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[Maniac]

Damnit, did they remove the 'rings' from the pads? I loved those on the prototype T_T

Damn you, Valve!. They were really great for making sure you never slipped off or were unsure of your placement on them.

Oh well. Lots of the changes look great, so atleast there's that. Also really glad to hear it gets detected as a keyboard and mouse. Legacy mode gets me all tingly.

 

[KCroxtonJr]

wow....why the hell is there a analogue stick where there should be a d-pad.

 

[……forgetit]

wow....why the hell is there a analogue stick where there should be a d-pad.

Cause 3D movement, that's why.

 

[Grief.exe]

wow....why the hell is there a analogue stick where there should be a d-pad.

Broken record again, but the haptic touchpad performs as a DPAD, so putting another one on the left side would be completely redundant.

 

[Sendou]

Besides who even uses a d-pad in 2015. Can't think of any game I would use it over a stick (or I guess a touchpad depending on how they feel). Stick is just way more comfortable to use.

 

[3DShovel]

Looks interesting. I'll likely pick one up.

 

[Seanspeed]

Besides who even uses a d-pad in 2015. Can't think of any game I would use it over a stick (or I guess a touchpad depending on how they feel). Stick is just way more comfortable to use.

Fighting games and 2D platformers are the big genres that really make good use of a D-pad.

 

[alexandros]

Man, I would love to have one to play around with right now.

 

[Sendou]

Fighting games and 2D platformers are the big genres that really make good use of a D-pad.

I don't play fighters but I can't play 2D platformers with a D-pad anymore.

Man, I would love to have one to play around with right now.

Me too. In the end it's irrevelant how good or bad a controller looks. All that matters is how well it accomplishes what its set out to do.

 

[Astral/H3X]

I don't play fighters but I can't play 2D platformers with a D-pad anymore.



Me too. In the end it's irrevelant how good or bad a controller looks. All that matters is how well it accomplishes what its set out to do.

Are your hands broken? How can you stand to play a 2D game with a stick?

 

[ashecitism]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/4/8150653/valve-steam-controller-vive-vr-gdc-2015

For any game that supports a gamepad, there's not much reason to use the Steam Controller instead of just plugging in an Xbox or PlayStation peripheral. The trackpad can give you more fine-grained control, but it's not an inherently better system, and the giant trackpads mean that your face buttons are stuck awkwardly at the bottom of the controller. I tried a few minutes of Shadow of Mordor, The Talos Principle, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and I'd rather have had a traditional controller for all of them.

Instead, its strength is in its versatility. Valve had precisely one non-controller game on display, and it was late-'90s shooter System Shock 2, which has a particularly weird mouse-and-keyboard interface; it's the kind of game where you equip a weapon by hitting one of a half-dozen hotkeys or physically dragging it onto your character. And, surprisingly, it was pretty decent. The right trackpad worked precisely as a mouse, and Valve has designed an impressively customizable control-mapping system; not only can you change the binding of any pad or button, you can control things like trackpad sensitivity, vibration intensity, and the inertia of a finger swipe. Valve will let you share custom binding systems, which solves a lot of the setup problems for any game with a substantive fan base.

 

[AJLma]

The initial complaints all sound like things that will go away once you've put a few dozen hours into the controller.

 

[Mechazawa]

I really, really wish they didn't have those d-pad grooves on the left trackpad. If you want to use a mouse based game, you either have to put up with the texture of the dpad on the left trackpad or you have to use the right trackpad, but be more or less be locked out from using the buttons.

 

[Shai-Tan]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/4/8150653/valve-steam-controller-vive-vr-gdc-2015

I'm surprised they were showing it with shadow of mordor as that's a type of game that fits regular dual analog. Superior mouselook isn't that big a deal in that kind of game. I am surprised that person said they would rather use a traditional gamepad for cs go but then I'm the type of person who finds shooters on gamepad painful. The test for me is if it's sufficiently better than dual analog as a person who prefers mouse/kb. Keeping in mind these are impressions after only a few minutes.

 

[EVIL]

The initial complaints all sound like things that will go away once you've put a few dozen hours into the controller.

Which is the same for when you first pick up a controller with thumb-sticks. I remember finding it super weird using the 360 controller for the first time, so I am honestly not very worried. Also good choice for valve to add a single thumb-stick on there to familiarize controller players. Pretty sure after playing UT or whatever with it for a few days you get used to it pretty fast and people will stop using the thumb-stick.

 

[Shai-Tan]

Which is the same for when you first pick up a controller with thumb-sticks. I remember finding it super weird using the 360 controller for the first time, so I am honestly not very worried. Also good choice for valve to add a single thumb-stick on there to familiarize controller players. Pretty sure after playing UT or whatever with it for a few days you get used to it pretty fast and people will stop using the thumb-stick.

For movement analog isn't even that bad imo. It really comes down to how good the trackpad is as a mouse substitute (I don't expect to be awesome at battlefield 4 with it so there are degrees of good obviously)

 

[Rogue_Ledr]

Why not just put two regular thumbsticks on there? There is room!

 

[Nzyme32]

The impressions are not good enough for me. Most are saying they are limited to 10 minutes, but have the issue that they haven't got used to it, coming from a controller with button placement in that of the pads - they need more time to really describe to us if they can adjust at all, and then whether the controller is actually beneficial once used to it.

It's good to know it's comfortable and works well in legacy mode - something I'll use often. Any complaint's on the position of the pad vs the buttons, I don't agree with when it is a 10min stint and with people accustomed to the Xbox or PS4 layout. What would be beneficial is getting the Wii/WiiU controller folks to chime in. Plenty of people can clearly handle that layout of buttons. If they have an issue with the layout when it is one they are well versed with, I'm more inclined to agree.

 

[ashecitism]

Verge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqXn5DNN21w

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Why not just put two regular thumbsticks on there? There is room!

Because that's not the point of the controller....

 

[MrFrankFontaine]

As my PC is in my office, looking forward to this and steam link as it will mean PC gaming in my living room. Can't wait!

 

[out0v0rder]

that description of how it works with system shock 2 sounds like what this controller was made for. j

games that are frustrating to program with joy2key. sign me up.

 

[SpotAnime]

I just want a nice Steam controller so I can play The Dig and Fate of Atlantis in Big Picture mode.

 

[viveks86]

The trackpad design is too disruptive for people to post impressions based on 10 minutes with it. Will need to wait for extended play sessions.

 

[cackhyena]

Because that's not the point of the controller....

Didn't the original lack even one?

 

[scitek]

Apparently, the reviewer has never played with the Wii U Pro controller, huh? There the positions of the sticks and face buttons are also switched and I've never heard any complaints about that.

Since I use the Pro Controller as my default PC-gaming controller, I wonder if I'll have an easier time adapting to the Steam Controller.

I really, really wish they didn't have those d-pad grooves on the left trackpad. If you want to use a mouse based game, you either have to put up with the texture of the dpad on the left trackpad or you have to use the right trackpad, but be more or less be locked out from using the buttons.

I assume those grooves go a long way toward helping you know which direction you're pressing without having to look down or hope for the best.

 

[SigSig]

The coolest thing about the steam controller is how it works on the low level. It's not emulating a keyboard and mouse, it is a keyboard and mouse. As in, it gets recognized as such in it's default legacy mode. When you reconfigure these controllers in Steam and launch the game, there is no translation software going on, nothing driver level, nothing in between the controller and the game. The secret is in a reflashable firmware on the controller - every time you change the config and launch a game, the controller's firmware is flashed with your configuration. That means it's actually remapping the buttons on the controller itself, not in software.

Where this gets really cool is when you take this thing to a non-PC that isn't running steam: it still works. It's literally a keyboard and mouse. I've used my steam controller on a windows 98 PC - played System Shock 2 with it. I've used it on a playstation. I've used it on my mobile phone. I used it on my dreamcast. You can use it on anything that recognizes a keyboard or mouse, because it is a keyboard and mouse.

Very cool stuff.

Whoa, I didn't know that. I wanted it before, but now I need it.

 

[Sendou]

Didn't the original lack even one?

Indeed. The 300 prototypes send out didn't have any.

 

[ashecitism]

The trackpad design is too disruptive for people to post impressions based on 10 minutes with it. Will need to wait for extended play sessions.

Can we even expect any? Even when gamers get their hands on it? Or did they already? Seeing nothing on twitter.

 

[Branduil]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/4/8150653/valve-steam-controller-vive-vr-gdc-2015

The trackpad can give you more fine-grained control, but it's not an inherently better system

Uh...

 

[cackhyena]

Indeed. The 300 prototypes send out didn't have any.

Which begs the question from me of what he even means by "that's not the point of the controller". I get it's supposed to be different. Nothing wrong with a configuration that allows having it both ways.

 

[Sendou]

Which begs the question from me of what he even means by "that's not the point of the controller". I get it's supposed to be different. Nothing wrong with a configuration that allows having it both ways.

I don't see how you would be able to fit anything else on the controller.

 

[KCroxtonJr]

Broken record again, but the haptic touchpad performs as a DPAD, so putting another one on the left side would be completely redundant.

And the touchpad offers 3d movement just like the stick, so how is that any less redundant.

 

[pixlexic]

And the touchpad offers 3d movement just like the stick, so how is that any less redundant.

its not like the stick at all. its like a touch pad. :/

 

[Sendou]

And the touchpad offers 3d movement just like the stick, so how is that any less redundant.

Here:

First up, he admitted that adjusting to the radical dual trackpads of the Steam controller is the biggest problem new users have. While he (and pretty much everyone else at Valve) swear that the dual trackpads are absolutely necessary, and that they really do make all the difference, it's not as easy to convince people who've never used them.

The machinist said that the new prototype's analog stick was tied to movement, in order to "ease new players in" to using the two trackpads, by starting them off using just one for aiming. While he said that the prototype had been successful, and that players were eventually able to transition to the dual trackpad layout, its big disadvantage that the controller's d-pad had to be cut to make room for the stick.

So it is redundant. Also answers the magical question why there isn't a d-pad. They prioritized a stick over it.

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

I'll never play FPSs with a fucking controller. You hear me? NEVER!

 

[KCroxtonJr]

its not like the stick at all. its like a touch pad. :/

I didn't say it was like a stick, i said it offers the same type of input.

 

[Raticus79]

I'll pick one up whenever they're available. The extra inputs will come in handy for space sims. The 360 controller is an axis or two short for that purpose.

 

[jediyoshi]

And the touchpad offers 3d movement just like the stick, so how is that any less redundant.

But it doesn't because it's a pad and not a stick. A stick is limited to a maximum movement speed at its extremes, a pad can be swiped. I'm not sure where the confusion is coming from.

 

[LilJoka]

Looks interesting, anyone know what wireless technology it uses?
I assume itll come with a dongle?

 

[Incitemaybe]

I like new controllers, will probably get one.

 

[KCroxtonJr]

But it doesn't because it's a pad and not a stick. A stick is limited to a maximum movement speed at its extremes, a pad can be swiped. I'm not sure where the confusion is coming from.

I'm not confused at how the things work, or what their reasoning behind it is. I just think it's a stupid decision.

 

[Shai-Tan]

But it doesn't because it's a pad and not a stick. A stick is limited to a maximum movement speed at its extremes, a pad can be swiped. I'm not sure where the confusion is coming from.

Isn't the pad on the left just a wsad substitute? It's just digital buttons isn't it? So it would make sense in all the games where left analog is better than wsad. I'm a bit confused about how it changes with different games.

 

[ashecitism]

not real impressions, just messing around: http://kotaku.com/up-close-with-valves-newest-steam-controller-1689513385

 

[Mechazawa]

I assume those grooves go a long way toward helping you know which direction you're pressing without having to look down or hope for the best.

Sure, but the biggest draw is that trackpad capability, not some psuedo d-pad, so I don't know why that came at the concession of a smooth trackpad.

 

[Sendou]

I'm not confused at how the things work, or what their reasoning behind it is. I just think it's a stupid decision.

It's not really. I don't see how you could fit two sticks and two touchpads on a controller. If you know how then show me a mockup. Adding one stick is something Valve found was useful in their testing and while I don't see why one would be necessary I guess they would have the better information available to make that choice.

 

[Krejlooc]

Isn't the pad on the left just a wsad substitute? It's just digital buttons isn't it?

No, its s touchpad just like the one on the right.

 

[PnCIa]

I would love to use this for consoles as a third party controller, using the trackpads for Halo would be great!

 

[UnrealEck]

Isn't the pad on the left just a wsad substitute? It's just digital buttons isn't it? So it would make sense in all the games where left analog is better than wsad. I'm a bit confused about how it changes with different games.

I think it's a trackpad that's pressable. Essentially a trackpad with directional buttons under it.

 

[KCroxtonJr]

It's not really. I don't see how you could fit two sticks and two touchpads on a controller. If you know how then show me a mockup. Adding one stick is something Valve found was useful in their testing and while I don't see why one would be necessary I guess they would have the better information available to make that choice.

Who said anything about two sticks? lol

Like I said, I'm not confused as to what their reasoning is behind it, I just think it's a stupid decision. People will HAVE to get used to the right trackpad working like the right stick in some games, but then with the left pad they can just decide to fall back to a true left stick?

Not to mention the right pad still clicks in, so they could have just done the same thing and moved abxy onto the pad right? lol, the whole controller itself is just starting to seem redundant to me (slight hyperbole, before anybody freaks out lol).