The original Steam Controller is undoubtedly one of the coolest pieces of gear I ownāand one of the most innovative, too.
I got mine right when it launched in 2015. I wanted to solve a very real problem: I was trying to turn my PC into a console.
You see, Valve had Big Picture Mode, which truly turned your PC into a console-like experience. The problem was that some of my favorite PC games didnāt support controllers. They were keyboard-and-mouse only.
But thenāhere comes the Steam Controller. Suddenly, I was able to reprogram all the inputs. I could take basic keys, like the spacebar, and map them to a button on the controllerālike the A button. And once you did that, you could share your controller configuration with the Steam community, or reuse a config someone else already made. It was pretty awesome.
And those dual trackpads? They were swank. Incredible for first-person shooters and real-time strategy games. They were the next best thing to a mouse. And because of the angle of the handles, it all felt very comfortable in the handāprobably the most comfortable controller experience Iāve ever had.
Itās funnyājust a little over five years ago, gamers hated it. Not because they ever used one, but because it was a failure. And as we all know about gamers, thereās nothing they hate more than a failure. It was dismissed as a noveltyāsomething no one would ever use again.
Well, Valve had the last laugh. A few years ago, they released the Steam Deck. And what do you know? Itās a direct evolution of the Steam Controller. And now everyone loves the Steam Deck.
Just take a look at itāitās got so many of the same things the Steam Controller had: dual trackpads, back paddles, the ability to remap buttons and customize layouts. Having owned a Steam Deck since launch, I can say this confidently: the most killer features on the Deck originated with the Steam Controller.
That said, it wasnāt perfect. There were a few quirks I wish they had fixed. For one, it wouldāve been nice if it had dual analog sticks instead of just one. Using a trackpad in place of a right stick is fine in theory, but letās be real: a trackpad does not replace an analog stick.
Also, unlike most modern controllers, this one didnāt have a rechargeable battery. You needed AA batteries. Now, to be fair, those batteries lasted a long timeābut it still wouldāve been nicer to just recharge it and forget about replacements.
Then thereās the back paddles. Only two of them. In hindsight, yeah, Valve knew they needed to evolve. Iāve grown so used to having four back paddles on the Steam Deck. Theyāre incredibly usefulāespecially in games with lots of inputs. Just good to have.
Still, this was one of the first mainstream controllers to even have back paddles. So hats off to Valve for that.
Honestly, I really wish there was another Steam Controller on the market. I know Hori makes a licensed controller for the Steam Deck in Japan, but itās missing a core feature the original had: the dual trackpads.
To me, the dual trackpads make the Steam Deck experience. Itās something almost no other handheld has. My wife has a Legion Go, and it does have a trackpadābut only one. And honestly? That makes all the difference. Itās fine. But manā¦ it wouldāve been a better handheld with two.
Definitely one of the most innovative controllers ever made.
And yeah, I still use mine. I use it when I dock my handheld. Or when Iām on my living room PC.
It was a good 5+ hour learning curve, but I now swear by it for all Souls games (except DS remastered, since you canāt use joystick + mouse movement at the same time). In Elden Ring: Jump and dodge on the grips, holding LB engages gyro for aiming with the bow, and touch instead of click left trackpad for dpad input. Being able to swing the camera around instantly, or just being able to maneuver it while sprinting is so nice. Customizing the guide chords is great too: Guide+X = save OBS replay, Guide+Y = turn off controller, Guide+A = toggle MangoHud, etc.
Although, Iād probably trade the left trackpad for an actual dpad, though it is nice for typing if i ever need it. Itās a shame they removed ārequire clicksā for navigation in the new Big Picture mode. I also wish the LB/RB werenāt so clicky and loud. Maybe thereās a DIY mod for that.
Sadly I didnāt like the steam deck for Souls games. Maybe itās because the trackpad is too far down and just feels more awkward to use. Steam controller just fits so nice.
EDIT: forgot to mention that I use Guide+right trackpad to simulate right analog stick, since in Elden Ring you need it for zooming the map or adjusting the camera angle during dialogue or character creation.
I personally love the left touchpad for movement. When the game lets you set a sprint hold over a sprint toggle I love to set an outer ring bind for it at the edge to go in and other of sprint without clicking. And I like setting up stuff like dash, crouch, slide on a touchpad click. Frees up buttons for me to be able to bind other stuff to.