Steam Controller Redesign Includes Analog Thumbstick

[Steve the Pocket]

The biggest hurdle they have to work around with this thing is the huge back catalog of existing games that expect either a mouse and keyboard or a traditional Xbox pad. So they can't redesign very many things because the prompts will be wrong. They've already proven that they don't have the clout to get developers to patch their games to even run on current systems at all, let alone update the prompts and controller support. I'm guessing the left touchpad would serve as the D-pad for most games that use one if they go with this design?

Can anyone give me a reason why the face buttons for all controllers are on the same fucking side of the controller with the least amount of digits available to press them? Its time people laid to rest this stupid fucking notion that modern controllers are somehow teh best evar. Virtually every game without a fixed camera angle runs into this bullshit. You can't press the face buttons and operate the camera at the same time.

Game devs have to implement cludges just to work around this stupid damned layout, and now gamers have gotten used to it and fucking cling to it religiously.

Its broken from a design perspective, its broken from an ergonomic perspective, and now that devs have to design games around this insipid fucking layout, its broken from a game design perspective.

This stupid shit has only been around since the PS2, and its obvious whoever designed it has no fucking clue what human hands look like.

I'm curious what you think the ideal layout for a two-handed, non-mounted game controller would be. More shoulder buttons?

 

[Something Amyss]

from the people who have used the controller, the trackpads havent received more negative feedback than analogs

Even assuming that's correct at best, you've argued they're no worse, which isn't close to justifying them as acceptable for "most proper PC games," as you were claiming.

 

[man-man]

two pads that don't offer tactile feedback

Would need to handle one before we'll know how effective it is, but if memory serves one of the more exciting intended features was to use haptic feedback to fill that gap. Some voodoo thing with electrical stimulation that can trick the pads of your fingers into perceiving tactile sensations without needing there to be anything actually physically there.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

from the people who have used the controller, the trackpads havent received more negative feedback than analogs

Even assuming that's correct at best, you've argued they're no worse, which isn't close to justifying them as acceptable for "most proper PC games," as you were claiming.

there could be some true in that, still they SEEM much more appropiate for most proper PC gamer, atleast in the demostration Valve showed a while back, they showed civ 5, papers please and CS:GO being played with that controller, and the trackpads seemed good enough to handle those games, and certainly BETTER than analogs

i dont like this redesign because it defeats the purpose of the trackpads, plus, the previous redesign was symmetrical and had 8 different buttons on the front, divided in 2 sets of 4 bottons arranged into rhombuses

you could use em as a D-pad, you could use em as action buttons for console ports, you could use em as hotkeys for PC games, to me it looked perfect, i cant see why they made this change, that analog takes away so much possible customization

 

[Strazdas]

The Steam controller is looking more and more like a traditional controller with each redesign.

What you mean is steam controller is looking more and more obsolete before its launch with each redesign. Anyone that wants traditional controller on PC already has one. everyone that wanted steam one - wont get it anymore. who is this controller for again?

First thing to keep in mind when trying to innovate: Everything that exists has a reason to exist. If you want to improve it, find that reason first, then think about how to make the thing better. Not the other way around.

also to remmeber that sometimes the reason things exist is not because they were wanted, but because we were limited in our capabilities to produce things.

I thought the point of the trackpads was to emulate mouse movement, not WASD movement. Why does it need two trackpads? One would work perfectly fine, and not way up the controller either. That would be like moving someones foot pedal in their car.

both. one would emulate WASD, other mouse. also, you could set it up any way you want. as in you could emulate anything. costumizable keys and all. all of that is out of the window now though.

 

[likalaruku]

If only all joypads used soft rubber buttons instead of hard plastic ones.

 

[Something Amyss]

you could use em as a D-pad, you could use em as action buttons for console ports, you could use em as hotkeys for PC games, to me it looked perfect, i cant see why they made this change, that analog takes away so much possible customization

The simplest answer is that they're not as good as you think they are. I can think of other reasons, but they require extraneous steps to get there.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

you could use em as a D-pad, you could use em as action buttons for console ports, you could use em as hotkeys for PC games, to me it looked perfect, i cant see why they made this change, that analog takes away so much possible customization

The simplest answer is that they're not as good as you think they are. I can think of other reasons, but they require extraneous steps to get there.

i dont buy it

if that was the case they shouldve never developed these controllers

plus the analog is truthly a big freakin' problem, lets say they added it because the trackpads dont make such good analogs, fine, but you are losing 4 buttons on the constroller to make room for it, not to mention the analog is almost completely useless for any proper PC game, seriously, what functions can be mapped for it on say, civ 5? or company of heroes 2?

the controller is made much more incompetent at handling PC games because of it, and handling PC games, was the whole bloody point, that was the big pitch, you will be able to play your PC games on the couch, all games will be compatible, even old ones

well thats going to be significantly harder now