Steam Link and Controller what are your thoughts (POLL)

Will you buy Steam Link and or Controller?

  • I will buy a Steam Link but not a Controller

    Votes: 18 17.8%

  • I will buy a Steam Controller but not the Link

    Votes: 28 27.7%

  • I will buy BOTH 'cause I am awesome

    Votes: 20 19.8%

  • Neither I spent all my money on weed

    Votes: 35 34.7%
  • Total voters
    101
HardUp4HardWare

HardUp4HardWare

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
4,274
I am being asked again what I want for Christmas and I thought maybe I want the Steam Link and Steam Controller.

I have read, saw , heard all the positives and negatives i think and am still on the fence.

It would be great to use Steam Link to "cast" my MASSIVE Steam backlog to my 65" monster TV and the Controller looks like people love it once they get used to it.

But enough about me, what do you nerds think?

To Steam or not to Steam????
 
Steam link's viability is solely dependent on your network setup. The Steam controller is not going to replace a traditional controller or KBM. It works well for games that don't support controller (many indie games) but after using it for ~20hours or so I find that it really is mediocre for most games that are designed around controller. For example FPS games that have controller support + aim-assist. I would never use the Steam controller for competitive or even casual multiplayer fps.
 
I didn't spend all my money on weed. I just don't care about these things. I don't even know what this steam link thing is.
 
Simply wouldn't want to play my steam games with a controller. KB/M is a main reason I play on PC.
 
One disappointing this I just found out tonight setting up a new Link... Steam Link only does 2.0 audio streaming :(
 
I havent bought one but Im here to say Im genuinely curious for your honest reviews. If hardforums says fuck it then Im gonna end up building a living room pc.

naticus said:
Steam link's viability is solely dependent on your network setup. The Steam controller is not going to replace a traditional controller or KBM. It works well for games that don't support controller (many indie games) but after using it for ~20hours or so I find that it really is mediocre for most games that are designed around controller. For example FPS games that have controller support + aim-assist. I would never use the Steam controller for competitive or even casual multiplayer fps.
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I'm literally not comprehending what youre saying at all. Are you commenting on the controller or link. Wtf are you commenting on?
 
I've only spent a couple hours with my Link, however I like it a lot more now that I've discovered turning OFF hardware encoding makes the games looks wwwaaayyy better than having the GPU use (presumably) NVENC to encode video. It's been holding 1080P 60fps with the Balanced video quality setting without an issue in Dirt 3. Zero issues with lag seen on my end so far.
 
piscian18 said:
I havent bought one but Im here to say Im genuinely curious for your honest reviews. If hardforums says fuck it then Im gonna end up building a living room pc.




I'm literally not comprehending what youre saying at all. Are you commenting on the controller or link. Wtf are you commenting on?
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Is clear as day what he's talking about. Everything besides the first sentence is the controller.

I like the link quite a bit actually. It's been pretty killer to be able to play my games on the TV without have to put a machine with it. The controller I have not used but I just can't imagine how it could be good. Everyone I know with one thinks it's mediocre at best. I just hope valve finds a way to use the wireless dongle for the xbox one controller but that seems unlikely thanks to Microsoft.
 
I'm LOVING In-Home Streaming to my 13" MBPr. GTA V at max settings 1080p while sitting anywhere is hard to beat. Obviously the desktop is better for more serious playing but for just letting loose and having fun, being able to sit on the couch is awesome.

I will definitely get the link here soon. Not having to have a big ol' computer sticking out like a sore thumb in the living room is a huge plus.

I'd try a Steam Controller but I'm not sold on the pad dealies instead of joysticks.
 
I actually picked up both because reasons. lol

I've got the Link wired up and it works great! The only thing that I was using the controller for was Rocket League. Then Fallout 4 came out and I saw that Bethesda has an official controller config and decided to give it a go, I was using kb/mouse. I now have 65 hours on Fallout 4 and have been using the Steam Controller for about 60 of those hours and absolutely love it! The pad on the right is the mouse and I can aim WAY better than I ever have been able to with the xbox/other controller w/joysticks. I might get my walking stick and Hobbit garb and go on an adventure and try more games using the controller.
The con for me with the Link is that it didn't do so well via wireless. It operates for me so much better via wired.
 
LOVING my Steamlink, was way cheaper than building a second gaming PC which I was originally planning on doing.
 
Where is the option - I have a Nvidia SHIELD TV and wireless 360 controller so the Steam Link + controller are useless/redundant for me?
 
Is there a way to get a 360 wireless controller to stop blinking while playing games?

Also when I stop using the Link, the 360 controller stays on. Does this shut itself off after a while? I've been taking the batteries out.
 
staknhalo said:
Where is the option - I have a Nvidia SHIELD TV and wireless 360 controller so the Steam Link + controller are useless/redundant for me?
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I have not used the shield but a friend of mine has and from what he was saying the link does a much better job of streaming with much higher quality. Dont the shield require a monthly fee? Or does it do in home streaming for free?
 
Disposed said:
I have not used the shield but a friend of mine has and from what he was saying the link does a much better job of streaming with much higher quality. Dont the shield require a monthly fee? Or does it do in home streaming for free?
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I've heard and experienced the exact opposite - that the Nvidia Gamestream protocol is more reliable and better quality than the Steam In-Home Streaming protocol. I never had a Link - but from reviews and complaints I've heard of the unit/hardware, using Steam In-Home Streaming on a second computer myself (and not a Link) and my own experience with the SHIELD/Gamestream - I have to say I find Gamestream is the better of the two.

There's no fee for In-Home streaming from Steam with the SHIELD. The optional monthly service fee is for streaming AAA games to the SHIELD from Nvidia's servers. Like Nvidia's own On-Live service. Then on top of that there's also exclusive AAA ports for the SHIELD that you buy and download and play locally - without any streaming or monthly fee in any way required. I mainly stick to Steam gaming on it though.
 
staknhalo said:
I've heard and experienced the exact opposite - that the Nvidia Gamestream protocol is more reliable and better quality than the Steam In-Home Streaming protocol. I never had a Link - but from reviews and complaints I've heard of the unit/hardware, using Steam In-Home Streaming on a second computer myself (and not a Link) and my own experience with the SHIELD/Gamestream - I have to say I find Gamestream is the better of the two.

There's no fee for In-Home streaming from Steam with the SHIELD. The optional monthly service fee is for streaming AAA games to the SHIELD from Nvidia's servers. Like Nvidia's own On-Live service. Then on top of that there's also exclusive AAA ports for the SHIELD that you buy and download and play locally - without any streaming or monthly fee in any way required. I mainly stick to Steam gaming on it though.
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Like i said just going off what i heard. The shield interests me but i have been with AMD for a couple generations now.

I would take those reviews and complaints with a massive grain of salt though. I run my link with my computers wired and the link wireless on N900 and its pretty damn flawless with balanced settings. When i wire it up its able to do beautiful and it looks phenominal. (it has 3 quality settings, one for speed with poo graphics, balanced and beautiful).

The only real issue i run into is my gaming PC has a 1440p monitor so when i play a game on the link i also play at the PC it will downscale 1440p to 1080 and it works like poo. Changing the in game settings to 1080p fixes that though. They should find some way to trick the games into thinking they are running on a 1080p monitor so they default to that but its a tiny nit pick.

I would be curious to see a direct comparison but couldn't find any when i googled.
 
Disposed said:
Like i said just going off what i heard. The shield interests me but i have been with AMD for a couple generations now.

I would take those reviews and complaints with a massive grain of salt though. I run my link with my computers wired and the link wireless on N900 and its pretty damn flawless with balanced settings. When i wire it up its able to do beautiful and it looks phenominal. (it has 3 quality settings, one for speed with poo graphics, balanced and beautiful).

The only real issue i run into is my gaming PC has a 1440p monitor so when i play a game on the link i also play at the PC it will downscale 1440p to 1080 and it works like poo. Changing the in game settings to 1080p fixes that though. They should find some way to trick the games into thinking they are running on a 1080p monitor so they default to that but its a tiny nit pick.

I would be curious to see a direct comparison but couldn't find any when i googled.
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I was running my second computer for Steam In-Home streaming (and now my SHIELD) off MoCa. It's just a lot more reliable (Gamestream) in my experience. Stream would cut out, game would crash, or the stream would start with a completely blank/black screen at times. I've literally never had that happen for me with the SHIELD and Gamestream. Only issue that I run into - that happened with both - is for games that just don't work with streaming at all on either protocol - audio will play on the PC and not the TV.

Image quality I would say they're both closer in that aspect than reliability, but the SHIELD seems a bit better to me. Could very well just be placebo from the better reliability though I admit. I haven't done an A-B test on IQ myself as the computer I had at the TV when doing Steam In-Home streaming is no longer there and is now just a headless Plex server located in another room of the house.

There is currently an issue with the SHIELD currently due to just the latest SHIELD HUB app update on the SHIELD device itself (the receiving app for the stream on the SHIELD, also what you do your monthly service streaming from and also acts as the store-front for the local AAA ports) where the controller cuts out after 30 or so mins. Just not updating the app and sticking with the older version of it for now rectifies this. This is the first real problem I've had since using it - but like I said is somethign you can not have the problem at all by just not updating the app on the SHIELD, and just wait till they issue a new update to fix (as they are aware of it) - it's not a problem you 'just have to deal with' in any way.

The SHIELD Gamestream protocol on the SHIELD TV also supports 4k gaming and 5.1 audio while gaming.
 
staknhalo said:
The SHIELD Gamestream protocol on the SHIELD TV also supports 4k gaming and 5.1 audio while gaming.
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That i did not know. I could live without 4k but 5.1 would be nice. I think the link does 2.1 or even 2.0.

I have had none of the issues with the link that you are having. The link once lost connection to my 5g network and fell back onto my 2ghz network and that was flat out awful. Choppy, clicking and popping sound, cutting out. But that was easily remedied.

Have you tried setting up QoS with the right port and making it high priority? That helped a ton here. I imagine it could help the Shield as well.

Either way the technology has been a long time coming and is going to get better. I couldnt be happier. The ability to game on my TV without needing a dedicated machine is so bad ass and frankly liberating. :p

My only hope is that developers start taking advantage of this and start making some split screen games for PC. The kids are able to play goat simulator split screen on the link and its bad ass.
 
I remember reading somewhere that streaming from a PC to the Xbox One was being worked on and is on the roadmap. My PC is in my bedroom, and I would love to stream some co-op games to the big screen in the living room. For this reason, I don't think I'd want to put down money for a Steam Link.
 
Disposed said:
Have you tried setting up QoS with the right port and making it high priority? That helped a ton here. I imagine it could help the Shield as well.
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Don't/didn't need to do that with the SHIELD - it Just Works™ out of the box for me.

Can't honestly tell you if I did or didn't try it for Steam In-Home streaming. I can't recall. All I can tell you is it was so buggy and didn't work well enough that I went back to having a dedicated secondary gaming machine at my TV until I got the SHIELD.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.
I guess I am going to get both. Seems like a fun toy to play with at least. And I am never going to get through my Steam backlog without some motivation.
 
Ocellaris said:
Is there a way to get a 360 wireless controller to stop blinking while playing games?

Also when I stop using the Link, the 360 controller stays on. Does this shut itself off after a while? I've been taking the batteries out.
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It shouldn't flash unless your batteries are low.

It will auto shut off after a bit, but I simply pop the back off just enough that contact is broken and then pop it back in.
 
Silentbob343 said:
It shouldn't flash unless your batteries are low.

It will auto shut off after a bit, but I simply pop the back off just enough that contact is broken and then pop it back in.
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You were right, the batteries that came with the brand new Xbox 360 Wireless for Windows controllers were bad :eek: They have a born on date of 8 months ago as well, so it wasn't even like they were old. Using new Energizers now and zero blinking.
 
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HardUp4HardWare said:
How easy is it to configure the Steam controller to map to a typical game?
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When you're about to launch a game in Big Picture Mode, you can cycle through various official and Steam user configurations. You can even vote for your favorite config so that others can know which is the best.

As far as making your own config, it looks easy. But I'm lazy so I just pick one of the community configurations. ;) I'm going to try some of the configs that use the built in gyro for racing games that allow you to lean the Steam controller left and right to steer. Just like you would do with a cellphone gyro to control some mobile games. The gyro also works for fps games, but I have a keyboard and mouse. I use my controller for days that my arthritis keeps me from sitting up for long periods of time.
 
cageymaru said:
When you're about to launch a game in Big Picture Mode, you can cycle through various official and Steam user configurations. You can even vote for your favorite config so that others can know which is the best.

As far as making your own config, it looks easy. But I'm lazy so I just pick one of the community configurations. ;) I'm going to try some of the configs that use the built in gyro for racing games that allow you to lean the Steam controller left and right to steer. Just like you would do with a cellphone gyro to control some mobile games. The gyro also works for fps games, but I have a keyboard and mouse. I use my controller for days that my arthritis keeps me from sitting up for long periods of time.
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Cool, thanks.
I haven't tried big pic mode yet so I think I am in for a BIG treat.
I figure the controller will be as good as I want it to be.
 
Anyone know of a way to change resolutions on the fly? I use nSurround with 5760 X 1080 on my comp, when streaming I would need to set the computer resolution to 1080 to connect to my tv :(
 
I have the controller. It is actually pretty good. I got it when it came with rocket league and have enjoyed that game while using it as well. I would love to see how it works with Battlefront but that will never happen.
 
Kudos to you guys who are sticking it out with the controller. I've seen quite a few people give up on it because it was too different.
 
Nasty_Savage said:
Anyone know of a way to change resolutions on the fly? I use nSurround with 5760 X 1080 on my comp, when streaming I would need to set the computer resolution to 1080 to connect to my tv :(
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You can leave the host computer to run any desktop resolution you want. (I'm on an ultrawide, 2560x1080)

But you need to set the game's resolution to 1080. And you can do that within the game's settings after you've launched it.
 
I am getting the link and controller as xmas gifts. As such I haven't touched the damn things yet.

I am stoked though, The more I think about what I have invested into my Steam account the more I am looking forward to seeing them on my sweet TV.

In the end, the controller at least will look excellent in my yet to be built "hall of video infamy museum"
 
I have both. Really nice when you are too tired to sit in an office pasture. I play Fallout 4, Black OPs 3 (MP included!) and Witcher 3 on it. I plan to play fighting games too using it as fightstick can be noisy in the bedroom.

It is a cheap and great extension to my PC.
 
I have a pretty beefy GHTPC in the living room, so I wouldn't need the Link for any reason. I already have 360, One, and F710 game pads, but I'm also going to pick up a pair of Steam Controllers too. No reason not to have options.

I'd pick up a link if I needed one though. Just don't need it.
 
Kelby said:
I have the controller. It is actually pretty good. I got it when it came with rocket league and have enjoyed that game while using it as well. I would love to see how it works with Battlefront but that will never happen.
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I think that any game that can be added to Steam can have a controller profile. What Valve needs to do is make a special area to share profiles for games not on Steam. If there is such an area already, I need to visit it as I'd like a Witcher 3 GOG edition profile, Battlefront, The Crew UPLAY edition, etc.
 
My link is coming in. Will post impressions when I have it tomorrow. Will need to put my PC on a wire which sucks donkey dick.
 
Controller Update is coming soon. The videos in the article show how well the controller works with shooters.
http://store.steampowered.com/controller/update/dec15

Non-Steam Game support
Another thing the community has asked for is the ability to share configurations for games bought somewhere other than Steam. The next Steam Beta client will add that as well, so add your favorite non-Steam game to your library, and we'll automatically find configurations that other users have published.

* Available in next Steam Beta client
 
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