Valve's Newest Controller Design Looks Solid

I have *never* used a controller on PC, so this will be interesting ;) I plan on buying this when it comes out, so I can emulate mouse and keyboard. Especially for things like Skyrim in Wine, where even if it has controller support, you need to emulate ;)

*insert 'shut up and take my money' pic here*

What do you think?

I want to see a retail price, and I want to know when I can get it. Can I just plug it in to any ol' linux PC, or will it only work (out of the box) with a steam machine?

But generally speaking, I like what I'm seeing. As long as the price-point on the controller (and the machine) aren't too painful I plan on getting both. (that is, a steam machine for the living room, and an additional controller for my PC in the office)

I think adding an analog stick was very bad decision. They should just replace that one with a D-pad as they had it before. I mean either the (left) touch area is superior to the analog stick in which case you don't need one or it isn't and I will use my Dual Shock 4 (which works with Linux out of the box when plugged in) since I much prefer to symmetric sticks. Well, we'll see maybe my intuition is wrong but currently I'm much less impressed compared to the first two iterations of its design.

NOT a controller user; you can pry my keyboard and mouse from my cold, dead fingers.:D

Not that I won't look at the Steam controller; it may be just what I do need. Besides, Gabe Newell still needs some Linux love.

Yeah, I'm wondering what they've done to the left pad too. Looks pretty interesting. Wish they would just release it now, it's holding everything up. I really wish they had waited a bit or been a bit more strict with the OEMs considering there's already two "Steam Machines" out there on sale running Windows. If this doesn't quite go as planned, then I think that will play a big part.

Fingers crossed though that it's a huge success. I'm getting the controller either way.

I think adding an analog stick was very bad decision. They should just replace that one with a D-pad as they had it before. I mean either the (left) touch area is superior to the analog stick in which case you don't need one or it isn't and I will use my Dual Shock 4 (which works with Linux out of the box when plugged in) since I much prefer to symmetric sticks. Well, we'll see maybe my intuition is wrong but currently I'm much less impressed compared to the first two iterations of its design.

I do agree with that the analog stick is kind good and bad but id rather not have it but I understand why they did it, im guessing that it has allot to do with that many games are made to work great with the xbox 360 controller and they want to fill that and do something different at the same time that sets the valve controller apart from the rest.

If you are supposed to use the controller in the couch where is the 3,5 mm jack for the headset? I think allot of people that are coming over from the console side of things are going to expect something to fill that void without too much hazzle.

I think adding an analog stick was very bad decision. They should just replace that one with a D-pad as they had it before. I mean either the (left) touch area is superior to the analog stick in which case you don't need one or it isn't and I will use my Dual Shock 4 (which works with Linux out of the box when plugged in) since I much prefer to symmetric sticks. Well, we'll see maybe my intuition is wrong but currently I'm much less impressed compared to the first two iterations of its design.

QFT. Fighting games do *not* work with analog sticks, and I have my doubts they'll work with touchpads either. Not to say I won't be getting the controller, but I *really* want that analog stick dropped and the four-button d-pad added back on.

What do you think?

I want to see a retail price, and I want to know when I can get it. Can I just plug it in to any ol' linux PC, or will it only work (out of the box) with a steam machine?

But generally speaking, I like what I'm seeing. As long as the price-point on the controller (and the machine) aren't too painful I plan on getting both. (that is, a steam machine for the living room, and an additional controller for my PC in the office)

Assuming you run on an recent(-ish) kernel, it should work OOTB on any Linux distribution.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTU4OTM

> Not ABC/XYZ

Nope. Don't need it :}

EDIT: BTW, you really should display more comments per page…

Really pleased that they added that analogue thumb stick. Driving games would have been a nightmare without one.

I guess we just need a driving game to launch now! :)

I completely agree with micha and valczir, I think adding the analog stick would be a mistake. It's just as bad an idea as it was including a d-pad on analog stick controllers (especially the horrible one on the Xbox360 controller). It only serves to ease people into the new control method, after that it's only used as extra buttons, so just make it proper buttons to begin with. The previous double button diamonds layout also had the benefit they mentioned that the controller would be symmetric and the bindings could therefore be mirrored. <- Which is a much better selling point than that "it has an analog stick..."

I've been a console gamer ever since I switched to Linux, so when Steam finally came out for Linux I was back on PC but I have been playing with my Xbox360 controller. But it is annoying that some games require a different set of options with the xboxdrv to properly detect the controller(s). So as long as the Steam controller just works without all that kind of hassle, I will most likely buy one regardless of the stick, but I would prefer that it was without.

...shouldn't we start a petition or something, to pleed them to remove the stick?
...I feel that we should at least try to do something about it... :P

JUST RELEASE V1 ALREADY! With "steam machines" already coming out sporting windows for the OS and coming with a 360 controller valve has already gimped their glorious Linux based steam machine dreams at best if they have not completely made it DOA. With Linux still struggling in the available games (that sell consoles) department it is going to be very hard to sell a Linux based steam machine that WILL be sitting right next to the windows based ones on the store shelves.. no matter what controller it comes with.

They should have put more time/$$ into getting/helping studios to bring "console selling games" to Linux rather than bothering with trying to come up with a one off controller for it. They could have sold it with a 360 controller (or DS3 if the MS hate runs that deep) and already had 1st gen steam machines out there hopefully gaining traction while working with manufacturers on 2nd gen machines all while working on their controller still.

As much as I hate to say it.. I'm going to ROFLMAO when EVERYONE hates the controller. The "reviews" from hands on experiences that I have read have not been kind.

Need another controller and have been holding out on buying another PS4 one...not sure how much longer I can wait. ;-)

Really pleased that they added that analogue thumb stick. Driving games would have been a nightmare without one.

I guess we just need a driving game to launch now! :)

I haven't actually used a Steam controller, but I'd imagine the track pads would be awesome at emulating a steering wheel, and be way better than an analog stick.

My bet:
Those are grooves or ridges in the rubber of the left pad where the horizontal/vertical dead zone is, so you can easily move your finger in either a horizontal or vertical direction without affecting the other one. The right pad will probably still have the concentric ring ridges to help you locate center and border, but the left one will have a cross instead of a circle.


Fighting games do *not* work with analog sticks, and I have my doubts they'll work with touchpads either.

I thought the same till I saw some of the videos on youtube.
View video on youtube.com

I though the same till I was some of the videos on youtube.

Maybe it is just me but it looks like he was kind of struggling. His whole execution seemed pretty slow for this game. Would be interesting to see someone use the steam controller against someone with a "traditional" controller.

I'm reserving final judgement on the touchpads until I can get my hands on one and try it.. but I KNOW that I can't play games on mobile with onscreen "touchpads" worth a crap and that is all I can think about when I look at this controller. I remember watching a video from some event/show with random people trying to use it and pretty much everyone was having trouble with it.

If only they would release it... I'd buy the controller immediately.
As strange as it sounds, I have never gotten my Logitech Chillstream controller properly working in linux. (manjaro xfce, ubuntu, mint, kubuntu) It uses the same xbox drivers as the original xbox controller. Always there is either incorrect mapping (which can be forced to be replaced via cli) or the games have just freaked out and remapped the controller to hell, making it unusable. I just hope that when this hits the market, the linux support would be 1st class for the controller.

I'm just happy they have decided to go for a total of three triggers/shoulder buttons on each side. Many types of games need those buttons.