The original Steam Controller was great for games that didn't support gamepads... and came out within like a year of "hey, we can actually map CRPGs, grand strategies, and RTSes to gamepads pretty well apparently?"

The Steam Deck is awesome because it is a best of both worlds. Sticks for games that map to those and trackpads for navigating the OS/Steam and for games that don't map well to sticks. And a gamepad form of the Steam Deck would be awesome, if only for letting those of us with fewer brain cells to only learn one scheme for a game rather than two or three.

This... is not that. Mechanically it is there (and it is a good ad for pcbway or whatever) but the ergonomics are just complete trash. The Steam Deck itself has shockingly awesome ergonomics (and is a great isometric exercise because that thing is a brick) because it is like holding a large hardcover book. Shrink that down and you are just straining your wrists . It is why basically every gamepad has flared "wings" these days. It softens the angle of your wrist while you hold it.

Hopefully Valve will decide to release their Ibex soon. I do like that this is a split controller, but the ergonomics don't look great compared to the leaked Ibex image.

Well, my steam controller stopped working, and they don't make them anymore. Yes, I know I could buy a used one on ebay but I'd rather have a new one.

All fair points. I can definitely see the appeal of wanting the same functionality that the Deck controller brings, as I myself really enjoy the extra flexibility the trackpads and back buttons provide. But the ergonomics in this example just looks awful and feels really reminiscent of the original Xbox controller.

• It lacks a d-pad
• It lacks a right thumb stick
• The thumb stick it has is not capacitive nor drift free
• It only has one back paddle for each side
• Ergonomics of the deck are way better, at least for me
• It lacks the ... button (although this is minor because Steam+a opens the same menu)

Don't get me wrong, the SC 1 is a great controller, but the Steam deck is better, getting a Steam deck like controller would be awesome.

Were they supposed to do that or promised?

Prone?

Hell, they are almost designed to break. They are utterly shabby in terms of build quality.

I was one of the early adopters going back to November 2015

I am not lying when I tell you I have been through 17 of these controllers. It's the right bumper almost every time.

I have a giant handful of the dongles. I was saving them thinking they would go up in value but now like $2 knockoffs are available LOL

Edit: the first one I received, out of the box, had a broken face button membrane. The replacement I received had a non-functioning back right paddle. The replacement for that had a non-functioning R shoulder and you could hear the plastic crunching on each press. That's just the first three I received and I'm not counting those in the 17 that I destroyed in my own hands.

They were built like absolute shit. After the first run got sold and they shored-up manufacturing problems, they got marginally better but the fundamental underlying issue never was solved.

If it wasn't such a wonderful controller, I would have stomped the first one into powder and never looked back.

It's increasing creator reach. I'd be honored to have pcgamers talk about it.

Totally fair take. What they lack in durability they more than make up for in ergonomics and control customization features.

I've got a total of 8 of them with only 2 busted bumpers. I'd say that's not terrible considering they went through 1000+ hours of the Souls series plus Sekiro.

Every time it vibrates it sounds like it’s trying to explode into an angry horde of bees. I still use it but gosh it’s annoying.

What the hell is a "pus-controller"? Sounds gross.

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No. But public expectations are flying high with some people after the Deck's and Controller's respective receptions.