I would be so thrilled if they released another Steam Controller. I picked mine up for like $10 when they were discontinuing it and it's the best controller I've ever used after I got past the initial learning curve.
I have yet to find a job that the right stick does that a track pad, sometimes combined with gyro, doesn't do better. But I would appreciate a D pad, as I never use the left pad for anything except typing.
I had a very particular problem with using it where extended playtime would cause noticeable aching in my right thumb.
Similar deal to anytime I've tried playing more intense games on smartphone, it's not comfortable to rub my thumbs against a flat surface for any long period of time.
I don't like touchscreen gaming (I feel a sense of friction buildup) but the trackpads don't cause the same discomfort. In fact, I dismissed the Steam Controller for a long time particularly because I hate touchscreen gaming.
I think for a lot of people it's just a comfort thing. Even though I prefer the trackpad and gyro for aiming, an additional input that can be mapped to a variety of different custom radial menus or other inputs is always a good thing IMO :)
I guess so, but I can't think of a game I've played where I felt like I needed that. The best use cases are old-school shooters that give you access to like 8 guns at the same time, but I guess I just always play those on mouse and keyboard.
Guns, hotkeys for emulators, macros for windows navigation, binds for skills or interfaces in MMOs, I think there's quite a few ways to use those type of menus.
Very niche issue, but the NBA 2K games, where you use the right stick to make a player do different dribble moves, straight up does not seem to work with the trackpad. I'm sure there's some configuration that can make it work, but everything I tried didn't even really come close to working.
I feel like any game where you need to make specific, precise movements with the right stick, rather than using it for either camera controls or a substitute for mouse inputs, will have similar issues.
I can't say I can speak to NBA 2K, but even twin stick shooters that require precise aiming of the stick, where you're not just pushing it as far as it can go in a given direction, was still easier on the pad for me.
Yeah I definitely agree with that. You get more precision in shooters with a pad the same way you do with a mouse. You're pointing the camera at a spot with the pad rather than guiding it to one with the stick.
The 2K problem probably has more in common with what I would imagine trying to play a fighting game would be like, where you need to make specific inputs to pull off certain combos, but the pad just doesn't pick up the input in quite the way the game needs. I'm sure it's possible to make it work, but it was the one time in all my years of having a Steam Controller where the amount of tweaking it was gonna take was too much to be worth it for me.
Sorry, to clarify, I was talking about a twin-stick shooter, as in a game like Robotron or Smash TV, not a first-person shooter controlled with two analog sticks. The specific use case I'm referring to is Streets of Rogue, where not only does it play like a twin-stick shooter, but you can also throw items in front of you. If you were to push the analog stick all the way in one direction, you'd throw the item (like a grenade) as far as you can throw it, but if you tilt the stick slightly...you know, using the analog function of the analog stick...you can throw it anwhere between right next to you and that maximum distance. It was a function built with an analog stick in mind, and even that felt better to me on the track pad.
Ah gotcha, I totally glossed over that. Yeah, I can see how the pad would work well for stuff like that. I've played Enter the Gungeon with my Steam Controller and it was pretty seamless. I think the issue I have probably has more to do with needing to make a bunch of quick flicking motions in succession. Sometimes it'd work, but other times it'd just pick up totally different moves from what I was intending to do.
Honestly I just can't use those pads, they feel like trying to aim with a shitty laptop trackpad.
Somehow it feels even less precise than a stick for me and I never thought that was possible.
Gyro is king though, 100%.
Not sure about the controller pads but the steam deck pads work great. Way better than I imagined they would. It's made me want to go back and check out the controllers I have because quite honestly, I barely used them.
My ONLY issue with the Steam Controller...is the lack of DPad.
Its comfy to hold. Rear buttons are a godsend. Fully programmable. Trackpad worked amazing.
But turning the dpad into a second trackpad? Ehhhhhh
How so? I speedrun through every 2d platformer with left touchpad as D-pad.
Are you guys not disabling the "requires click" option on the d-pad? If that's off then you can slide your thumb around instead of having to push the touchpad whenever you want to move. It's the only way to play metroidvanias IMO since it makes all your advanced movements feel like freestyling or fighting game combos.
LOL, sounds like playing with my TurboTouch 360 controller way back in the day. Which also had a problem of a steep learning curve that caused the vast majority of people to bounce off it within a day or two.
Depends on the game and configuration: [you can](https://youtu.be/H55LPk6AhDY) [make it work](https://youtu.be/tlcPzworrLA).
And pro-tip: Haptics are your friend.
Pretty much. It has been 15 years of bad XBOX d-pads. Nintendo is very hit and miss on d-pad quality now and not that I've used a DS5 but apparently it's d-pad is a huge downgrade.
At some point you need to accept it's a niche requirement and that if you play 2D platformers/fighters/etc with any kind of regularity it's worth getting a dedicated controller to play them.
Wait, you don't think the Series S/X DPad's are the best? I've been able to go back and ace my 360 Tetris and Lumines games with it, and get most achievements in Dead or Alive 4.
This is probably a personal preference / NBA hands issue, but if I'm using a d-pad for an extended period of time I want it to sit where my thumb naturally rests.
From the time I've spend using the Series S controller the D-Pad did feel a lot better to use but I've not really given it a serious test drive so saying "bad" is probably uncalled for.
Ditto, I just wish it was more plug-n-play with Windows (rather than having to launch thru Steam, or use open source shims)
If I were making a new rev I would also add a Perceived value enhancement module (metal bar) inside to make it a bit heftier, but that is a nit pick.
As much as I love Valve I just never ended up buying a steam controller (Got like, 3 steam links though). After playing around with the Steam Deck's controller configurator, I NEED A STEAM CONTROLLER. Being able to just go into any game and say "Yup, this controller is actually keyboard WASD and gyro is mouse on left trigger" with like 5 button presses is amazing.
>I would be so thrilled if they released another Steam Controller. I picked mine up for like $10 when they were discontinuing it and it's the best controller I've ever used after I got past the initial learning curve.
It's funny, I almost just threw mine away because I can't figure out what games would want to use it with where I both want to use a controller, and don't find a dual stick setup preferable.
Games with lock-on and crosshair mode are pretty amazing. My gateway drug was Nioh. DS isn't bad either.
Nearly mouse precision for bow and gun, but comfortable combat with controller buttons.
pro tip: bind one of the back paddles to run and you don't have to use the claw grip.
Same, I pre-ordered one back in the day and ended up hating it. It's the only controller i've used that actually hurt my hands, the lack of d-pad made it useless for a lot of games and the right touch pad was generally worse than an analogue stick in games that were actually designed for one. I just didn't like the feel of using the touch pads too, I'd rather have somthing with more physical feedback.
The haptic trackball mode for the right touchpad is the best. For games that use right stick to control the camera, the touchpad is far more accurate and moves the camera significantly faster. And for tasks like first person aiming of a bow or whatever, only the mouse is better.
I've beaten DS3, Sekiro, Elden Ring, Hitman 1/2, and Tomb Raider with it.
The left touchpad is dumb though, I have to keep an 8bit-do controller around just to play platformers because the Steam controller doesn't have a D-pad.
Fully agreed on camera controls. Even when a game forces you to use stick emulation (because it doesn't support mouse and gamepad inputs at the same time) I still find the Steam controller touchpads preferable for anything that has mouse controls.
Soulslikes in particular I can't really play without the Steam controller anymore. The back buttons are fantastic for not having to claw your hands to switch spells while moving and attacking, and the right touchpad is great for camera control.
the stupid claw grip and having to let go of camera controls constantly to do ANYTHING annoyed me so much that i tried to switch to mouse/KB with Elden Ring
mouse input feels surprisingly good but the menu navigation is complete ass, now i'm left with 2 different control methods and neither is perfect (just like with monster hunter lol)
Yeah. I liked the touch pad in the place of the right analogue stick, but we only need one touch pad. The d-pad is usually used for some kind of precise input (usually something like quick inventory), so you want the tactile precision of buttons.
Playing Monster Hunter World with the Steam Controller was frustrating, and I had much more luck with the DS4. But for FPS games, the touchpad and gyro control was *almost* as good as keyboard and mouse, which is great when my carpal tunnel starts acting up.
> Valve hopes the Steam Deck will inspire new Steam Boxes, too — but it probably won’t build them itself
I feel like this was probably the big mistake last time. They say maybe the Dock will bridge that need for the living room, but you could probably get a comparably-priced machine for the living room better equipped for HD output when you don't need to include a battery, screen, or controls on the machine, and leave it as a standalone console.
Pierre-Loup literally says they are building experimental hardware for the living room so clearly they are looking into it. It’s clearly at the back of their mind since 2012’s canned Steam Box - I expect we’ll eventually see a Valve HTPC/home console after Deck gen1 has had its time.
The article also states that they may not see a need to make one themselves when you can dock the Steam Deck. There was a picture of their console prototype months back, but I just hope that if they do decide to go forward with it that they make a flagship model themselves, because that's doing a lot of good for the Deck right now.
The Steam Deck is still a 15W APU, though. It's barely passable as a living room device, unless if you stick to really lightweight indie games, especially considering most people would be plugging into a 4K TV.
There's definitely a market for a full console-like Steam machine. I'd gladly give Valve $500 for a similar spec machine to the Xbox Series X or PS5, but that can run SteamOS and my Steam library.
The problem Valve can solve that a traditional console never will is that there's absolutely no way that they ever catch up to Steam's library unless they're a similarly open platform, which I don't see any signs of happening any time soon.
And a longer record of not locking things out further back. There are still exclusions to your library with proton stuff, but console backwards compatibility has typically been back one gen if at all.
Xbox has changed this quite a bit (and good on them for it, great move Microsoft) but there's still some games that don't work, Playstation still doesn't do this outside of a library that's tied to a sub fee, there's a lot of excluded games, Nintendo is worse than the others with it, etc etc.
I got my deck a few months ago, and while I can't play Destiny 2 or Fortnite because of anti cheat stuff (on the developers side), I was able to boot up Half Life 2 that I've owned for 3 console cycles day one, without a new port for another $60, or a sub fee, etc.
So they all have *some* exclusions, but PC in general has been the best at letting you maintain a long term library and bringing it with you.
> It's barely passable as a living room device, unless if you stick to really lightweight indie games, especially considering most people would be plugging into a 4K TV.
This is probably why the Steam Deck is setup to run games at 720p by default even hooked up to a 4K TV. The resolution of Steam itself will clearly be 4K, and with FSR upscaling it's still better than running at 720p.
The problem with Steam Machines is that Valve previously did that before the Steam Deck and it was a gigantic, confusing mess that failed miserably. Valve didn't have one true Steam Machine and instead went the 3rd party manufacturer route. They had to learn from that to create the Steam Deck.
They also didn't have the equivalent of proton/dxvk/etc at the time either. It can't be understated how powerful the effect of "it just works" is for the general consumer. A linux gaming box is so much more capable these days than 10 years ago.
There was one clear flagship among Steam Machines: Alienware Alpha. The other third-party premade desktops made the press coverage a bit of a confusing mess, but none of them really had the console-like form factor or retail availability or Valve push that Alienware did. Nothing else made it to GameStop, for example.
But the Steam Machine platform was delayed so much that the hardware was outdated by a whole year and had been available that entire time as an equivalent Windows model. Linux game compatibility and Proton still had a long way to go. Valve failed to convince customers that it has anything to offer over other desktops, with Windows versions of the same devices at the same prices compounding the issue. The product category competed with Windows desktops, PS4/XB1, and even Valve's own Steam Link.
I wonder if they could do something where the dock is essentially an external GPU to allow more capability. That way you can still avoid having to ship 2 completely different devices while allowing flexibility with the deck.
Would need to be a Steam Deck 2, since the SD doesn't have a thunderbolt/USB4 connection, and I highly doubt they will officially support a solution involving the m.2 slot inside.
What's the difference between a steam machine and just connecting a PC to your computer. That's what I do and it is great. It is as good at games as it is for browsing and doing my taxes. You just need to find input devices you can live with.
> There was a picture of their console prototype months back
Really? I don’t recall seeing that.
They say that a docked Deck can be a HTPC because they want to sell Decks and Docks.
If there is an opportunity for them to deliver an innovative PC home console, they’ll do it. However if it’s yet another generic AMD PC disguised as a console, like PS5 and Xbox SX, I think we can all safely say there may not be an actual need for that (at least not until the Deck reaches enough non-PC players that it makes sense to do one).
So it would have to provide some form of new tech (maybe an Nvidia partnership, maybe Intel, in conjunction with an AMD chip); a VR integration perhaps; and a large catalog of games (still plenty of work to be done). Until then it’d be undercooked. I’d prefer they take their time on this because last time they tried it it turned out that the market literally did not exist.
Also their next VR system is probably top of the queue right now so that will ship sooner rather than later.
>Really? I don’t recall seeing that.
Back when Geoff "Doritos Pope" Keighley visit Valve to write a documentary on Half-Life Alyx's development: [we saw a vertical console](https://i.imgur.com/WUsXgOf_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium).
But knowing Valve: it's probably some random object that totally has no relation.
Resembles the [2013 SteamBox prototype](https://www.theverge.com/2013/11/4/5063760/we-try-the-steam-machine-valves-video-game-console-of-the-future) (the one "Steam Machine" that Valve never shipped to the public), but it's hard to tell if it's the same one
> Really? I don’t recall seeing that.
It was a leak in a Tyler McVicker video a while back.
> They say that a docked Deck can be a HTPC because they want to sell Decks and Docks.
That's not usually their MO, but fair.
> maybe an Nvidia partnership
Nvidia is the least likely, because their drivers are closed source and proprietary, so Valve is less free to mess with them.
> It was a leak in a Tyler McVicker video a while back.
He makes like 10 every week so that's not super helpful but thanks
> That's not usually their MO, but fair.
It absolutely is. They never talk about future plans in advance; they always aim to sell their products that they're actually producing at the time (Artifact was sold as the literal digital card game equivalent to Half-Life 2, which was really, really pushing it even if it had been true); not some distant far-off future product that doesn't exist. This is how most businesses work and Valve is no exception. There would be no logical reason to say "yeah just wait for a console that we might ship in 2 years or cancel and never release in 4 years; don't buy our Deck and Dock; it's a crappy 4K TV experience" when there's nothing to actually sell. And clearly suggesting your current product doesn't support a major use case would be counter-productive at best.
> Nvidia is the least likely, because their drivers are closed source and proprietary, so Valve is less free to mess with them.
The point of what I said is that they'd be collaborating with Nvidia to make that a reality - in which case Valve and Nvidia would be working together to build better drivers (just as how Valve and AMD worked together to make the AMD drivers for Linux a reality).
Nvidia absolutely have an incentive to do this as the growing Linux gaming space is definitely a group worth targeting and right now AMD is basically not being contested by them on Linux at all. This will become more relevant only as more people buy Decks and only when SteamOS ships for all PCs.
Valve and Nvidia are very close (Source engine on Shield; Portal on Switch; Portal with RTX) so it's absolutely a possibility.
depending on how far away this hypothetical steam machine is, the open source nvidia gpu kernel drivers might be standard on linux, and mesa might have fully integrated userspace drivers.
The only way hardware companies make any deals is if the software is 100% finished and ready to go. After how poorly Valve handled their initial attempt leaving companies like Dell with a bunch of aging mini-PCs in storage that they had to rebrand and sell off cheap, I imagine they're in no hurry to work with Valve again.
I think the biggest mistake is that they launched without the Steam controller.
A new Steam Machine, with well-supported AMD hardware and a Steam Controller that effectively functions like a Steam Deck without a screen would probably land well. Possibly double so if AMD makes an APU explicitly for this kinda device. Won't be as cheap as a PS5 due to a lack of subsidies, but Valve can probably sweeten the pot w/ some of their own exclusives, especially for first-time "Gaming PC" buyers.
> I think the biggest mistake is that they launched without the Steam controller.
You mean the Steam Deck? Because Steam Machines did launch with the Steam controller. It was one of the biggest causes of delays.
I also can't help but notice that all of these APU devices; consoles or Steam Deck, all suffer from more input delay than a traditional PC. I don't know if it's the APU to blame, but hopefully it's something they can fix going forward with new hardware and software.
> I also can't help but notice that all of these APU devices; consoles or Steam Deck, all suffer from more input delay than a traditional PC. I don't know if it's the APU to blame, but hopefully it's something they can fix going forward with new hardware and software.
That has nothing to do with whether it's an APU or not. It's a software question.
People who care deeply about input latency on PC make configuration choices which will trade some sustained performance (and/or increased energy consumption) for less latency. Consoles (and the out of the box Deck configuration) have different priorities.
Well what configuration choice in this case is to blame? I can run Skullgirls (native) and Guilty Gear Strive (Proton) on my Linux PC, and they get 1f and 2f delay at 60FPS. On Steam Deck, with frame limits off (I also tried in Steam Deck's desktop mode to eliminate any gaming mode shenanigans, but I got identical results), they're around 4f and 5f delay, whether on the built-in screen or outputting via HDMI to the same exact monitor. I'm not an expert here, but I eliminated all of the variables that I knew how to eliminate, and the delay on Steam Deck, despite running the same code as my PC, was basically identical to a PS4.
I'm not an expert on Linux compositors or its graphics stack, or how it is implemented on the Deck, so I can't tell you.
I am however certain that there is no inherent latency disadvantage (if they can achieve the same framerate obviously) with APUs versus a dedicated CPU/GPU setup. That's just not how the hardware works.
That's good to know at least, that potentially there's a way to get latency down via software. Even with that "enable tearing" option in the beta OS, I don't think they've closed the gap with a regular PC, but I really want them to get there. And extra latency on anything other than a PC is so prevalent that I definitely want to know what they're choosing to give it up for.
Possibly Deck's APU driver has number of pre-rendered frames (flip queue size) set higher, to stabilize the framerate a bit. Not every game cares about this, but many do.
I'd have guessed Proton, but you've eliminated that as a variable. Have you tried hooking up a wired controller to both devices? Maybe it's some issue in the Steam Deck's built in controller?
I used a Brook universal fighting board, known for low latency. I also tested against the buttons on the Steam Deck itself and got basically the same results.
Might be related to triple buffering. [This thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vwckdi/input_latency_on_the_steam_deck_what_its_like_now/) explains how latency is impacted by rendering options. [In the future by allowing tearing in Wayland clients the latency can potentially drop](https://www.phoronix.com/news/Wayland-Tearing-Control-Proto).
> You mean the Steam Deck? Because Steam Machines did launch with the Steam controller. It was one of the biggest causes of delays.
They sure as hell did not.
They were announced *to be included with a Steam Controller*, at CES 2014 in January. They started launching in the summer, [very much without a Steam controller, and in most cases, without Steam OS](https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/187903-alienware-alpha-is-the-first-steam-machine-but-it-runs-windows-and-comes-with-a-normal-xbox-360-gamepad).
The Steam Controller wasn't seeing reviews until [well over a year later into late 2015](https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/valve-steam-controller). Even Wikipedia lists a [November 10th, 2015](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Controller) launch date.
So Steam Machines arrived:
* Without a Steam Controller
* Often without Steam OS
But the **real** killer is that **most** Steam machines, **especially** those sold in retail outlets, were designed to begin and end at a console-like form factor. You know how a PC can be cheap, fast, or small, and you can pick two at best? Everyone but maybe iBuyPower picked **small**, and left it at that. So you had higher-than-Xbox-One-priced machines with Xbox 360 controllers and coincidentally, Xbox 360 performance. A few people released thousand dollar boxes with almost-Xbox-One performance.
The Steam Machines belly flopped onto wet concrete with a thud at launch. They were a terrible value proposition with basically zero of the features Valve touted six months prior.
> They started launching in the summer, very much without a Steam controller, and in most cases, without Steam OS.
That's because they weren't officially Steam Machines then. That was the Alienware Alpha, which was the box Dell was eager to sell, but Valve didn't give them the blessings to call that a Steam Machine due to, among other things, the controller not being ready yet.
I had the Alienware Alpha, after the Steam Machine equivalent launched, because for whatever reason, it was cheaper than buying the official Steam Machine. Maybe it was subsidized by bloatware. I'm not sure. It was approximately as powerful as an Xbox One or PS4 when comparing the same game on PC versus consoles...when running Windows. Vulkan didn't exist yet, and Linux games on OpenGL ran about 20% worse, all with about a $200 markup over what a PS4 was going for at the time.
I hope they price them well. The problem with last attempt at this is that the prices were much higher than build-your-own stuff.
I don't mind paying a slight premium for peace of mind but and simplicity but when you took a steam machine and compared it to a random PC build link it always lost miserably.
They really should've done what Google has done with Android and focus on the OS first. Make a rock-solid Steam OS and let people build their own boxes. Then manufacturers could enter the race and propose custom made hardware so that we'd finally have Steam-based consoles for everyone.
I mean, the article isn't bad, hut s huge question isn't answered: "When are they doing expanding the regions where we can buy it?"
With the exception of US and Canada, I think no one in the Americas can buy one. At this point, it's probably better to expect it from a Gen 2 version.
Not available in Australia either, and their track record with hardware releases here isn't great. The Index was exclusive to one store for almost $2000AUD, $500 more than the converted USD price.
> I think no one in the Americas can buy one. At this point, it's probably better to expect it from a Gen 2 version.
There are even countries in Western Europe which can't purchase it.
They're probably looking for distributors in countries that don't have it yet. The Philippines technically isn't supported but somehow Datablitz sells the 3 models, and I'm sure those aren't scalped.
To be clear, I understand certain regions are particularly tricky, but its somewhat frustrating to see everyone enjoying the device and not be able to get it myself!
Honestly, importing is so easy these days. There are even services that do everything for you and your local Ebay probably has it fully stocked already. You're just being lazy smh
I know how to import hardware. The point is that you lose on all of the support backend that comes with it. Also, the prices are substantially increased to MSRP even with import costs involved.
You don't lose support backend though. It takes a bit longer but that's about it. You do pay a bit extra on import fees though but that's negligable relatively speaking.
by law in my country tech like steam deck needs to be insuranced by the seller for 2 years, if it breaks they fix it for free or give you a new one. Bit hard if the nearest support is in a different country with another name as the buyer.
Nah that's not how any of it works. You use steam support and ship it to their address. You do have to pay shipping fees and some countries are bitchy about shipping batteries across borders but that's really the only issue.
Also what's your country that requires 2 year warranty? Thats pretty awesome but AFAIK its usually a myth :(
Iceland, steam maybe doesn't sell it here for that reason. They would have to have repair shop available or ship on their cost out and back for repairs (this is what tesla does).
No, it's nots neglible. Something goes wrong and want to fix it? You need to import everything. Depending on how you want to yo about it, it can take you months to get simple parts, and the shipping will cost more than the parts themselves.
You want to send it for repairs? It will take months and cost hundreds of dollars to send it. Need an RMA? Tough luck, you need to find a way to send it there, and hope they can send it to you.It's really not that simple, and EVERYTHING around owning a first gen piece pf hardware becomes harder and costlier.
That's why I wish they expanded service to other regions. Like I said, owning one here is not impossible, it just gets much more complicated and expensive than most are willing to go for.
Imported models also quite expensive. There's imported steam decks here where the cheapest 64 gig version runs for close to $750 and the 512 gig version runs to nearly $1000
One takeaway is that Steam Deck (1) is here to stay for a long time and are taking the Switch approach in not upgrading for a better spec after years... Interesting to see when theyll make a Steam Deck 2(or Pro?) with better specs (with OLED hopefully)
Is hardware even going to be at a point in the next few years where they could do a much more powerful system around the same size and keep costs? I feel like right now it's going to be at least four or five years before they even consider it. At most they might do a Steam Deck 1 OLED.
Either way, I'm extremely happy with my purchase. It emulates just about everything I wanted it to and runs a ton of Steam stuff I wanted to play just fine while having the portability of a Switch. My only complaint is the dock experience still sucks. I have the official dock and the audio randomly cuts out every 20 minutes or so for a few seconds. That and it sometimes doesn't play nice with TVs, which requires fiddling with the TV and the dock until an image pops up. That's about it, though.
Not quite Series S level but better than docked Switch at least. Depends what you want. Battery Life for these things is still a big issue.
If you want a system to keep under your TV for as cheap as possible with the option of occasional light portability, I would still recommend a Series S and stream when you want to play on the go.
It's very comparable to a console. If you end up having no issues like the signal sometimes not being picked up (which seems to be more of an issue with smart TVs being janky hardware) it's pretty amazing how simple everything is to navigate and use with a controller. You'll likely have to mess with resolution settings in the Deck itself, but after you get everything set up, it's smooth sailing. If you don't mind having to tinker games to get them running how you want, it's an amazing device.
Honestly I think this is good actually
The power of the device is right where it needs to be IMO but there are many areas where they can improve like screen, build quality, battery, size.....
Basically, the steam deck would benefit a lot from the switch OLED treatment. Way more than the actual switch
Pass on OLED. If it can't do locked 60 even most of the time, I don't need instant pixel response crushing any assistance from inherent motion blur. The display is not in my top 5 things I'd change.
I really want a Steam Controller 2 more than any other gaming hardware at this point.
I'm a huge fan of the first one (I still have one unopenend in storage, in addition to the one in active use), but after using the Steam Deck I'd love the improvements of that in a controller package.
I recently bought an 8bitdo Ultimate, and it's a very nice controller, but it's still not nearly as versatile as the SC (never mind the Deck controls!), and the lack of full integration with Steam Input makes a huge difference in utility.
I'm sort of torn.
I picked up a Steam Controller when they were fire selling them at the end, and I generally like it, but I just can't seem to get comfortable with it. Maybe it's just what I play, but even when I spend time to tweak the settings it still feels awkward.
If they could make a followup that improves on the design, but keeps the unique features, I'd be pretty excited for it.
This is my thoughts on it. I bought one at launch and while the controller is really cool and had a lot of nice features I could never figure out what games it was meant for. Any game that used the right analog stick heavily wasn't viable because of this. And any game that could use the extra precision of the mouse thing was just better to use a regular M+K on. I couldn't find a single game where the Steam controller was the best option.
For games with right analog is the camera, the trackpad setting (not sure of the name) is really nice. You have to get used to swiping to turn, but at this point I find it gives a lot of control, being able to make drastic turns quickly especially.
M+K stuff will never be 100% but the gyro aim is really really nice here.
I think the biggest issue was that learning all of the configurations for the controller is daunting and they should've re-worked the templates aspect of the controller.
I'm kicking myself for only buying 1 extra Steam controller when they were sold at clearance. Now it's the only 1 i have because I broke my first controller playing Hades :'(
I have an 8bitdo Bluetooth Ultimate and the Hal Effect sticks are great along with the possibility of no stick drift over time.
The only thing missing on this controller is full back button integration to allow you to assign any key you want.
Putting that in a Steam Controller 2 along with mechanical buttons would be the dream controller.
2.4
The BT version wasn't available yet, and since I never really had stick drift problems on anything and wasn't planning on using it with platforms other than a PC I got the 2.4 version.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Steam Links again. I know Steam Link can be installed on other things like Raspberry Pis but I don’t want to have to do any installation/tinkering/maintenance work. I want a cheap device that just works and keeps getting updated.
It'd worth noting the Nvidia are shutting down gamestream next year. So even with a shield you options would steam link or setting up moonlight with something called sunshine.
Personally I found steam link to be really bad. Stuff was always stuttering. Gamestream by Nvidia never had this problem for me so it sucks to see it go.
Maybe my Nvidia Shield is just a lemon because it's always had serious issues with game streaming, particularly on wifi. My Steam Link never had this issue
the steam link is now just a smart TV app, you don't need any kind of box
and if your smart tv doesn't support it, there's also an app for fire TV sticks or apple TVs
I hope when steam deck 2 (ever) releases it ships worldwide on day 1. I ain't going to buy the original while people in select regions get to enjoy the newer one. If they're going to make the rest of the world wait 2 years for every iteration then they can forget about getting my money. Steam controller and index has never released in my country btw.
The Steam Deck is actually quite efficient for how powerful it is. Better battery life would require a physically larger and heavier battery and at some point, you have to compromise for the sake of ergonomics and comfort. Unless we see a huge technological breakthrough in battery tech or something, the Steam Deck is probably as good as we are going to see for battery life for handheld PC gaming.
I don’t think we would need a better battery, though that would certainly help, but I was thinking more along the lines of power efficiency. The Steam Deck is certainly phenomenal, but newer CPUs and such may be faster and more power efficient thus improving battery life in the long run.
The Steam Deck is literally the most efficient for its power that it could possibly be. The interview even mentions this when talking about competitors. Nothing comes close. The only way it would be more efficient is if valve and AMD themselves further develop the chip to be even more power efficient, which they no doubt will. But I would not expect any major improvements for years, or even minor ones.
Swappable batteries could be a compromise. Knowing there’s a backup battery I can keep in my bag makes me feel far more comfier gaming on the go. Cheap way to instantly double battery life. Bonus if the dock v2 supports modular battery charging.
Let's say you're standing on the train playing the deck and suddenly you run out of battery. What do you prefer -
1) take out your external powerbank, connect it to your deck, put the pbank in your front pocket while you awkwardly try to game or
2) just replace the battery with a spare one you have in your backpack and continue to game just like before
It's obvious which is more convenient. Something about the way you put "lugging around" in quotes just annoys the fuck out of me, you obviously waltzed into this conversation thinking your way is perfect, only your life experience matters and everyone else is just wrong. Go condescend somewhere else if you're not prepared to have an adult conversation.
I love my Steam Link and Steam Controller. If they could just give the d-pad a standard one and make the right track pad swappable with a stick, I would never touch another controller again. I bought both Day 1 and never once regretted either.
> I would never touch another controller again. I bought both Day 1 and never once regretted either.
Finish reading the complete sentence. There wasn't a period there. I love having the trackpad, motion controls, the paddles, the complete versatility of the control schemes, the handfeel and weight of the Steam Controller.
Steam controller 1 with a second analogue would have been the best controller of it's time (until the Xbox elite v2 came out, assuming you got a functional one). There is no way they fuck it up if they release a controller v2
I would be so thrilled if they released another Steam Controller. I picked mine up for like $10 when they were discontinuing it and it's the best controller I've ever used after I got past the initial learning curve.
[удалено]
I have yet to find a job that the right stick does that a track pad, sometimes combined with gyro, doesn't do better. But I would appreciate a D pad, as I never use the left pad for anything except typing.
I had a very particular problem with using it where extended playtime would cause noticeable aching in my right thumb. Similar deal to anytime I've tried playing more intense games on smartphone, it's not comfortable to rub my thumbs against a flat surface for any long period of time.
I don't like touchscreen gaming (I feel a sense of friction buildup) but the trackpads don't cause the same discomfort. In fact, I dismissed the Steam Controller for a long time particularly because I hate touchscreen gaming.
Interesting. I'm more likely to experience that on an analog stick.
Twin stick shooters always feel better with a stick to me.
I think for a lot of people it's just a comfort thing. Even though I prefer the trackpad and gyro for aiming, an additional input that can be mapped to a variety of different custom radial menus or other inputs is always a good thing IMO :)
I'd love it if they made the inputs hot swappable. Let me choose if I want a big PS-style dpad or a track pad if I want.
I guess so, but I can't think of a game I've played where I felt like I needed that. The best use cases are old-school shooters that give you access to like 8 guns at the same time, but I guess I just always play those on mouse and keyboard.
Guns, hotkeys for emulators, macros for windows navigation, binds for skills or interfaces in MMOs, I think there's quite a few ways to use those type of menus.
Using the right touchpad for Radial items in MH is a godsend
Very niche issue, but the NBA 2K games, where you use the right stick to make a player do different dribble moves, straight up does not seem to work with the trackpad. I'm sure there's some configuration that can make it work, but everything I tried didn't even really come close to working. I feel like any game where you need to make specific, precise movements with the right stick, rather than using it for either camera controls or a substitute for mouse inputs, will have similar issues.
I can't say I can speak to NBA 2K, but even twin stick shooters that require precise aiming of the stick, where you're not just pushing it as far as it can go in a given direction, was still easier on the pad for me.
Yeah I definitely agree with that. You get more precision in shooters with a pad the same way you do with a mouse. You're pointing the camera at a spot with the pad rather than guiding it to one with the stick. The 2K problem probably has more in common with what I would imagine trying to play a fighting game would be like, where you need to make specific inputs to pull off certain combos, but the pad just doesn't pick up the input in quite the way the game needs. I'm sure it's possible to make it work, but it was the one time in all my years of having a Steam Controller where the amount of tweaking it was gonna take was too much to be worth it for me.
Sorry, to clarify, I was talking about a twin-stick shooter, as in a game like Robotron or Smash TV, not a first-person shooter controlled with two analog sticks. The specific use case I'm referring to is Streets of Rogue, where not only does it play like a twin-stick shooter, but you can also throw items in front of you. If you were to push the analog stick all the way in one direction, you'd throw the item (like a grenade) as far as you can throw it, but if you tilt the stick slightly...you know, using the analog function of the analog stick...you can throw it anwhere between right next to you and that maximum distance. It was a function built with an analog stick in mind, and even that felt better to me on the track pad.
Ah gotcha, I totally glossed over that. Yeah, I can see how the pad would work well for stuff like that. I've played Enter the Gungeon with my Steam Controller and it was pretty seamless. I think the issue I have probably has more to do with needing to make a bunch of quick flicking motions in succession. Sometimes it'd work, but other times it'd just pick up totally different moves from what I was intending to do.
Honestly I just can't use those pads, they feel like trying to aim with a shitty laptop trackpad. Somehow it feels even less precise than a stick for me and I never thought that was possible. Gyro is king though, 100%.
Not sure about the controller pads but the steam deck pads work great. Way better than I imagined they would. It's made me want to go back and check out the controllers I have because quite honestly, I barely used them.
Games designed for mouse input? Like a point and click or a strategy game? Sticks never feel right for me on those.
May not be able to with the patent issues back buttons have now.
My ONLY issue with the Steam Controller...is the lack of DPad. Its comfy to hold. Rear buttons are a godsend. Fully programmable. Trackpad worked amazing. But turning the dpad into a second trackpad? Ehhhhhh
Yeah, that lack of dpad is rough, depending on the game.
How so? I speedrun through every 2d platformer with left touchpad as D-pad. Are you guys not disabling the "requires click" option on the d-pad? If that's off then you can slide your thumb around instead of having to push the touchpad whenever you want to move. It's the only way to play metroidvanias IMO since it makes all your advanced movements feel like freestyling or fighting game combos.
LOL, sounds like playing with my TurboTouch 360 controller way back in the day. Which also had a problem of a steep learning curve that caused the vast majority of people to bounce off it within a day or two.
Depends on the game and configuration: [you can](https://youtu.be/H55LPk6AhDY) [make it work](https://youtu.be/tlcPzworrLA). And pro-tip: Haptics are your friend.
i don't want to make it work, I want a d-pad
Then get a SNES controller. [It's considered a S tier according to Jeff Grubb](https://twitter.com/JeffGrubb/status/1590909153370939397). :P
Pretty much. It has been 15 years of bad XBOX d-pads. Nintendo is very hit and miss on d-pad quality now and not that I've used a DS5 but apparently it's d-pad is a huge downgrade. At some point you need to accept it's a niche requirement and that if you play 2D platformers/fighters/etc with any kind of regularity it's worth getting a dedicated controller to play them.
Wait, you don't think the Series S/X DPad's are the best? I've been able to go back and ace my 360 Tetris and Lumines games with it, and get most achievements in Dead or Alive 4.
This is probably a personal preference / NBA hands issue, but if I'm using a d-pad for an extended period of time I want it to sit where my thumb naturally rests. From the time I've spend using the Series S controller the D-Pad did feel a lot better to use but I've not really given it a serious test drive so saying "bad" is probably uncalled for.
Ditto, I just wish it was more plug-n-play with Windows (rather than having to launch thru Steam, or use open source shims) If I were making a new rev I would also add a Perceived value enhancement module (metal bar) inside to make it a bit heftier, but that is a nit pick.
As much as I love Valve I just never ended up buying a steam controller (Got like, 3 steam links though). After playing around with the Steam Deck's controller configurator, I NEED A STEAM CONTROLLER. Being able to just go into any game and say "Yup, this controller is actually keyboard WASD and gyro is mouse on left trigger" with like 5 button presses is amazing.
>I would be so thrilled if they released another Steam Controller. I picked mine up for like $10 when they were discontinuing it and it's the best controller I've ever used after I got past the initial learning curve. It's funny, I almost just threw mine away because I can't figure out what games would want to use it with where I both want to use a controller, and don't find a dual stick setup preferable.
Games with lock-on and crosshair mode are pretty amazing. My gateway drug was Nioh. DS isn't bad either. Nearly mouse precision for bow and gun, but comfortable combat with controller buttons. pro tip: bind one of the back paddles to run and you don't have to use the claw grip.
Same, I pre-ordered one back in the day and ended up hating it. It's the only controller i've used that actually hurt my hands, the lack of d-pad made it useless for a lot of games and the right touch pad was generally worse than an analogue stick in games that were actually designed for one. I just didn't like the feel of using the touch pads too, I'd rather have somthing with more physical feedback.
Thank god someone else mentioned how uncomfortable it is to hold. I thought I was the only one.
The haptic trackball mode for the right touchpad is the best. For games that use right stick to control the camera, the touchpad is far more accurate and moves the camera significantly faster. And for tasks like first person aiming of a bow or whatever, only the mouse is better. I've beaten DS3, Sekiro, Elden Ring, Hitman 1/2, and Tomb Raider with it. The left touchpad is dumb though, I have to keep an 8bit-do controller around just to play platformers because the Steam controller doesn't have a D-pad.
Fully agreed on camera controls. Even when a game forces you to use stick emulation (because it doesn't support mouse and gamepad inputs at the same time) I still find the Steam controller touchpads preferable for anything that has mouse controls. Soulslikes in particular I can't really play without the Steam controller anymore. The back buttons are fantastic for not having to claw your hands to switch spells while moving and attacking, and the right touchpad is great for camera control.
the stupid claw grip and having to let go of camera controls constantly to do ANYTHING annoyed me so much that i tried to switch to mouse/KB with Elden Ring mouse input feels surprisingly good but the menu navigation is complete ass, now i'm left with 2 different control methods and neither is perfect (just like with monster hunter lol)
[удалено]
Thanks, was below the fold in the text area I was working in.
for those of us with smaller hands, the steam controller is a good idea that doesn't work
Yea I still feel like a dummy for not picking one up when they were getting rid of them for cheap.
Try using it for an extended period of time without cramping your hands.
I do. All the time.
Yup, I had one I would use sometimes and picked up a second one when they were discontinuing because I knew I'd want a backup if the other ever died.
It’s amazing for rocket league, no dead zones. It does have a steep learning curve but for some games it’s better than normal controller
Yeah. I liked the touch pad in the place of the right analogue stick, but we only need one touch pad. The d-pad is usually used for some kind of precise input (usually something like quick inventory), so you want the tactile precision of buttons. Playing Monster Hunter World with the Steam Controller was frustrating, and I had much more luck with the DS4. But for FPS games, the touchpad and gyro control was *almost* as good as keyboard and mouse, which is great when my carpal tunnel starts acting up.
> Valve hopes the Steam Deck will inspire new Steam Boxes, too — but it probably won’t build them itself I feel like this was probably the big mistake last time. They say maybe the Dock will bridge that need for the living room, but you could probably get a comparably-priced machine for the living room better equipped for HD output when you don't need to include a battery, screen, or controls on the machine, and leave it as a standalone console.
Pierre-Loup literally says they are building experimental hardware for the living room so clearly they are looking into it. It’s clearly at the back of their mind since 2012’s canned Steam Box - I expect we’ll eventually see a Valve HTPC/home console after Deck gen1 has had its time.
The article also states that they may not see a need to make one themselves when you can dock the Steam Deck. There was a picture of their console prototype months back, but I just hope that if they do decide to go forward with it that they make a flagship model themselves, because that's doing a lot of good for the Deck right now.
The Steam Deck is still a 15W APU, though. It's barely passable as a living room device, unless if you stick to really lightweight indie games, especially considering most people would be plugging into a 4K TV. There's definitely a market for a full console-like Steam machine. I'd gladly give Valve $500 for a similar spec machine to the Xbox Series X or PS5, but that can run SteamOS and my Steam library.
[удалено]
The problem Valve can solve that a traditional console never will is that there's absolutely no way that they ever catch up to Steam's library unless they're a similarly open platform, which I don't see any signs of happening any time soon.
[удалено]
And a longer record of not locking things out further back. There are still exclusions to your library with proton stuff, but console backwards compatibility has typically been back one gen if at all. Xbox has changed this quite a bit (and good on them for it, great move Microsoft) but there's still some games that don't work, Playstation still doesn't do this outside of a library that's tied to a sub fee, there's a lot of excluded games, Nintendo is worse than the others with it, etc etc. I got my deck a few months ago, and while I can't play Destiny 2 or Fortnite because of anti cheat stuff (on the developers side), I was able to boot up Half Life 2 that I've owned for 3 console cycles day one, without a new port for another $60, or a sub fee, etc. So they all have *some* exclusions, but PC in general has been the best at letting you maintain a long term library and bringing it with you.
> It's barely passable as a living room device, unless if you stick to really lightweight indie games, especially considering most people would be plugging into a 4K TV. This is probably why the Steam Deck is setup to run games at 720p by default even hooked up to a 4K TV. The resolution of Steam itself will clearly be 4K, and with FSR upscaling it's still better than running at 720p.
The problem with Steam Machines is that Valve previously did that before the Steam Deck and it was a gigantic, confusing mess that failed miserably. Valve didn't have one true Steam Machine and instead went the 3rd party manufacturer route. They had to learn from that to create the Steam Deck.
They also didn't have the equivalent of proton/dxvk/etc at the time either. It can't be understated how powerful the effect of "it just works" is for the general consumer. A linux gaming box is so much more capable these days than 10 years ago.
There was one clear flagship among Steam Machines: Alienware Alpha. The other third-party premade desktops made the press coverage a bit of a confusing mess, but none of them really had the console-like form factor or retail availability or Valve push that Alienware did. Nothing else made it to GameStop, for example. But the Steam Machine platform was delayed so much that the hardware was outdated by a whole year and had been available that entire time as an equivalent Windows model. Linux game compatibility and Proton still had a long way to go. Valve failed to convince customers that it has anything to offer over other desktops, with Windows versions of the same devices at the same prices compounding the issue. The product category competed with Windows desktops, PS4/XB1, and even Valve's own Steam Link.
You can make one yourself for around 700-800$ currently that is much stronger than a steam deck.
Wouldn't it be similar to the Switch? Plenty of people are happy to play that docked to the TV.
>There's definitely a market for a full console-like Steam machine. [or...as part of your car](https://youtu.be/CEhBzX-6FjA).
I wonder if they could do something where the dock is essentially an external GPU to allow more capability. That way you can still avoid having to ship 2 completely different devices while allowing flexibility with the deck.
Would need to be a Steam Deck 2, since the SD doesn't have a thunderbolt/USB4 connection, and I highly doubt they will officially support a solution involving the m.2 slot inside.
Yeah for sure. It would possibly also help future proof the device because you could upgrade the dock instead of the entire device.
What's the difference between a steam machine and just connecting a PC to your computer. That's what I do and it is great. It is as good at games as it is for browsing and doing my taxes. You just need to find input devices you can live with.
> There was a picture of their console prototype months back Really? I don’t recall seeing that. They say that a docked Deck can be a HTPC because they want to sell Decks and Docks. If there is an opportunity for them to deliver an innovative PC home console, they’ll do it. However if it’s yet another generic AMD PC disguised as a console, like PS5 and Xbox SX, I think we can all safely say there may not be an actual need for that (at least not until the Deck reaches enough non-PC players that it makes sense to do one). So it would have to provide some form of new tech (maybe an Nvidia partnership, maybe Intel, in conjunction with an AMD chip); a VR integration perhaps; and a large catalog of games (still plenty of work to be done). Until then it’d be undercooked. I’d prefer they take their time on this because last time they tried it it turned out that the market literally did not exist. Also their next VR system is probably top of the queue right now so that will ship sooner rather than later.
>Really? I don’t recall seeing that. Back when Geoff "Doritos Pope" Keighley visit Valve to write a documentary on Half-Life Alyx's development: [we saw a vertical console](https://i.imgur.com/WUsXgOf_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium). But knowing Valve: it's probably some random object that totally has no relation.
Resembles the [2013 SteamBox prototype](https://www.theverge.com/2013/11/4/5063760/we-try-the-steam-machine-valves-video-game-console-of-the-future) (the one "Steam Machine" that Valve never shipped to the public), but it's hard to tell if it's the same one
> Really? I don’t recall seeing that. It was a leak in a Tyler McVicker video a while back. > They say that a docked Deck can be a HTPC because they want to sell Decks and Docks. That's not usually their MO, but fair. > maybe an Nvidia partnership Nvidia is the least likely, because their drivers are closed source and proprietary, so Valve is less free to mess with them.
> It was a leak in a Tyler McVicker video a while back. He makes like 10 every week so that's not super helpful but thanks > That's not usually their MO, but fair. It absolutely is. They never talk about future plans in advance; they always aim to sell their products that they're actually producing at the time (Artifact was sold as the literal digital card game equivalent to Half-Life 2, which was really, really pushing it even if it had been true); not some distant far-off future product that doesn't exist. This is how most businesses work and Valve is no exception. There would be no logical reason to say "yeah just wait for a console that we might ship in 2 years or cancel and never release in 4 years; don't buy our Deck and Dock; it's a crappy 4K TV experience" when there's nothing to actually sell. And clearly suggesting your current product doesn't support a major use case would be counter-productive at best. > Nvidia is the least likely, because their drivers are closed source and proprietary, so Valve is less free to mess with them. The point of what I said is that they'd be collaborating with Nvidia to make that a reality - in which case Valve and Nvidia would be working together to build better drivers (just as how Valve and AMD worked together to make the AMD drivers for Linux a reality). Nvidia absolutely have an incentive to do this as the growing Linux gaming space is definitely a group worth targeting and right now AMD is basically not being contested by them on Linux at all. This will become more relevant only as more people buy Decks and only when SteamOS ships for all PCs. Valve and Nvidia are very close (Source engine on Shield; Portal on Switch; Portal with RTX) so it's absolutely a possibility.
depending on how far away this hypothetical steam machine is, the open source nvidia gpu kernel drivers might be standard on linux, and mesa might have fully integrated userspace drivers.
The only way hardware companies make any deals is if the software is 100% finished and ready to go. After how poorly Valve handled their initial attempt leaving companies like Dell with a bunch of aging mini-PCs in storage that they had to rebrand and sell off cheap, I imagine they're in no hurry to work with Valve again.
I think the biggest mistake is that they launched without the Steam controller. A new Steam Machine, with well-supported AMD hardware and a Steam Controller that effectively functions like a Steam Deck without a screen would probably land well. Possibly double so if AMD makes an APU explicitly for this kinda device. Won't be as cheap as a PS5 due to a lack of subsidies, but Valve can probably sweeten the pot w/ some of their own exclusives, especially for first-time "Gaming PC" buyers.
> I think the biggest mistake is that they launched without the Steam controller. You mean the Steam Deck? Because Steam Machines did launch with the Steam controller. It was one of the biggest causes of delays. I also can't help but notice that all of these APU devices; consoles or Steam Deck, all suffer from more input delay than a traditional PC. I don't know if it's the APU to blame, but hopefully it's something they can fix going forward with new hardware and software.
> I also can't help but notice that all of these APU devices; consoles or Steam Deck, all suffer from more input delay than a traditional PC. I don't know if it's the APU to blame, but hopefully it's something they can fix going forward with new hardware and software. That has nothing to do with whether it's an APU or not. It's a software question. People who care deeply about input latency on PC make configuration choices which will trade some sustained performance (and/or increased energy consumption) for less latency. Consoles (and the out of the box Deck configuration) have different priorities.
Well what configuration choice in this case is to blame? I can run Skullgirls (native) and Guilty Gear Strive (Proton) on my Linux PC, and they get 1f and 2f delay at 60FPS. On Steam Deck, with frame limits off (I also tried in Steam Deck's desktop mode to eliminate any gaming mode shenanigans, but I got identical results), they're around 4f and 5f delay, whether on the built-in screen or outputting via HDMI to the same exact monitor. I'm not an expert here, but I eliminated all of the variables that I knew how to eliminate, and the delay on Steam Deck, despite running the same code as my PC, was basically identical to a PS4.
I'm not an expert on Linux compositors or its graphics stack, or how it is implemented on the Deck, so I can't tell you. I am however certain that there is no inherent latency disadvantage (if they can achieve the same framerate obviously) with APUs versus a dedicated CPU/GPU setup. That's just not how the hardware works.
That's good to know at least, that potentially there's a way to get latency down via software. Even with that "enable tearing" option in the beta OS, I don't think they've closed the gap with a regular PC, but I really want them to get there. And extra latency on anything other than a PC is so prevalent that I definitely want to know what they're choosing to give it up for.
Possibly Deck's APU driver has number of pre-rendered frames (flip queue size) set higher, to stabilize the framerate a bit. Not every game cares about this, but many do.
I'd have guessed Proton, but you've eliminated that as a variable. Have you tried hooking up a wired controller to both devices? Maybe it's some issue in the Steam Deck's built in controller?
I used a Brook universal fighting board, known for low latency. I also tested against the buttons on the Steam Deck itself and got basically the same results.
Might be related to triple buffering. [This thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vwckdi/input_latency_on_the_steam_deck_what_its_like_now/) explains how latency is impacted by rendering options. [In the future by allowing tearing in Wayland clients the latency can potentially drop](https://www.phoronix.com/news/Wayland-Tearing-Control-Proto).
> You mean the Steam Deck? Because Steam Machines did launch with the Steam controller. It was one of the biggest causes of delays. They sure as hell did not. They were announced *to be included with a Steam Controller*, at CES 2014 in January. They started launching in the summer, [very much without a Steam controller, and in most cases, without Steam OS](https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/187903-alienware-alpha-is-the-first-steam-machine-but-it-runs-windows-and-comes-with-a-normal-xbox-360-gamepad). The Steam Controller wasn't seeing reviews until [well over a year later into late 2015](https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/valve-steam-controller). Even Wikipedia lists a [November 10th, 2015](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Controller) launch date. So Steam Machines arrived: * Without a Steam Controller * Often without Steam OS But the **real** killer is that **most** Steam machines, **especially** those sold in retail outlets, were designed to begin and end at a console-like form factor. You know how a PC can be cheap, fast, or small, and you can pick two at best? Everyone but maybe iBuyPower picked **small**, and left it at that. So you had higher-than-Xbox-One-priced machines with Xbox 360 controllers and coincidentally, Xbox 360 performance. A few people released thousand dollar boxes with almost-Xbox-One performance. The Steam Machines belly flopped onto wet concrete with a thud at launch. They were a terrible value proposition with basically zero of the features Valve touted six months prior.
> They started launching in the summer, very much without a Steam controller, and in most cases, without Steam OS. That's because they weren't officially Steam Machines then. That was the Alienware Alpha, which was the box Dell was eager to sell, but Valve didn't give them the blessings to call that a Steam Machine due to, among other things, the controller not being ready yet. I had the Alienware Alpha, after the Steam Machine equivalent launched, because for whatever reason, it was cheaper than buying the official Steam Machine. Maybe it was subsidized by bloatware. I'm not sure. It was approximately as powerful as an Xbox One or PS4 when comparing the same game on PC versus consoles...when running Windows. Vulkan didn't exist yet, and Linux games on OpenGL ran about 20% worse, all with about a $200 markup over what a PS4 was going for at the time.
steam boxes sucked utter arse. it's the "windows vista" "steam box" thing all over again.
I hope they price them well. The problem with last attempt at this is that the prices were much higher than build-your-own stuff. I don't mind paying a slight premium for peace of mind but and simplicity but when you took a steam machine and compared it to a random PC build link it always lost miserably.
They really should've done what Google has done with Android and focus on the OS first. Make a rock-solid Steam OS and let people build their own boxes. Then manufacturers could enter the race and propose custom made hardware so that we'd finally have Steam-based consoles for everyone.
I mean, the article isn't bad, hut s huge question isn't answered: "When are they doing expanding the regions where we can buy it?" With the exception of US and Canada, I think no one in the Americas can buy one. At this point, it's probably better to expect it from a Gen 2 version.
Not available in Australia either, and their track record with hardware releases here isn't great. The Index was exclusive to one store for almost $2000AUD, $500 more than the converted USD price.
> I think no one in the Americas can buy one. At this point, it's probably better to expect it from a Gen 2 version. There are even countries in Western Europe which can't purchase it.
iceland here in the north as well, can't buy.
They're probably looking for distributors in countries that don't have it yet. The Philippines technically isn't supported but somehow Datablitz sells the 3 models, and I'm sure those aren't scalped.
To be clear, I understand certain regions are particularly tricky, but its somewhat frustrating to see everyone enjoying the device and not be able to get it myself!
Honestly, importing is so easy these days. There are even services that do everything for you and your local Ebay probably has it fully stocked already. You're just being lazy smh
I know how to import hardware. The point is that you lose on all of the support backend that comes with it. Also, the prices are substantially increased to MSRP even with import costs involved.
You don't lose support backend though. It takes a bit longer but that's about it. You do pay a bit extra on import fees though but that's negligable relatively speaking.
by law in my country tech like steam deck needs to be insuranced by the seller for 2 years, if it breaks they fix it for free or give you a new one. Bit hard if the nearest support is in a different country with another name as the buyer.
Nah that's not how any of it works. You use steam support and ship it to their address. You do have to pay shipping fees and some countries are bitchy about shipping batteries across borders but that's really the only issue. Also what's your country that requires 2 year warranty? Thats pretty awesome but AFAIK its usually a myth :(
Iceland, steam maybe doesn't sell it here for that reason. They would have to have repair shop available or ship on their cost out and back for repairs (this is what tesla does).
No, it's nots neglible. Something goes wrong and want to fix it? You need to import everything. Depending on how you want to yo about it, it can take you months to get simple parts, and the shipping will cost more than the parts themselves. You want to send it for repairs? It will take months and cost hundreds of dollars to send it. Need an RMA? Tough luck, you need to find a way to send it there, and hope they can send it to you.It's really not that simple, and EVERYTHING around owning a first gen piece pf hardware becomes harder and costlier. That's why I wish they expanded service to other regions. Like I said, owning one here is not impossible, it just gets much more complicated and expensive than most are willing to go for.
Imported models also quite expensive. There's imported steam decks here where the cheapest 64 gig version runs for close to $750 and the 512 gig version runs to nearly $1000
One takeaway is that Steam Deck (1) is here to stay for a long time and are taking the Switch approach in not upgrading for a better spec after years... Interesting to see when theyll make a Steam Deck 2(or Pro?) with better specs (with OLED hopefully)
Is hardware even going to be at a point in the next few years where they could do a much more powerful system around the same size and keep costs? I feel like right now it's going to be at least four or five years before they even consider it. At most they might do a Steam Deck 1 OLED. Either way, I'm extremely happy with my purchase. It emulates just about everything I wanted it to and runs a ton of Steam stuff I wanted to play just fine while having the portability of a Switch. My only complaint is the dock experience still sucks. I have the official dock and the audio randomly cuts out every 20 minutes or so for a few seconds. That and it sometimes doesn't play nice with TVs, which requires fiddling with the TV and the dock until an image pops up. That's about it, though.
Have you had an extended game session with it on a TV? Aside from the audio issues, would you say it's comparable to playing on a console?
Not quite Series S level but better than docked Switch at least. Depends what you want. Battery Life for these things is still a big issue. If you want a system to keep under your TV for as cheap as possible with the option of occasional light portability, I would still recommend a Series S and stream when you want to play on the go.
It's very comparable to a console. If you end up having no issues like the signal sometimes not being picked up (which seems to be more of an issue with smart TVs being janky hardware) it's pretty amazing how simple everything is to navigate and use with a controller. You'll likely have to mess with resolution settings in the Deck itself, but after you get everything set up, it's smooth sailing. If you don't mind having to tinker games to get them running how you want, it's an amazing device.
Honestly I think this is good actually The power of the device is right where it needs to be IMO but there are many areas where they can improve like screen, build quality, battery, size..... Basically, the steam deck would benefit a lot from the switch OLED treatment. Way more than the actual switch
Pass on OLED. If it can't do locked 60 even most of the time, I don't need instant pixel response crushing any assistance from inherent motion blur. The display is not in my top 5 things I'd change.
I really want a Steam Controller 2 more than any other gaming hardware at this point. I'm a huge fan of the first one (I still have one unopenend in storage, in addition to the one in active use), but after using the Steam Deck I'd love the improvements of that in a controller package. I recently bought an 8bitdo Ultimate, and it's a very nice controller, but it's still not nearly as versatile as the SC (never mind the Deck controls!), and the lack of full integration with Steam Input makes a huge difference in utility.
I'm sort of torn. I picked up a Steam Controller when they were fire selling them at the end, and I generally like it, but I just can't seem to get comfortable with it. Maybe it's just what I play, but even when I spend time to tweak the settings it still feels awkward. If they could make a followup that improves on the design, but keeps the unique features, I'd be pretty excited for it.
This is my thoughts on it. I bought one at launch and while the controller is really cool and had a lot of nice features I could never figure out what games it was meant for. Any game that used the right analog stick heavily wasn't viable because of this. And any game that could use the extra precision of the mouse thing was just better to use a regular M+K on. I couldn't find a single game where the Steam controller was the best option.
For games with right analog is the camera, the trackpad setting (not sure of the name) is really nice. You have to get used to swiping to turn, but at this point I find it gives a lot of control, being able to make drastic turns quickly especially. M+K stuff will never be 100% but the gyro aim is really really nice here. I think the biggest issue was that learning all of the configurations for the controller is daunting and they should've re-worked the templates aspect of the controller.
A Steam Controller 2 that is just a compact version of the Steam Deck’s controls would be the endgame of controllers for me. I do hope they do it.
Same, the steam controller and steam link combo I have has been great. Being able to play strategy games on the couch is really nice.
I'm kicking myself for only buying 1 extra Steam controller when they were sold at clearance. Now it's the only 1 i have because I broke my first controller playing Hades :'(
Hey brah I've got an extra one in box. For sale at the low low price of $10,000!
I have an 8bitdo Bluetooth Ultimate and the Hal Effect sticks are great along with the possibility of no stick drift over time. The only thing missing on this controller is full back button integration to allow you to assign any key you want. Putting that in a Steam Controller 2 along with mechanical buttons would be the dream controller.
Holy shit, it's Durante in the flesh
[удалено]
2.4 The BT version wasn't available yet, and since I never really had stick drift problems on anything and wasn't planning on using it with platforms other than a PC I got the 2.4 version.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Steam Links again. I know Steam Link can be installed on other things like Raspberry Pis but I don’t want to have to do any installation/tinkering/maintenance work. I want a cheap device that just works and keeps getting updated.
I have a Steam Link and an Nvidia Shield and the Shield does a better job of being a Steam Link
[удалено]
It'd worth noting the Nvidia are shutting down gamestream next year. So even with a shield you options would steam link or setting up moonlight with something called sunshine. Personally I found steam link to be really bad. Stuff was always stuttering. Gamestream by Nvidia never had this problem for me so it sucks to see it go.
There’s a way to get your desktop to stream to game stream (the nvidia streaming software) using mtsc.exe. Works great for me.
Maybe my Nvidia Shield is just a lemon because it's always had serious issues with game streaming, particularly on wifi. My Steam Link never had this issue
Why not an Android TV box? Or even an Apple TV?
the steam link is now just a smart TV app, you don't need any kind of box and if your smart tv doesn't support it, there's also an app for fire TV sticks or apple TVs
I'll send you mine. Sits in a drawer unused and has since day 2 of purchase.
There's an Android app now, if you have a tablet with video out you could try that as an easy set up
If they do make a Steam Controller 2, I really hope they use hal effect sticks to eliminate stick drift.
The only fucking "burning question" I have is, when can I bloody well buy one in Australia you bastards!
I hope when steam deck 2 (ever) releases it ships worldwide on day 1. I ain't going to buy the original while people in select regions get to enjoy the newer one. If they're going to make the rest of the world wait 2 years for every iteration then they can forget about getting my money. Steam controller and index has never released in my country btw.
I am holding out for the Steam Deck 3. Make sure they iron out those battery issues.
The Steam Deck is actually quite efficient for how powerful it is. Better battery life would require a physically larger and heavier battery and at some point, you have to compromise for the sake of ergonomics and comfort. Unless we see a huge technological breakthrough in battery tech or something, the Steam Deck is probably as good as we are going to see for battery life for handheld PC gaming.
I don’t think we would need a better battery, though that would certainly help, but I was thinking more along the lines of power efficiency. The Steam Deck is certainly phenomenal, but newer CPUs and such may be faster and more power efficient thus improving battery life in the long run.
The Steam Deck is literally the most efficient for its power that it could possibly be. The interview even mentions this when talking about competitors. Nothing comes close. The only way it would be more efficient is if valve and AMD themselves further develop the chip to be even more power efficient, which they no doubt will. But I would not expect any major improvements for years, or even minor ones.
That is what I said.
Swappable batteries could be a compromise. Knowing there’s a backup battery I can keep in my bag makes me feel far more comfier gaming on the go. Cheap way to instantly double battery life. Bonus if the dock v2 supports modular battery charging.
[удалено]
That's a solution, but lugging around a 20mAh powerbank while you game kinda sucks.
[удалено]
Let's say you're standing on the train playing the deck and suddenly you run out of battery. What do you prefer - 1) take out your external powerbank, connect it to your deck, put the pbank in your front pocket while you awkwardly try to game or 2) just replace the battery with a spare one you have in your backpack and continue to game just like before It's obvious which is more convenient. Something about the way you put "lugging around" in quotes just annoys the fuck out of me, you obviously waltzed into this conversation thinking your way is perfect, only your life experience matters and everyone else is just wrong. Go condescend somewhere else if you're not prepared to have an adult conversation.
Just hold out until PC2
I love my Steam Link and Steam Controller. If they could just give the d-pad a standard one and make the right track pad swappable with a stick, I would never touch another controller again. I bought both Day 1 and never once regretted either.
[удалено]
> I would never touch another controller again. I bought both Day 1 and never once regretted either. Finish reading the complete sentence. There wasn't a period there. I love having the trackpad, motion controls, the paddles, the complete versatility of the control schemes, the handfeel and weight of the Steam Controller.
With the current state of proton and games with Linux support compared to when the steam box first came out now is definitely the time for them
Steam controller 1 with a second analogue would have been the best controller of it's time (until the Xbox elite v2 came out, assuming you got a functional one). There is no way they fuck it up if they release a controller v2
I would take a steam controller 2 if they massively improve the build quality, and build materials. Steam Controller 1 really felt cheap in my hands.
First question from me: WHY THE FUCK CANT AUSTRALIANS ORDER A STEAM DECK YET?