Author here. It seems like you misunderstood my point. Preferences aren't wrong, but forming an opinion on the quality of a product you have not used might be. I'm not talking to people who used the device, made a conscious effort to understand it and decided it wasn't for them. That's perfectly reasonable.
Engadget: We hate Valve's Steam Controller because it's different
- Thread starter Crayon
- Start date
Author here. It seems like you misunderstood my point. Preferences aren't wrong, but forming an opinion on the quality of a product you have not used might be. I'm not talking to people who used the device, made a conscious effort to understand it and decided it wasn't for them. That's perfectly reasonable.
The DS was a very successful console but it almost certainly wasn't because of the dual screens. So few games utilized the second screen in a way not represented by that image that it would be unfair to place "had two screens" anywhere near the top of the list of why the DS was successful when compared to far more pertinent reasons like much better developer support, Nintendo's unbroken dominance in portable gaming, and a friendlier price point.
The Wii's success, on the other hand, was probably almost entirely due to its input method. However, motion controls turned out to be not good for much outside of waggling and low-precision pointing (where it sits somewhere between an analog stick and a mouse in terms of capability), so unless the world of videogame becomes concentrated down to party games and console FPSes the viability of motion controls will always be predicated on them being stapled to a conventional controller.
In any case, I think the argument that it's simply due to a blind resistance of change that people don't like a particular controller is ignorant and dismissive. The current popular input methods -- a controller and KB/M -- are both very good at a lot of things and are therefore unlikely to be replaced overnight. It's probably going to take a fair bit of iteration to match the capabilities of something that works very well and have already been the recipient of years of iteration and testing.
ashecitism
Member
Honestly the whole reception and launch would have been better if Valve actually bothered to sell the product to their customers and try to have a great, solid launch. When you make a new product the things you do is tell people why they should by that product in the first place and how it works. And in the case of consumer electronics you also have killer apps which show off the full potential of the thing. But Valve as always just bowed out of this and let it up to their customers.
Marketing? Community word of mouth! Explaining how it works? Community will figure it out! Killer app? It will come naturally! Having a great, solid launch? Nope, launch it half-baked, this is a service, we'll just fix and iterate stuff based on community feedback!
So, the criticism is deserved. And as someone else said on twitter this better not be indicative of the experience people can expect from SteamVR...
Pretty sure, if Valve wanted to, they could flex some muscle. But they don't want to.
Marketing? Community word of mouth! Explaining how it works? Community will figure it out! Killer app? It will come naturally! Having a great, solid launch? Nope, launch it half-baked, this is a service, we'll just fix and iterate stuff based on community feedback!
So, the criticism is deserved. And as someone else said on twitter this better not be indicative of the experience people can expect from SteamVR...
Pretty sure, if Valve wanted to, they could flex some muscle. But they don't want to.
OfficerZap
Neo Member
Hi Sean,
That's not how the article reads (to me).
It seems very heavy on the "these people are wrong for not wanting to change wholesale". You're even stating that this is supposed to replace other controllers because it's just "better".
For quite a lot of people, it's not better. Most people don't use DVORAK. Most people won't.
That doesn't make them wrong. I feel your article is falling into the exact behaviour you're criticising in others - often in overly dramatic fashion.
Quite a few people have used it, and have discarded it. The argument of "You have to fully understand/master X before being allowed to comment on it" is always faulty.
I've used one, I like it, but it's not an every day controller for me. It suits certain purposes. But my friends who don't want to sink an entire training course into playing a game aren't incorrect in disliking it.
Messofanego
Banned
Didn't know it was available to buy, might have to check it out. Takes a month for delivery, though? Dec 2-9th (UK).
Real_Madrid
Member
A controller should always be plug and play. I don't want to spend gaming time tinkering with user configurations that may or may not work good.
And if people are misunderstanding it, it's Valve to blame, not the people. I think a lot of people just don't care.
PetriP-TNT
Member
Then... don't? I mean my experience with Fallout 4 was just that: I plugged it and I played it. Everything worked out of the box like one would expect. I did want to move my A-button to a pad that DOESN'T EXIST IN OTHER MAJOR CONTROLLERS sans some Xbox Elite type of deal-ios. And I... could do that if I wanted to?!
Some games might not have any pre-made configurations, then you have two options: continue like you did and don't play the game with a controller or, you know, configure it once and start playing.
This this this. The interface between you and the game should be as intuitive as possible.
i think the controller is only going to really be adopted by those who have almost exclusively used keyboard and mouse and fancy a new control pad, people who haven't had tens of years using traditional means of control with analog sticks, were their use has becomes more second nature muscle memory then anything else.
either that or its for people who are willing to put in the time to learn to use it. this isn't wii-mote simplicity, this is like learning binary time after using analogue for 20 years.
either that or its for people who are willing to put in the time to learn to use it. this isn't wii-mote simplicity, this is like learning binary time after using analogue for 20 years.
Poimandres
Member
I'm pretty excited to try it out personally. Maybe I'll like it, maybe not, but I really want to see for myself!
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
And I still stand by that, the 2nd screen is unnecessary and stylus controls are awful for left handed people.
I think this is where I sit too.
The steam controller seems decent enough for a very specific range of games - first or third person games where you walk around and need to aim quickly and accurately. For that I think the best option is a mix between controller and mouse. Mouselook is best with a mouse for speed and accuracy. But movement is better with a controller - analog movement vs digital if you use keys.
But even then the games themselves may not work properly. they need to support simulaneous mouse and joystick because the left stick is emulating a controller, and the right pad is emulating a mouse (as far as the game is concerned). If the game doesn't support that, then the analog stick ends up emulating a keyboard which isn't great.
Well it's good your posting here because your article tells me that I am wrong for not thinking it's going to be anything special from what impressions have been and from any information I have seen posted.
Could that change? Yes will it hmm I don't know I have felt Valve has done an increasingly poor job in what they have done but I could see it fulfulling some niches that you can't use a controller for now.
KbM and modern controllers aren't remotely intuitive. Have you ever seen someone try to use one for the first time?
Video games as a whole are not intuitive. Years of gaming may have clouded most people's judgement on how pick up and play video games really are. Funny enough, the Wii remote is probably the closest we've gotten to intuitive controls.
I think I see our misunderstanding here.
I don't say that it's "better" in the manner you're accusing me. I do say that it's a proposal for displacing the current paradigm of gamepad design -- and it's important to view it as a radical change instead of an iterate evolution to the existing gamepad. This is not an objective statement that it's better, it's a statement that it's a wildly different device that is better viewed as something trying to dispose the current controller.
Please, check again -- you'll notice that I was careful to add a qualifying statement the only time I claimed it was outright superior: "better for me." I'm not so arrogant as to assume that my preferences are your preferences.
That's okay! This comparison isn't made to explain that one should use DVORAK, or even to suggest DVORAK is better (studies have shown that it's actually not, not in any significant way). This is just a comparison of a learning curve. Learning how to use a new keyboard layout is an incredibly difficult task -- it takes hours before the new layout stops feeling alien and frustrating. In this way, it's like the Steam Controller: it looks familiar (like a Qwerty keyboard to a Dvorak student) but doesn't feel right until you've used it for an extended amount of time and retrained your muscle memory. (like a new keyboard layout).
Keep in mind, this learning curve is absolutely not a good thing. It just needs to be stated that it exists. Learning to type was the best analog I could think of.
They're not wrong! You don't have to use DVORAK to decide you don't want to use DVORAK (or the Steam Controller). Learning how to use both of these things requires a time investment that might not be worthwhile to you specifically.
This is all fine. I agree with most of this. I take no issue with people who have used it, tried to understand it and decided it is not for them. Likewise, I take no issue with people who have looked at it, recognized that making the most of it will take a large time investment, and decide that their time is too valuable for that change. These are not the people I'm addressing... but before I wrap that up, let's get to the part of your post I partially disagree with:
Do you have to have mastered a thing to comment on it? Of course not. Should you have some firsthand knowledge of a thing before you dismiss it as "bad" or "garbage" or "pointless" or "not good enough." Yes. Absolutely yes.
Let's think about the keyboard comparison again. If I were to swap out an office's keyboards with DVORAK keyboards, the users would probably be frustrated. If I were to ask them after 10 minutes what they thought of the new keyboards, I imagine the responses would be harsh: "terrible," they'd say. "Why are they trying to fix what isn't broken?" Those aren't very objective assessments.
To make a fair judgement on the layout's capabilities, they'd have to learn it. Maybe it's better. Maybe it's not. They don't know and they can't know unless they actually make an effort to find out. They can choose not to make that effort because they already have a keyboard that works, and they're fine with that... but choosing not to use something because it's harder to learn doesn't mean it's bad. It doesn't mean it's good either. It just means they don't know.
This is what my article objects to -- and I've seen a lot of it over the last month. I've seen it from friends, I've seen it from the community and, embarrassingly, I've seen it in the gaming press.. and there's a difference between not liking something and making objective statements about what it is. We should evaluate the Steam Controller's potential before we call it garbage. For me, it's great. It others it might be terrible.. but 15 minutes with it isn't long enough to find out either.
--
It sounds like my article is not about you. You approached the Steam Controller with an open mind, evaluated it and decided where (if anywhere) it fit in your life. You've decided if you want to put in the extra hours required to get the most out of it, but the crux is you used it first to find out. You didn't see it on the internet, and dismiss it for looking weird. You didn't assume you knew how it felt or functioned before touching it. You didn't turn up your nose at it simply because it wasn't what you already have. That's fantastic. That's exactly what any reasonable person should do.
So, to summarize:
It's okay to dislike chocolate.
It's stupid to say you dislike chocolate if you've never tasted chocolate.
It's incredibly stupid to say chocolate is bad as a general statement because you prefer butterscotch.
I don't say that it's "better" in the manner you're accusing me. I do say that it's a proposal for displacing the current paradigm of gamepad design -- and it's important to view it as a radical change instead of an iterate evolution to the existing gamepad. This is not an objective statement that it's better, it's a statement that it's a wildly different device that is better viewed as something trying to dispose the current controller.
Please, check again -- you'll notice that I was careful to add a qualifying statement the only time I claimed it was outright superior: "better for me." I'm not so arrogant as to assume that my preferences are your preferences.
That's okay! This comparison isn't made to explain that one should use DVORAK, or even to suggest DVORAK is better (studies have shown that it's actually not, not in any significant way). This is just a comparison of a learning curve. Learning how to use a new keyboard layout is an incredibly difficult task -- it takes hours before the new layout stops feeling alien and frustrating. In this way, it's like the Steam Controller: it looks familiar (like a Qwerty keyboard to a Dvorak student) but doesn't feel right until you've used it for an extended amount of time and retrained your muscle memory. (like a new keyboard layout).
Keep in mind, this learning curve is absolutely not a good thing. It just needs to be stated that it exists. Learning to type was the best analog I could think of.
They're not wrong! You don't have to use DVORAK to decide you don't want to use DVORAK (or the Steam Controller). Learning how to use both of these things requires a time investment that might not be worthwhile to you specifically.
This is all fine. I agree with most of this. I take no issue with people who have used it, tried to understand it and decided it is not for them. Likewise, I take no issue with people who have looked at it, recognized that making the most of it will take a large time investment, and decide that their time is too valuable for that change. These are not the people I'm addressing... but before I wrap that up, let's get to the part of your post I partially disagree with:
Do you have to have mastered a thing to comment on it? Of course not. Should you have some firsthand knowledge of a thing before you dismiss it as "bad" or "garbage" or "pointless" or "not good enough." Yes. Absolutely yes.
Let's think about the keyboard comparison again. If I were to swap out an office's keyboards with DVORAK keyboards, the users would probably be frustrated. If I were to ask them after 10 minutes what they thought of the new keyboards, I imagine the responses would be harsh: "terrible," they'd say. "Why are they trying to fix what isn't broken?" Those aren't very objective assessments.
To make a fair judgement on the layout's capabilities, they'd have to learn it. Maybe it's better. Maybe it's not. They don't know and they can't know unless they actually make an effort to find out. They can choose not to make that effort because they already have a keyboard that works, and they're fine with that... but choosing not to use something because it's harder to learn doesn't mean it's bad. It doesn't mean it's good either. It just means they don't know.
This is what my article objects to -- and I've seen a lot of it over the last month. I've seen it from friends, I've seen it from the community and, embarrassingly, I've seen it in the gaming press.. and there's a difference between not liking something and making objective statements about what it is. We should evaluate the Steam Controller's potential before we call it garbage. For me, it's great. It others it might be terrible.. but 15 minutes with it isn't long enough to find out either.
--
It sounds like my article is not about you. You approached the Steam Controller with an open mind, evaluated it and decided where (if anywhere) it fit in your life. You've decided if you want to put in the extra hours required to get the most out of it, but the crux is you used it first to find out. You didn't see it on the internet, and dismiss it for looking weird. You didn't assume you knew how it felt or functioned before touching it. You didn't turn up your nose at it simply because it wasn't what you already have. That's fantastic. That's exactly what any reasonable person should do.
So, to summarize:
It's okay to dislike chocolate.
It's stupid to say you dislike chocolate if you've never tasted chocolate.
It's incredibly stupid to say chocolate is bad as a general statement because you prefer butterscotch.
My article doesn't tell you you're wrong for being cautious based on some of the things you've read so far. My article says you shouldn't decide it's "nothing special" without using it yourself and making an effort to understand what it is, why it's different and then decide if it makes sense for you.
If it doesn't, that's fine. The only wrong move is writing it off because it's not what you're used to. The only sin is closedmindedness.
Hey Im Patrick
Member
If they made the track pad a track ball instead, that would be a lot better. for me at least. If it's interchangeable between analog stick and track ball (If possible) That would be one of the best controllers ever.
jellies_two
Member
It's okay to dislike hummers.
It's stupid to say you dislike a hummer if you've never driven one.
It's incredibly stupid to say a hummer is bad as a general statement because you prefer a prius.
Hmm. Nope, that pattern seems to work best for flavours of ice cream.
It wasn't because of dual screens, no. But I think a big chunk of the mass appeal was because it had a touch screen.
The trackpad has haptic feedback that makes it feel like a trackball.
TyrantGuardian
Member
I'm not sure why people who haven't tried it are stating that it is pure garbage. How would you know? That is what I find so disappointing about the negative reviews from press. They make definitive statements but their articles are based on default settings and don't even mention half the features that arguably make this controller a complete beast of an input device. Obviously Valve fucked up severely by not providing any useful learning tools, but that is fixable with software updates of which they have already had several big ones. If they don't, they clearly have a problem on their hands.
But yeah, this controller already outperforms my m/kb skills in CSGO in certain situations (long distance aiming in particular) and I've only bothered to play competitive matchmaking with it. My teammates were laughing about it and pleading I go back to a mouse but I ended up outperforming them, go figure. There are some uses where the Steam Controller outperforms any other input device there is, and dismissing it without even trying those feels incredibly silly unless you really dislike experimenting with things.
But yeah, this controller already outperforms my m/kb skills in CSGO in certain situations (long distance aiming in particular) and I've only bothered to play competitive matchmaking with it. My teammates were laughing about it and pleading I go back to a mouse but I ended up outperforming them, go figure. There are some uses where the Steam Controller outperforms any other input device there is, and dismissing it without even trying those feels incredibly silly unless you really dislike experimenting with things.
I tried to use mine for a couple of hours. I can definitely see the potential because i realized that i can be near mouse precise with this thing, but its not like it just works out of the box.
The huge misstake that Valve made here is the lack of any even remotely working rule how things need to be set up. They threw out a piece of hardware that can be configured in so many ways that it takes ages to understand how each setting affects your game experience, i can imagine that your average joe will be way to confused to get much out of it.
The huge misstake that Valve made here is the lack of any even remotely working rule how things need to be set up. They threw out a piece of hardware that can be configured in so many ways that it takes ages to understand how each setting affects your game experience, i can imagine that your average joe will be way to confused to get much out of it.
poodaddy
Member
The negative opinions haven't warded me away at all. I'm still interested in picking up the controller as I think it's going to be great for playing through CRPG's on the couch. This controller will make a genre that is typically best played alone at night when the wife's asleep something we can all enjoy together on the TV, and that's kind of fucking awesome. I can't wait to go through Baldur's Gate with my wife right next to me.
InB4 someone says "why couldn't you play those games before?" I just honestly enjoy playing games with my wife more than I do alone, regardless of whether they're single player or coop; I just think she makes the experience more interesting.
InB4 someone says "why couldn't you play those games before?" I just honestly enjoy playing games with my wife more than I do alone, regardless of whether they're single player or coop; I just think she makes the experience more interesting.
Hey Im Patrick
Member
The haptic feedback does help but the feeling of a ball is better for me, maybe because of the convex shape or maybe the movement of the ball I dunno.
The Elite
BOSS
The impressions from the controller thread on GAF weren't all that great to begin with. That was from people using the product. It sounded like a frustrating experience of constantly trying to find the right settings for each game they were playing. For a lot of people who just want to sit down and play that can be a turn off.
I am giving it some time before I pick one up. I want to see more impressions from people using the product but I'm not surprised by initial impressions and I don't think we should be frustrated or angry at people who don't want to drop $50 on what sounds like a frustrating experience out of the gate.
I am giving it some time before I pick one up. I want to see more impressions from people using the product but I'm not surprised by initial impressions and I don't think we should be frustrated or angry at people who don't want to drop $50 on what sounds like a frustrating experience out of the gate.
Yeah, I was also a bit surprised by the thread, seemed like a beta test impressions.
zero shift
Banned
Skyward Sword is a perfect example. The controls were in no way, shape, or form broken. You had to actually learn how the game properly registered the movements. Once you did that it never failed. It was a classic case of gamers not having patience. It's no different then when someone first picks up a game with dual analog sticks and has to properly learn how to move the character and align the camera at once. Once you figure it out, you're golden.
Continuing that trend:
SSX Blur had fantastic motion controls - However people claimed that the "Uber system" was broken when in reality you just had to accurately "draw" the specials on screen
Punchout! had great motion controls - Yet reviewers claimed it was impossible to beat the first boss without using the gamepad controls, when I beat the entire game with just motion controls and never had a single problem with them.
While there were a fair amount of games that really didn't have accurate controls, but for some games the controls being "broken" was really just an excuse for "I suck at this game and didn't want to bother learning the controls." Gamers consistently do this with almost everything that isn't flatout spoon fed to them. Its the reason why Monster Hunter games had "bad" combat due to them not having lock-on or how games that used IR controls (notably worse than mice but still vastly superior to dual analog) were terrible, but then Splatoon came along and forced people to use them and now many players have seen the light.
Sniffynose
Member
It lacks tactile feeling, it's the same reason I absolutely despise typing on glass phone/tablet screens and stick to a blackberry for it's keypad. /shrug
Had mine for almost a month, and the games I've played on it have controlled much better than they would have with a twin stick controller. Customizing my Portal profile took a decent amount of time, but that's an issue that should be ironed out when more community profiles are readily available.
It's a great bit of kit.
It's a great bit of kit.
PetriP-TNT
Member
Have you tried the controller?
The Steam controller is plug and play in many situations, even without native support. That's kind of amazing when you think about it.
I don't see how what you're criticizing is Valve's failure. The controller does exactly what they said it would. There is such a gap between what this thing was advertised as, and what people wanted it to be. I don't understand how expectations were so far off the mark, as it delivered on everything they promised.
That doesn't shift the blame. Limitations are not the fault of Valve, or the fault of the community. Current limitations are a part of what the controller is. They are by design. And, also by design, they will decrease over time. Those who have been using the controller since the early launch have seen significant updates week after week. A new radial menu was introduced through software that allows the game to access a massive array of hotkeys, perfect for MMORPGs. It could not play those games as comfortably before then. It is awesome that now we have that thing which in itself is not the bottleneck, requiring games to limit themselves around a control method, but instead can be changed and updated to support whatever control schemes developers or players feel like creating.
The Steam controller gives more tangible feedback than any, any, previous controller. It is nothing like using a touchscreen. You can add haptic feedback to even the clickiest bits.
RealityCheque
Banned
All black and white statements about the controller are redundant.
An analog stick is not better than a trackpad, a trackpad is not better than an analog stick.
It. All. Depends. On. The. Game.
I'm split 50/50 between the Steam and XBone controllers. Lots of games don't allow for simultaneous controller and mouse input, so I use the traditional input method which is better. But this is hopefully a problem that will gradually fade in the next number of years with more new games.
For games that do allow for dual input, the Steam Controller is leagues better. Plus I can play RTS and point-and-click games on my TV, which is great.
Like I said. It all depends on what you are playing. And that will be the case for some time yet.
Use mouse joystick. It makes the simultaneous input issue irrelevant.
grandwizard
Member
It also gets rid of any advantage to using a trackpad at all, which is absolute positioning. People using the mouse joystick mode which emulates an analog stick input using an absolute positioning device (much like 'virtual joysticks' on mobile phones or the XIM adapters for consoles) on a device that actually HAS and accepts absolute positioning, is one of the saddest parts of the Steam Controller's story.
RE: The article, I think it goes too easy on Valve for many of the mistakes made with the controller, and they should have anticipated the core gaming community's reluctance for any kind of paradigm shift in control input and made the transition much easier. It's already an unfamiliar device and then couple that with the software side which is just a mess for people expecting gamepad-levels of default smoothness. You also have the mismanaged expectations, with people expecting to get gamepad + mouse levels of control when that almost never works, and now resorting to bad half steps just to retain the 360 button prompts in game.
I also think it's wrong to disregard a lot of the criticism as being by people who didn't use it enough. The Steam Controller thread on this forum has had lots of people over the past month putting in time with this controller and still being unimpressed or disappointed, as well as people who are into it. Also, the mainstream reviews that hit yesterday from PCGamer, Tested, IGN, PCWorld, Kotaku etc have been using it for ~1 month (or so they say) and are generally pretty meh on it.
You have not used it have you?
RealityCheque
Banned
I have been, found it good, just not quite as good yet as a traditional pad. I'm sort of in this limbo between input devices. Gradually using the Steam Controller more and the XBone one less. Give it another couple of months and I'll likely be 100% Steam.
Do we really need to ask that question?!?
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
I does not work for hummers, because hummers are bad in general, they use way too much gasoline and for most purposes the sheer size of the car is not necessary (and if it is necessary you can get a car with enough space that uses less fuel per km.
visiblemode
Member
One of my major problems with the great steam controller debate is that those in favour of it seem to be of the opinion that controllers are masterpieces of inspiration.
As though, one designer could go into the woods with a piece of clay and emerge with the one design that will be our shared destiny.
Part of this is because of Valve's incredible influence on people. There has been the assumption, by some, that valve created it perfectly and if you don't get it, it's not that it's too big for your hands, no...you just can't shake off your hangups.
Controllers start with good attempts at a design and many, most even, fail. Those that do have some success, face a long and drawn out trial by commitee.
This is inevitable. Hand shapes, sizes and functions vary so much, it's impossible for one person to create everyone's perfect controller. This doesn't even account for psychological preferences, and presets, which are not always as malliable as to be "fixed" by "getting over it."
Is the Steam controller a part of the future? Seems like it has sowed some important seeds, yet before it finds itself in the hall of fame, it will evolve and change and improve objectively (and subjectively) and it will be the expression of compromise. That's what controllers are.
...and in the end, no matter how good it is, there will still be people who don't like it, and many of them won't be "closed minded" many of the will just fall too far outside the parameters of the comprimises.
As though, one designer could go into the woods with a piece of clay and emerge with the one design that will be our shared destiny.
Part of this is because of Valve's incredible influence on people. There has been the assumption, by some, that valve created it perfectly and if you don't get it, it's not that it's too big for your hands, no...you just can't shake off your hangups.
Controllers start with good attempts at a design and many, most even, fail. Those that do have some success, face a long and drawn out trial by commitee.
This is inevitable. Hand shapes, sizes and functions vary so much, it's impossible for one person to create everyone's perfect controller. This doesn't even account for psychological preferences, and presets, which are not always as malliable as to be "fixed" by "getting over it."
Is the Steam controller a part of the future? Seems like it has sowed some important seeds, yet before it finds itself in the hall of fame, it will evolve and change and improve objectively (and subjectively) and it will be the expression of compromise. That's what controllers are.
...and in the end, no matter how good it is, there will still be people who don't like it, and many of them won't be "closed minded" many of the will just fall too far outside the parameters of the comprimises.
We would quickly learn to accept it if it's the only option, like how dual analog sticks became standard thanks to the PS1. Or if there were games specifically designed for the Steam Controller. However, the Steam Controller isn't the only option. It's an alternative controller that tries to offer the best of KBM controls on a control pad. It's not a new unique control scheme, it's a compromise. And when it's a compromise, the original controls that the games were designed for (KBM/gamepad) will always perform better.
So, if you spend 15 min working on game controls to get them right, for games that you are going to be playing for hours and hours, what's the big deal?
It's a fantastic controller and a huge improvement over analog sticks.
I'm playing Fallout 4 on PS4 and I miss the steam controller.
I think the backlash is due to analog sticks being the standard for so long. Way too long. An entire generation has grown up with only one control scheme their entire lives.
15 years of stagnation. It's embarrassing.
I'm playing Fallout 4 on PS4 and I miss the steam controller.
I think the backlash is due to analog sticks being the standard for so long. Way too long. An entire generation has grown up with only one control scheme their entire lives.
15 years of stagnation. It's embarrassing.
People don't like new controls because they take them out of the game
A controller is meant to be in the background, you're not meant to be looking at it or reminded that you're using it while playing
I can't even tell you what buttons do what in most of the games I play, as I rarely think "I need to press A to jump" I just think "I need to jump"
New and weird controllers pull you out of the game and back to the controller, it sucked to be in the middle of a fight in Skyward Sword only to have to re-centre the pointer because the controls are hugely flawed
It comes down to two things:
1) is it better?
2) do you prefer it?
While a kb/m is better for some genres, I don't like using it that much, so I prefer a gamepad, walking/moving with WASD is no where near as fun as using a stick (in my opinion)
Gyro controls are better for aiming, and i'm happy to use them because I enjoy them and they make aiming more precise, and they're intuitive
If an input device is better, then those who invest time in it will be rewarded, but a lot of the time weird controllers/controls are forced on us and they're either worse than what people are used to, or they're different, and most people prefer to use something that doesn't pull them out of the game
A controller is meant to be in the background, you're not meant to be looking at it or reminded that you're using it while playing
I can't even tell you what buttons do what in most of the games I play, as I rarely think "I need to press A to jump" I just think "I need to jump"
New and weird controllers pull you out of the game and back to the controller, it sucked to be in the middle of a fight in Skyward Sword only to have to re-centre the pointer because the controls are hugely flawed
It comes down to two things:
1) is it better?
2) do you prefer it?
While a kb/m is better for some genres, I don't like using it that much, so I prefer a gamepad, walking/moving with WASD is no where near as fun as using a stick (in my opinion)
Gyro controls are better for aiming, and i'm happy to use them because I enjoy them and they make aiming more precise, and they're intuitive
If an input device is better, then those who invest time in it will be rewarded, but a lot of the time weird controllers/controls are forced on us and they're either worse than what people are used to, or they're different, and most people prefer to use something that doesn't pull them out of the game
It does not control similarly to touch interfaces. It can, if you choose to disable trackball control. Otherwise it carries the inertia of each movement you make, which feels much more natural.
I cannot tell if you are for or against the steam controller because of the examples you used. The Steam controller has Xinput style colored buttons (so "A" remains "A"). It also has an analog stick for movement. And there are gyro controls for precise aiming. But the way you have phrased this makes me think you are deriding the controller as inessential because it is worse than something you are used to.
Completely agree. If I give my DS4 to my young kids or wife they have no idea how to use it.
As I said earlier I'm really struggling to learn kbm. It is so un-intuitive to move using the keyboard its unreal.
All of these devices we need to learn.