It’s insane. Seemingly everyone but Sony figured out decades ago it’s a terrible idea, and Valve does it anyway.
At least it has concave sticks, which weren’t on PlayStation until 2013.
Comment on Our first look at the Steam Machine, Valve’s ambitious new game console
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
The controller would’ve been an instant buy for me if it had asymmetric sticks but I’ll wait for it to come out and give it a try before I make a decision.
SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 22 hours ago
witness_me@lemmy.ml 18 hours ago
That’s your preference though. I prefer Sony’s symmetrical sticks. It’s ok to have your preference, no need to state that it’s the objectively better one.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 hours ago
I actually prefer Sony’s symmetrical design, but that’s probably because the PS1 was my first console. That’s the controller I grew up playing, so it’s the one I’m most familiar with using. The Xbox 360 generation definitely tends to prefer asymmetry though, which is really just a matter of preference.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
The Xbox was my first, and I prefer the asymmetric design. However, the controller I use on my PC is a DS4 and it’s fine, and I use it because it had better Linux support at the time.
dukemirage@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
But the DualShock doesn’t have asymmetric sticks?
SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 21 hours ago
Exactly. Sony insists on having symmetrical sticks, even though Xbox figured out asymmetric was better back in 2001. Every third party controller has asymmetric switches. Even Nintendo Pro controllers do. Why did Valve choose the objectively worse solution?
dukemirage@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Now I understand. But how are symmetrical sticks ojectively worse? Valve’s design team built dozens of prototypes for the first controller, they probably did the same for the second one and still opted for symmetrical sticks.
Katana314@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
It’s possible placing the thumb sticks in some slightly different way helps to avoid patent issues.
Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 13 hours ago
I can’t stand asymmetric sticks. The 8bitdo pro2 is the best controller ive found right now, but this new steam controller looks awesome.
tomkatt@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m down to buy it. I have a Steam Deck and it’s very comfortable to hold, other than the weight. This thing is basically the Deck controls without the screen and a bunch of the weight.
Plus, I’ve personally found the gyro, trackpads, and back buttons to be extremely useful for games that don’t have controller support, or for simply easier use of existing buttons (like putting L3/R3 on back buttons). I’m really looking forward to this, looks way better than the 2015 Steam Controller.
Lastly, that charging connector / wireless adapter all-in-one combo is just nice.
My only concern would be haptics. This really needs to have good rumble motors, and not just trackpad haptics like the deck. The pad haptics are good for subtle effects, but near useless for conveying actual heavy vibration, explosions, stuff like that. Sounds like they accounted for this though:
That sounds closer to something like the PS5 DualSense enhanced haptics, and if so, I’m here for it.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 hours ago
Yeah, Sony really nailed the haptics with the PS5 controller. The high-fidelity motors feel nice while still having punch, and the adaptable triggers give a nice satisfying squeeze when game programmers use it properly.
The newer God of War games had a few good examples, with the adaptable triggers getting harder on more “difficult” stuff. If Kratos was using a lot of strength for some quick time event, the triggers got harder to pull. It was a nice touch that helped add immersion and suspense to a game that was already very visceral. When Kratos cleaved into an enemy during a kill animation, feeling the trigger relax afterwards was a nice satisfying capstone to the “you just beat the crap out of this enemy” animation.
LucidNightmare@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 hours ago
No Man’s sky supports the adaptive triggers on PC (Steam) and when they are used, it really does make a little difference! I just always feel like it’s going to break the triggers for some reason. I don’t trust Sony, so that may be why. lol
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
My experience with the Steam Deck and the Index controllers are the only thing keeping me from writing it off my mind all together. I have faith in Valve’s team when it comes to ergonomics so I hope they surprise me.
That said, I hope they improved on the Steam Deck because the face buttons on the Deck are so close to the edge that it’s challenging to do quick presses for games like rhythm games.