The original controller is pretty awesome. It was also really really cheap. I love them because it’s the only controller for playing games that were not designed for a controller.
Comment on My quest to get a steam controller has failed
gmtom@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I genuinely don’t understand the hype beyond valve fanboyism. They already released a steam controller years ago and it was actually terrible, like there’s a reason no one else has even bothered to try and copy the track pad controller gimmick, because it’s just bad.
Afaithfulnihilist@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 days ago
early_riser@lemmy.world 6 days ago
The original controller was like a concept car, lots of new ideas but not every one was guaranteed to stick. Plenty of them did stick though, like grip buttons and gyro control. The new controller is a more conservative iteration that takes what worked and drops what didn’t while acknowledging why the industry converged on the standard button layout all the way back in the late 90s. That’s exactly the sort of innovation I want to see.
gmtom@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Gyro control is still just a gimmick, but grip buttons are decent I guess.
But it’s still combining a controller and a kbm and ending up being worse than either one individually. And there’s only a very limited niche where a steam controller could be better than either on its own.
entwine@programming.dev 6 days ago
Not sure if you’re trolling, or have been living under a rock. This new controller is the same as the Steam Deck layout, which has been extremely successful and well received.
D_C@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
The original controller was great for its innovation. Especially when you got used to it all.
However, the build quality was very lacklustre. The back paddle on mine died in about 200 hours of gaming. After I fixed that the shoulder button went after another 100 or so hours. Fixed that. But within about 500 hours it was totally dead.
Whereas the 2nd hand ds4 I got from eBay that I fitted with my custom made back paddles gave me 2000 hours of rocket league before I had to do any tinkering.
I did over 4000 hours of RL in total and only had to replace the left thumbstick and put o rings over the shoulder button internals.Do I want the new steam controller, yes. Would I buy one, no.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 6 days ago
The lack of twin thumbsticks are what killed the original.
This one is better, but aside from better trackpad placement, it doesn’t offer a lot above the PS5 controller, which a lot of people already have.
Still, they sold out, so mission successful I suppose. I’ve no doubt the same thing will happen when I try and get a Steam Frame.
jacksilver@lemmy.world 6 days ago
The main failure of the original controller was the lack of two thumbsticks (just like the PSP). While the track pads made a lot of PC games playable with a controller some games were worse with one thumbstick.
This controller fixes my main compliant, has a dedicated d-pad, and what looks like better track pads. So it’ll be perfect for playing around 90% of games with one controller.
AeonFelis@lemmy.world 6 days ago
This. The original Steam Controller did not meet the de-facto standard baseline for controller layout established by the first DualShock[^1] that games have learned to expect and build their control schemes around.
[^1]: Ignoring the analog button - which is not part of that “standard” because the software does not even need to acknowledge its existence - and the vibrations (which many controllers have, but are not required for input to work)
The Steam Controller 2 does have everything in that layout. It’s modeled after the Deck’s layout, which is quite good.