Steam Controller -35$ GameStop

I enjoy mine. The trackpad on the right thumb is even better than a thumbstick once you tune the sensitivity and get familiar with the different modes it can be programmed to. My main gripe with the controller is the XYBA button placement, I feel that the cluster is too far away from my right thumb.
 
NoNRG said:
I enjoy mine. The trackpad on the right thumb is even better than a thumbstick once you tune the sensitivity and get familiar with the different modes it can be programmed to. My main gripe with the controller is the XYBA button placement, I feel that the cluster is too far away from my right thumb.
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Have you used it much as a mouse on Windows desktop? I'm thinking about getting one to replace my flakey all in one Logitech kb/m. I rarely use the keyboard on my HTPC.
 
HeavensCloud said:
Have you used it much as a mouse on Windows desktop? I'm thinking about getting one to replace my flakey all in one Logitech kb/m. I rarely use the keyboard on my HTPC.
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Yes, I have used it a bit to navigate through Windows 10 desktop when I need to change audio outputs or other quick tasks when I'm gaming. The precision isn't that great on the trackpad while trying to pinpoint small icons. It should do well enough to navigate if you just need it for HTPC tasks. The shoulder buttons act as left and right click by default and takes some getting used to.
 
It is insane how much settings are on these things. They are the most customizable controller to the point that its intimidating once you learn how in depth it is.
 
Only flaws are the pointless left trackpad, hard to reach AXYB buttons, and mandatory Big Picture mode.
 
There odd and take a bit to get used to but I have some joint problems and have trouble with using the keyboard and mouse for long.
The steam controller is great for games I wish had controller support but don't as you can use the steam controller for most games.
It really has a ton of features just not documented well and a high learning curve but I am glad I bought one really saves me some pain and allows me to game for more then an hour or two without my shoulders and wrists killing me.
Just be prepared that it is not as intuitive to use as a Xbox or PS4 controller and it will take time and a little cursing but I played all off the new XCOM game with it no problem once I learned the keys and quirks of it.
 
The link is also on sale for $35. There is a code (SAVER)to get free shipping for Gamestop. Or you can pick up in store. My link and controller are being delivered today. I was going to run a second redmere cable under the house to the living room and have a second display for my game rig be the 4k 65" in the living room but this ended up being just a little more and is more practical and includes a new controller that is going to drive me nuts by the look of this thread. Not to mention after 6-9 months maybe having to go back under and pull said cable out to rma with Monoprice (I've had to do this twice for the cable that goes from my media pc to the receiver in the living room. It sure as hell isn't fun.) Not sure if I'll keep it or just keep using the 360 controller that is collecting dust on my desk. lol

It's been funny seeing all the used links and controllers being sold on hardwareswap for $35 each that aren't going to be in warranty unless a receipt accompanies them. Here they are brand new for the same price for several different retailers currently. lol
 
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realworld said:
Only flaws are the pointless left trackpad, hard to reach AXYB buttons, and mandatory Big Picture mode.
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You don't have to use BPM. Right-click in the game list to configure in the regular client (the BPM configuration pops up windowed, but it isn't actually starting BPM).
 
realworld said:
Only flaws are the pointless left trackpad, hard to reach AXYB buttons, and mandatory Big Picture mode.
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as I've been reading up on this after I bought it.. it seems valve's goal with this is that you never need to use the buttons (XY,AB) I'm still reading up on it and will have my first go at it here in a bit but they've built a ton of customization and abilities into the controller..

the first game I'm going to hopefully get it going with is Dark Souls III - we'll see how that goes

the one thing I do like is how the community profiles are readily available though, so trying different config's for a game seems super easy - making a new one though seems ultra complex though :)
 
they also do this now :)


Its totally worth using netflix from the couch with a steam controller as a mouse the trackpad works better than i had imagined.
 
I was thinking of getting one at one time, but then I noticed it always needs steam to be running to function. That pretty much kills it as a controller for me. I get you need steam to download profiles and to make configs, but I don't like the idea that I have to actually put in my DRM-Free games into Steam's list before it will actually work with the controller.
 
LurkerLito said:
I was thinking of getting one at one time, but then I noticed it always needs steam to be running to function. That pretty much kills it as a controller for me. I get you need steam to download profiles and to make configs, but I don't like the idea that I have to actually put in my DRM-Free games into Steam's list before it will actually work with the controller.
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It's really not that big a deal technically, unless you have some philosophical disagreement with the whole arrangement. Maybe someone will make an open-source driver for it eventually, but as it is, adding an executable to Steam and using dll injection works almost flawlessly, online or offline.
 
realworld said:
Only flaws are the pointless left trackpad, hard to reach AXYB buttons, and mandatory Big Picture mode.
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Ok so after playing two hours i was able to play Dark Souls III pretty well without ever touching the XY,AB keys..

took some getting used too (I burned 2 ember and lost 20k souls) but eventually it became very second nature..


The idea is that the right touch pad is context sensitive.. (a video will probably explain it better)

its divided into 9 sections (top left , top middle, top right, middle left, middle middle etc..) and you can perform 9 different actions depending on where your thumb is on the track pad when you press down on the track pad..

Roll/Spring and Item use on the back finger buttons (very nice by the way).. so pretty much I was able to play without ever taking my fingers off the thumb stick and right track pad..

So far I am liking it, if you do get one you really have to fiddle with the track pad sensitivity combined with in game mouse sensitivity..
 
I just picked up a SteamLink for $42 CDN at EB Games (the controller is on sale too). I think it's worth a look, just to play around with. I'm not big on the controller, but the link supports most controllers.
 
Ordered and shipped. After borrowing a friend's controller for a few weeks, I have no reservations on getting my own. Thanks for the heads up, OP!
 
Has anybody used it on a linux system? My HTPC is running Mint, and I've got Xbox 360 wireless controllers, which are great when they work......
 
Things I don't like about it small buttons directional + pad is too big only one Joystick.
 
aeliusg said:
It's really not that big a deal technically, unless you have some philosophical disagreement with the whole arrangement. Maybe someone will make an open-source driver for it eventually, but as it is, adding an executable to Steam and using dll injection works almost flawlessly, online or offline.
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It's part philosophical and part annoyance factor. The technical aspect isn't the issue, I like to keep my drm-free games separate from steam. It's more about order because I own many games both on steam and DRM-Free. I often have only the DRM-Free version installed more often than not because i hate that Steam will auto update the games before it let's you play them and don't want steam client trying to assert control of the drm-free game because I own both versions and trying to do things like update it to the latest version or maybe complaining it's an old version and refusing to run it. I haven't actually tried to add a DRM-Free version of a game I own on steam to the steam list, maybe one day I'll try it and see what happens especially if the drm-free version is the older version of the game on steam and the game also has a steamapi.dll in the directory.
 
I just picked up both the controller and link from gamestop. Yet to set up the link but curious to see what games are really enjoyable on the couch.
 
LurkerLito said:
It's part philosophical and part annoyance factor. The technical aspect isn't the issue, I like to keep my drm-free games separate from steam. It's more about order because I own many games both on steam and DRM-Free. I often have only the DRM-Free version installed more often than not because i hate that Steam will auto update the games before it let's you play them and don't want steam client trying to assert control of the drm-free game because I own both versions and trying to do things like update it to the latest version or maybe complaining it's an old version and refusing to run it. I haven't actually tried to add a DRM-Free version of a game I own on steam to the steam list, maybe one day I'll try it and see what happens especially if the drm-free version is the older version of the game on steam and the game also has a steamapi.dll in the directory.
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If the game version doesn't have Steam DRM, Steam won't distinguish between it and any random game or application even if there is a version of the game that is on Steam. If it already has a Steam dll (or other overlay like Origin, etc., even modified Steam dlls) you can actually run the Steam client in admin mode, and in almost every case everything works normally. It would be nice to have a standalone interface, but the results would be much the same.
 
I ended up buying one since I was curious about the controller. I have to say there are some nice things about it but overall I really don't like it much definitely not enough to give up my Dual Shock 4. The biggest problem is the layout. It's pretty dam uncomfortable. The buttons XYAB are small and horribly located. The D-Pad works but is more responsive if not using Click mode, but in touch mode, it's overly sensitive. So pressing the back button also cycles the d-pad right cause your thumb can brush up slightly on the gigantic touch pad and the dead zone setting doesn't seem to apply to the edges of the d-pad touch pad. Using the track pad as a mouse is interesting and has some nice possibilities to it. In Dark Souls 3 a great thing to do is use the popup menu to let you cycle through weapons, spells and items after pressing a modifier. It's nice to have if you are running around and don't want to stop to have to switch weapons when pressing the d-pad.

The big picture mode requirement is ridiculous absolutely hate that requirement. The fact that you can pick say Dark Souls 3 and run it then alt tab and turn off big picture mode on steam instead of just remembering you are using the Dark Souls 3 config, it turns off the controller to the default desktop state. Uggh. Funny thing is the "default desktop" configuration does work in other games not on steam partially (the joystick works and so does one button in at least one game I tired but all the other buttons are off so it's useless), but if you set the "default desktop configuration" to be a XB360 controller setup, nothing works outside of steam big picture mode. So that means it is possible, but Valve doesn't allow it to setup the controller as defaulting to a certain profile.

I had an issue updating the firmware. It wouldn't go through. To get it to actually update, I had to remove the batteries then plug it via a micro USB cable to the PC then it worked. For some reason it can't update when connected wireless.

I am debating on if I should keep it or not. Like I said, there are some nice things you can do via the configuration that makes it more useful in some cases. But for the games I like playing like Dark Souls 3, Dragon Dogma Dark Arisen, and high action games like Devil May Cry series, I don't think I'd ever use it. It might be good for FPS play away from the KB/M but I would more likely just go back to the desk and use the KB/M than the Steam controller. Like I said, the layout is just not comfortable for me. I think the problem stems from the controller itself. The weird upward curve of the grips is right for the d-pad and the other touch pad. But for the joystick and the XYAB buttons the upward curved grips definitely feels wrong in the hands for me. There is a pressure on the palm of the hands by the thumbs that feels wrong. I don't think it's a good thing to use the controller for any kind of extended game sessions.
 
LurkerLito said:
I ended up buying one since I was curious about the controller. I have to say there are some nice things about it but overall I really don't like it much definitely not enough to give up my Dual Shock 4. The biggest problem is the layout. It's pretty dam uncomfortable. The buttons XYAB are small and horribly located. The D-Pad works but is more responsive if not using Click mode, but in touch mode, it's overly sensitive. So pressing the back button also cycles the d-pad right cause your thumb can brush up slightly on the gigantic touch pad and the dead zone setting doesn't seem to apply to the edges of the d-pad touch pad. Using the track pad as a mouse is interesting and has some nice possibilities to it. In Dark Souls 3 a great thing to do is use the popup menu to let you cycle through weapons, spells and items after pressing a modifier. It's nice to have if you are running around and don't want to stop to have to switch weapons when pressing the d-pad.

The big picture mode requirement is ridiculous absolutely hate that requirement. The fact that you can pick say Dark Souls 3 and run it then alt tab and turn off big picture mode on steam instead of just remembering you are using the Dark Souls 3 config, it turns off the controller to the default desktop state. Uggh. Funny thing is the "default desktop" configuration does work in other games not on steam partially (the joystick works and so does one button in at least one game I tired but all the other buttons are off so it's useless), but if you set the "default desktop configuration" to be a XB360 controller setup, nothing works outside of steam big picture mode. So that means it is possible, but Valve doesn't allow it to setup the controller as defaulting to a certain profile.

I had an issue updating the firmware. It wouldn't go through. To get it to actually update, I had to remove the batteries then plug it via a micro USB cable to the PC then it worked. For some reason it can't update when connected wireless.

I am debating on if I should keep it or not. Like I said, there are some nice things you can do via the configuration that makes it more useful in some cases. But for the games I like playing like Dark Souls 3, Dragon Dogma Dark Arisen, and high action games like Devil May Cry series, I don't think I'd ever use it. It might be good for FPS play away from the KB/M but I would more likely just go back to the desk and use the KB/M than the Steam controller. Like I said, the layout is just not comfortable for me. I think the problem stems from the controller itself. The weird upward curve of the grips is right for the d-pad and the other touch pad. But for the joystick and the XYAB buttons the upward curved grips definitely feels wrong in the hands for me. There is a pressure on the palm of the hands by the thumbs that feels wrong. I don't think it's a good thing to use the controller for any kind of extended game sessions.
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I'm glad you took the opportunity to try it out. I agree that, for games with dedicated controller support, a console controller feels better. When I first got it I had the same thing with the sensitivity of the outer edge of the left trackpad; deadzone does affect that, but the setting needs to be higher than you would think. After I got used to it arching my thumb to reach the button wasn't a problem even with the default deadzone, but I do prefer click on the D-pad for maximum reliability. But yeah, the console buttons are a bit cramped, which I can understand with the trackpads being the focus. Still, it's not as good as a regular controller for your console ports.

About BPM, it's not actually necessary. You can configure any game in the regular Steam client with the controller connected by right-clicking the name where you would for your usual options, etc. Even without BPM enabled the config will stick. Try using the Client beta if this doesn't work for you. (As a reminder, if you're doing this with a non-Steam game with its own dll you'll want to run Steam in admin mode.)

At this price, I would keep it. For your console-focused game it doesn't really shine, but it'll come in handy if you ever want to sit back in your chair or on the couch with a mouse-based PC game. The grip buttons really are useful with Souls, too. Being able to run and swing the camera around with the touchpad at the same time was a game-changer for me there. Made quite a few of the bosses (and enemies) easier than they were without. I guess you could do the same with an Xbox Elite controller, but at $150 most haven't gotten around to picking up one of those yet.
 
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Just got mine, I like it! It was a little awkward at first, but I caught on quick. Haven't tried an FPS since that's really not my thing anymore, but for Civ and my strategy games it's fantastic so far.
 
Which is far superior to this thing I don't even like the design of this...
 
How's the trackpad for FPS aiming vs. a stick? More accurate?
 
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