00:00Sometimes, good ideas aren't fully formed when they're put into practice for the first
00:04time.
00:05The original Steam Controller that came out back in 2015 was a uniquely designed gamepad
00:09for PC gaming, but it was too awkward to be a mainstay.
00:12Still, it had features, namely its haptic touchpads that allow for mouse-like controls
00:16that paved the way for how the Steam Deck handles.
00:19And in turn, the Steam Deck has now informed this new iteration of the Steam Controller.
00:24And it feels like that good idea is now reaching its full potential, because after getting
00:28my hands on it when I visited Valve last month, I haven't been this excited about a controller
00:33in a long time.
00:40Let's run through some of the basic specs of the new Steam Controller.
00:43It uses TMR magnetic sticks to stave off stick drift and keep power consumption low.
00:48There are two trackpads on the lower part of the gamepad, which can be customized through
00:52Steam input.
00:53You get four programmable back buttons on the handles, gyroscopic motion controls, HD haptics,
00:58and capacitive touch sensors on each handle to detect whether or not you're gripping
01:02the controller.
01:03And it uses a 2.4 GHz connection protocol through its charging pod for low latency input.
01:09And those new Steam Machines have connectivity built into them.
01:12We're basically using a 2.4 GHz protocol.
01:16It's a proprietary protocol.
01:17What we did is to kind of simplify it and remove as much of the overhead as we can.
01:24The closest and analogous thing would probably be Bluetooth, which is also 2.4.
01:30But for us, because we control both the transmitter side and the receiver side, and we basically
01:37have a single use or single profile, right?
01:40We can just kind of make it as lean and as simple as possible and remove as much overhead
01:45as we can.
01:46Yeah, the polling rate internally is low, but I think our actual real world latency numbers
01:52that we're showing is like 80 milliseconds, which we consider best in class.
01:57I think it's really high performance there.
02:00And more importantly, compared to Bluetooth, which where the latency gets doubled every
02:05time you add a controller, our performance remains consistent even with up to four controllers
02:10per puck.
02:11And then you can add more pucks if you want.
02:13So we're really proud of being able to maintain that eight millisecond effective latency even
02:18with multiple controllers.
02:20And so that's what the wireless puck protocol is all about.
02:22Despite all these sophisticated technologies packed into the controller, Valve is claiming
02:26around 35 hours of battery life from a full charge as well.
02:37So it's impressive on paper, if not for the fact that we've never seen a controller do all
02:41of these things at the same time.
02:43But as someone who's reviewed several high end controllers at this point, fancy features
02:47don't mean much if it isn't comfortable to use.
02:49In the short time I got to use the new Steam controller, I can say that it has nailed the
02:53ergonomics.
02:55It felt natural to hold with contours and substantial grip where you expect them.
02:59And it remains fairly light so it doesn't feel like you're holding onto a hulking gamepad.
03:03However, more long term usage in the future will really test my initial impressions.
03:08Now you're probably thinking the same thing I did when Valve first showed it to me.
03:12This thing isn't exactly pretty.
03:15But for what it may lack in aesthetics, it more than makes up for in functionality.
03:19And that's what's important for a controller after all.
03:27I played about 10 minutes of Cyberpunk 2077 on the new Steam machine with the new Steam controller.
03:32And analog stick performance was as good as any major gamepad since the TMR sticks had a
03:37smooth and consistent resistance along the full range of motion.
03:40The shoulder bumpers are clicky and the analog triggers are smooth on the pull.
03:44And I'm a big fan of the back button design as they're placed in a natural position to hit with my middle and ring fingers.
03:50They're also easier to actuate than the back paddles that you see on the Steam Deck.
03:54Mapping the D-pad and face button actions to them in a game like Cyberpunk lets you keep your thumbs on the sticks without missing a beat.
04:01It's the kind of experience you should expect from a premium controller and it seems Valve is getting that right.
04:07I think there's a lot of people on a desktop PC that will get great use from the new Steam controller as well.
04:13Because you might be playing games that are control enabled but now you're able to, you know,
04:17all tab to your desktop and interact with it in ways that you couldn't really, at least not as comfortably with other controllers, right?
04:25And similarly, there's a lot of remote play use cases where you might enjoy the extra inputs
04:30or just being able to just have higher performance aiming, you know, in response to this.
04:38Strangely, the more impressive demo I had was with Bellatro, the poker-inspired roguelike deck builder.
04:43This is because it's a specific use case for the various control styles enabled by the trackpad and gyroscopic motion
04:50and the flexibility afforded by this being built specifically for PC.
04:54While the default controller mapping is fine, sometimes it's easier to navigate the interface using the trackpad
05:00with my thumb to select cards as if I have a mouse on hand.
05:04If you play this game on Steam Deck, this kind of functionality will be familiar to you.
05:07Then you can enable gyroscopic motion controls to act as your mouse cursor
05:11and have it only activate when the capacitive touch sensors on the handles recognize that you fully grip the controller.
05:17You could swap between these control styles and tweak them through SteamOS
05:20by hitting the Steam button on the controller and going through the menus.
05:23You'll also have access to all the community-built control schemes that are already there and possibly more in the future.
05:30On the note of the trackpads, they can also be configured in Steam input quite easily and each pad has the ability to act like two separate buttons,
05:41like splitting left and right clicks.
05:43Their pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback can be tweaked as well.
05:47And the capacitive touch of the grips can also be assigned to different kinds of actions,
05:51although I didn't have the opportunity to really test these specific features to a greater extent.
05:57However, it's the little things like these that make the Steam controller stand out
06:01and give you more options for how you play games more than any other controller I've seen thus far.
06:06To get to this point though, it took years of iteration starting with the first Steam controller,
06:18then adapting the best parts and seeing that in the Steam Deck,
06:21and then even integrating features unique to the Valve Index like gestures and gyros in a way that makes sense for a PC gamepad.
06:28And now the software is there as well, with SteamOS being a fuller ecosystem that can make compatibility and customization relatively simple.
06:42While this is a controller that was designed in tandem with the Steam machine to work seamlessly together,
06:47all its features work on any PC, of course.
06:50The tiny charging puck that easily latches onto the controller magnetically also acts as the wireless receiver
06:56for fast input rated at 8 milliseconds.
06:59Say you buy the Steam machine plus Steam controller bundle,
07:02you're gonna have a puck in that bundle, right?
07:05And the Steam machine already includes the receiver in it.
07:08So then it opens some interesting options like the one we're demoing here,
07:12where you have the puck by the couch and you can just use it like a charging station while the controller is connected wirelessly.
07:18But what I expect a bunch of people will do is they'll connect the puck to their desktop computer
07:24and the pairing information will be on both and you'll just be able to seamlessly switch the controller between your Steam machine
07:29and, you know, the desktop PC you might have without needing to go into any UI or reprogram anything.
07:35It can also handle up to four Steam controllers connected to it at the same time.
07:40And it works as an iOS Android mobile controller via Bluetooth.
07:44With the Steam Deck running SteamOS, it could also be a sensible solution for those who frequently dock their handheld.
07:50But like the rest of Valve's new hardware, there is no price set yet, but it is a premium product that will probably demand a premium price.
08:02And we won't know until we get closer to launch.
08:05I would really like more time with it to really put it through its paces,
08:08but given the versatility of its features and the execution of the basics,
08:11the new Steam controller could be my go-to PC controller when it launches sometime in early 2026 alongside the rest of Valve's new hardware.
08:19Speaking of them, be sure to check out our hands-on previews of the Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR headset,
08:28both of which work with the new Steam controller.
08:31And for everything else in the world of games and tech, stick with IGN.
08:35Wait.
08:36Wait.
08:37Bye.
08:38Parisative YouTube Commons
08:45Just watch and watch it today!
08:47And Ron!
08:49Part of your pcありがとうございました.
08:50How much of our staff will work with you in a bankобрya?
Be the first to comment