![]() All the “haptic feedback” is, is a very loud, very weak motor under the right track pad that goes BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ all the while you move your thumb around. I thought I should dedicate a whole section to how incredibly oversold the “haptic feedback” in the controller is. It’s emblematic of Valve’s apparent mindset: It’s not there because you need it, it’s there because we say so. Since it’s a bad analog, a worse d pad and there’s no reason to have two cursor pads, there is simply no reason for this giant thing to be on the controller.Ī second analog or d pad would be most welcome and go a long way to making this controller an actual controller replacement instead of only a KB/M replacement, but instead we are graced with this…monstrosity. The track pads are terrible for analog stick emulation, so you can always make use of the right pad (which is always the camera pad) and the left analog stick to move and look. To stop moving you have to let it go, then suffer another click as you press it in again, it’s a very clumsy experience all around that almost makes me miss the 360’s d pad. You see you have to click it in to start registering inputs, and you either have to clickyclack release and move and press again to reverse/change direction, or quickly move your hand over the surface to another direction. The trackpad is absolutely unacceptable for character movement, especially with an analog stick right there. But in no game I tested, nor any community config, was the left pad actually of any use beyond a WASD/d pad hotkey sort of thing. It makes a really bad d pad in some games, it’s used in the weird double pad keyboard Steam Big Picture now has (that’s kinda cool), and you can map it to a mouse manually. Oh sure, it functions as an input method–that was just a metaphor. The left touchpad is a last-ditch effort by a deranged Valve employee feverishly insisting that touchpads are how controller should be made. The left touchpad is not an input method. Absolutely do not play a difficult game your first try with the steam controller. If you just pick a game at random from your steam library it’s quite possible you’ll have a bad time, but they could mitigate this by having a recommended, fun little game to play first so you can get used to the unusual control setup and most importantly get used to the trackpads in a safe environment. I think Steam really needs to put together some sort of small game to basically teach you to use the Steam Controller. This could be pretty disastrous when a bunch of people buy >$500 Steam Machines and sit down to play with a completely new input method on a device allegedly designed to make PC gaming comfortable and easy. Ranging between “can’t play this game” bad and “it worked, barely” bad. Your first time using the Steam Controller is going to be bad. That’s kind of inherent to the beast’s focus on emulating mouse, but it’s pretty unfortunate. No matter how many controllers you’ve handled, keyboards you’ve tapped, mice you’ve moved or trackpads you’ve fondled, this thing is nothing quite like any of them. ![]() The learning curve on this device is completely unavoidable. Then you start using it…and things get a lot less pleasant. I then had to restart steam to start reading input, not sure if that’s a flaw or just a result of me running the Steam client Beta (was running it for the new Big Picture mode). It’ll install the latest firmware, taking about a minute. The install is painless enough, plug in the nub, make sure Steam is open, press the Steam button on the controller. It does a great job of reflecting my fan, who photobombs every picture of a reflective object. Just under the controller is your wireless USB receiver. I actually completely missed a compartment under the controller holder that had a brain dead-simple manual, a microUSB cable and a USB extender hub (you’ll find later I wish I DID completely miss it). It’s got a paper slip cover you slide off, allowing you to open the box where the controller greets you. Color me impressed, the unboxing was actually kinda nice.
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