7 ms·

The thing about Valve's record with hardware is that the products aren't bad, just extremely niche. If this thing really can play most of most people's Steam ga

The thing about Valve's record with hardware is that the products aren't bad, just extremely niche. If this thing really can play most of most people's Steam games in a Switch-like form factor with a standard gamepad layout, I think it stands to be a hit in a way their past hardware attempts weren't. It's also an interesting counterpoint to all the streaming services popping up these days. PC game streaming to mobile has major downsides, even more so when you're away from stable and fast internet. Until 5G is everywhere and mobile bandwidth [soft] caps aren't a thing anymore, a mobile device that can play games locally will be a much more attractive option for a lot of people.

Ashanmaril 5y ago
I'd argue the Steam controller was kinda bad. But more in concept than execution. The touch pads were just not a good replacement for a thumbstick or a D-pad But I agree with what you're saying. If this thing is actually good, it could have some real mainstream appeal.
- schmorptron 5y ago
  I felt completely differently, the Steam Controller is my favorite one by far. The touch pads make so much sense for a lot of games, and you still have the analog stick for the rest.
- deregulateMed 5y ago
  Steam controller definitely took a minute to get used to..now it's the best controller of all time. Steam chords are brilliant. If you have a steam controller and don't know about steam chords, go look it up. Life changing.
- caconym_ 5y ago
  > I'd argue the Steam controller was kinda bad. But more in concept than execution. The touch pads were just not a good replacement for a thumbstick or a D-pad There are plenty of people with great things to say about it, but they largely seem to be people who wanted to play FPS games without a mouse and keyboard, and were willing to put in some effort to get it configured right. I can imagine it being more successful if it had gotten first-class out-of-the-box support for more games, but it seems like it never reached the level of adoption where that was worth it for developers. I've never tried it myself, though. If the Steam Deck is a success, maybe we'll see the Steam Controller model finally take off (since the Deck has similar touchpads built in). Or maybe it will be like the Kinect, a pet feature deleted in later hardware revisions.
- trixie_ 5y ago
  Touch pads a better than a joystick by far. You don't need to snap back the stick to stop moving. Where ever your thumb stops is where your aim is at. A fast flick of a touch pad can 180 which takes a lot longer on a joystick. Plus gyro support it's almost as good as a mouse.
- Crespyl 5y ago
  I felt almost the exact opposite, in that I think the concept was great but the execution fell a little bit short, mostly in build quality/button-feel. The biggest single win for me is replacing the right stick for camera control, as the trackball emulation with haptics on the touchpad is so much faster and more responsive than a traditional thumbstick. There are some games that I'd still prefer the standard twin sticks or dpad (twin-stick shooters maybe, some platformers, or hyper-specific designed games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons), but overall I've much preferred the touchpad over thumbsticks for almost every first- or third-person game I've played.
  - samtheDamned 5y ago
    Yeah the controller was really good in theory and the technology was definitely great but the build quality just felt really off and like you said sometimes you can't beat twin stick/dpad but overall the controller was a great concept and paved the way for the index controllers and now the deck's controllers too.
- ideamotor 5y ago
  It was great but not ergonomic. I have the same concern about the steam deck (that and the name that sounds like something from a 1920s bathhouse). I still use the steam link.
lostmsu 5y ago
One of the major reasons people play PC games is mouse and keyboard are way better than joystick. I don't see myself playing PC games on a handheld.
- Crespyl 5y ago
  Valve has experience already with making m+kb games playable via a trackpad on the Steam Controller, so I'm confident that the trackpads on the Deck will be good enough for a decent chunk of games (though I'm not about to try Dota 2 on the thing). Not every game will be a perfect fit, certainly, but I've had a great time with my Steam Controller playing things like XCOM, Prey (2017), and Divinity Original Sin. IIRC Civilization 5 was explicitly a part of the advertising for the controller in the first place, as a way to play mouse-heavy games from the couch.
- caconym_ 5y ago
  These days I think many or even most PC gamers own a gamepad and choose to use it for certain games, even when they have a mouse and keyboard sitting right in front of them. These also tend to be the same games I'd consider most suitable for playing at reduced resolutions and framerates.
- yellowapple 5y ago
  Depends on the game. Flight and driving games are vastly better with a gamepad (let alone proper joysticks or steering wheels) than with a keyboard and mouse IMO.
- deadbunny 5y ago
  But not all games are "PC" games. Plenty of games that are released on PC are best/better played with a conroller and thanks to the PC being a open platform you have many more choices than console. Hell you can use your console's controllers if you like.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    > Plenty of games that are released on PC are best/better played with a conroller Fewer than people think, in my opinion. Snake Pass and Outer Wilds insisted to me that they would be better with a controller and both were wrong.
agloeregrets 5y ago
Exactly, used Steam Controllers cost more than retail now. There is a small number of extremely hardcore fans of it.
- moosey 5y ago
  I am one of them. I have three in the house, mostly for future parts. I have been gaming for 35 years, and in the 15 of those where I have played first person shooters, no controller compares. Even when I'm playing other kinds of games, the ability to do everything without having to remove your finger from the pads to hit buttons, the size is perfect, everything is so responsive. They "feel" cheap, but I don't care. They are gaming nirvana for me.
  - vimacs2 5y ago
    I am definitely a SC Stan too. I learned how to truly master it playing Hollow Knight funny enough. Have a setup where I literally do not need to use anything but the trackpads and the occasional turning over of the whole controller to invoke the map. Absolutely love it. Only things I don't like are the bumper buttons and I'd much rather USB C than micro usb. I wish they would make an SC 2 with fixed bumpers, ditching the thumbsticks for bigger trackpads with more advanced haptics and a doubling of paddle buttons like with this new device.
    - rustyminnow 5y ago
      > the occasional turning over of the whole controller to invoke the map What?? Like you flip the controller upside down to open the map? How do you set that up?
      - Miraste 5y ago
        Maybe by setting the gyroscope to directional pad and lowering the sensitivity? There are a few ways you could do it, those things likely the most customizable controller ever made.
VortexDream 5y ago
This seems like it'll become the best emulation platform we've seen so far. I'm excited.

Ashanmaril 5y ago

I'd argue the Steam controller was kinda bad. But more in concept than execution. The touch pads were just not a good replacement for a thumbstick or a D-pad But I agree with what you're saying. If this thing is actually good, it could have some real mainstream appeal.

schmorptron 5y ago
I felt completely differently, the Steam Controller is my favorite one by far. The touch pads make so much sense for a lot of games, and you still have the analog stick for the rest.
deregulateMed 5y ago
Steam controller definitely took a minute to get used to..now it's the best controller of all time. Steam chords are brilliant. If you have a steam controller and don't know about steam chords, go look it up. Life changing.
caconym_ 5y ago
> I'd argue the Steam controller was kinda bad. But more in concept than execution. The touch pads were just not a good replacement for a thumbstick or a D-pad There are plenty of people with great things to say about it, but they largely seem to be people who wanted to play FPS games without a mouse and keyboard, and were willing to put in some effort to get it configured right. I can imagine it being more successful if it had gotten first-class out-of-the-box support for more games, but it seems like it never reached the level of adoption where that was worth it for developers. I've never tried it myself, though. If the Steam Deck is a success, maybe we'll see the Steam Controller model finally take off (since the Deck has similar touchpads built in). Or maybe it will be like the Kinect, a pet feature deleted in later hardware revisions.
trixie_ 5y ago
Touch pads a better than a joystick by far. You don't need to snap back the stick to stop moving. Where ever your thumb stops is where your aim is at. A fast flick of a touch pad can 180 which takes a lot longer on a joystick. Plus gyro support it's almost as good as a mouse.
Crespyl 5y ago
I felt almost the exact opposite, in that I think the concept was great but the execution fell a little bit short, mostly in build quality/button-feel. The biggest single win for me is replacing the right stick for camera control, as the trackball emulation with haptics on the touchpad is so much faster and more responsive than a traditional thumbstick. There are some games that I'd still prefer the standard twin sticks or dpad (twin-stick shooters maybe, some platformers, or hyper-specific designed games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons), but overall I've much preferred the touchpad over thumbsticks for almost every first- or third-person game I've played.
- samtheDamned 5y ago
  Yeah the controller was really good in theory and the technology was definitely great but the build quality just felt really off and like you said sometimes you can't beat twin stick/dpad but overall the controller was a great concept and paved the way for the index controllers and now the deck's controllers too.
ideamotor 5y ago
It was great but not ergonomic. I have the same concern about the steam deck (that and the name that sounds like something from a 1920s bathhouse). I still use the steam link.

lostmsu 5y ago

One of the major reasons people play PC games is mouse and keyboard are way better than joystick. I don't see myself playing PC games on a handheld.

Crespyl 5y ago
Valve has experience already with making m+kb games playable via a trackpad on the Steam Controller, so I'm confident that the trackpads on the Deck will be good enough for a decent chunk of games (though I'm not about to try Dota 2 on the thing). Not every game will be a perfect fit, certainly, but I've had a great time with my Steam Controller playing things like XCOM, Prey (2017), and Divinity Original Sin. IIRC Civilization 5 was explicitly a part of the advertising for the controller in the first place, as a way to play mouse-heavy games from the couch.
caconym_ 5y ago
These days I think many or even most PC gamers own a gamepad and choose to use it for certain games, even when they have a mouse and keyboard sitting right in front of them. These also tend to be the same games I'd consider most suitable for playing at reduced resolutions and framerates.
yellowapple 5y ago
Depends on the game. Flight and driving games are vastly better with a gamepad (let alone proper joysticks or steering wheels) than with a keyboard and mouse IMO.
deadbunny 5y ago
But not all games are "PC" games. Plenty of games that are released on PC are best/better played with a conroller and thanks to the PC being a open platform you have many more choices than console. Hell you can use your console's controllers if you like.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  > Plenty of games that are released on PC are best/better played with a conroller Fewer than people think, in my opinion. Snake Pass and Outer Wilds insisted to me that they would be better with a controller and both were wrong.

agloeregrets 5y ago

Exactly, used Steam Controllers cost more than retail now. There is a small number of extremely hardcore fans of it.

moosey 5y ago
I am one of them. I have three in the house, mostly for future parts. I have been gaming for 35 years, and in the 15 of those where I have played first person shooters, no controller compares. Even when I'm playing other kinds of games, the ability to do everything without having to remove your finger from the pads to hit buttons, the size is perfect, everything is so responsive. They "feel" cheap, but I don't care. They are gaming nirvana for me.
- vimacs2 5y ago
  I am definitely a SC Stan too. I learned how to truly master it playing Hollow Knight funny enough. Have a setup where I literally do not need to use anything but the trackpads and the occasional turning over of the whole controller to invoke the map. Absolutely love it. Only things I don't like are the bumper buttons and I'd much rather USB C than micro usb. I wish they would make an SC 2 with fixed bumpers, ditching the thumbsticks for bigger trackpads with more advanced haptics and a doubling of paddle buttons like with this new device.
  - rustyminnow 5y ago
    > the occasional turning over of the whole controller to invoke the map What?? Like you flip the controller upside down to open the map? How do you set that up?
    - Miraste 5y ago
      Maybe by setting the gyroscope to directional pad and lowering the sensitivity? There are a few ways you could do it, those things likely the most customizable controller ever made.

VortexDream 5y ago

This seems like it'll become the best emulation platform we've seen so far. I'm excited.