prices that have raised eyebrows among some gamers.
WTF?
Only those that know nothing about the features and tech internal.
price is a steal.
With prices of hardware in general world-wide (non-ram related) we’re lucky this isn’t $120US or $150US
Switch 2 Joycon’s are the same price for fuck sakes…
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller is more expensive, and can’t do the things this controller can do.
Also Xbox controllers have garbage ass build quality. Valve seems to make pretty solid hardware. The only one I see as comparable is the PS5 dualsense controller, but it’s still missing some things like the extra buttons. It has a touchpad, but just one, and it’s not optimally placed, imho.
I have serious stick drift on Dualsense controllers after using them on and off for just a year. 3 controllers, all with the same issue.
I like the Dualsense a lot at its best, but I go through roughly a controller per year probably. One of them something with the rumble loosened. Not noticeable in some games, but when I was playing Returnal it sounded like a jackhammer. Another the sticks got…sticky in a way that was really distracting. Stick drift on another, and my current one the right arrow stopped working. I had to re-map it to the left stick click to play Infinite Wealth, and other games like Elden Ring just won’t work with it.
Agreed though, when they work they’re comfortable, responsive, intuitive. At their best they’re the best controller I’ve used.
But for $80+ these days they should have hall effect sticks and mechanical switches. I’ve started buying https://www.gulikit.com/ controllers, which have both and are much cheaper, but not as comfy or responsive.
The Index conttollers were a bit of a joke, in terms of both build quality and ergonomics. I had like 3 RMAs.
Never had a problem with mine and I have smacked them into solid objects pretty hard a few times.
Anecdotal RMAs aside, I think the ergonomics are fantastic and they blew every other VR controller I’ve tried out of the water.
Ackshully, the PS5 touchpad has two sides that can be individually configured. But you’re right that it’s not optimally placed.
we’re lucky this isn’t $120US
£85 GBP is pretty much $120 USD (it’s $114).
And that’s very much what the yanks will pay for it. American prices are always before taxes.
Polish prise is 420 pln wchich is also 115$
Not everyone is in us. 99 euro no matter how reasonable prices a lot of Germans out
Yeah, but is it really that much more expensive than other controllers? PS5 Dual Sense is 79€. Xbox Series X/S is 65€ with the Elite 2 at 200€. Considering the additional features of the Steam controller and current development of hardware prices, the pricing seems reasonable.
Edit: I should add, those are recommended retail prices (UVP), and the actual prices from individual stores can be lower.
Prices can’t be compared directly, because in Germany we have the taxes in the price included already. And the taxes in the US vary I think. So the difference is less than it looks like by just converting with current exchange rates.
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Sorry dude, I’m not paying $100 USD for a controller. The last controller I bought cost me ~$30 USD (GameSir T4 Kaleid) and has everything I need, including hall effect sticks. The steam controller having cool tech like touchpads and a gyro and whatever else is cool I guess, but I don’t need or want that. No amount of stuff like that is gonna make me spend that much on a controller.
So yes, the steam controller price raised my eyebrows, in the same way that basically all first-party controllers do. They’re all crazily overpriced imo.
They’re priced for all those things you don’t want that other people do. It’s a bit like complaining that a racing motorcycle is too expensive because all you need is a scooter to get around.
If it’s priced like a racing motorcycle then you shouldn’t be surprised when people raise their eyebrows at the price.
Do you often look up the prices of racers to be shocked by the price?
Only when people comment that ‘the price is normal, actually’, and that I ought to buy one because they’re so cheap.
In comparison to comparable devices. Are you incapable of understanding context?
The original comment couldn’t understand why people were ‘raising their eyebrows’ at the price. I said because it’s basically a luxury item. Whether there are other alternatives that are even less value doesn’t factor into it. That’s the ‘door in the face’ fallacy.
Regardless of whether a Rolls Royce is more or less ‘value’ than a Lamborghini there’s gonna be a whole bunch of people that are gonna look at that and say ‘why would you spend X times the money when it gets you from A to B just the same as a Toyota Corolla’. That’s the answer to the original question.
Last year my wife picked up a pair of regular Xbox pads for us to use when playing couch co-ops over Sunshine/Moonlight. When the pricing for the new Steam controller was announced, she went back and had a look at what she paid. They’ve gone up in price and are currently £80.
Each.
For an extra £5 you get haptics, touch pads, FAR better stick technology, and all in a package that’s as repairable as it can be.
Yeah, £85 is a fucking bargain at this point.
Both of the other controllers you listed are already too expensive for what they are. That doesn’t really justify the price of the Steam controller imo. This isn’t a “pro” controller either. This is the only one Valve offers. Sure it has a lot of good tech and features, but its all stuff they have been putting on the deck for years. I would hardly call the price a steal. I feel like a fair price for a controller like this would have been about $70-80. Not to mention, Valve isn’t trying to only sell this to tech enthusiasts. They want this to be a widespread product. $100 for a controller is too steep for an average consumer.
Right? Just compare it to the glued mess that is the $90 Switch 2 controller or to a $200 DualSense pro (or whatever name Sony’s premium controller goes by).
Say what you will but Valve built the Steam Controller to last. I expect the first weeks to be a little bumpy on the software side (as is always the case with controllers) but it will quickly become very future rich. Likely more so than any other controller. And Valve is doing all that with a focus on Linux.
I am not one to easily praise US tech companies and Valve is far from perfect but the Steam Deck has a very good track record and this controller seems like it meets those standards as well.
It‘s a very good deal if repairability, full Linux support and feature richness are what you‘re looking for.
Every outlet that you are seeing run a headline about the Steam Controller being in someway ‘controversial’ or ‘has a problem’ or ‘may be divisive’ …
I contend that this is an anti-marketing campaign, being run by basically, potentially, the entire AAA gaming industry that isn’t Valve.
Nearly every major AAA game company is currently imploding right now.
Except Valve.
Because Valve is privately held and owned, it doesn’t have a board of investors to answer to, to constantly juice next quarter profits for.
It doesn’t have a gaggle of people who sit on multiple corporate boards simultaneously, who sit on the boards of industry lobbying groups, who sit on the boards of astroturfed ‘consumer rights’ groups.
These people all know each other, or in some cases literally are the same people.
I of course cannot prove this conclusively, but just… look around.
This is nuts, the number of media outlets going with a non positive angle, in the headline… of a product launch.
Also consider that many of Valve’s direct competition has extensive, direct ties to the AI bubble insano-mania, both hardware and software companies.
… Its not normal to have so many different outlets have such a standardized general framing of … a video game controller launch.
This is what a retired ex corpo ex MSFT employee such as myself would describe as sus.
I like your style
Here’s what it sounds like when I use a computer. =P
You know, I don‘t think negative reception with the press means there is a smear campaign going on by default. Maybe they simply chose that headline because drama sells.
But it is interesting if you compare it to their headlines about the Switch 2 a year ago. A lot of sugar coating like „feature packed“ with a vague „but…“ at the end to address Nintendo‘s widely unpopular price policy. That‘s the narrative many tech journalists chose to go with prior to the launch at the time.
For one reason or another a lot of them seem biased to me.
Yeah, but summarizing my reasoning as to why I think it is a smear campaign down to ‘by default’… is to completely ignore all of my reasoning, which is frankly rude, and you strawmanning me.
… and then you point out that a comparable recent story/event… actually did have a substantial, already existing controvery… and was generally covered with more ‘positive sentiment’ words in the headlines, but yes did acknowledge the controversy.
… As opposed to essentially inventing it, as they’ve done with the Deck.
Yes, drama sells, if it bleeds it leads, but for some reason, the degree to which headline sentiment matches vs doesn’t match the actual story and pre-existing actual buzz around it, well that varies.
No. Valve spends a shit load on marketing and almost none of the articles over the past few days have been anywhere near negative.
100$ for a controller is fucking stupid. If valve wasn’t paying everyone off, they would be getting ripped a new one.
Sony and Microsoft both sell “elite” controllers for much more than that
The Sony one is legit terrible too.
Big claims stated as fact that you pulled out of your ass
I’m not getting paid by Valve, in fact I will be giving them money for this controller as soon as possible. If you only play controller games then yeah, €99 for a controller with just 2 extra buttons and capacitive gyro might be too much (although, the capacitive gyro and extra buttons alone justify the price for me). But no other controller can be used to play mouse games comfortably. The trackpads might not be for you, but to claim they’re not worth it is naive at best, as they’re the ONLY good solution for this problem and no one else is doing them to be able to say “this other controller does the same and is cheaper”.
I’m more than willing to pay a premium for a PC controller that isn’t going to have stick drift and will work a few years down the line. God knows how many xbox controllers I’ve gone through.
I trust Valve, I’ve used their product and played their games for decades and they’ve never let me down. they’ve made gaming on linux accessible and now extremely easy to set up and get going. $100 for a controller I will pay for.
I’m so pissed (at myself), I thought this was going to be delayed indefinitely like the steam machine so I broke down and bought an xbox elite controller a month ago. That stupid controller was 250 bucks after tax and it doesn’t have half the features the steam controller does and its only 90 dollars.
I really should have been more patient.
250 USD ? In the US, like on Amazon or Best Buy, is that the normal price for an Elite + Tax?
Holy shit. Now I understand why people are defending the SC2 pricing.
I have two Elite 2s, one for my wife and I, was hoping they’d finally last us a long while, nope, within a year both have stick drift and faulty bumpers.
My coworker is on his 10th or 11th Elite controller.
He bought one and when it developed stick drift in 6 months he went to try to do a warranty and it’d supposedly take a month or so and just be a repair. He ended up repairing it himself with new sticks, which also developed stick drift in 6 months. Oh and the back buttons developed double clicks.
He ended up just going to a store(target, best buy, whatever) and bought a new one and then put his old one in the box and returned it.
Does it every 6 months when the controller starts acting up. So been doing this for years. Target doesn’t care, best buy doesn’t care.
Funnily enough I told him about the Steam Controller and he said why buy that when there’s the Elite controller or the PS pro controller…I’m like you’re on your 10th one? Why would I buy something that has that many issues?
Oh good, I have that to look forward too.
Yeah, maybe you’ll be lucky lol.
I was very angry considering how expensive the controllers were, I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with Microsoft/Google/Etc products as they charge a premium price yet theyre often much worse then competitors at a similar price.
I do tend to treat things with extreme care and as a result I still have functional xbox 360 controllers with almost no stick drift. So yeah I may get lucky but I still wish I had been patient.
Nice! I wish I had preserved my special ODST controller from the 360 days.
I got a gamesir controller which retails for nearly the same price, but I got it at half price so I’m somewhat OK. I would have been devastated if I had to shell out full price a week before steam controller got on my radar.
My condolences, and may your unfortunate purchase serve it’s purpose for long enough to be worth its price and more.
Reselling might be something to consider. Since it’s so new you might get a reasonable amount back, and that could help you justify getting this one instead 👍
I still don’t get the controversy.
Are you an avid Touchpad user on the Deck or on the OG Steam Controller? Buy this.
Do you just want a controller for your PC? Buy an Xbox, PS or Third party.People think they have to buy it for some reason, they just can’t fathom not being the target audience.
Yes this exactly haha it’s crazy.
It’s the rear buttons,
And the insane customization and re-mapping of buttons/functions/gyro/etc that steam allows you to create that sells me on these controllers.
8bitdo pro 2 has gyro, back buttons, and native steam input support for like 40 bucks, so it’s gotta be mostly the touchpad.
Correct. On top of that, the 8BitDo acts as a bog standard Xinput device without the need for Steam, so if you’re not a touchpad user there’s really no reason to get the Steam Controller over the 8BitDo.
The only controversial part is that it only works on steam. Which is pretty wild imo. Why would you need more that just the controller’s driver for it to work?
It’s wild because it isn’t true
Like I said to another person, there are multiple reviews that mention this. Do you have any source that proves otherwise?
I thought that turned out not to be true? That by default it behaved like a joystick and mouse like the original steam controller?
I can‘t speak about software updates just yet because I have only seen them being applied via Steam but the controller works out of the box. I‘m assuming you can update it by downloading a file too, though. That would put it far above some competitors because guess what? A lot of them let you install some shitty software for that. At least Steam is already installed on my machine. I run Linux after all and ironically Steam is already helping me setting up controllers from other manufacturers.
Do you have any source for this? Multiple reviewers (e.g. gamersnexus) have said that if you don’t launche the game through steam, the controller won’t work.
It does work as a mouse by default. Valve calls it “Lizard Mode”, and you use the touchpad to move the cursor and the triggers to click.
But yeah I do agree they should have made standard buttons and sticks act as XInput and the touchpad as the mouse by default.that being said, I fucking hate microsoft for stifling controller innovation with their antiquated ass xinput so i when i see a controller not support it i have to force myself to not think “god bless”
Grand total it has 4 extra buttons, 2 capacitive strips, 2 touchpads, gyro, and the fancy magnetic joysticks. $100 did not surprise me at all.
Of course, if you don’t care about any of those features, it isn’t the best deal, in the same way that a luxury sports car makes for a shit commuter vehicle. Not that the steam controller is “luxury” but like, if you don’t want the extra features then the higher price probably isn’t worth it. That doesn’t make it overpriced, it means you aren’t the target audience.
Full disclosure. I’m that target audience. I’m already mentally mapping extra buttons to the left touchpad and thinking about setting the back buttons to my armored core’s shoulder weapons.
It was a breath of fresh air to see Valve employees on interviews clearly stating “it does and has all these things, if you don’t want or need them, don’t buy it.” Not in the usual corporate entitlement way, but actually a pro consumer rights POV. They are not gonna pressure everyone and their grandmother to buy one, they made a premium tool for their steam machine and are aware of it.
the magnetic sticks are worth the extra cost so there will be no stick drift
It also has a ton of premade layouts already available on launch, as it has feature parity with the steam deck and those profiles will work with the sc.
Its like a few dollars more than other controllers with double the features and quality. What are people complaining about? 85 for something that’ll last years and give you 1000s of hours of enjoyment is a no brainer
A standard, official Xbox controller is $85 CAD. This thing is $150. That’s almost double. I agree, the features sound great (especially having used the original steam controller, I know how good their touchpads are), but still… Almost double.
Gamers divided on a piece of hardware? No shit
It‘s almost as if it‘s not for everyone. Just like a $85 mouse or keyboard aren‘t. If you‘re still happily rocking your 10+ year old $20 third party controller alongside your $5 mouse then by all means skip this hardware release, folks.
So who’s paying for this hit piece?
Its a normal article with a click bait title. The review seemed to lean on the positive.
The only thing stopping me from buying the new Steam Controller is all of the original Steam Controllers I have that are all still working fine.
If you’re using them on a docked Steam Deck, the new controller has a dedicated “…” menu button, so you don’t have to get off the couch whenever you need to mess with DeckyLoader
I dug out one of my OG Steam Controllers today. I basically got it free with a HEAVILY discounted Steam Link, so I’ve never really used it.
Turns out that right touch pad is ridiculously sensitive, to the point that it’s unusable. So I need to spend some time figuring it out.
Fortunately they came correct, and every aspect of every input is insanely adjustable.
Yeah, I’m not sure what was up with it yesterday, but I’ve spent some time this afternoon messing about with it and it’s kinda nice. That’s using Moonlight from my Mac too. The more I fiddle with it, the better I’ll figure out how to adjust it to my preferences.
Still doesn’t feel as good as kb+m, but for casual Powerwash Simulator 2 on my Macbook on the sofa, it’s pretty cool. And I guess that once I get used to it It’ll be much nicer.
But that D-PAD,
Serious talk, this new steam controller only exists because the old one didn’t have a D-Pad, sure, the new touch pads are nicer, but really we are all upgrading our old steam controllers to this one for the d-pad.
The left touchpad acts as a D pad on the original, you can just use touch or press till it clicks. Still might be nice to have a better one though.
The left touchpad acts as a D pad on the original
Oh we know, and it didn’t work well…
I like it. But if it can’t work as a standard gamepad without Steam then it’s not worth it for me.
I don’t need the fancy features, but standard compatibility like an xbox controller (without third party tools).
Wait, what? It doesn’t work with non-steam games?
It works with non-steam games and the trackpad might even work without steam on Linux, but it will most certainly not work on Windows without Steam and if you want to customize your buttons with steam input, you need to launch the game through steam, which is able to launch none-steam binaries.
$100 for a controller that will only work through Steam is way too much for me, but I can see how it would be worth it for anyone who exclusively plays games through Steam and wants to play games designed for a mouse on a controller.
If you don’t need trackpads or touch sensitive sticks, there are better options out there. If you do need those things and want input parity with Steam Deck, it’s going to be a great experience.
There will also certainly be community developed drivers in a few months so you can use it outside of Steam.
There will also certainly be community developed drivers in a few months so you can use it outside of Steam.
Very likely. Kind of odd that they don’t come with this functionality by default, since even PS5 controllers worked with PC at launch.
I love Steam hardware, but yes, it’s close to unacceptable that it doesn’t default to like xinput or whatever.
“If you don’t need trackpads or touch sensitive sticks, there are better options out there.”
Not challenging this, more a market research, what would be those alternatives?
I play most my games via Steam Linux PC. What would be a better plug and play option to the new Steam Controller?
I’m not too familiar with the current controller market. 8bitdo has a good reputation, for example. But basically every controller out there works plug and play with Steam, even Nintendo ones.
Me, seeing what they did to the steam controller:
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MAH BOY?!
Holy fuck that controller looks oversized and awkward. I get what they’re going for, but fuck that looks like it would be a pin in the ass (wrist) to hold onto and to effectively use the face buttons, thumb sticks and touch pads without hitting something else.
I’m gonna stick with my gen1 controller for a good bit, at least until there are a good amount of user reviews.
i think it’s exactly the same size and layout as the steam deck, no? that thing is hella comfortable to hold.
Similar, but not the same. I had to double check against my deck, but the touch pads look noticeably larger, and the orientations are different, but that could be for the different ergonomics of the contriller.
Like I said, I’m gonna wait for reviews cuz it could be good, and valve has a good track record and I might have been reacting to some small handed model showing it off, idk. Just from the image it looks kinda bulky and awkward as a controller, but I’ll be happy to be wrong.
could be that the touch pads are the same size and everything else is smaller.
there are a lot of reviews already and most of them seem disappointed. which is weird because the price seems te be the main sticking point.
there are a lot of reviews already and most of them seem disappointed
Damn, I just found out about the controller today, I didn’t realize it was already going out. I’ll have to check out the reviews when I have a bit of time, but I may be holding out on my gen1 for a good while.
Here’s hoping the console/VR products they’ve got coming are more impressive.
i’m probably still gonna get one or two of these, because i want to play on a bigger screen with deck-like controls.
it’s been known for many years now that the new controller would have basically nothing to do with the old one. it had too many compromises.
Reviews are already out. At least reviewer reviews. The touchpads are slightly bigger.
Like I said, I’m gonna wait for reviews
There’s been reviews out all week
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I have a deck, and I would argue that it isn’t comfortable to hold for super long. I’d play it a lot more if my wrists didn’t ache after a 20-30 minute session.
The steam deck is like a foot wide so the vertical grips are comfortable with that. The vertical grips of the controller that’s 5”(?) wide doesn’t seem as great.
I’m pretty sure multiple Valve employees held many iterations before finalizing this. No controller fits every hand though and that’s okay.
Nah this is painful to use unless I have my arms almost fully extended. And I’m not even that big of a person.
Much like the OG controller, ergonomics are not valve’s forte.
Genuine question: Do you prefer smaller sized mice?
… You may just actually have small hands.
For reference I’m 7.5 inches from thumbpad/root to index finger, arguably on the cusp between how mice are often sized as small vs medium… and I can handle the chonker that is the Steam Deck just fine.
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Huh.
Get a grip trainer?
Not sure how grip training improves wrists, but I already have a number of wrist specific exercises I do semi-regularly to help with the issue.
Indirectly. It helps keep all the associated muscles in good shape. Kind of like not skipping leg day, or not skipping core day. Doesn’t matter how buff your biceps are if that’s all that’s built.
That being said, you may well already be doing a superb set of wrist and hand exercises, the explanation isn’t directed at what you are or aren’t doing, just talking about the usefulness of grip strength improvement. 9/10, if you’re already doing specific exercises, you’re also likely doing stuff that fills the same role.
My OG Steam controller is still kicking.
I use it in desktop mode more than anything these daysRequiring Steam to be able to use the controller as a functional kit is a…well it is a decision. I’m not a controller person so it wasn’t ever on my radar at all, but I’m not a fan of that part of it.
You need drivers. They run in the background. What’s the dif?
You’ll shit bricks when you learn about
dinput8.dll.
