It’s not the clearest photo, but it clearly has both 2 thumb sticks and 2 track pads.
I’ve pretty much been asking for a steam deck without a screen, so if this leak is accurate than I for one am fucking STOKED
I hope not. To get to the sticks you’d need giant hands.
Non concave? Square trackpads? Clear preference to analog sticks? This seems like a worse Xbox controller on the surface. Unless the ergonomics are somehow amazing I would be hesitant to buy it (and I own an original steam controller).
This thing looks almost as big as The Duke.
I fear that, just like the Steam Deck’s controller, it won’t be usable without Steam running. IMO by default and without any special “driver” running in the background, the sticks and buttons should just behave like a Xbox controller.
The original Steam controller worked without Steam running, even including some of the extra features like mouse and scrolling functions for the trackpads if you wanted it to. So here’s hoping
It could just be my screen, but that render is hard AF to decipher. Here’s a quick n dirty curves manipulation to get better contrast.
Awww, poor guy looks sad
Those trackpads better have damn good palm reject because getting to those thumbsticks without brushing the trackpads will be impossible for many people.
People were saying that about the steam deck before it came out. Maybe some people have had issues, but anecdotally I’ve literally never heard one complaint about that from someone who actually used the device. The way the joystick is elevated above the pad your palm really shouldn’t touch it
Aside from I don’t think that will actually be an issue, the thumb sticks are likely to have touch sensitivity on top like the steam deck ones have. So they can just disable the TouchPad anytime the thumb stick is being touched.
Again, though. I don’t think it will be an issue with your palms.
Thank you - I couldn’t see the buttons between the track pads before. Does anyone have an idea what that might be?
if its the same as steamdeck, those are the steam and … (status) overlay buttons.
Anyone got a non-xitter copy of this news?
Thank you kind person.
Looks like they want to bring back the DukeI miss the duke
You’re in luck. The Steam Duke is coming our way!
Can someone put some blush marks and eye dots on it?
from xitter:
I shouldn’t quit my day job
There will probably be gamingonlinux/steamdeckhq articles in the morning, but for now this is the only source.
Give us the circle pads back! Just keep making the steam controller actually, with another back paddle, hall effect stick… Damn squares.
Honestly not having a dpad and second thumbstick is a deal breaker for me on the original steam controller, it means that most games with built in controller support don’t work well without switching to a custom or community layout. I think having a “normal” controller layout + trackpads/etc is necessary for the controller to succeed.
Additionally, having this layout means it will match the Steam Deck, which should make all control profiles interchangable.
Square pads are where it’s at until you start playing on a round TV screen. Besides, it’s way easier to set up hockey buttons in a square Touch Pad than a round one.
I was going to say that if you wanted one they’re cheap on eBay, but after checking, they’re $50+
I love my Steam Controller. I still use it majority of the time over my playstation, nintendo, and xbox controllers because of the touchpads.
But, I didn’t like using the touchpads on the Deck because of the size, shape, and orientation making it a regression for maining the touchpads for the games I play. So not surprised by the leak, since Valve would obviously be better off focusing on making the ergonomics better for joystick users than touchpad users. Still let down because it’ll mean for touchpad focused users like me Steam Controller is the only touchpad centric controller on the market with great ergonomics, size with 40mm concave pads, and circular shape for more consistent swipes.
But, it is discontinued and the gyro feels aged compared to the options out there. Will still be using it though from the looks of it for years to come hoping for an eventual dual pad centric controller from some niche group.
Looks good. I just hope they bring back two-stage triggers, as those are missing from the Steam Deck.
What’s a two-stage trigger? Analogue until it’s all the way down, then a click (like the GameCube)?
This is correct, linear trigger with a click at the end very useful in desktop mode to have it slow the mouse movement with a trigger pull and then the trigger click for the mouse click.
You haven’t just been using the TouchPads in desktop mode?
The Deck triggers don’t have a physical switch at the end, but Steam Input does have soft pull and full pull mappings as well as settings to change when and how they activate.
Not quite the same as you have no tactile feed back on when you are about to enter the full pull part.
Oh that’s cool, I’d not even considered using it to control a mouse
I got an 8bitdo controller (ultimate 2C or whatever), and it feels really nice. Except the triggers are not two-stage. And it’s smaller.
I love it. Absolutely buying one.
Makes sense that it would match the inputs on the Steam Deck.
Fantastic. I love my steam controller, I’ll buy the next one in a heartbeat
This seems like a prototype that they can make using the parts from the current deck.
I’m not sure the two square pads make sense on an actual controller, and I feel like those thumbsticks would be just out of comfortable reach.
Looks about the same layout as the steam deck, and it’s great on there. Dunno about the pads not being squared up, though. Dunno that I would like that, even if it would make the pads easier to reach, I still might rather have them squared up.
Or since they are right next to each other, it could be just one big touch surface.
The deck isn’t great, it works for some people, and is still really good for the rest, but the touch pads are pretty awkward for a lot of us. If the new valve controllers ergonomics are equivalent to the deck, it won’t be worth ditching the DS5 for me.
I remember seeing the Steam Deck and thinking “the button placement is really weird, none of this looks comfortable”. Then when I took it in my hands for the first time, everything made sense.
It mostly does.
As someone with big hands, I can’t use the touchpads comfortably without scooting my grip downwards in a way that makes it precarious and less than comfortable.
I have a similar problem with the Index controllers. My thumb is too long to comfortably rest on any of the controls if I grip the grip where you’re supposed to to be able to strap your hand in.
Good economics is supposed to work for everyone, and I’ve yet to try a valve hardware product that fully pulls it off. Maybe the first controller did, but I haven’t tried that one.
It seems to me like the thumbsticks are in the same ergonomic location as on a Playstation controller, and the trackpads are just in the empty space that would otherwise be there. I’m fully into it even if this is what it looks like when complete
To me it looks like they’ve shoved the joysticks up where the trackpad is on playstation controllers. If they haven’t, that’s even worse.
There’s nothing below the joysticks on the playstation controller, because that area isn’t within comfortable reach for your thumbs.
Sure you can put stuff there, but bending your fingers there isn’t fun. That’s already true for some users when using the trackpads on the deck.
I’m a big Steam Controller trackpad user, and I already nearly never use my Deck trackpads because they’re too low down. This new one just looks like a normal controller with extra bulk, and nonsense in the area no controller except the N64 used because it’s not where most people grow fingers. I guess it’ll at least have paddles, but they’re hardly a unique feature these days. I really just wanted the existing one again, but with more paddles, an option for an integrated battery, USB-C instead of micro B, and an official supply of replacement thumbsticks instead of having to bodge in 8bitdo ones that aren’t quite the same shape.
I can understand where you’re coming from, but this is realistically a better option for Valve and most consumers right now.
When Valve made the original Steam Controller they were trying to kickstart the Steam Box, which at the time played PC games that were not optimized for controller input on a TV. They needed to have a very outside the box contoller to accomplish this, and so they gave the Steam Controller a try. The touchpad inputs with enough custom mapping really were revolutionary, but only for a small crowd that wanted to play Sim City on their TV.
Nowadays, every game has standard controller input. Trying to get people who are used to the joysticks to switch to virtual trackpads is a non starter, even if it could be technically superior in some circumstances. The compromise is what we have now, a full controller layout with touchpads as extras, to maintain that backward compatibility with old PC games. I think it’s the right decision, and this is personally the controller I’ve been waiting for.
I’d love to see Steam re-make the old Steam Controller to give old fans a replacement, and I hope they do someday, but they have to pick their battles as they certainly wouldn’t sell in any volume. In a previous quest for a perfect controller I came across an open source 3D printed one called the Alpakka. Maybe DIY or a startup indie company will pick up the torch where Valve left off to give a true replacement? I hope so because the right controller for the right job is a wonderful thing.
Oddly, I almost exclusively use the trackpads on my deck. I tend to play mainly mouse-driven games.
I have big hands, and just looking at this picture makes me think even I’m going to have trouble using the control sticks normally. They’re literally the closest thing to the center of the controller.
That being said, it’s just my first impression of it, and this looks like it might just be a prototype, so I’ll wait and see.
There were similar concerns when the steam deck was first revealed, and it works fine. So I’m not too worried.
