The first time I held a deck I was kind of amazed at how comfortable it is to hold. Bricks shouldn’t be that comfy to hold, but, it is. The ergonomics are spot on. Gotta handle the Steam Controller V2 myself before any verdict, but I have high hopes.
Edit: do you have to disassemble the controller (with a screwdriver or something) or is it accessible with just my hands? I swap (rechargeable) AAs on my XBox360 controller quite a bit, and part of why I like it is that I can do it quickly if the battery dies while playing.
Looks like you’ll have to remove the entire bottom shell. From GN’s video:
The shell doesn’t seem to have a separately removable battery cover, although I don’t see a reason why someone wouldn’t be able to just cut a hole or 3D-print an accessible shell. Dbrand comes to mind. Or that’s just a show piece and the retail product might have a battery cover.
It also looks like the screw posts don’t have threaded metal inserts, which is concerning.
That is a bit of a shame, I was excited to see the Steam Frame controllers simply use AA batteries.
I wish more things used those, or maybe some new standard with more energy density. Swapping batteries immediately is one thing I miss from the Wii days…
It probably will. Watch Gamers Nexus’ video, it has a short clip that shows the battery, and it looks like it’s held in a receptacle like removable phone batteries. Valve have already said that you’d be able to disassemble the controller with a screwdriver, but no word yet on replacement parts. But based on the Steam Deck, I would be shocked if they didn’t offer at least replacement batteries.
I’ve been dreaming of this since the first steam controller released! I absolutely loved the first one but it definitely had it’s quirks and issues. This seems just like the upgrade that I wished for in every way possible with some nice additional stuff on top.
I just hope it won’t be $100+
I got the Steam Controller (OG) when it was $5. I wanted to love it so bad, but never could get over the full replacement of the thumbstick on the right side with a trackpad. I could even get over the “cheap” feeling plastic, but that non existent right thumbstick was just too weird for me to get over.
I’m a life long controller gamer though, so maybe it was the best thing ever for some, but I am happy they went with the Steam Deck layout, as that was what I was hoping for!
I understand that feeling and a lot of people shared it, but I was someone that loved it regardless despite generally being a controller gamer as well.
I think to get a good experience you had to be very willing to play with the settings a lot. Not unlike the Deck now, but the software wasn’t as accessible and the users not as accustomed to it. Of course it would never feel the same no matter what, but it was definitely responsive!
I understand exactly what you mean by it not being as accessible. They really outdid themselves with the Steam Deck. With EmuDeck, it installed so many different profiles that each have their own little sections in the radial menu. If I had known that was a thing, and if I had some time on my hands, I’d probably have used it a little more!
Either way, we have the best of both worlds now with this controller, so I can’t complain at all now! :)
The 8bitDo Ultimate 2 has TMR sticks too, best controller I’ve used. Better than the Xbox Elite Controller Series 2. I do wish the 8bitDo had 4 underside buttons instead of only 2, but it’s still better. The sticks are insane.
~$25 for an 8bitdo ultimate 2c! The price is just too good. I know it doesn’t have TMR or the extra buttons, but it just works and feels really good to me compared to the xbox elite controller that got the shoulder button issue within 3 months for me.
The trackpads are unnecessary imo. Games made for controller aren’t going to expect the deck touchpads, they’re gonna expect xbox and playstation controllers without it. The touchpads just fit a very specific niche of people who want to play with the steam deck on a TV in games that are not fully controller supported and don’t have a keyboard and mouse paired for that use case. Always better to have options I suppose.
The 8bitDo Ultimate 2 was like $40–50 or something, so cheap compared to the Elite 2. I got the dirt cheap 8Bit just to try it out for giggles because I’d never tried TMR sticks before. Bro I haven’t touched the Elite 2 since unpacking the 8bit.
I have carpal tunnel syndrome and mouse heavy games hurt, but playing with a controller is great. If this can easily replace a mouse and keyboard setup then I’ll be playing with it a lot, and those track pads are a big reason why.
They’re also good for emulating certain consoles with quirky controllers, like the N64.
It can’t really replace mouse and keyboard though. Not unless developers start designing games to work that way, and these touchpads are exclusive to an ultraminority of the hardware market share. The deck gives you that virtual keyboard which kinda works with the touchpads but it’s not ideal.
There’s no shortage of amazing games that are fully compatible with controllers though, thankfully.
Btw have you tried a trackball? i’ve been using a thumb based one like a logitech M575 for the better part of 30 years, ever since I saw one at CompUSA. Professionally 100% of my time is spent with one, and I used to have top tier KDR in counter strike 1.X back in the day (though I use normal mice for gaming usually nowadays.)
I’ve been using OEM controllers forever, and after the Xbox Elite controller crapped out on me after ONE year, I gave up on “premium” controllers. It had everything I wanted in a controller EXCEPT durability.
The Ultimate 2 is amazing so far! For $60, I can’t complain. Much better than the PS5 controller I had been using for over a year. Nothing terrible with it except te battery. It seems to need to be charged on a wall outlet to fully charge… but that could be because I’m using Linux, but it also happened in Windows so…
Excited to continue using it for the next few months to really wear it in, but I am legitimately impressed with it so far!
I’m super pleased with it, rock solid performance. Very snappy input lag as well, not even detectable, and I play games that require very precise timing on inputs.
Wish I could disagree with you on the durability of the premium controllers from Xbox. So bad. I got the Elite 2 like I said, but I exchanged it for a new one literally an amount of times that I can’t even remember, and it took place over almost a year. The issue was with its sticks. They were either drifting or had some kind of gap where the stick wouldn’t sit still in its socket. Both left and right sticks, or one or the other.
Eventually I had enough and settled on one that had very little of the issue, on the left stick (less used), because I just wanted to freaking play my games because I was without a controller all the time sending them back.
8Bit? Third of the price, first controller sent to me was flawless.
I’m not experiencing an issue with charging though. In what way do you notice that it doesn’t charge fully? The charge light never switches off?
Sorry, I probably made it confusing on which controller was acting up in which ways!
The Xbox Elite 2 controller had the RB button go out on me, and that means I couldn’t play games that required that button (which is surprisingly a LOT of the games I play!). I think it gave out on me on Dark Souls 2 or 3 since that is a RB button heavy game for the light attack. I tried using the paddles to replace the RB button, but even that wasn’t enough to keep me using it, so I put it away. I’m sure I could fix it somehow, but I have a very limited amount of time when I get home from work and just want to chill and play a video game, so tinkering isn’t something I would really want to spend my limited time on at this moment in my life.
For the PS5 controller, it basically refuses to charge when connected to my desktop computer. Specifically, it would never seem to charge, even when turned off fully and then connected to the charging cable. Now, when I read a Reddit post about someone else having the charge issue (without a PS5, apparently…), they said they had to plug theirs into a wall outlet to charge it. It actually charged it to 100% over night, and was able to last an entire 3-4 hours of gaming in one go, unlike before where it would ding me on KDE that the battery was low, IMMEDIATELY after unplugging it from the desktop cord to use for play. It was such a shitty experience that I had to look it up on Reddit! lol
This 8BitDo controller is absolutely fantastic so far, and like you, I must’ve gotten a good one from the warehouse! I saw some of the reviews saying it had some issues, but I usually chalk those up to user error unless it has some convincing pictures to go with it. Anyway, I have only had the 8BitDo controller for two days so far, BUT:
The sticks are literally the best feeling sticks I’ve ever used. I was actually able to turn my dead zones on both sticks to 0 (or negative in Steam? I’m not entirely sure how that works, as it looks like it goes into the negatives?) and can feel every little turn in game. Can’t believe I’ve been playing my games in an inferior manor!
The hall effect triggers are also amazing! I’m playing GTA4 (with FusionFix mod) on openSUSE Tumbleweed, and I have never had better feeling triggers before. When I can barely press on the right trigger, and the vehicle (Comet, in game) actually starts going slowly? That was something to see with my own eyes, and feel with my own hands. I can’t describe it well enough, but if you are reading this, it made a HUGE difference in feel!
I can’t tell you about battery life just yet, since I only get 3-4 hours after I get home, but I’m sure with it’s charging stand, I won’t need to personally worry about that!
The only thing I can say I don’t like is that I have decent sized hands, and can accidentally press the back buttons just by gripping or rearranging my grip on the controller, so I have those turned off in Steam for now until I relearn how to handle a controller like this since I have been using a PS5 one for so long now.
Sorry for the huge wall of text, but I just can’t believe I have been missing out just because a few controllers gave me issues! Plus, I just love talking about gaming! Thank you for taking the time to reply! :)
But yeah, it just goes to show that the mass production vs caring and dedicated production really are playing in different leagues altogether. Mass produced stuff is just shit no matter how expensive, and this controller-centric company blows the big dogs out of the water for a third, quarter, eighth of the price!
Anyway, I hope you get more free time for yourself soon, so you can enjoy it more. 😌
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Dang. The new Steam Controller has a D-pad, buttons, thumbsticks, gyros, and trackpads.
And the thumbsticks are TMR (like Hall effect, but nicer).
As long as it’s comfortable to reach all that stuff, that’s gonna be a new bar for PC game controllers.
EDIT: and grip sensors.
EDIT2: and four haptic feedback motors, two in the trackpads.
I personally think the Deck is very comfortable given its bulk. I have a lot of faith in the controller ergonomics.
The first time I held a deck I was kind of amazed at how comfortable it is to hold. Bricks shouldn’t be that comfy to hold, but, it is. The ergonomics are spot on. Gotta handle the Steam Controller V2 myself before any verdict, but I have high hopes.
Now if it just had a replaceable battery…
It does! Verge reports that battery pops out like old cellphone batteries
Nice!
Edit: do you have to disassemble the controller (with a screwdriver or something) or is it accessible with just my hands? I swap (rechargeable) AAs on my XBox360 controller quite a bit, and part of why I like it is that I can do it quickly if the battery dies while playing.
Looks like you’ll have to remove the entire bottom shell. From GN’s video:
The shell doesn’t seem to have a separately removable battery cover, although I don’t see a reason why someone wouldn’t be able to just cut a hole or 3D-print an accessible shell. Dbrand comes to mind. Or that’s just a show piece and the retail product might have a battery cover.
It also looks like the screw posts don’t have threaded metal inserts, which is concerning.
That is a bit of a shame, I was excited to see the Steam Frame controllers simply use AA batteries.
I wish more things used those, or maybe some new standard with more energy density. Swapping batteries immediately is one thing I miss from the Wii days…
kagis
https://www.theverge.com/games/815061/valve-steam-controller-hands-on-deck-frame-machine
FYI you can just post the link without shilling for your preferred search engine
but kagi is a good search engine
Companies are not your friend. Also a single douche can ruin the company.
You can also not whine when people mention it. FYI.
Also, if they said “googles” or “ddgs” I doubt you would have complained. They don’t use either of those presumably.
It probably will. Watch Gamers Nexus’ video, it has a short clip that shows the battery, and it looks like it’s held in a receptacle like removable phone batteries. Valve have already said that you’d be able to disassemble the controller with a screwdriver, but no word yet on replacement parts. But based on the Steam Deck, I would be shocked if they didn’t offer at least replacement batteries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWUxObt1efQ&t=41m19s
I’ve been dreaming of this since the first steam controller released! I absolutely loved the first one but it definitely had it’s quirks and issues. This seems just like the upgrade that I wished for in every way possible with some nice additional stuff on top. I just hope it won’t be $100+
I got the Steam Controller (OG) when it was $5. I wanted to love it so bad, but never could get over the full replacement of the thumbstick on the right side with a trackpad. I could even get over the “cheap” feeling plastic, but that non existent right thumbstick was just too weird for me to get over.
I’m a life long controller gamer though, so maybe it was the best thing ever for some, but I am happy they went with the Steam Deck layout, as that was what I was hoping for!
I understand that feeling and a lot of people shared it, but I was someone that loved it regardless despite generally being a controller gamer as well.
I think to get a good experience you had to be very willing to play with the settings a lot. Not unlike the Deck now, but the software wasn’t as accessible and the users not as accustomed to it. Of course it would never feel the same no matter what, but it was definitely responsive!
I understand exactly what you mean by it not being as accessible. They really outdid themselves with the Steam Deck. With EmuDeck, it installed so many different profiles that each have their own little sections in the radial menu. If I had known that was a thing, and if I had some time on my hands, I’d probably have used it a little more!
Either way, we have the best of both worlds now with this controller, so I can’t complain at all now! :)
The 8bitDo Ultimate 2 has TMR sticks too, best controller I’ve used. Better than the Xbox Elite Controller Series 2. I do wish the 8bitDo had 4 underside buttons instead of only 2, but it’s still better. The sticks are insane.
~$25 for an 8bitdo ultimate 2c! The price is just too good. I know it doesn’t have TMR or the extra buttons, but it just works and feels really good to me compared to the xbox elite controller that got the shoulder button issue within 3 months for me.
The trackpads are unnecessary imo. Games made for controller aren’t going to expect the deck touchpads, they’re gonna expect xbox and playstation controllers without it. The touchpads just fit a very specific niche of people who want to play with the steam deck on a TV in games that are not fully controller supported and don’t have a keyboard and mouse paired for that use case. Always better to have options I suppose.
The 8bitDo Ultimate 2 was like $40–50 or something, so cheap compared to the Elite 2. I got the dirt cheap 8Bit just to try it out for giggles because I’d never tried TMR sticks before. Bro I haven’t touched the Elite 2 since unpacking the 8bit.
I have carpal tunnel syndrome and mouse heavy games hurt, but playing with a controller is great. If this can easily replace a mouse and keyboard setup then I’ll be playing with it a lot, and those track pads are a big reason why.
They’re also good for emulating certain consoles with quirky controllers, like the N64.
It can’t really replace mouse and keyboard though. Not unless developers start designing games to work that way, and these touchpads are exclusive to an ultraminority of the hardware market share. The deck gives you that virtual keyboard which kinda works with the touchpads but it’s not ideal.
There’s no shortage of amazing games that are fully compatible with controllers though, thankfully.
Btw have you tried a trackball? i’ve been using a thumb based one like a logitech M575 for the better part of 30 years, ever since I saw one at CompUSA. Professionally 100% of my time is spent with one, and I used to have top tier KDR in counter strike 1.X back in the day (though I use normal mice for gaming usually nowadays.)
Literally just got one the other day!
I’ve been using OEM controllers forever, and after the Xbox Elite controller crapped out on me after ONE year, I gave up on “premium” controllers. It had everything I wanted in a controller EXCEPT durability.
The Ultimate 2 is amazing so far! For $60, I can’t complain. Much better than the PS5 controller I had been using for over a year. Nothing terrible with it except te battery. It seems to need to be charged on a wall outlet to fully charge… but that could be because I’m using Linux, but it also happened in Windows so…
Excited to continue using it for the next few months to really wear it in, but I am legitimately impressed with it so far!
Cheers!
I’m super pleased with it, rock solid performance. Very snappy input lag as well, not even detectable, and I play games that require very precise timing on inputs.
Wish I could disagree with you on the durability of the premium controllers from Xbox. So bad. I got the Elite 2 like I said, but I exchanged it for a new one literally an amount of times that I can’t even remember, and it took place over almost a year. The issue was with its sticks. They were either drifting or had some kind of gap where the stick wouldn’t sit still in its socket. Both left and right sticks, or one or the other.
Eventually I had enough and settled on one that had very little of the issue, on the left stick (less used), because I just wanted to freaking play my games because I was without a controller all the time sending them back.
8Bit? Third of the price, first controller sent to me was flawless.
I’m not experiencing an issue with charging though. In what way do you notice that it doesn’t charge fully? The charge light never switches off?
Sorry, I probably made it confusing on which controller was acting up in which ways!
The Xbox Elite 2 controller had the RB button go out on me, and that means I couldn’t play games that required that button (which is surprisingly a LOT of the games I play!). I think it gave out on me on Dark Souls 2 or 3 since that is a RB button heavy game for the light attack. I tried using the paddles to replace the RB button, but even that wasn’t enough to keep me using it, so I put it away. I’m sure I could fix it somehow, but I have a very limited amount of time when I get home from work and just want to chill and play a video game, so tinkering isn’t something I would really want to spend my limited time on at this moment in my life.
For the PS5 controller, it basically refuses to charge when connected to my desktop computer. Specifically, it would never seem to charge, even when turned off fully and then connected to the charging cable. Now, when I read a Reddit post about someone else having the charge issue (without a PS5, apparently…), they said they had to plug theirs into a wall outlet to charge it. It actually charged it to 100% over night, and was able to last an entire 3-4 hours of gaming in one go, unlike before where it would ding me on KDE that the battery was low, IMMEDIATELY after unplugging it from the desktop cord to use for play. It was such a shitty experience that I had to look it up on Reddit! lol
This 8BitDo controller is absolutely fantastic so far, and like you, I must’ve gotten a good one from the warehouse! I saw some of the reviews saying it had some issues, but I usually chalk those up to user error unless it has some convincing pictures to go with it. Anyway, I have only had the 8BitDo controller for two days so far, BUT:
The sticks are literally the best feeling sticks I’ve ever used. I was actually able to turn my dead zones on both sticks to 0 (or negative in Steam? I’m not entirely sure how that works, as it looks like it goes into the negatives?) and can feel every little turn in game. Can’t believe I’ve been playing my games in an inferior manor!
The hall effect triggers are also amazing! I’m playing GTA4 (with FusionFix mod) on openSUSE Tumbleweed, and I have never had better feeling triggers before. When I can barely press on the right trigger, and the vehicle (Comet, in game) actually starts going slowly? That was something to see with my own eyes, and feel with my own hands. I can’t describe it well enough, but if you are reading this, it made a HUGE difference in feel!
I can’t tell you about battery life just yet, since I only get 3-4 hours after I get home, but I’m sure with it’s charging stand, I won’t need to personally worry about that!
The only thing I can say I don’t like is that I have decent sized hands, and can accidentally press the back buttons just by gripping or rearranging my grip on the controller, so I have those turned off in Steam for now until I relearn how to handle a controller like this since I have been using a PS5 one for so long now.
Sorry for the huge wall of text, but I just can’t believe I have been missing out just because a few controllers gave me issues! Plus, I just love talking about gaming! Thank you for taking the time to reply! :)
I read every word. 😉
But yeah, it just goes to show that the mass production vs caring and dedicated production really are playing in different leagues altogether. Mass produced stuff is just shit no matter how expensive, and this controller-centric company blows the big dogs out of the water for a third, quarter, eighth of the price!
Anyway, I hope you get more free time for yourself soon, so you can enjoy it more. 😌
But it’s missing a 3.5mm headphone jack bizarrely.