is just as durable. I guess it's reparable too!
How did it die? I've never had any problems with mine because I baby it.
For me one of my controllers shoulder buttons failed. I tracked down the switch and soldiered on a new one. On another one of the back buttons broke and I had to print a new back plate for it. Also on my heavily used steam controllers the stick is now getting drift. But I have 4 of them. Two still new in box.
I also could not get a new steam controller and I really want one.
I don't even remember what happened. Mourned her every time I had to buy a ps5 controller ever since.
I'm going to see if I have her packed away somewhere and if I do I'll give an update.
Bomb proof is not how I’d describe the OG steam controller. Maybe a bomb? They were not built well.
My OG controllers 7 years of service speaks volumes against the PS4-5 longevity of 1.5 years. Dont know about the xBox as I absolutely hate non symmetrical joysticks.
I've had quite the oposite experience. My PS4 controller never gave me any problems for the 6ish years I had it. But the OG steam controller is the only controller I've ever broken. I like to think I treat my stuff well because I've never had any issues besides stick drift on any controller I've ever owned. But in the limited time I used a steam controller I managed to break it twice. After the second time I just got rid of it.
Like 6 months ago I found one at a thrift store and it's rough too. I should dig it out before the new one arrives.
why is today reminisce about projector day?
I used the OG steam controller when I had a projector setup, I'd turn my office chair (that I used at home) around to look at the wall instead of the computer and use the virtual keyboard/mouse for films or watching stuff, or even playing games. Although it did take a lot to adapt to some which I preferred to use a regular controller. I forget if it was Just Cause 3/4 I played the shit out of with the steam controller or something else.
There are dozens of us!
They did a hardware launch perfectly for the Deck - Account of minimum age needed, and a queue to buy as devices became available. Why the hell did they go with the old, shit version that only serves scalpers that use bots to scoop up every item?
Practically there wasn't really a difference with the Steam Deck. You still had everyone rushing at the same time to get the deposit in. People got errors during the check out, just like this time and scalpers popped up immediately as well.
Sure, you might have had a few people less, trying to buy it, if you restrict by age, but the controller was announced last year. Do you want Valve to sell the first controllers only to accounts that are older than 6 months or a year? Or do you go by the time the review embargo was up, which got broken because a few reviews leaked early.
People got errors during the check out,
And? With the queue, people were able to continue submitting orders as things calmed down. There will always be a rush to be first. The queue handles it better by not outright denying those who didn't make it in right away. This also reduces the FOMO that funds scalpers' abuse of the system.
As for account age, it doesn't really matter when it is set at - any limitation reduces the number of bots able to spam real users out of a purchase. Admittedly, that only really helps if there's also a limit on number of units bought, which I don't think was implemented this time, either, for whatever reason.
I really expected them to make some better system than ‘just hit buy until you're lucky’
There was no queue for the Deck, I mean, there was, but that came after. Everyone was stuck in the same screen as Monday hitting refresh until we were able to get through. I started trying to buy mine on the dot and only managed to get it over 15 minutes afterwards. I didn't get into the first batch because of that.
The was absolutely a queue.
Source: I was in it.
Yes, but getting into the queue had the same issues as the controller did now. I was also in the queue and it took me 17 minutes to get in it, which made it so that my deck wasn't on the first batch even though I hit purchase the second it went live (as you might remember we had to pay a small fee to get in the queue, and processing those payments overloaded the servers like now). So, like I said, there was no queue, that came after you made the payment which put your name in the queue at the time you paid, if that's your definition then the Steam controller also has a queue (assuming they prepare and send the orders in order).
So headlines will say "sold out in minutes!!!" and create FOMO for the second wave. That's my guess at least.
Why would you assume that is Valve's reason
People like to add reasoning to chaos. Everything has to be planned out for some people instead of life happening and businesses do what they do naturally. Take advantage of situations when they can and make money. I like valve and plan on getting a machine or deck when they are restocked. I think it's normal supply and demand with this one.
This doesn't really seem like Valve's MO
Oof. That's rough. But given how insanely profitable these ~90 minutes must have been for Valve, I'm sure they'll be back in stock in a few weeks since none of the components seem to have supply issues.
I managed to get one by just spam-clicking the continue button for about two minutes. I know, I'm part of the problem.
I managed to get one by just spam-clicking the continue button for about two minutes. I know, I’m part of the problem.
I tried that too but stopped because I thought it might think I was a bot.
That's what I feared, also I tried to buy from wallet instead of the card because of how bullshit my bank protection is (it often breaks on purchase page), so each refresh was really slow because of error animation playing and scrolling up constantly
I never do that because there's not much I need enough to commit that much, but also because I'm worried that the next week thirty of them will show up on my doorstep and I'll realize I'm broke.
For me, the error was popping up before the payment confirmation screen, so it wouldn't have been possible. Spamming the button worked for me.
But shit, if I did accidentally buy several, I'd just offload them at MSRP, probably to people on this site that couldn't get one.
Same except for about 20 minutes, and that's after wasting like 5 minutes looking for my wallet lol, so apparently I bought one of the last ones in stock
I knew the inventory would be sold in minutes, so I prepped. I loaded 150 EUR into my Steam wallet in case the 99 didn't include taxes, I double checked that my shipping and billing info is automatically filled in, and I made sure to be at my computer one hour before the release time just in case I fucked up the time zone conversion.
Same here but with a 100. Had to spam click on payment but it went through after a couple of tries
Was 100 enough? Mine came out to like 106 or something, with tax
In the EU prices have to already include tax, so steam prices are exactly what it costs at checkout
Gotcha. Must be nice.
Looks like this in the end basically. They just reverse engineer the price so the tax gets it to the target price.
I actually got kinda lucky in that respect, I learned last week that it was coming out today, but I didn't know when, and I stupidly didn't set any reminders or anything. Thankfully I happened to remember the sale this morning and was able to find out the time it started literally 10 minutes before it went live.
Maybe they would have lost money overall. The store being down for 45 minutes, is not good fo business.
While true, they still sold out.
They certainly did.
I have mine still. Bought it at launch. Never went back. Best controller I've ever had the pleasure to use. I genuinly LOVE everything about it. I don't even want the new one.
Can't improve upon perfection
... except for the rumble. Worst rumble by far, holy shit. But wonderfull controller otherwise, love mine so much.
I don't really like much rumble to begin with so for me it's great. But I can see why some don't like it
Honestly I wish they had kept the upturned grips. Those felt really comfy.
I've had 2 different ones, and both got the "R1" button broken. It's a pity because it's the best controller I've ever used
I have repaired this myself at least 4 different times. The piece is so flimsy. Still love this controller.
I'll sorry to hear that. I suppose I've been fortunate enough to never have any issues at all with mine. I will be a sad day when it gives up. I don't think I could play Elden Ring with any other controller.
I've had mine not since launch, but for many years. I use it occasionally, mostly as a curiosity, but can't reliably get used to it long term. Do you play many action games with it? I find 3D camera controls are too awkward for me.
So I use it mostly for soulsgames. I set up the right track pad as mouse. Like I'm rolling a ball that slows down. That's just how I like it. And then I use the left track pad for moving. Left stick is my Dpad.
I also use the dual stage triggers a lot.
Dual touch pads is the way to do it! Well played.
Once I ditched the left stick for both touch pads everything became so much better
I was getting an error as well. I saw someone on Reddit say they just spammed the "confirm" button and it eventually went through.
So I did that for like 10 min and it worked
Yeah giving up for 30 mins probably wasn't the right move. You just keep trying even when it isn't working at all. I've gotten some great concert tickets that way.
It will be back in stock reasonably quickly imo.
No issues getting in AU, I think they were live 3am our time and I ordered mine lazily at 9am post-coffee. Almost forgot to do it
I had no issues here in Australia either, almost also forgot about it, but was having a coffee at work and ordered it on the steam mobile app. I'm pretty sure Valve have a warehouse for our region, its why we still have stock of the LCD steamdeck is still available
It's weird, usually being in AU is horrible for tech, but in this case it's good we live here?
I'll also be waiting for a mext batch... the steam frame will be a nightmare to get if it's like this too... i have close to 9 000 hours in steamVR i wish that would count for something when getting the new headset.
It does. You had your fun, now it's time fit the 0 hours gang.
I really hope a lot of new people jump in and discover how truly incredible VR games are :)
What are 3 of your favorite? That aren't half life?
For a quick answer i'll give you my most played VR games and i might update this comment tomorrow with actual preferences. Beatsaber, skyrim VR, grimlord, legendary tales, windlands, blade and sorcery, payday 2, behemoth, ...
Thanks
Well mateo311 just made a new top 100 VR games so here you go XD i mostly agree with the choices but i only play PCVR so i don't know the psvr2 and quest games he mentioned. https://youtu.be/3oxbi7OoSLc
Couple thousand hours on the og steam controller didn't help me today.
I think the price will throttle demand a bit more with the frame.
I barely managed to get one, had to spend well over 20 minutes spamming the continue button, because the first couple of times I passed that screen something else failed (they even charged me one of those times but the purchase didn't finish, so I imagine it will get reverted in a while).
I liked my old steam controller more in theory than in practice, I still have it and use it occasionally but it's more of a rarity when I think the features make up for the lack of d-pad and right stick. But the Steam Deck is just ideal for me, from the moment I grabbed it I have been wanting a standalone controller with that same format and inputs.
In any case, sorry you didn't get one now, I'm sure they'll be back in stock very quickly, it's likely they did a small batch first to test the waters on how much people wanted this. But production is probably ramping up just like what happened with the Steam Deck.
You can always go pay 2-3x and buy one from ebay... it's super convenient and you also pay them the shipping!
/s
They've released more in waves with other hardware. Just keep checking on the hour for the first few hours, keep subscribed to reddit/Lemmy subs of steam. Or stay up till 10pm, midnight and watch again tomorrow at the same time as this release.
The original was great for games that weren't made for a normal controller. And FPS games.
It'll be in stock again soon I'm certain. They're gamepads, not limited edition Pokemon cards or super cutting edge HBM memory chips
Yeah I got one stuck in my shopping cart. Can't finish the order until it comes back in stock.
I still use the og steam controller
Same
My quest to not ever have one is right on track.
https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/SteamHardware/SteamController
You can 3d print your own and play pretend!
Nah, I'm currently printing a undergravel for a six gallon round Koller fish tank. Much more fun.
I'm not sure if I'm weird or what but for me it only complained about me having a non-standard name and address and that I didn't have enough funds in the Steam wallet it kept trying to use.
I guess I just got super lucky that I got the transaction to go through after only a minute of trying, a literal minute before the announced 10 am Pacific time opening.
I still have one I never used. You can buy mine (I'm in the EU though). Send me a pm
But know this isn't the new one. It's the same as in the picture, which is years old.
Take it from me guys, I was the early adopter and my experience showed me that as great as they were, they suffered major build problems that were only exposed when in the hands of millions. The second round of builds were much better.
I have been drooling for this controller for years, but I'm more than happy to be patient this round.
For those wondering I went through 17. I have no reason to lie, I love them so much I only used them, but they broke so easily.
yeah, but that was their first experience with hardware like this. there have been 2 steam decks since then.
Yeah I'm not quite sure what meaning this would have. Kind of specious reasoning.
The controller and the deck are two completely different things.
not completely. the deck had a lot of time to get trackpads and steam input right. and build quality is great on the deck, it's a much more complex piece of hardware and it didn't have too many issues for first revisions
Yet we can see that they are completely different devices. I don't quite understand how you can overlook what I'm saying.
same!
because by that logic steam controller 1 and steam controller 2 are also completely different devices and your past experience is inapplicable.
or we can accept that it was valve's first foray into making hardware and they probably learned a thing or two in the last 10 years on how to make something that doesn't fall apart. don't quite understand how you can overlook what I'm saying
The disconnect seems to be that you think because modules have been installed in the deck, that somehow contributes to the build of the controller.
And that's where I don't agree.
Explains why my gen1 controller feels like shit. I never understood why people like them.
The haptics are worse than 90s 3rd party n64 controllers bought from a thrift store
Hey, at least you didn't camp in front of the store and waited for hours in the freezing cold to go home empty handed. That's how new hardware releases used to be. They haven't restocked the Steam Deck in months but they will restock the controller soon, I believe.
Ni modo, we, ahi a la vuelta
Ni modo, we, ahi a la vuelta
... en el inicio me parecio chino.
Sos chileno?
Probablemente mexicano
puede ser, soy extranjero. cual region habla con "we"? pense que era una version corte de weon.
Si mexicano, del norte, algunos cortan el wey/güey.
bueno, gracias por informarme y tomarlo con humor.
I retired the payment for about 15 times with 2 in my order basket, then it worked and should be here next week.
Anaeijon will receive 30 controllers by next week
Oh, the picture is an old controller? What's different about the new one?
Much closer to the steam deck. So has proper d pad, 2 analogue sticks with 2 square touch pads. Also has 4 back buttons, and capacitive touch sections on the grips. Has a few other features as well.
Why would you ever need more than one button to go back?
Oh... a button, that is on the back?
Yeah I realized my mistake halfway through writing this.
Damn, I must have gotten lucky. I bought one around around 9:57 PST, no refreshed, no reloads, no issues. I'm sorry you missed out. Hopefully they'll be in stock soon. I've got a friend that also missed out.
Whats the big deal with this controller anyway? I dont get it.
It has trackpad which allow you to play KB+mouse games very fluidly. Also they can be used to add radial or grid buttons to any game.
It has TMR sticks which means no drift and less power consumption.
It has a gyro.
It has 4 back buttons.
It's fully compatible with steam Input so you can do crazy mappings of every single input.
It has capacitive sensors on the thumb sticks and handles so you can use that as input or modifiers.
It uses a dedicated dongle that has a latency comparable with plugged device according to some tests.
It also connects via cable or Bluetooth.
It's very reparable friendly and Valve will be offering replacement parts.
Ooh I see. Im just always using mouse and keyboard like a nerd so Id probably rarely use this stuff. Thanks tho!
Yup, this is not going to replace KB+Mouse, but it is the closest we have been able to get in a controller form factor, so if you want to play on your TV in the living room this unlocks many games that you simply couldn't play before.
In short if you don't care about controllers then you shouldn't care about this, but as far as controllers go it's, IMO, the best there is by a LONG shot.
It's so good if you ignore the price, the symmetric thumbsticks, the awkward trackpads and the fact it only works on Steam games.
It's so good if you ignore
the price
Which is fair considering the features
the symmetric thumbsticks
Which some of us prefer.
the awkward trackpads
Which are the biggest selling point of the controller, if you don't want trackpads an 8BitDo has almost the same features.
and the fact it only works on Steam games.
That's not a fact, in fact it's quite wrong. The controller works outside of steam normally, it's just that it's mapped to common desktop inputs which are less than useful for games butake total sense in a world where it's meant to be used plugged to a PC and you might need to click your way through to open Steam. But there are open source programs to map the inputs to a controller which is essentially what SteamInput does. At least that's what the OG controller did and from the reviews of the new one seems to be exactly the same.
And before you say "but you have to install a third party tool" that's also true for other controllers if you want full features.
I dont think it only works with steam games
if you can't find one I'd recommend getting a ps5 controller instead: it at least has one trackpad and a gyro, and works well with steam input.
I find the gyro is more useful than the track pad for mouse input, with an activation button set to capacitive touch on the track pad, or set to the aim button such as left trigger for shooting games.
The PS5 DualSense is definitely the second-best choice if you can't get a Steam controller. It has comparable features, although I personally feel like the touchpads are placed in suboptimal position compared to the Steam controller. It also has comparable build quality, unlike Microsoft's various iterations of Xbox controllers that all have absolutely disastrous build quality.
dog help you when (not if) your dualsense gets stick drift tho
Yeah, I'm on my third. It's fucking bullshit to be honest.
committing return fraud is entirely justified
Why PS5?
why not any of the other good controllers out there. https://gamepadla.com/
We all know the "trackpad" on the ps5 controller is not really the same at all. Potentiometers for joysticks are unheard of in high quality controllers these days- everybody is using Hall Effect or TMR.
It's not like games really make use of touch controls these days, at least not the ones releasing on PC with high popularity like Crimson Desert.
PS5 controller specific, there is no dongle. You're stuck wired or bluetooth. Bluetooth is generally the worst for latency on any controller, and aside from a couple of very specific models with very low bluetooth latency it's really bad compared to a dedicated dongle / 2.4G.
My biggest gripe with the dualsense is the battery life. I get maybe 3.5 hours from it if I'm lucky and that's just watching media, literally barely using at all.
Sounds like Sony cheaps out on batteries with their PS controllers and has for some time. I have had battery issues with my PS 4 controller (that I barely use) and that's part of the reason I was looking forward to the steam controller -- battery life.
It's not like games really make use of touch controls these days, at least not the ones releasing on PC with high popularity like Crimson Desert.
that's what steam input is for...
I don't want to fuck with controller settings to create unique bindings and controls for a feature that has no meaningful value add.
If I wanted four extra buttons or something, i'd just use the extra shoulder buttons and paddle buttons on the back of my controllers. There's no reason to do this though in crimson desert that I know of, the stock controller binds are awesome.
I don't want to fuck with controller settings to create unique bindings and controls for a feature that has no meaningful value add
the steam controller also probably isn't for you in that case...
I'm willing to bet the overwhelming majority of people buying this who aren't just scalpers jumping on the ~$200-$300 ebay price tag will never, ever create custom binds for those pads man.
the community creates a lot of custom layouts too, so you just need to scroll down the list and find one. The default ones also generally work pretty well and are easy to modify. It's just like changing your controls in any pc game.
Id hazard a guess that while the majority of people don't change their controls, those sort of people also don't tend to buy a steam controller.
I'm completely familiar with community layouts as a steam deck user.
The point for those to me is creating controls when a developer does not have them themselves.
I have been using specialty peripherals for multiple decades, starting from when they used serial and peripheral ports. I'm quite aware of being able to bind buttons from flight sticks, yokes and other devices in games in many different ways. I still can't find a good use case in any game i've played for those touchpads though, especially not if I have an R4/L4 and back paddles (because cardinal direction keybinds are an easy 'oh it's x extra buttons!')
Would be awesome if someone could chime in with actual examples of how they are so awesome in a game like crimson desert, pragmata, stardew valley, dynasty warriors origins, nioh 3, monster hunter wilds, or even games that aren't really controller games like cyber knights: fliashpoint or factorio or something.
I know some people use the trackpads for games that really ought to use a mouse and keyboard like non-controller FPS games, and RTS games... but I still don't see a real reason why I would want to try and suffer through trackpads intead of a real mouse or even a trackball mouse on a couch htpc scenario.
I've been using it a lot in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. I use the trackpad in the inventory and map and similar menus, and the gyro for aiming when holding the left trigger.
That game was particularly annoying however as it disables mouse and keyboard inputs when it detects a gamepad button press or joystick... so I had to spend about an hour mapping all the controls to the keyboard and mouse output from the controller via steam input, despite the game having native DS5 support (that support completely ignores the trackpad and gyro 🤦)
I've created several, and I don't own a Steam Controller yet.
And I've also used countless community layouts created by others.
Steam Input is fucking awesome. If you know, you know.
I don't have any of those 😅 🤷
I've not had stick drift... yet... (all of my Nintendo switch nunchuck controllers that I barely use however... all have stick drift 😅)
I've never noticed any input lag, but maybe my bt receiver is decent or something 🤷
there's quite a few community layouts for the DS5 in steam
That gamepadlia site doesn't appear to have a filter for trackpads...
Yeah, the typical experience for people doesn't expose them to what's out there for controllers. Maybe you've heard of 8bitdo in passing or have seen the really shitty hori conrollers in your childhood (or any of the other archaic garbage brands that used to exist and were handed to little brothers everywhere as the shitty controller.) Times have changed. I think the non-major brands are better now. I have only tried a small sample of what is out there, but have yet to be disappointed in the $25-$65 range. Can't speak to the stupid expensive $100-200+ controllers like what razer makes. I usually check reviewers.
Bluetooth as a tech has all kinds of issues for users. Just takes a bad driver update and it's not working right. Dongles just work, like cables. Plus some controllers are horrible on bluetooth. Latency most people don't notice without a side by side comparison, but it's always there. I do use controllers with bluetooth, generally when I have no other option or a dongle isn't convenient. It's common for dongles to be included with and removable from charging base stations nowadays, like what comes with the ~$55 8bitdo ultimate wireless 2.
The trackpad filter though you're looking for doesn't exist because nothing else works like the valve deck/controller pads. The ps5 one is not really the same without the feedback and awkward placement imo.
I haven't had stick drift myself either since the 360 days, but I don't game full time on a controller. It's one of those every now and then on a specific game i'll use it. Have a ps5 but hardly played it so the controller is still like new.... but I had an xbox elite series 2 controller have shoulder button issues with less than 100 hours used, which led me to look at "off brands" that changed my mind about how to approach controllers overall.
Will say that joystick tension adjustments are awesome, as are adjustable triggers. Most other features are pointless for me but I know macros can be useful for some. The trackpad thing is a hard sell though because the game has to have a meaningful implementation (still waiting to find one of those. Maybe someone with a deck that uses them heavily can chime in..) or you need to setup a custom controls in steam's direct input somehow to make use of it in a game.
The ps5 one is not really the same without the feedback and awkward placement imo.
I have an old steam controller too and I find the placement of the thumbsticks and face buttons awkward so I tend to use the PS5 one instead, and I don't find the trackpad placement on it too bad. steam controller trackpad placement is definitely way better though.
Nintendo will fix your joycon stick drift for free (they have to, court order). Unless they stopped doing that.
Not sure the court order applies where I live, but thanks for the info, it's good evidence for my consumer guarantees act complaint at the store I bought it from 💡😄
I'm a huge fan of the Dual Sense. Best haptics I've ever felt, awesome triggers, etc.
That said, the track pad on it isn't at all comparable to the ones on the Deck (and I'm guessing this new controller).
Even if games did let you bind it to anything and use it as a mouse for FPS games (it doesn't), the size and placement is super awkward for that use
Even if games did let you bind it to anything and use it as a mouse for FPS games (it doesn't), the size and placement is super awkward for that use
steam input.
Well sure.. I was talking about PS5 I guess
oh I see, I think most PS5 games seem to make decent use of the gyro, but yeah not many make use of the trackpad :(
I think most PS5 games seem to make decent use of the gyro
This has not been my experience at all... I've only ran into a few that have it as an option
I know. I was expecting issues, though. Steam pretty much always has issues with their site at the start of sales and new hardware launches, so this was entirely predictable.
On the flip side, every time this has happened when I was around to notice, there were obvious signs the site was failing from the get-go. Slow page loads, error messages, pages just not loading at all, etc. This time around, the site loaded up fine. Page navigation was quick as normal. Buttons worked. Cart worked. Checkout seemed to be working.
Then BAM. Error message when paying. I tried a few different payment methods and even checked on other devices.
So, I stepped away for a bit. Came back and I was surprised that the controllers were still in stock. Figured I'd try again. That time, I got a different error message when I attempted to pay. I thought maybe there's something fishy with my cart/session so I removed the controller from my cart, expecting to re-add it and try checking out again. Only, when I went back to the controller page, it had flipped over to out of stock. It was literally only a matter of maybe 20 seconds since I'd last checked the page when it was showing as in stock. Missed it by that much.
Dude, it's just a piece of plastic. You can wait a bit.
I genuinely don't understand the hype beyond valve fanboyism. They already released a steam controller years ago and it was actually terrible, like there's a reason no one else has even bothered to try and copy the track pad controller gimmick, because it's just bad.
The original controller is pretty awesome. It was also really really cheap. I love them because it's the only controller for playing games that were not designed for a controller.
The main failure of the original controller was the lack of two thumbsticks (just like the PSP). While the track pads made a lot of PC games playable with a controller some games were worse with one thumbstick.
This controller fixes my main compliant, has a dedicated d-pad, and what looks like better track pads. So it'll be perfect for playing around 90% of games with one controller.
This. The original Steam Controller did not meet the de-facto standard baseline for controller layout established by the first DualShock[^1] that games have learned to expect and build their control schemes around.
[^1]: Ignoring the analog button - which is not part of that "standard" because the software does not even need to acknowledge its existence - and the vibrations (which many controllers have, but are not required for input to work)
The Steam Controller 2 does have everything in that layout. It's modeled after the Deck's layout, which is quite good.
The original controller was like a concept car, lots of new ideas but not every one was guaranteed to stick. Plenty of them did stick though, like grip buttons and gyro control. The new controller is a more conservative iteration that takes what worked and drops what didn't while acknowledging why the industry converged on the standard button layout all the way back in the late 90s. That's exactly the sort of innovation I want to see.
Gyro control is still just a gimmick, but grip buttons are decent I guess.
But it's still combining a controller and a kbm and ending up being worse than either one individually. And there's only a very limited niche where a steam controller could be better than either on its own.
Not sure if you're trolling, or have been living under a rock. This new controller is the same as the Steam Deck layout, which has been extremely successful and well received.
The original controller was great for its innovation. Especially when you got used to it all.
However, the build quality was very lacklustre. The back paddle on mine died in about 200 hours of gaming. After I fixed that the shoulder button went after another 100 or so hours. Fixed that. But within about 500 hours it was totally dead.
Whereas the 2nd hand ds4 I got from eBay that I fitted with my custom made back paddles gave me 2000 hours of rocket league before I had to do any tinkering.
I did over 4000 hours of RL in total and only had to replace the left thumbstick and put o rings over the shoulder button internals.
Do I want the new steam controller, yes. Would I buy one, no.
The lack of twin thumbsticks are what killed the original.
This one is better, but aside from better trackpad placement, it doesn't offer a lot above the PS5 controller, which a lot of people already have.
Still, they sold out, so mission successful I suppose. I've no doubt the same thing will happen when I try and get a Steam Frame.
It's like trackball mice, it just takes practice to get used to. Next to no one outside logitech makes them either but they are still genuinely good if it's what you need.
Eh, I have my trackball from a more niche company, and it's been fantastic. Their customer service was waaaay better than I expected from my experiences with logitech.
Also, trackballs are great. I can orient my hand any direction I want!
...but competitive fps is still beyond me. I need to catch 20+ years of mice usage to get the skill to par.
the price point isn't outrageous, but it's not compelling when an Xbox controller can be bought for a third the price. Track-pads are nice, but people playing Steam are often sitting right next to a keyboard and mouse anyway.
As a steamdeck owner, the ability to use the trackpads to play old keyboard/mouse games without having to sit at a computer, is great. I've been playing a lot of Dungeon Siege and Baldur's Gate 2, released in early 2000's with mouse/keyboard in mind, and they both work flawlessly.
The new Steam Controller is a welcome addition because the old Steam Controller doesn't have the same button and joystick layout, plus its missing buttons, compared to the steamdeck. So when you want to dock the steamdeck and play your favorite first person shooter for example, and game on the TV in the livingroom, there's no controller until now that matches what you've become accustomed to expecting with muscle memory, from playing on the steam deck.
Xbox controllers are bad. I have two with stick drift. The steam controller has TMR sticks. They should never drift as long as the springs don't wear out. They also have a few other goodies. They are more comparable to the Xbox elite controller.
They don't even have gyro. I used Xbox controllers for many years but nowadays they feel like something from ancient times.
And to think Gyro could become much more mainstream had it became a part of Xinput.
If all 3 console manufacturers had it, it'd alleviate the concern publishers have of having a cross-platform release with discrepant features, thus allowing more games to support it.
But no, of course they won't do it. Jokes on me for expecting Microsoft to do anything remotely useful to the consumer.
DualSense has gyro, but it seems like no games actually use it (steam input means this can't happen with the Steam Controller)
An xbox controller can be bought for a 3rd of the price
A used or older model one, maybe.
A new one is only $20 cheaper at $80.
Well, first of all an Xbox controller costs around 50 which is not a third of the price. Secondly the Xbox controller has literally less than half the inputs of the steam controller: Xbox controller has a d-pad, 2 joysticks, 2 triggers, 4 face buttons, 2 top buttons, play/pause buttons and the special power button; whereas the Steam controller also has 4 back buttons, 4 capacitive sensors, gyro, 2 trackpads (each of which on its own has a ridiculous amount of possibilities for usage) and 2 special buttons which are kinda irrelevant here. And that's without mentioning the fact that TMR sticks are ridiculously better than traditional ones of the Xbox controller, or that the dongle works on a dedicated bandwidth instead of Bluetooth for the Xbox controller (because the dongle is sold separately I'm not considering it here, otherwise you need to add 20 to the total and then it's DEFINITELY not a third of the price) so latency is much better.
Also, I'm not near a keyboard and mouse most of the time when playing, as I usually play on my TV. If I were near a mouse and keyboard I wouldn't need a controller to begin with.