Valve Explains Why Its Latest Steam Controller Has an Analog Stick

[Olas]

Why can't people just use the joystick as a D-pad? Is that really so insane?

Has anyone here played Metroid Prime with a Gamecube controller? Do you remember how you switched between weapons? You used the C stick. It wasn't a problem. If anything I would think a joystick could work better with 8 directions instead of just 4.

Seriously, how stuck in our ways are we that we?

Edit: Also, has anyone played Trauma-Center for the Wii? The Game Grumps are playing it right now and it uses the Wii Joystick for selecting from the games 8 tools. It works perfectly fine. Make the joystick a button as well and you now have buttons 1 - 9 accounted for.

 

[Olas]

As someone who tested the other design, it's not becasue we aren't used to dual trackpads, it's because track pads can get fucked for gaming. I have a trackpad on my laptop, and a legit mouse is waaaay better.

But aren't these trackpads supposed to be better by providing tactile feedback and stuff? I agree that no touchpad I've ever used has been as good as a mouse, but I'd also say it's better than using a joystick.

 

[Sillarra]

I get the idea that they are trying to ease new players in with the analog stick, but wouldn't that mean that they will become used to the analog stick and will not move to a pure trackpad anyway? I mean, people will see no need to change using the trackpad for movements when they have the analog stick.

 

[ExtraDebit]

Why can't people just use the joystick as a D-pad? Is that really so insane?

Has anyone here played Metroid Prime with a Gamecube controller? Do you remember how you switched between weapons? You used the C stick. It wasn't a problem. If anything I would think a joystick could work better with 8 directions instead of just 4.

Seriously, how stuck in our ways are we that we?

Edit: Also, has anyone played Trauma-Center for the Wii? The Game Grumps are playing it right now and it uses the Wii Joystick for selecting from the games 8 tools. It works perfectly fine. Make the joystick a button as well and you now have buttons 1 - 9 accounted for.

If you can't see the merit of a D-pad then you've never played super meat boy, street fighter, mortal kombat or other 2D games. Doing dragon punch or scorpion's spear is infinitely easier and more enjoyable on a D-Pad. But it doesn't matter, there are many controllers in the market with a d-pad (I wonder why? hmmm).

 

[Olas]

Why can't people just use the joystick as a D-pad? Is that really so insane?

Has anyone here played Metroid Prime with a Gamecube controller? Do you remember how you switched between weapons? You used the C stick. It wasn't a problem. If anything I would think a joystick could work better with 8 directions instead of just 4.

Seriously, how stuck in our ways are we that we?

Edit: Also, has anyone played Trauma-Center for the Wii? The Game Grumps are playing it right now and it uses the Wii Joystick for selecting from the games 8 tools. It works perfectly fine. Make the joystick a button as well and you now have buttons 1 - 9 accounted for.

If you can't see the merit of a D-pad then you've never played super meat boy, street fighter, mortal kombat or other 2D games. Doing dragon punch or scorpion's spear is infinitely easier and more enjoyable on a D-Pad. But it doesn't matter, there are many controllers in the market with a d-pad (I wonder why? hmmm).

None of the games you mentioned require the precision of a mouse, which is what this controller is meant to provide. So just use a regular controller, this isn't meant to be a one size fits all controller for every scenario.

For the record I have played Meat Boy, and Super Meat Boy, and I'd recommend WASD over a D-pad any day.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Just say you're scraping the thing at this point Valve.

It would certainly be interesting to see game stores selling "FPS" controllers next to ones designed for "Platformers" next to "Fighters", etc etc.

Spoiler

Fighting game pads already exist and have for some time.

Not to undermine or ignore your point, but do they also exist for the other genres I've suggested?

 

[Reaper195]

As someone who tested the other design, it's not becasue we aren't used to dual trackpads, it's because track pads can get fucked for gaming. I have a trackpad on my laptop, and a legit mouse is waaaay better.

But aren't these trackpads supposed to be better by providing tactile feedback and stuff? I agree that no touchpad I've ever used has been as good as a mouse, but I'd also say it's better than using a joystick.

Aparently. TO me, it just felt like using track pads with my thumbs. They have no place with gaming. If I want some accurate shots in an FPS, I'll use a mouse. If I want some mint controls for driving, I'll take a 360-esque controller. It's not that people aren't ready, or aren't used to track pads...it's that they don't want them because they aren't better than what we have. The saying "Don't fix what isn't broke" comes to mind. I'll also change it a bit and say "Don't imrpove on what doesn't need improving on.". And certainly "Don't replace something good with something worse."

 

[Strazdas]

ah, yes, people who only know the old want more of the old and have difficulty adjusting to the new. solution - lets just uninvent everything that was interesting about out controller. right now there is absolutely no point in this controller even existing. You may as well just take a Dualshock instead.

 

[Lightknight]

Oh... so it has to be that we're too dumb/stupid to transition and not that we simply prefer a joystick for control? Look, I translated from atari controllers to nintendo controllers all the way back up to the behemoths we have today. Gamers aren't bad at transitions. Track pads just don't translated well into several games. They've effectively solved the RTS issue of control that consoles traditionally have and I'm sure some other game types will benefit as well. But the track pad just isn't good enough for some other game types without turning the sensitivity WAAAAAY up which drops the accuracy down on so small a pad.

But seriously, difficulty in controller transitions have never been an issue. Anyone who went from the SNES to N64 would punch these guys in the throat for such a comment. Don't get me wrong, I love Valve, but this is fairly pretentious to put the onus on the customers and not your product.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

frak the analog stick! give me something new and exciting!

 

[Tiamat666]

I wonder if Valve has accounted for people (mostly girls) with long fingernails.
I don't think a trackpad will work very well for those people.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

As someone who tested the other design, it's not becasue we aren't used to dual trackpads, it's because track pads can get fucked for gaming. I have a trackpad on my laptop, and a legit mouse is waaaay better.

But aren't these trackpads supposed to be better by providing tactile feedback and stuff? I agree that no touchpad I've ever used has been as good as a mouse, but I'd also say it's better than using a joystick.

"Supposed to". Rev3 Games did a hands on video with the model before this one and came to the conclusion that the trackpads suck for any game that needs quick reaction. Like Towerfall and basically any action title that has an aiming mechanic. It's good for playing games like Civ 5 and Broken Age on the couch though. The trackpads were the main "feature" and they've become an anchor.

Methinks Valve needs to end this thing.

 

[Olas]

As someone who tested the other design, it's not becasue we aren't used to dual trackpads, it's because track pads can get fucked for gaming. I have a trackpad on my laptop, and a legit mouse is waaaay better.

But aren't these trackpads supposed to be better by providing tactile feedback and stuff? I agree that no touchpad I've ever used has been as good as a mouse, but I'd also say it's better than using a joystick.

"Supposed to". Rev3 Games did a hands on video with the model before this one and came to the conclusion that the trackpads suck for any game that needs quick reaction. Like Towerfall and basically any action title that has an aiming mechanic. It's good for playing games like Civ 5 and Broken Age on the couch though. The trackpads were the main "feature" and they've become an anchor.

Methinks Valve needs to end this thing.

I don't know how bad they can be frankly. I've played first person shooters with the touchpad on my laptop before without any real issues. Even if it's fundamentally no different than that I'd still prefer it over a joystick, and will still buy it. The fact that people still use joysticks at all to play FPS should be a source of embarrassment really. They just aren't designed for it.

From this thread and threads about Occulus Rift I get the impression that people just don't want anything new or experimental, and will dismiss new ideas before even trying them. It fucking pisses me off how utterly cynical some people are. Why get excited for some new idea when we can just dismiss it and stick to the same boring, limited control scheme we've been using for 15 years.