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[ashecitism]

First off, in an attempt no to let this thread turn out like the previous Steam Controller threads I suggest you guys check these out:

You guys should really watch this video from Steam Dev Days. They walk you through the design process and changes. And read Candescence's post1 and 2 in this thread.

Also check out this thread for impressions about the old model.

maybe it'll help reach a better understanding or something like that...

---

Gaffers:

I tried it today with a few different games. Honestly, it's the worst controller I've ever used.

First game I tried playing was Strider, which didn't let you use the d-pad. The touchpad is not suited to this sort of game at all. The game registers an input every time you do much as graze the touchpad, so if your thumb isn't completely precise, you'll end up running and jumping all over the place. I couldn't get a feel for how far I needed to drag my thumb on the pad to get Strider to run, either, which only made things feel more clumsy. I eventually got to a place where I needed to do some slightly precise platforming, and I found it nearly impossible. I have genuinely never used a controller less suited to precision 2D gameplay than this.

The d-pad is pretty bad, too, but it's a little more usable than it looks in some of the pictures. The buttons are close together and don't take much pressure to activate, so it's almost kinda okay-ish... But still not good enough. Hitting diagonals is iffy, and that's really the biggest problem.

I also tried Dirt 3 and Portal, and while those performed a little better than Strider, I still could never do anything with precision. There's just no tactile feedback for anything you do, so it's really tough to get a sense of how far you need to move your thumbs back and forth to get the input you want. I eventually just started using the left thumbpad like a d-pad, and just pressed it on on the edges... But that's not how analog controls work.

The only positive thing I can say is that the build quality was very good. It felt like a solid piece of equipment, and I'm sure it'd stand up to even my redoubtable controller-throwing antics. But based on my time using the thing to actually play games... The solution Valve came up with appears to be a controller that could work with just about every game under the sun, but it's the least ideal way to play any of them.

I tried it out too and my feelings mirror yours. It was very underwhelming. That's even after a Valve employee showing and explaining it.

----
Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/19/5...ntroller-feels-less-traditional-than-it-looks

Unsurprisingly, the controller is still very much a prototype — a Valve representative told us that they were literally hand-building them five days ago for the show. As such, they are rather light and don’t feel solidly built — that said, the touchpads and buttons were all responsive despite the lack of polish. As for when we might see a more final version, all we know is that they’ll be ready alongside the first Steam Machines.

Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/19/valves-new-steam-controller-feels-familiar-but-strange/

On their own the buttons feel good, but we couldn't help but wonder what we lost in their implementation. Valve told us it envisioned the touchscreen as displaying non critical information -- like Steam community notifications -- but notes that its gameplay functionality may yet live on. The software developed to utilize the abandoned screen's "Ghost mode" can be applied to the controller's touchpads, allowing a player to assign multiple actions to the surface of either pad, but only activating them when a secondary button is depressed. Valve couldn't say if this kind of implementation would appear in the final hardware, but told us it's still experimenting with the software designed for the touchpad.

Joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2014/03/19/h...ted&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

It's impressive that the Steam Controller can bounce between styles as disparate as 2D adventure and first-person puzzling, and its touch pads could become second nature over time, but it's definitely not going to provide a seamless transition from traditional controllers.

via Wired liveblog: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2014/03/gdc-day-2/#refresh

Just tried out the new version of the Steam Controller, many of which are at Valve’s booth on the show floor.

It’s still a prototype model that is mostly 3-D printed. But the basic functions are in place - the touchscreen has been swapped out for two diamond shaped arrays of buttons. I played Strider - streaming via a wired connection from a Windows PC to a Steam Machine - and it felt fine.

The buttons are a little on the small side and not quite as good as the larger, more conveniently placed buttons on an Xbox pad (e.g.), but they get the job done.

Don’t worry that the Steam Controller doesn’t have a D-pad. The main touch pad does a fine job of that. If you dislike the sensitivity you can always turn that off because the touchpads also have a “click” at each of the directions, and that works fine for directional control (a Valve rep told me that is how the Super Meat Boy team plays their game).

Tested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fei1Fh4owDA


cnet: http://reviews.cnet.com/game-accessories/valve-steam-controller/4505-10110_7-35873291.html

Overall, the controller fit into my hands comfortably and struck a very balanced weight. I'm not at all sold on the trackpads and the button layout can use some definite tweaking, but it may be more appropriate for the types of games you'd more likely see on the PC: frist-person-shooters and real-time strategy games. I plan on returning to Valve's booth later this week and spending more time with different types of games.

some redditor:http://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/20vc9w/gdc_2014_steam_controller_gallery_impressions/

Overall I came away more impressed than I thought I would be. If no more significant changes were made I would probably buy one the way it is, but I know Valve will make refinements before production.

IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/20/gdc-hands-on-with-valves-newest-steam-controller-prototype

Although the Steam Controller’s design is evolving and improving, its challenges are still the same — undoing years of traditional gamepad experience and committing the time to adapt. As we have discussed in previous posts, there are potential precision and versatility advantages to the Steam Controller’s unconventional design, but until the retail model arrives, we won’t know if it’s worth the trade-off.

vg247: http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/21/hands-on-with-valves-latest-steam-controller/

So while the old controller may have been more difficult to deal with – that’s still hard to tell without using them in the wild one after the other – that it looked like a totally insane thing meant you had some idea of what you were getting into when you picked it up. And so when it’s immediately awkward to use most people probably will be more forgiving of the learning curve for a bit. But when you pick up this controller with familiar elements like face buttons that are a struggle to use for the first time in your life, I wouldn’t expect much forgiveness at all.

Techradar: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/ga...rollers/valve-steam-controller-1212868/review

Our early verdict

"A solid, inventive controller, but not what you want for competitive gaming"

For
Precise
Highly customizable
Find the best control schemes on Steam

Against
For some genres, not on par with mouse and keyboard

Google dev: https://plus.google.com/+BrandonJonesToji/posts/7HLoXa19QiH

I see a lot of potential here, though I don't think this will replace the standard console pad anytime soon. I actually feel like if I could replace the left pad with a joystick, though, it would be the perfect FPS controller. It will be very interesting to see what kind of bindings the gaming community standardizes for this controller.

PCGamer: http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/steam-controller-hands-on-at-gdc-2014/

It’s evident that the Steam Controller is still at an early stage. At this prototype stage, Valve is actually still 3D printing the body of the controller itself, and the rigid, low-quality plastic doesn’t quite feel comfortable. From a gameplay perspective, though, I’m completely unsold on the Steam Controller as a viable way of playing PC games at this time. The games Valve had on display weren’t flattering uses of the controller, and it’s disappointing to know that I would’ve played better with an Xbox 360 pad in every case.

Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/steam-controller-prototype-version-2-impressions-buttoned-up/

As always, it will take much more than ten minutes of show floor testing to measure the full worth of a controller. As it stands, though, we're glad that Valve has decided to move toward the basic button layout that has served handheld controllers well for years.

GameRevolution: http://www.gamerevolution.com/featu...ler?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

My main concern with the touchpads, though, is that they might be too cumbersome for any game that requires precision like fighting games. Now, most hardcore fighter fans own a joystick anyway so that's not much of a problem, but any high-action title that requires complex and immediate directional movement may not perform well with the Steam Controller. However, it just may take longer than the ten minutes I had with the controller to get accustomed to its original design.

From the Black Mesa forum: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showpost.php?p=574824&postcount=276

I got to go to GDC and check out Valve's booth and got my hands on the latest controller. IT felt pretty good to hold.

The face buttons and d-pad aren't hard to reach, but they press way too softly for my liking. I asked one of the Valve devs if they were thinking of using mechanical switches for the face buttons, and he said the last version did, and people thought the buttons felt cheap, so they put in silicon membrane switches instead. Makes me sad.

The triggers are analog, but with mechanical switches too, so it can act as analog input or digital input , or both simultaneously, on the software end. The accentuation force was at the very end of the trigger's depression so it doesn't move very far after the click. I would have liked to see the accentuation force a little further out.

Seen a lot of articles on the internet saying the touchpads felt way too twitchy and sensitivite. They definitely weren't as nice to use as a mouse, but I would say it's still a lot better than using two analog sticks.

Asked a couple other questions of the devs there:

So far no games are implementing the haptic of the touchpads to pass through information such as explosions in the way a standard controller's rumble does. I asked him about implementing that in first party games, he made it sound like they really weren't interested in doing so, but that if they decided they wanted to they would and could. It's a little dissapointing, I'm not sure why he seemed completely disinterested in implementing a feature that is considered standard in all other controllers. Perhaps they aren't using it because it'd mess with the haptic feedback used to emulate physicality, but the tone I got from him seemed to be that they just really didn't consider it a worthwhile feature.

Portal 2 has native support now as opposed to legacy support, so the left touchpad is actually implementing analog movement as opposed to emulating WASD key presses. Didn't seem very noticeable or practical in game when I tested it out. The final wireless version will be using a proprietary wireless stack and a USB dongle. The current wired version is using mini USB as opposed to Micro (bizarrely enough the dev I asked this one didn't even seem certain of she answer, so maybe it isn't mini US. All this is also very disappointing. I asked why they weren't using bluetooth, but she didn't seem to know very much and couldn't answer.

You will be able to change whether or not the controller is emulating an analog stick or a trackball from the steam overlay. This also works in legacy mode, so you could say, set the right touchpad to register as a trackball to the computer, and the left toucpad to register as a standard controller's analog stick. This way, if a game without native support steam controller supports analog input via a standard controller, you can still get analog movement out of the steam controller in legacy mode. Pretty cool.

T3: http://www.t3.com/reviews/valve-steam-controller-review#null

Control will always evolve, and it's exciting that Valve is trying to prompt another sea change, bringing mouse subtleties to a gamepad in an all new way, even if we're not sure we're quite ready for it yet. We look forward to trying it in the comfort of our own office, not in the harsh open lights of a trade-show floor.

Rev3Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU8mqpIUxb8

If anyone else finds something, please post it here and I'll put it in the OP. Doesn't have to be only press/media of course.

 

[PandaPedinte]

Subscribing, and I'm eager to read more opinions about the new prototype.

 

[Sendou]

Interested to hear what people think. The Verge didn't offer much. No specifics about what games they played or anything. Bah.

 

[ashecitism]

One of the games at the booth is Broken Age. Hopefully more mouse-driven games will be there. At CES the lineup was Portal, Last Light, Trine 2 and Starbound.

man twitter is so hard to follow. Everyone is just retweeting the Verge article atm... except these two:

tried the new steam controller today. it was garbage, but I'm p sure the machine was configured wrong. going to need to re-test on new hw

https://twitter.com/weedcopter/status/446345299259191296

The #Steam controller is quite awesome. Good game, #valve #GDC2014

https://twitter.com/GoodGoshJosh/status/446346513619230720

neither are really informative though, lol

 

[PandaPedinte]

One of the games at the booth is Broken Age. Hopefully more mouse-driven games will be there. At CES the lineup was Portal, Last Light, Trine 2 and Starbound.

man twitter is so hard to follow. Everyone is just retweeting the Verge article atm... except these two:



https://twitter.com/weedcopter/status/446345299259191296



https://twitter.com/GoodGoshJosh/status/446346513619230720

neither are really informative though, lol

Just a matter of time until more articles are write and info is shared. What terms are you using to search on twitter?

 

[ashecitism]

"steam controller" lang:en

edit:

Just to be forewarned: the Steam controller is surprisingly comfy but does come with a learning curve. #GDC2014

https://twitter.com/ab_check/status/446356237668478976

well we knew as much

 

[Sendou]

Nothing good in life comes without a learning curve.

 

[cyberheater]

That was a awesome vid.

The haptic feedback sounds great. I wonder if you can get the SDK to emulate the surface of an object like a brick wall or a tree?

 

[ashecitism]

Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/19/valves-new-steam-controller-feels-familiar-but-strange/

On their own the buttons feel good, but we couldn't help but wonder what we lost in their implementation. Valve told us it envisioned the touchscreen as displaying non critical information -- like Steam community notifications -- but notes that its gameplay functionality may yet live on. The software developed to utilize the abandoned screen's "Ghost mode" can be applied to the controller's touchpads, allowing a player to assign multiple actions to the surface of either pad, but only activating them when a secondary button is depressed. Valve couldn't say if this kind of implementation would appear in the final hardware, but told us it's still experimenting with the software designed for the touchpad.

also pretty short

 

[Dolor]

Second post by candescence is really interesting. Thanks for posting. Really interested to buy one of these.

 

[RoKKeR]

Still seems so wacky to me but it's starting to come into picture.

 

[Grief.exe]

This post is a required read detailing the actual functionality of the trackpads and what haptic feedback actually is. Should be at the top of every single Steam controller thread from here on out.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=104842071&postcount=519

 

[Azih]

It's unclear to me from the articles. Will the controller 'just work' with a reasonable mapping of actions from standard controllers/M&K or will developers have to work on a control scheme just for the Steam Controller?

 

[ashecitism]

This post is a required read detailing the actual functionality of the trackpads and what haptic feedback actually is. Should be at the top of every single Steam controller thread from here on out.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=104842071&postcount=519

It's already in the OP

It's unclear to me from the articles. Will the controller 'just work' with a reasonable mapping of actions from standard controllers/M&K or will developers have to work on a control scheme just for the Steam Controller?

In legacy mode you either have to set it up yourself or pick the most popular user binding (they talk about crowdsourced bindings in the vid). In native mode devs will make their own setup.

 

[Grief.exe]

It's already in the OP

Oh ya, should have been more clear that I was patting you on the back and Candescence as well for putting together such an amazing write up.

 

[Nzyme32]

It's unclear to me from the articles. Will the controller 'just work' with a reasonable mapping of actions from standard controllers/M&K or will developers have to work on a control scheme just for the Steam Controller?

Yes. So there are two ways this works. The simple way is native support in games. These games have had developers add specific support for those games and it just works. There may even be features that take advantage of the new functionality of the touchpads or gyros.

The second method is legacy mode. This should also just work, although right now this is still being worked on. Basically whatever input the game is expecting, whether mouse and keyboard, xbox controller or otherwise, is emulated by the steam controller according to binding presets produced either by developers or the community. This technically should work well. The enthusiasts will work out the best bindings, and based on use by users, the best bindings are set by default to work for everyone else. Depending on the game, the touchpads should work either as directional buttons, a mouse, or more recently analogue sticks. The haptic feedback of the touchpads are adapted to match.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I want to hear what comfort changes they made in the grips from someone who used the old one.

 

[ashecitism]

can only post some non-RTs in the meantime

Just tried the Steam controller for the first time. I want to buy one straight away - very cool stuff, Valve.

https://twitter.com/MansOlson/status/446369047777529856

I tried the new Steam controller at GDC 2014. It’s… weird. Would need a LOT more time with it to form a full opinion. #GDC2014

https://twitter.com/TheRichardM/status/446363744411480064

 

[ashecitism]

Joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2014/03/19/h...ted&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

It's impressive that the Steam Controller can bounce between styles as disparate as 2D adventure and first-person puzzling, and its touch pads could become second nature over time, but it's definitely not going to provide a seamless transition from traditional controllers.

 

[ashecitism]

via Wired liveblog: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2014/03/gdc-day-2/#refresh

Just tried out the new version of the Steam Controller, many of which are at Valve’s booth on the show floor.

It’s still a prototype model that is mostly 3-D printed. But the basic functions are in place - the touchscreen has been swapped out for two diamond shaped arrays of buttons. I played Strider - streaming via a wired connection from a Windows PC to a Steam Machine - and it felt fine.

The buttons are a little on the small side and not quite as good as the larger, more conveniently placed buttons on an Xbox pad (e.g.), but they get the job done.

Don’t worry that the Steam Controller doesn’t have a D-pad. The main touch pad does a fine job of that. If you dislike the sensitivity you can always turn that off because the touchpads also have a “click” at each of the directions, and that works fine for directional control (a Valve rep told me that is how the Super Meat Boy team plays their game).

 

[spliced]

I watched that whole video and they basically said nothing about why the controller doesn't have or need a d pad and analog stick.

Also the Verge and Engadget seem more like technology sites and thus their impressions aren't worth much.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I saw this from someone I know at GDC on Facebook:

The Steam controller is pure catpoop.

it's even worse for standard controller games. i fumbled through 5 minutes of strider before the HEAD ASPLODEY RAGE took over.

i never thought i'd say this, but this controller would never make the cut for nintendo hardware. VALVE I AM DISAPPOINT

 

[UnrealEck]

I watched that whole video and they basically said nothing about why the controller doesn't have or need a d pad and analog stick.

It's meant to be a mouse and keyboard in a controller. I do believe however they might end up changing the 4-button diamond on the left into an actual directional pad but this would possibly conflict with their intentions of making the controller's design symetrical. If you mean a left stick for typical movement in games, I believe the way the pads are set up, it allows a sort of sliced pie configuration of the pads so as to allow finer movement.

 

[ashecitism]

Tested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fei1Fh4owDA


cnet: http://reviews.cnet.com/game-accessories/valve-steam-controller/4505-10110_7-35873291.html

Overall, the controller fit into my hands comfortably and struck a very balanced weight. I'm not at all sold on the trackpads and the button layout can use some definite tweaking, but it may be more appropriate for the types of games you'd more likely see on the PC: frist-person-shooters and real-time strategy games. I plan on returning to Valve's booth later this week and spending more time with different types of games.

some redditor:http://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/20vc9w/gdc_2014_steam_controller_gallery_impressions/

Overall I came away more impressed than I thought I would be. If no more significant changes were made I would probably buy one the way it is, but I know Valve will make refinements before production.

 

[Jorok Goldblade]

I noticed from the Tested video that it has Gamecube triggers. Pretty cool.

 

[Vormund]

I know these are 3d printed prototypes, but would it really have killed them to make it more presentable? Just spray paint or vinyl wrap the shell?

Anyway, it's looking better, I think they need to ditch the symmetry and give it a proper d-pad. There are more fighters and indie games that would benefit than ever before.

 

[ashecitism]

IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/20/gdc-hands-on-with-valves-newest-steam-controller-prototype

Although the Steam Controller’s design is evolving and improving, its challenges are still the same — undoing years of traditional gamepad experience and committing the time to adapt. As we have discussed in previous posts, there are potential precision and versatility advantages to the Steam Controller’s unconventional design, but until the retail model arrives, we won’t know if it’s worth the trade-off.

Got to say I'm pretty disappointed by these coverages. It's like they don't give a damn.Tested had by far the best coverage. They actually asked questions and got some new info even if they didn't share any impressions.

 

[Grief.exe]

It's like they don't give a damn.Tested had by far the best coverage. They actually asked questions and got some new info even if they didn't share any impressions.

Traditional outlets are more console-focused, they probably don't even know the true purpose of the controller in the first place.

Tested did do a great review though, asked some important questions and we ended up learning some new things.

 

[ashecitism]

I mean if at the end they feel the same as they did at CES, it's fine. But at least try.

I remember the last time Polygon and Kotaku actually had decent coverages. Maybe they'll repeat it this time.

 

[Seanspeed]

I watched that whole video and they basically said nothing about why the controller doesn't have or need a d pad and analog stick.

Also the Verge and Engadget seem more like technology sites and thus their impressions aren't worth much.

The main video? They also dont say why there isn't a fireworks dispenser on the back. What they do is explain why what's there is there. I'm unconvinced myself but I think it seems quite obvious to me that the point of this is to acheive something that a traditional pad with analog sticks and a d pad werent good enough for. If those were good enough, this wouldnt be necessary and you'd have normal controller support for most all PC games.

I have a question, though - is this something that will only work on Steam OS or will it be useable in general?

 

[ashecitism]

It will work with everything that is running Steam aka Windows, OS X and linux in general.

 

[Orayn]

The main video? They also dont say why there isn't a fireworks dispenser on the back. What they do is explain why what's there is there. I'm unconvinced myself but I think it seems quite obvious to me that the point of this is to acheive something that a traditional pad with analog sticks and a d pad werent good enough for. If those were good enough, this wouldnt be necessary and you'd have normal controller support for most all PC games.

I have a question, though - is this something that will only work on Steam OS or will it be useable in general?

Usable on Windows/Mac/Linux. It's just included with Steam Machines because of where they're intended to be used.

 

[scitek]

Does it emulate XInput? Or is it just going to use DirectInput? Do we know yet?

 

[ashecitism]

I don't recall Valve ever talking about that. I mean for legacy mode it just emulates kb&m and in native mode uses it's on API.

 

[Exuro]

Does it emulate XInput? Or is it just going to use DirectInput? Do we know yet?

Don't think it uses either. It emulates kbm as well as uses its own api for native control.

I still can't quite envision how the touchpads feel. Would I be able to do a momentum type of motion where I swipe and lift my thumb and it keeps moving in that direction until I "catch" it? Or is it purely 1:1 touch?

Watch the tested video. They talk about that.

 

[ashecitism]

I still can't quite envision how the touchpads feel. Would I be able to do a momentum type of motion where I swipe and lift my thumb and it keeps moving in that direction until I "catch" it? Or is it purely 1:1 touch?

Did you read the OP?

you can do momentum based movement, yes. Watch the Tested vid.

But this was already demonstrated in the vid Valve put out last year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeAjkbNq4xI

 

[aeolist]

read the OP?

good luck, steam controller threads are magnets for uninformed but steadfastly negative opinions

 

[ashecitism]

animlboogy has been one of the cool people so far though when it comes to these threads

 

[aeolist]

oh i was referring to the thread title

 

[ashecitism]

ah ok

well I tried. This thread looks better than the previous though.

 

[aeolist]

Is it still to early to note that PC developers and outlets seem to get it, while traditional games outlets are noticeably more baffled by it?

people used to kbam vs people used to dual-stick gamepads

e. alternatively PC players are more used to switching control inputs to suit the game, console players are used to all games being designed around one type of controller

 

[ashecitism]

Well not every dev is sold on it, also RPS weren't impressed by it either.

 

[ashecitism]

For a minute thought Kotaku put up a new article, but they just reposted the Tested vid. And now everyone just keep RTing it :lol

 

[Deleted member 102362]

I just finished watching the Dev Days talk. I'm impressed by how much they're iterating and refining based on the feedback they've gotten from various sources, both internally and from externally, like their beta test players - but after listening to the Portal 2 audio commentary, I shouldn't be surprised. I'm particularly interested in their discussion of possibly releasing multiple iterations of the controller with different premium options, like touch screens, rechargeable batteries, etc.

I'm a dedicated M+KB user, but I'm absolutely willing to give something like this a shot, partially because my memories of using an Xbox controller are more good than bad (particularly when I switched from the Duke to the S), and partially because for all I know, buying a Steam Controller might come with a code for TF2 and Dota 2 in-game items.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I tried it today with a few different games. Honestly, it's the worst controller I've ever used.

First game I tried playing was Strider, which didn't let you use the d-pad. The touchpad is not suited to this sort of game at all. The game registers an input every time you do much as graze the touchpad, so if your thumb isn't completely precise, you'll end up running and jumping all over the place. I couldn't get a feel for how far I needed to drag my thumb on the pad to get Strider to run, either, which only made things feel more clumsy. I eventually got to a place where I needed to do some slightly precise platforming, and I found it nearly impossible. I have genuinely never used a controller less suited to precision 2D gameplay than this.

The d-pad is pretty bad, too, but it's a little more usable than it looks in some of the pictures. The buttons are close together and don't take much pressure to activate, so it's almost kinda okay-ish... But still not good enough. Hitting diagonals is iffy, and that's really the biggest problem.

I also tried Dirt 3 and Portal, and while those performed a little better than Strider, I still could never do anything with precision. There's just no tactile feedback for anything you do, so it's really tough to get a sense of how far you need to move your thumbs back and forth to get the input you want. I eventually just started using the left thumbpad like a d-pad, and just pressed it on on the edges... But that's not how analog controls work.

The only positive thing I can say is that the build quality was very good. It felt like a solid piece of equipment, and I'm sure it'd stand up to even my redoubtable controller-throwing antics. But based on my time using the thing to actually play games... The solution Valve came up with appears to be a controller that could work with just about every game under the sun, but it's the least ideal way to play any of them.

 

[aeolist]

for all I know, buying a Steam Controller might come with a code for TF2 and Dota 2 in-game items.

oh man that's fucking devious

 

[Grief.exe]

I tried it today with a few different games. Honestly, it's the worst controller I've ever used.

First game I tried playing was Strider, which didn't let you use the d-pad. The touchpad is not suited to this sort of game at all. The game registers an input every time you do much as graze the touchpad, so if your thumb isn't completely precise, you'll end up running and jumping all over the place. I couldn't get a feel for how far I needed to drag my thumb on the pad to get Strider to run, either, which only made things feel more clumsy. I eventually got to a place where I needed to do some slightly precise platforming, and I found it nearly impossible. I have genuinely never used a controller less suited to precision 2D gameplay than this.

The d-pad is pretty bad, too, but it's a little more usable than it looks in some of the pictures. The buttons are close together and don't take much pressure to activate, so it's almost kinda okay-ish... But still not good enough. Hitting diagonals is iffy, and that's really the biggest problem.

I also tried Dirt 3 and Portal, and while those performed a little better than Strider, I still could never do anything with precision. There's just no tactile feedback for anything you do, so it's really tough to get a sense of how far you need to move your thumbs back and forth to get the input you want. I eventually just started using the left thumbpad like a d-pad, and just pressed it on on the edges... But that's not how analog controls work.

The only positive thing I can say is that the build quality was very good. It felt like a solid piece of equipment, and I'm sure it'd stand up to even my redoubtable controller-throwing antics. But based on my time using the thing to actually play games... The solution Valve came up with appears to be a controller that could work with just about every game under the sun, but it's the least ideal way to play any of them.

I wonder if you were using it incorrectly, or didn't know the specific setting they were using for the trackpad.

The creator of SMB was, ironically, playing SMB and said it was quite accurate when used as DPAD or analog control. Others have said the same.

I know there is quite a learning curve associated with this piece of kit.

 

[Wired]

Nothing good in life comes without a learning curve.

education?

 

[BUNTING1243]

That Tested video is pretty great.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I wonder if you were using it incorrectly, or didn't know the specific setting they were using for the trackpad.

The creator of SMB was, ironically, playing SMB and said it was quite accurate when used as DPAD or analog control. Others have said the same.

I know there is quite a learning curve associated with this piece of kit.

I dunno. All I know is that I found it really unintuitive and that I don't see any benefit to this over a normal gamepad. It doesn't seem like it really adds any useful functionality you don't already have in, say, a 360 controller.

Edit: honestly, the best comparison is that it felt like using iPad controls, but without any sort of virtual d-pad in front of you. I don't bother with any iOS games, which may have contributed to my inability to figure this thing out.