It’s not the clearest photo, but it clearly has both 2 thumb sticks and 2 track pads.
Non concave? Square trackpads? Clear preference to analog sticks? This seems like a worse Xbox controller on the surface. Unless the ergonomics are somehow amazing I would be hesitant to buy it (and I own an original steam controller).
I fear that, just like the Steam Deck’s controller, it won’t be usable without Steam running. IMO by default and without any special “driver” running in the background, the sticks and buttons should just behave like a Xbox controller.
The Steam Deck’s controller is usable without Steam running, except for that long, looong pause when Steam has taken over the controller but isn’t doing anything about it yet.
I wish that Steam would not put the mouse buttons on the triggers, just leave them on the trackpad-click. And put “high res trackpad scrolling” on the left pad. But you can’t have everything.
Down voted for the Twitter sauce. We can do better, people.
Agreed. I can’t access Twitter because its blocked (through some plugins). I think sotwe can display posts without using Twitter directly (not sure if this is a good site, literally just found it): https://www.sotwe.com/SadlyItsBradley
He’s a well known steam data miner, it’s not just a random Twitter user claiming to have a leak.
God dammit, why will nobody bring back 6 button pads? I’m so sick and tired of having to buy a separate controller just for fighting games. This controller would be absolutely perfect if it just had two more buttons…
Not the same thing, but the steam input allows you to make virtual buttons and assign them to the area of a touchpad.
Well that’s better than nothing so I’ll take it.
I’m just glad that Valve is bringing back the Steam controller. So sick and tired of boring, uninnovative Xbox and Playstation controllers. I like the idea of toggle switches under the controller that aren’t just remaps of existing buttons, and actually usable touchpads. I hope the left stick and D-pad are hot-swappable in the final version, but beggars can’t be choosers.
@Fubarberry Sadly caving to the need to have so many different inputs much like the Steam Deck, it looks much less elegant and striking than the original Steam Controller. Like it’s trying to be several different things in one package instead of the bold new single direction of the original SC.
Yeah, I find the controller disappointing as a Steam Controller user because I want a new touchpad centric controller for updated gyro with the old one not feeling smooth for high refresh rate displays.
The approach they went with is one that satisfies joystick users who aren’t really lacking for options when it comes to joystick controllers, but disappointing for the few half dozen users who main the touchpads and have only the option of the discontinued Steam Controller. The Deck pads were a let down for me with the ergonomics, placement, size, and shape so they didn’t end up being a good touchpad successor for my use case opting for the joysticks when I use the Deck.
I’m not surprised with the more mainstream direction they went. Just disappointed but I expected to be disappointed.
I’m pretty surprised nobody seems to like the Deck’s touchpads. Yes they’re a bit of a compromise, but I have been playing hundreds of hours using the right trackpad for camera control on my Deck and they’re pretty great. Maybe my hands are weird.
On the Steam Controller I use the touchpads for
With all the swiping and clicking I do in combination with the back button usage the touchpad placement led to putting strain on my hands. I don’t feel that discomfort with the joysticks, which feel comfortable in its placement and reachability of all the inputs around it.
And the 180 consistency I have hard time replicating with my natural swipe pattern despite adjusting the rotation in Steam Input, so I have to do corner to corner swipes due to Valve going with a square over a circle. The layout is one where I’m having to force my hand out of what would naturally feel comfortable.
For me, the Deck’s trackpads are half way between my thumb knuckles with my hands in a comfortable position, so they’re not nice to reach for, whereas everything’s a comfortable distance away on the original Steam controller. I have big hands, so maybe you’ve got small hands?
