Quoting: tarmo888

Quoting: FutureSuture

Quoting: tarmo888

Quoting: FutureSutureThere are plenty of gamepads but none quite like the Steam Controller which actually has a cult following meaning that some people did want it. It is a shame that many more chose more expensive gamepads with less functionality, worse battery life, and more stick drift.

Missing essentials and then claiming that others have less functionality is a weird hill to take a position on. Stick drift is non-issue for hall effect joysticks and touchpads don't replace joysticks. Cult following often have unreasonable affection for weird things, yet weird controllers most often fail. The best part of Steam Controller was its customization, which was later added to all controllers thanks to SteamInput.

Missing essentials like what? Another vestigial stick that would also get stick drift? Now that is a weird hill to take a position on, particularly when the Steam Controller has plenty of features compared to the console controllers while costing less to boot. That is not even debatable. The touch pads alone offer a plethora of options simply not possible on those other controllers.

Stick drift is not an issue for Hall effect sticks which are another solution, yes, but do Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft offer those on their controllers? No. Not even their incredibly expensive premium controllers do. The Elite Series had stick drift so Microsoft decided to release the Elite Series 2 which costs even more while also boasting stick drift. Sony even turned stick drift into a business by selling replacement sticks for the very expensive DualSense Edge instead of simply having it use Hall effect sticks from the start for its outrageous price. Hall effect sticks have been around for decades yet barely any controller manufacturers and no console manufacturers want to use them. Heck, I believe the Dreamcast controller used a Hall effect stick decades ago but that did not catch on which is unfortunate. Touch pads definitely do replace and most assuredly surpass sticks considering the stick drift epidemic and how much more versatile they are. I would not be surprised if more controllers out there in the hands of consumers used touch pads rather than Hall effect sticks.

An unreasonable affection for weird things is rather dismissive considering the facts. Like I said, it is a shame that many more chose more expensive gamepads with less functionality, worse battery life, and more stick drift, but to each their own. I find reports of stick drift practically every single day in the circles I frequent and just wonder how many of these people actively and perhaps even vulgarly shunned the Steam Controller for its touch pads. Would it be appropriate to say that these people shot themselves in the foot?

Yes, the customisation is excellent, but it was not exactly added to all controllers later thanks to Steam Input when said controllers miss basic features like, and let's ignore the phenomenal touch pads for a moment, back buttons. Kind of ironic since you started your comment by saying that the Steam Controller is missing features. Like I implied earlier, the Steam Controller is a monster considering the price it launched at, offering features normally seen in premium controllers.

LOL, you mean those back buttons that they got sued for. Back buttons are not essential, they are nice to have. 2 joysticks are essential. Only Nintendo can challenge what is essential and even they make mistakes.

Valve learned an expensive lesson from that, so Steam Deck didn't remove anything essential, just added more nice to haves. They probably could have done only 1 touchpad, but that would have looked weird. Most people really don't like weird gamepads.

Even Steam Deck has those shitty joysticks that will eventually drift, they come with huge dead-zone from start. I don't think Steam Controller had hall effect sensors either.

There could be many reasons why other gamepad makers don't use hall effect sensors for joysticks:
* Other companies have patents, which means extra cost.
* It doesn't play well when your gamepad already has hall effect sensors in triggers.
* Stick drift isn't that bad issue for large enough group of people, who played long enough to buy a new one.
* Easy remedy for early stick drift is to add little more deadzone.

Indeed, those back buttons. Even people who do not like the Steam Controller thought that was pretty shady. At this point, I find them essential and it is quite sad that the three console manufacturers have not standardised them for their controllers yet. At least they can slap them on premium controllers and charge more, though. Two sticks are not essential for me. Heck, not even one is essential. The Steam Controller's touch pads have completely obsoleted them for me. When a technology is much more versatile plus does not suffer from a common issue the other technology suffers from, it is not even a contest for me any longer.

I would use sticks again if they were Hall effect sticks, thus guaranteeing that they would not drift, but touch pads would still be my preferred input method. If a controller has two touch pads and two Hall effect sticks, I would have trouble figuring out what to use the latter for. More options are always good, though.

Those could all be reasons for the lack of Hall effect sticks on modern controllers. Truly unfortunate and disappointing. All three console manufacturers have been sued over stick drift, however, so I hope that opened some eyes.

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Quoting: tarmo888

Quoting: FutureSutureThere are plenty of gamepads but none quite like the Steam Controller which actually has a cult following meaning that some people did want it. It is a shame that many more chose more expensive gamepads with less functionality, worse battery life, and more stick drift.

Missing essentials and then claiming that others have less functionality is a weird hill to take a position on. Stick drift is non-issue for hall effect joysticks and touchpads don't replace joysticks. Cult following often have unreasonable affection for weird things, yet weird controllers most often fail. The best part of Steam Controller was its customization, which was later added to all controllers thanks to SteamInput.

Missing essentials like what? Another vestigial stick that would also get stick drift? Now that is a weird hill to take a position on, particularly when the Steam Controller has plenty of features compared to the console controllers while costing less to boot. That is not even debatable. The touch pads alone offer a plethora of options simply not possible on those other controllers.

Stick drift is not an issue for Hall effect sticks which are another solution, yes, but do Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft offer those on their controllers? No. Not even their incredibly expensive premium controllers do. The Elite Series had stick drift so Microsoft decided to release the Elite Series 2 which costs even more while also boasting stick drift. Sony even turned stick drift into a business by selling replacement sticks for the very expensive DualSense Edge instead of simply having it use Hall effect sticks from the start for its outrageous price. Hall effect sticks have been around for decades yet barely any controller manufacturers and no console manufacturers want to use them. Heck, I believe the Dreamcast controller used a Hall effect stick decades ago but that did not catch on which is unfortunate. Touch pads definitely do replace and most assuredly surpass sticks considering the stick drift epidemic and how much more versatile they are. I would not be surprised if more controllers out there in the hands of consumers used touch pads rather than Hall effect sticks.

An unreasonable affection for weird things is rather dismissive considering the facts. Like I said, it is a shame that many more chose more expensive gamepads with less functionality, worse battery life, and more stick drift, but to each their own. I find reports of stick drift practically every single day in the circles I frequent and just wonder how many of these people actively and perhaps even vulgarly shunned the Steam Controller for its touch pads. Would it be appropriate to say that these people shot themselves in the foot?

Yes, the customisation is excellent, but it was not exactly added to all controllers later thanks to Steam Input when said controllers miss basic features like, and let's ignore the phenomenal touch pads for a moment, back buttons. Kind of ironic since you started your comment by saying that the Steam Controller is missing features. Like I implied earlier, the Steam Controller is a monster considering the price it launched at, offering features normally seen in premium controllers.

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Quoting: Lofty

Quoting: tuubiI prefer to play using a gamepad these days. My sofa/TV gaming setup makes keyboard and mouse gaming a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

This is why we need a Steam Controller 2.

I concur wholeheartedly.

Quoting: tarmo888

Quoting: LoftyThis is why we need a Steam Controller 2. Then you have the best of both worlds. If they released a Steam controller that was essentially a steam deck with no GPU/CPU/RAM/HDD/FAN etc.. but just the light weight shell + touch screen for keyboard with the exact or similar layout, maybe with replaced the right touch pad with a few physical WASD buttons and give everything PROPER rumble rather than the angry fly trapped inside the controller haptics. That would mean you could fully 'PC' from the couch in comfort.

Do we really need another gamepad? There are plenty of gamepads out there already, Valve already tried and people didn't want it. There is absolutely no need for some weird ones with WASD layout when D-pad already exists and Steam Client let's you reconfigure everything.

There are plenty of gamepads but none quite like the Steam Controller which actually has a cult following meaning that some people did want it. It is a shame that many more chose more expensive gamepads with less functionality, worse battery life, and more stick drift.

Quoting: Lofty

Quoting: tarmo888Valve already tried and people didn't want it. There is absolutely no need for some weird ones with WASD layout when D-pad already exists and Steam Client let's you reconfigure everything.

The WASD is just an idea, the right trackpad is just kind of there and not typically used much. it's not something it absolutely needs i agree, in fact Some of the new handhelds offer a switch to make the dpad WASD.

I use both touch pads extensively and cannot go back to sticks. The former are just much more versatile and also do not suffer from stick drift which every console manufacturer has experienced with their gamepads.

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Quoting: Cyril

Quoting: FutureSutureI look forward to Demon's Souls and Bloodborne in the future.

Quoting: HelmetI got excited. I was hoping for the Good Old Games in both those series.

I'm seriously wondering what you think... Because at my knowledge none of these games have PC ports... It's just a completely different thing than just release an existing version on a DRM-Free store.
I don't think that will happen at all.

Until relatively recently, nobody ever thought these games would come to PC, yet now they are not only on Steam but GOG too. I do not see why you think what I said is farfetched.

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I look forward to Demon's Souls and Bloodborne in the future.

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Considering how some call Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 5 a demake, Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3 is readily available.

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Quoting: MohandevirImo, the best controller I ever used and I still have a computer that I game on.

I concur completely. Two touch pads that won't drift in a day and age where all three console manufacturers have been sued over stick drift are invaluable. From Nintendo's Joy-Cons to Sony's DualSense to Microsoft's Elite Series 2, all have been involved in stick drift lawsuits. In Sony's case, they raised the price by 20$ and it drifts. In Microsoft's case, they sold it for close to 200$ and it drifts. How can one justify this?

Apart from the two excellent touch pads, the Steam Controller boasted dual stage triggers, back buttons that were not tied to another input on the controller, and a battery life of at least 80 hours although I have gotten over 100 hours. No other controller on the market compares in terms of battery life. The price was incredible too, considering how other controllers cost far more despite not having all these features.

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Quoting: denyasis

Quoting: detroutWas it patent trolls that took the steam controller off the market, and not poor sales?

Sales would be my guess, combined with mixed reviews and poor support.

Support in what sense? The beauty of the Steam Controller is that it did not need support from any company but Valve.

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Quoting: detroutWas it patent trolls that took the steam controller off the market, and not poor sales?

Likely a mixture of both. Very unfortunate. It is an excellent controller. Far ahead of its time.

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It has been 20 days since the update released. It still isn't on GOG.

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