I never understood why Steam didn’t just make a variant of the original Steam controller that just had the classical button layout without touchpads. I liked the touchpad version for some games but it’s really clunky to use for stuff I’m otherwise used to have sticks for. I really like the Steam controller’s grip.
I would’ve loved the same controller with an Xbox layout or something or even interchangeable parts/layouts. Although that would probably drive up the price a ton.
Why would they bother making an xbox layout when they’ve already gone through the effort of making the xbox controllers compatible with games? What advantage would that have over just using an actual xbox controller or one of the numerous generics?
Same could be said for lots of other party controllers that are essentially the same.
Like I have a 8Bitdo Ultimate BT controller, it’s essentially an Xbox controller, but it comes with a charging dock and is also compatible with the Switch. It also has hall effect sticks and motion control (for Switch). I preferred the Steam controller’s grip over the Xbox controller, on top of the Steam controller having back pedal buttons as well. Plus it comes with a dongle, which has to be bought seperately for the Xbox controller unless you use Bluetooth.
So there are plenty of things that could be done different, ranging from different features to better build quality.
Touchpad is significantly better for certain games, so it would be a shame to lose it. I hope they just copy what they did with the steam deck, best of both worlds.
For me, the biggest strength of the steam controller was using the right trackpad for FPS-style games… basically a virtual trackball mouse. Once you got used to it it’s incredibly responsive and a huge upgrade on a joystick.
I never managed to get my deck to work like that. The trackpads are just too small and don’t seem as responsive somehow? Granted, I do have quite large hands
Agreed the track pads are far more than a pointing device. Creating virtual onscreen menus with mode shift was a Game changer. It needs to fully support steam input. I don’t need to relearn my controls becase I’m going from portable to docked mode.
I personally would have loved it if they’d actually carried through with physically swappable components. While the touchpads are awesome for games that don’t have normal gamepad support or require faster turn speeds, they just don’t have the same feel as a physical analog stick for the games that do support it.
Honestly, I wanted to ditch the left trackpad for a D-pad and a couple more buttons on the back, but that’s all I really wanted. I found myself playing more FPS titles with the Steam Controller than with K+M because the trackball mouse feature worked very well for quick coarse camera movements and gyro aiming improved my fine camera movements for lining up shots.
I never understood why Steam didn’t just make a variant of the original Steam controller that just had the classical button layout without touchpads. I liked the touchpad version for some games but it’s really clunky to use for stuff I’m otherwise used to have sticks for. I really like the Steam controller’s grip.
I would’ve loved the same controller with an Xbox layout or something or even interchangeable parts/layouts. Although that would probably drive up the price a ton.
Why would they bother making an xbox layout when they’ve already gone through the effort of making the xbox controllers compatible with games? What advantage would that have over just using an actual xbox controller or one of the numerous generics?
Same could be said for lots of other party controllers that are essentially the same.
Like I have a 8Bitdo Ultimate BT controller, it’s essentially an Xbox controller, but it comes with a charging dock and is also compatible with the Switch. It also has hall effect sticks and motion control (for Switch). I preferred the Steam controller’s grip over the Xbox controller, on top of the Steam controller having back pedal buttons as well. Plus it comes with a dongle, which has to be bought seperately for the Xbox controller unless you use Bluetooth.
So there are plenty of things that could be done different, ranging from different features to better build quality.
Touchpad is significantly better for certain games, so it would be a shame to lose it. I hope they just copy what they did with the steam deck, best of both worlds.
For me, the biggest strength of the steam controller was using the right trackpad for FPS-style games… basically a virtual trackball mouse. Once you got used to it it’s incredibly responsive and a huge upgrade on a joystick.
I never managed to get my deck to work like that. The trackpads are just too small and don’t seem as responsive somehow? Granted, I do have quite large hands
Agreed the track pads are far more than a pointing device. Creating virtual onscreen menus with mode shift was a Game changer. It needs to fully support steam input. I don’t need to relearn my controls becase I’m going from portable to docked mode.
The Steam controller is amazing for Elden Ring and similar games. It makes the camera so much easier to deal with.
So basically just the Xbox controller?
I personally would have loved it if they’d actually carried through with physically swappable components. While the touchpads are awesome for games that don’t have normal gamepad support or require faster turn speeds, they just don’t have the same feel as a physical analog stick for the games that do support it.
Touchpad is great for turns. Example here of 180 turn demo with my Steam Controller. And I use that with gyro to play games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, Spin Rhythm XD, The Finals, etc without aim assist.
Honestly, I wanted to ditch the left trackpad for a D-pad and a couple more buttons on the back, but that’s all I really wanted. I found myself playing more FPS titles with the Steam Controller than with K+M because the trackball mouse feature worked very well for quick coarse camera movements and gyro aiming improved my fine camera movements for lining up shots.
I’d be sad to lose the left track pad since I use it for movement in games like Dying Light and Finals.