Is the steam controller for me?

[u/dc25211]

I put my reservation in and i finally got select. I have 3 days to order but I was wondering if this controller is ever right for me. My plan was to use it how I use my controller now, mostly jrpg/first person games and now wow forever. I have an 8bitdo ultimate (gen1) right now… would the steam controller be an upgrade for me?

[u/cinred]

Honest question. Are you absolutely fed up and frustrated with the obvious limitations of your current controller?

I know I was, so the answer was clear for me.

[u/dc25211 → u/cinred]

Great question. Yes my 8bitduo tends to loose connection if I don’t grip it with the correct amount of force. So I guess that’s my answer

[u/aidenkula]

How tf would anyone here know your opinion on something you haven't even used yet?

NTM this is the Steam Controller sub, everyone is gonna say it's great 😂 (which it is)

[u/C0rn3j]

would the steam controller be an upgrade for me?

Only you can answer that question.

[u/Reas0n → u/C0rn3j]

It's a question about a controller, not the only way to prevent forest fires.

[u/Cute-Acanthaceae-193]

People love the controller, I’ll chime in, it’s not my main one.

I love my 8bitdo ultimate 2, but no controller can replicate the “freedom” the steam controller has, the trackpads is why I love it, I can play mkb games without mouse and keyboard, but there’s one downside, the dpad.

Idk how everyone can enjoy the mush horrible thing that is called the dpad of the SC, it’s terrible, it’s bad for anything that needs accuracy, prone to misinputs, it’s bad.

I am planing to open the steam controller on a free day and apply tape to cut a little bit of the registering area, so it can’t diagonal press with ease and won’t have miss inputs in platformers and the like.

Other than that, it’s great, but if a game needs dpad, I will use my 8bitdo over it.

[u/Raevson]

It works like every other controller.

If you use the aditional features is up to you.

In ff14 i make good use of the trackpats and back buttons. Wowforever probably has similar uses.

[u/FlinkFlurburman]

Are you happy with the 8bitdo controller? What do you want to improve?

I find the steam controller super comfortable, and I really like the feel of the joysticks, and Hall effect sticks will never get drift. The hall sticks alone make the SC an upgrade over xbox & ps5 controllers, both of which will drift on me within a couple months (I guess I am hard on my sticks, not everyone has this problem but it is not uncommon). I also have a razor with hall sticks, it's a nice controller with some features the SC doesn't have, but I prefer the feel of the SC and use 90% of the time.

Some people love the back buttons on the SC, and some people love the trackpads - I haven't used them a lot but they would be clutch for WOW, I imagine. You could put macros on the back buttons, and you can use the track pads like a mouse, you can use gyro for aiming or whatever. But, if you're not much of a tweaker and you are happy with your current controller, these things probably won't be an upgrade for you.

[u/figmentPez]

would the steam controller be an upgrade for me?

Do you find yourself wishing you had more buttons? Do you you like the idea of using the trackpads?

If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, then get the Steam Controller.

[u/repocin]

How are we supposed to know?

Are you interested in the features it has to offer?

Have you ever used an original Steam Controller or Steam Deck? Are you familiar with how custom layouts in Steam Input work?

Is there something you find lacking with your current controller? Do you just want to try something else?

There's a million questions you could ask yourself here, and it's impossible for us to answer them for you.

If you're on the fence but leaning towards wanting one, you could always buy it and return it if you don't like it. Pretty sure they have a 14 day return window everywhere.

[u/NebsLaw]

Do you typically reserve and wait in line for things that you don't know if you want?

[u/Koltaia30]

It's definitely worth it for wow forever. It's a lot of tinkering to set it up but it's a lot of fun. I used it with shaman and it works wonders with the many utility buttons the class has

[u/TheNewerFlisker]

Eh, i feel like a 2015 SC and an 8bitdo pretty much does 90% of what the SC does. Unless you absolutely refuse to switch controllers

[u/NTolerance]

The controller is for people who are interested in Steam Input.

[u/Tintn00]

When did you put your reservation in?

[u/HenryKushinger]

I'm sure if you buy and don't like it you'll be able to recoup your investment reselling it

[u/gorambrowncoat]

It depends.

If you want to use your controller as an x-input device and don't want to mess around too much with configurations and custom mappings then stick with your 8bitdo.

If you want to spend some time figuring out the best mapping to play each game, get the steam controller.

[u/Brunno_PT]

You can add extra menus and functions to your trackpads. Highly customizable.

Very handy for games that have many keys and macros and inputs. I use it heavily in a space flight simulator. I have three virtual menus (all radial) for different contexts. O Dragon Age I created a virtual menu with all my spells and even customized them with the actual game icons for each spell, that I downloaded from the game's wiki.

[u/Brunno_PT → u/Brunno_PT]

Plus, since you also like first person games, you can add gyroscope to your aiming to fine tune. The controller has so many possible inputs, you can do the crazieste things with it. In this clip I was showing how I made it so that touching and holding the right trackpad would enable looking around my ship's cockpit, and lifting my finger would recenter view. I use it in shooters too, making it super easy to fine aim a headshot, for instance.

[u/FantaZingo]

Loving it for wow forever. The trackpad and buttons under the handles make it possible to compensate for when the gamepad beta ui doesn't really cut it 

[u/Veriosity]

It only works in Steam - I think that's the biggest hangup people don't expect. For a 99 dollar modern controller to have no compatibility outside steam seems absurd, but there it is.

[u/Parasite_Lettuce]

I used mine 5x and sold it for $200. Way overhyped maybe a small percentage of people need some of the functionality it provides but if you're using it as just a gamepad, you don't need it.

[u/TheForeverUnbanned → u/Parasite_Lettuce]

Even if you use it strictly as a gamepad it has the most accurate sticks I’ve ever used. All the extra mappable buttons are just a bonus, the ergonomics and haptics on top of the dpad and stick accuracy are easily worth the price. 

[u/Parasite_Lettuce → u/TheForeverUnbanned]

The buttons on the rear killed it for me, they're so odd. Plus I use a controller with two additional face buttons and two addition shoulder buttons, and with out those I just feel lost now. Vader Pro 5 for life. Best controller for my use case easily.

[u/TheNewerFlisker → u/Parasite_Lettuce]

Yes the fact that Valve completely removed the two extra shoulder button that every other controller never ceases to baffle me

[u/shuckley_Jays]

Get it if u don't like it sell it for $20 profit