Finally got around to doing the replacement and it fit great. I just had to clip the wire that’s intended to be used for the capacitive stick function on the Deck before popping it on.

I decided to get myself some extremerate thumbsticks myself to give it a try.

I do get their point. But, it’s not a GamerNexus exclusive criticism though, since it’s like giving a gaming mouse to someone who only uses a controller to review it then being surprised the type of insight you’d expect from a review channel centered around gaming mice. Like covering latency which is useful and general feel, but not really getting into how it translates to different grip styles and doing tracking and flick tests to see how their aim translates over.

For a good review I would expect some coverage highlighting the unique features of the Steam Controller like the gyro, touchpads, capacitive joysticks, and grip sensors along with some basic Steam Input information on what exactly are the settings available for the grip sensors. Those are after all the features that are missing from cheaper alternatives. Coverage on that for gyro gamers interested in the controller because of that tech and how well it works as a gyro activation features has been lacking, since these are inputs that many reviewers are not familiar with. Along with how the gyro compares to existing controllers and how prone to drift it is and how smooth the gyro is when mouse is bound to it on high refresh rate monitors.

Lot of the controller perspectives have felt like they are coming from the point of view of Xbox controller users who pick up a mouse for everything else, so not having much understanding or experience in how to really utilize these features or not having enough time in the two weeks they got to try it to really understand it. So coverage has been just some few second long clips of this feature exists and being more mentioned because it is on the spec sheet. It’s like getting a review on a motorcycle from a channel that only reviews cars and hasn’t driven motorcycles before.

I guess what I’d at the minimum expect is an example like this old 10 year old clip at the 1:21 mark of someone showcasing mouse input on the touchpads, gyro being activated on touch, and then demonstrating it being used to aim at multiple targets and getting forth a lot more information in those 40 seconds than 20 minute long videos to people who hadn’t seen that type of input use before and actually coming across as though they have put in time to be actually proficient at it.

You can pop off the joystick after opening up the controller and replace it with either the 8bitdo joystick or steam deck joystick. Whatever is cheapest. This video shows shows the process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH8CmCkltzY

I also use eneloops and the same eneloops I used since I got my Steam Controller back in 2015 and would also use on my 360 controller still go about a month before needing a charge.

I don’t think their hardware sales becoming insanely profitable is their main goal and their focus on the finance side might be to at the very worst break even.

Their main goal I believe is to try to increase Linux usage so the holdouts against it might start allowing their games to run on Linux, and devs may feel that with Stean machines out there that can run their more resource heavy games better than the Deck it is worth it to pursue proton compatibility.

They probably learned from the mistakes they made in the past when they pushed Linux adoption attempts on to third party companies. They realized they needed to provide some standardized hardware instead of leaving the work to others if they wanted Linux to start being taken more seriously among devs with how small the userbase still is even with the Deck success.

My hope after seeing that the joysticks themselves look like they can be removed from the main board is that the touchpads can be relocated to the top without too much hassle and put into a 3D printed top shell made by the community. So if that were possible what I’d probably do is pop off the XYAB, dpad, and board holding the joystick so the touchpad can be moved up to make the touchpads comfortable for primary use.

And then I’d rely on the back buttons and set up a dpad modeshift on a right pad click to enable edge and center clicks, so I wouldn’t miss the absence of the other inputs too much. I also use touchpad for movement where I’ll often set outer ring to sprint and map crouch/slide/dash on touchpad click, so cuts down on needed inputs further.

So that’s my hope that modifying the new Steam Controller for touchpad users will be as simple as 3d printing a shell and opening the controller and not require further things like soldering.

I played through Doom Eternal like that on my Steam Controller where I mapped mouse to the touchpad for quick turns, gyro activated on touch, and mapped some of the weapons on the touchpad so I could swap to them when I clicked by setting up a dpad modeshift on right pad click with an inverted outer ring for center click.

Turned off aim assist and went my way.

I think it’s undeniable that it’s pretty plasticky.

I don’t disagree one that part. In fact, you’d find most Steam Controller fans biggest wish is for a more premium update. That’s been a big wish for a long time with mine being a Steam Controller with better bumpers, gyro with higher polling for high refresh rate gaming, 2 more back buttons, extra bumper buttons like the 8bitdo has, dpad replacing the left joystick, pressure sensitive touchpad that are bit larger, and a much nicer material for the shell.

But, despite the less than premium build quality enthusiasts find the actual functions useful enough to keep using it. Much like the Alpakka controller that doesn’t even have a right joystick or touchpad, but gyro enthusiasts use it because it has the best gyro available right now for controllers.

So basically the stances about build quality and it not being a mainstream device is not something most Steam Controller users disagree with. That’s not really been the point of contention. There’s been agreement on that.

That’s cool, if that’s what you want to do. Go nuts, have fun. But there’s a reason it isn’t a particularly mainstream way to engage with PC games.

My argument was never for how it is mainstream, but that I find it more useful than regular controllers which I used before and use now. I’ve found “upgrades” to the xbox, playstation, nintendo controllers with the 8bitdo Ultimate 2. But have yet to find upgrades to the Steam Controller.

You do play mouse and keyboard games on it and love it, and you think it beats sticks because you can spend hours on Steam making overly complicated setups that allow you to macro all sorts of nonses into the trackpads and paddles and whatnot.

And what is mouse and keyboard games these days? Death Stranding, Saints Row, GTA, Dishonored, Uncharted? Doesn’t take me hours to set up either. It might takes hours for you to set up, but for me it’s been as simple as using a pre saved template for mixed input or mouse/keyboard depending on support and adjusting the gyro and remapping some buttons to my preference.

Same thing I end up doing on a regular controller like the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 where I map buttons of the grip and extra bumper from game to game when I opt for it over the Steam Controller. And same process for adjusting the gyro.

I don’t blame people for swearing by it as contrarians.

So my point is yes for you the controller may be useless, but disagree with the instance that people who like it are doing it because they are contrarians. Hell there’s people who take the same stance with gyro trying it out and finding they aren’t proficient at it and insisting it is a gimmick.

I hate this thing with a passion.

It does seem like your hatred of it with a passion as you said is leading to too strong of a bias of rejecting the idea that those who like it do actually like it because for them they find it to be a better controller than traditional joystick controller. I will not disagree with you that it is a bad controller for you. It most definitely is with it causing physical pain for you on top other complaints you have. It is a bad controller for you period.

All I ask is that you open your mind to the possibility that people who do prefer it do actually find it the opposite of what yours is, and they aren’t doing it for the sake of being contrarian. They do actually use it because they do find it better for them.

Here’s another pic with the entire controller layout shown so you can see that the L4 and PL buttons are unique from all the other buttons.

No you don’t have to. It’s separate buttons. Just happened to do that for that game.

Here’s one with keyboard keys.

In case you are curious how the extra buttons look in Steam Input for the 8bitdo ultimate 2 wireless I included a pic.

I haven’t tried over bluetooth but it does work over the 2.4 ghz dongle. I stick with the dongle over bluetooth, since polling is supposed to be 1000 hz.

Yes they can be set up like any other button through Steam Input. I’ve tested it myself on the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 wireless, and analog triggers and gyro also works. The only other controller that offered that functionality was playstation before the firmware update with other third party controllers having to enter switch mode, which has digital triggers.

There is one thing that needs to be worked out with vibration, since if it is on it can cause the controller to stop working in game while using Steam Input. Have to leave it off for now. But, it’s been getting worked on.

I came from a background of using joystick controllers then picked up a Steam Controller and loved it since. And I still use it along side regular controllers, so probably bit more experience on both than other people.

Build quality isn’t premium, but I prefer it for most of my games over my switch, xbox, 8bitdo, and sony controllers. Love it for games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, and The Finals.

Just haven’t found a controller that provides me with the functionality the Steam Controller offers despite finding alternatives to xbox controllers with first the playstation with it having gyro the xbox doesn’t, and then 8bitdo with additional buttons and TMR sticks the playstation doesn’t. But, still no Steam Controller alternative, so I’m still using it.

I’d recommend the 8bitdo ultimate 2 wireless. Has two back paddles, but also has two additional bumper buttons so is actually 4 buttons in total. The back paddles of the controller is also much easier to press in than the Deck and extra bumpers easy to access, so even though the locations wouldn’t be 1 to 1 the use I find easier.

Just have to update the firmware of the controller and dongle and then start the controller in dinput mode to be able to bind the extra buttons through Steam Input.

I got the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 wireless controller with the latest firmware update, and can confirm dinput mode lets me map the back buttons and extra bumpers to different inputs through Steam Input. Analog triggers and gyro work too.

Probably have to use Windows to update it. Once the proper firmware is applied then going into dinput mode on the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 wireless controller allowed me to map the back buttons and extra bumper buttons through Steam Input. Was also able to set up gyro too.

I play this game with the Steam Controller using motion controls and without aim assist, and do fine against mouse and aim assist players.

So this is a game that when you die isn’t usually due to someone having much better reflexes and pixel perfect aiming than you. More game sense and good utilization of gadgets and specialization. Which to start off will be rough not knowing what everything does, but once you become familiar with it should become less of a problem.