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It failed because: 1. It’s an accessory that was an extra purchase when many alternatives existed. So it was competing for mindshare from people who either wer

by dagmx 4y ago

It failed because: 1. It’s an accessory that was an extra purchase when many alternatives existed. So it was competing for mindshare from people who either were using keyboard+mouse, or could also buy a console controller and connect it up. Unless you already researched it, there was no surface reason to own one for many people. 2. Low availability. You couldn’t just find it in any retail store. So you already needed to be aware of it to want it, and then be willing to wait for delivery. So it had a higher bar to cross. 3. Comfort was a big one. Some people loved it. Others hated it. It was too big for many people, and too cumbersome for others. I personally thought it was one of the worst controllers I’ve owned and I have very large hands. 4. The touch controls mapped poorly to many games. If you did buy one, it was really hit and miss how well it worked for your games. A lot depended on either putting in the time to map it out or hoping the community had something. It just had too much going against it. Which is a death blow for a product that can’t exist by itself and has competition (even if it does more). The steamdeck in comparison sort of exists in its own niche and is a complete product.

yamtaddle 4y ago
5) Most halfway-recent PC games that are any good to play on a gamepad are made with X-Box controllers in mind—button maps readied and all, truly plug-n-play—and 360 or XBone controllers are readily available and even very cheap (in the case of used 360 controllers, especially). This has been true so long that they're practically the "standard" gamepad for PC gaming, if you're gonna bring a gamepad into the mix at all, with the main kinda-successful exceptions being retro controllers for use with emulators. If you want the boring and relatively-cheap thing that's also the least likely to give you any surprises or irritations in the next 5+ years, you just get an X-Box controller, so Valve's controller had a real uphill battle.
- jamesgeck0 4y ago
  > Most halfway-recent PC games This is a key point that undermines the rest of your argument. Controller support is practically a given today, but when the Steam Controller launched in 2015 there were _a lot_ of games on Steam (even AAA console ports) that were mouse/keyboard only.
  - yamtaddle 4y ago
    I meant more like since 2005. [EDIT] To clarify, I mean games that lend themselves to gamepad controls to begin with have tended to support X-Box controllers really well for about that long, and I'd bet that's most of what PC gamers want to do with gamepads. They want to play GTA games or Red Dead on a gamepad—most of them still prefer keyboard and mouse for first-person shooters or isometric RPGs or strategy games or what have you. The market for people who want to replace the keyboard & mouse on games that are best played with a keyboard & mouse is surely much smaller than the set who just want a gamepad as a supplementary controller for platformers and 3rd-person action games, or as the "poor (or space-constrained) man's" flight stick / steering wheel—that larger market is already pretty well-served by cheap used X-Box controllers.

by dagmx 4y ago

yamtaddle 4y ago

5) Most halfway-recent PC games that are any good to play on a gamepad are made with X-Box controllers in mind—button maps readied and all, truly plug-n-play—and 360 or XBone controllers are readily available and even very cheap (in the case of used 360 controllers, especially). This has been true so long that they're practically the "standard" gamepad for PC gaming, if you're gonna bring a gamepad into the mix at all, with the main kinda-successful exceptions being retro controllers for use with emulators. If you want the boring and relatively-cheap thing that's also the least likely to give you any surprises or irritations in the next 5+ years, you just get an X-Box controller, so Valve's controller had a real uphill battle.

jamesgeck0 4y ago
> Most halfway-recent PC games This is a key point that undermines the rest of your argument. Controller support is practically a given today, but when the Steam Controller launched in 2015 there were _a lot_ of games on Steam (even AAA console ports) that were mouse/keyboard only.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  I meant more like since 2005. [EDIT] To clarify, I mean games that lend themselves to gamepad controls to begin with have tended to support X-Box controllers really well for about that long, and I'd bet that's most of what PC gamers want to do with gamepads. They want to play GTA games or Red Dead on a gamepad—most of them still prefer keyboard and mouse for first-person shooters or isometric RPGs or strategy games or what have you. The market for people who want to replace the keyboard & mouse on games that are best played with a keyboard & mouse is surely much smaller than the set who just want a gamepad as a supplementary controller for platformers and 3rd-person action games, or as the "poor (or space-constrained) man's" flight stick / steering wheel—that larger market is already pretty well-served by cheap used X-Box controllers.