Hell yeah
Some functionality that keeps me using the Steam Controller has been touchpads for movement, quick gadget swapping with touchpads, quick 180s/gyro activation with touchpads.
I use it to play games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, Spin Rhythm XD, The Finals, etc.
Sadly I don’t find myself doing the same on the Steam Deck opting for the joysticks instead, since I don’t find the placement, smaller size, square versus circle, and flat surface versus concave offering the type of consistency that I use the touchpads for on the Steam Controller. It feels more a touchpad appropriate for slow paced games or just desktop navigation than optimal for the way I use the touchpads on the Steam Controller. And I don’t see Valve delivering on the touchpad end that I would like with the next Steam Controller with all the inputs it would be fitting in.
Please make it feel less cheap than all your other creaky plastic stuff, Valve
And yet, my Steam Controller has outlasted 2 Dual Shocks
Happy for you
yaaay, i hope so
My day 1 ordered Steam Controller is still going strong but I’ve been constantly worrying about the day it dies. Can’t wait, if this rumour proves to be true.
Mine had slid off the footrest I had stupidly placed it on overnight and I didn’t notice that so I sat down and jerked my computer chair forward, one wheel right into the controller. It’s crazy how much it broke, one side cracked, including the PCB and both the bumber and trigger on that side got badly deformed.
RIP friend, you were the best.
F
(mapped to X thanks to Steam Input)
I have mine still, dongle too, but it started constantly dropping the connection to the Steam Deck and I can’t figure out why.
Maybe this is how it dies, not with a bang but with a whimper.
I have this issue too it’s from the board being dropped a lot / age. I bought an extra used controller and some 3d printed replacement shoulders and I’ve been able to fix them pretty well. Unfortunately there is no way to fix the board I wasn’t able to discern any kind of issue with the parts but I don’t have voltage schematic to figure out what might have went bad I suspect a capacitor or something. I still use them every day though they are great. I hate the new steam interface though cause they dropped a lot of advanced features
Seems like it may have been the firmware after all. I updated it and it seems to maintain a consistent connection now.
Firmware up to date? I have no issues with mine although the range on the dongle is pretty weak which did cause it to drop connection but it went away completely after running a USB extension cable from my Deck’s dock so the dongle is closer to me when I’m sat on the sofa.
Thanks for the tip. I think I just assumed the firmware was up-to-date when I dusted it off and connected it to the Deck last year.
But I looked into it, found the batch file script that’s out there now that Valve doesn’t support firmware updates directly anymore, and ran the last firmware on it.
I have been trying it out and so far so good. Thanks again!
Same here. I’m more worried about losing the USB Dongle.
It can be put into Bluetooth mode. Works just as well. As someone who lost their dongle
The latency on bluetooth mode is too high for a lot of retro games, unfortunately.
One of my best Goodwill finds ever was a near-mint Steam controller for 10$ to replace the one that the kids dropped playing LEGO Marvel. Honestly, it was a gift from the heavens and I absolutely will buy at least two on Day 1 because Valve hardware is always fucking great.
I’ve bought 4 steam controllers. I use two, and have two in backup as I assumed they wouldn’t make more, so u had to keep spares.
I envy you deeply. My biggest regret is not stocking up when they were really cheap. I just didn’t think Valve would stop making them. At least they never stopped supporting it!
I bought some used about 2 years ago. I think you can still find them if you keep looking for them.
On mine (ca. 2016) all the rubber has degraded to a slimy goo.
I really liked it but it doesn’t work as a controller on Android devices so it went for long periods of no use.
My Xbox Series X|S controllers however all have stick drift even though they’re much newer
I hope they improve on the following
- The touchpads and paddle “clicks” are way too noisy
- An actual D-pad
- ABXY buttons less mushier
- USB-C port for charging
- Similar to Steam Deck layout
- A place to store the USB dongle inside the controller when not in use
- Better rumble
I switched to an 8bitdo controller with hall effect joysticks since, but I do miss the touchpad’s precision for FPS.
The only reason I stopped using mine was because the membrane that makes the ABXY feel mushy eventually went and I couldn’t find a suitable replacement.
If they put in some sort of mechanical switches there so that this couldn’t happen, I would probably never use anything else.
- Native support for games - have it use the Xbox or PlayStation profile
- Don’t require that abysmal Big Picture mode for remapping, custom layouts, etc.
Onboard remapping profiles would be nice, I use them on my 8bitdo controller and I can toggle them on-the-fly.
I personally remap the paddles mostly, but still.
Yes to all this. I picked up my original Steam Controller the other day and forgot just how crazy loud that thing is.
Agreed with all of this except for similarity to Deck (if the touchpads are squircles I will lose my mind), but my main concern is the shoulder buttons. Pressing shoulder buttons on the SC is literally manual labor and sounds like cracking a glow stick. Hopefully they’ll be more like the Deck or any other modern gamepad.
The clicky-ness of the touchpad, paddles, shoulder buttons etc. is one of the things if absolutely love about the OG Steam Controller
Their clickyness in themselves is good and responsibe, it’s just that it’s too noisy to my taste.
I’d base all expectations on Steam Deck not Controller v1. You can already see the lessons learned in the deck.
Why were you using haptic vibrations on touchpads? I switched them off the moment I discovered I can, they are really annoying
It feels like it’s missing something without rumble…
Sweeeet
Duuuude
Sweet!
What does mine say!?
Fuck yeah I don’t care how bad it is I’ll take six
Mine two steam controllers are still used almost daily, but they are showing there age in wear and tear.
So please be as great as version 1. I need two new ones
moar touchpads!!!
LET’S. FUCKING. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yaaaaas! I’ll take 2!
Hope for Hall Effect joystick
The Next Steam Controller will release together with Half-Life 3 and Team Fortress 3 (This time with anticheat)
Is that before or after Left 4 Dead 3?
Don’t forget about Portal 3.
I’m reading all the love for the original Steam controller; I didn’t get it. Maybe it’s because I’m a heavy dpad user, but I had one and sold it off reasonably quickly.
Here’s hoping the follow-up works better for me; the Deck is fantastic!
