It’s why I pointed out the omission of Steam Input and only focusing on what you find frivolous even though you yourself use Steam Input made your argument seem misleading. That one truthfulness about using Steam Input did end up hurting the initial statement, since it went from what could have been waved off to ignorance or not finding use in it to becoming a sign of intentional removal of information due fear it undermines the main thesis.

It would have been better to state the pros of GOG which can stand on its own. Even now you seem to be undermining the utility of Steam Input choosing to keep highlighting the gimmicks which gives off the sense of still not wanting add to the idea that there is utility Steam provides beyond that. As though gimmicks negate whatever utility is provided.

All I’m saying is it would have been a stronger argument to bring up the utility you find in combination with bring up the negatives you find about Steam, which would have given off a stronger impartiality when it came to your stance conveying to readers you can recognize both the good and the bad. That would have led to a stronger final conclusion than one that seems more overtly one sided.

Fixating only on features you don’t care about to argue your point while omitting the features of Steam you find useful due to it not strengthening your position is rather misleading. Steam workshop is another I forgot I have found useful for mods for certain games.

GOG strengths like DRM free and install files are good enough to stand on its own without trying to make it as though Steam’s feature only have things you see as worthless.

I don’t consider Steam Input to be a gimmick. I use it to turn my Steam Controller (2015) into a mouse/keyboard like experience on a controller. Setting things up like touch activate gyro with mouse bound to the touchpads and gyro. And then using a combination of modeshifts and chords to shift the touchpads into a set of 5 inputs on edge/center tap and then an additional 5 when holding down the left grip. This lets me keep my thumbs on movement and camera controls throughout the game, and have to rely less on weapon wheels. An example is where I left click on my right to reload, center click to melee, up click to switch to gadget 1, and right click to switch to gadget 2, down click to switch to gadget 3. I also use Steam Input to set a sprint on the outer edge, so I can sprint when I want to instead of having to rely on things like toggle sprint or auto sprint.

And when I use regular dual joystick controllers like the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 Wireless I’ll set the extra bumper button to act as a modeshift to turn the joystick or facebuttons into a dpad as an example, so I don’t have to move my left thumb off the joystick to the dpad and temporarily lose my ability to move. This made Nier Replicant a fun experience for me setting up the dpad to switch between the 3 different weapons during combat while being able to continue to move around. Steam Input also lets me set up mouse input on the gyro while retaining analog triggers without having to bother with the much less feature rich 8bitdo controller app. People have used Steam Input to set up touch activated gyro on the dualsense and used conductive tape to set up touch activated gyro like on the Steam Deck and the upcoming Steam Controller (2026).

Steam Input also has things like touch menus and radial menus, so it can really change the gameplay experience due to being able to set up configs for game actions devs didn’t set it up to do. Like an example is Doom Eternal where people kept asking to be able to bind specific weapons to the facebuttons or dpad so people could quick switch like keyboard users instead of the weapon wheel to bypass reload animation and shoot faster. Devs finally provided that option much much later, but Steam Input users were able to do things like set up a modeshift so holding down the right bumper would shift the facebuttons into something like keyboard keys 1,2,4,4 and behave as regular XYAB when the right bumper isn’t held down without need for devs to change the game.

Steam Input changed the controller experience to one where I don’t use aim assist on controllers, so when most people default to aim assist in games that just goes to show how valuable Steam Input has been for controller users who utilize it and want more from the controller experience beyond default Xbox controller setup. I would enjoy games less if Steam Input went away because of how feature rich it is compared to other controller remappers out there. Gotten to a point where even if I play non Steam games I’m trying to get Steam Input working with it, so I can customize my controller experience.

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.

Unless you need the touchpad and resistance triggers I’ve come to prefer the Ultimate 2 wireless over the dualsense.

Has TMR sticks, extra bumper buttons, back buttons, and charging dock. Got firmware update to allow the extra buttons to be remappable through Steam Input too.

Don’t see myself considering a PlayStation controller on the PC unless future versions start coming with hall effect or TMR sticks, and even then with them charging double the price for paddle buttons it is a hard sell over third party controller options on the PC.

Right now has to be the 8bitdo Ultimate 2 wireless. Not the bluetooth switch one. Need to update the dongle and controller to the latest beta firmware and launch it in dinput mode by turning it on while holding the B button. Then all the extra buttons can be mapped along with using gyro with analog triggers, which couldn’t be done before.

There is a bug that needs to be fixed where rumble can cause the controller to stop working in game, so for now need to use it with rumble off until that is fixed. But, everything else works when it comes to binding through Steam Input.

Prey was great in that department actually having a config that mapped mouse to the right touchpad instead of emulating a joystick like so many games did, and then had different action sets that automatically switched depending on if it was gameplay or you were in the menu. And showed proper icons like the touchpad click to reflect Steam Input mappings people set it to.

I was initially intrigued by having buttons on the bottom of the controller, where your fingers naturally would be thus freeing your thumbs to stay on the pad/sticks. And imagine my frustration to realize those rear buttons are just extensions of triggers already on top.

My set up approach to having both my thumbs stay on the pads a majority of the time has been to set up a dpad modeshift with an inverted outer ring bind so clicking up, down, left, right, center output different inputs. And depending on the game I’d set up a chord so holding the left grip and clicking the right pad would output a different set of 5 inputs. And my right grip is set to jump so with the left grip chord function for 5 additional inputs on a right pad click if needed for a total of 10 that’s been my way of doing that.

So for like Doom Eternal I swap between weapons every shot to bypass reloading through the right touchpad. I like that approach better than using stuff like weapon wheels, which in some games actually slows down the actual gameplay and interrupts the flow.

How did you use the touchpad. My approach has been to adjust the sensitivity of the touchpad until an edge to edge swipe does a 180, and for gyro having a 90 degree rotation of the controller do 675 degree rotation in game for first person and 450 degrees for third person. Made it a consistent aim experience no matter what game I played as long as the mouse input in the game was good and didn’t do things like emulate a joystick causing negative acceleration.

And for the right touchpad I set a dpad modeshift with an inverted outer ring bind so clicking up, down, left, right, center output different inputs so I didn’t have to reach down to the facebuttons as often. And depending on the game I’d set up a chord so holding the left grip and clicking would output a different set of 5 inputs.

And I just saved the template so I didn’t need to set it up all the time.

Liked it for Doom Eternal, since I could activate gyro, swipe the camera to quickly turn, and click to swap between weapons every shot to bypass reloading all on the right touchpad.

And pvp games like The Finals clicking the right pad to switch through gadgets and using the touchpad to quickly turn and activate gyro, and not feeling like my inputs were too slow versus mouse users. And not having to bother with aim assist.

My dream steam controller 2 would be the steam controller layout with the large circular concave touchpads in the top most position, better bumpers, two extra bumper buttons like the 8bitdo, 4 back buttons in total, alpakka quality gyro, and nice premium feeling material used for the shell.

But, they’ll go with the Steam Deck layout if there is one, which unfortunately has not been good for using touchpads as primary inputs for my hands. Which has me hording Steam Controllers, since it’ll likely be the only dual touchpad focused controller around. And hoping Alpakka comes out with a standalone gyro module I can stick on the Steam Controller to at least have the gyro component updated.

I’m still using the same AA eneloops I used since I picked up my Steam Controller all the way back in 2015-2016. And I also used it with my 360 controller too. Just keeps chugging along being good for a month before I need to swap.

Yeah the PS4 battery life has been crap and I don’t know why. Was finally able to replace Sony controllers with 8bitdo now that Steam provides support for the extra buttons to be mapped to unique keys and use analog triggers and gyro together. So been nice not having to spend money on the dualsense, which doesn’t even have hall effects/TMR sticks.

If you are curious here is some of my gameplay video in games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, The Finals, etc.

Was the first controller that allowed me to completely drop aim assist for good and not feel slow against PC players and offer keyboard like functionality for input swapping.

I just assumed they worked in a similar manner to the decks track pads.

By the way I don’t like the Steam Deck trackpads either since I found trying to use them as primary inputs in place of joysticks like on the Steam Controller was not ergonomic for my hands,and camera swipes weren’t as consistent on squares compared to concave circular pads. So on the Steam Deck despite wishing I could use the touchpads I opt for joysticks. So I don’t really see Deck touchpads as a good endorsement for using as primary inputs, since even I can’t find myself using it like the SC.

If you are curious here is some of my gameplay video in games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, The Finals, etc.

Was the first controller that allowed me to completely drop aim assist for good and not feel slow against PC players and offer keyboard like functionality for input swapping.

I think it’s been fine in Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, The Finals, etc.

Was the first controller that allowed me to completely drop aim assist for good and not feel slow against PC players and offer keyboard like functionality for input swapping.

Trying to find replacement batteries for integrated batteries is a pain too, since might not be able to find an OEM replacement or battery from a reputable brand. So you end up having to go with whatever random no name battery that could be worse than the OEM battery and end up dying after less than a year.

My preference is rechargeable AA or AAA. And even better if the controller itself can recharge the battery like drone controllers.

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.

But back to my assertion at the top. It made SC gamers literally unfairly better. Gryo aiming, effectively programmable macros, mode shifts, radial wheels, action layers, targeted mouse clicks, button toggles, sliders, regions, I can’t even remember it all from back before it got heavily neutered. It got out of control to the point where you could bypass “cheating” standards and macros in big online games, etc. You could simulate inputs.

I don’t remember SC being singled out for that. Steam Input actually started providing third party support fast introducing it for the Sony DS4 in 2016 with all the same configurations possible, and expanding support to other controllers over the years. Now it supports 8bitdo too letting the extra buttons have unique keys mapped to it and supporting analog triggers with gyro, which until then Sony was one of the few non-discontinued controllers to have that support in Steam Input. https://www.pcgamer.com/steams-dualshock-4-support-is-now-in-beta/ Don’t remember this period of the Steam Controller being a " deadly-unfair device for competitive gaming", since if it was it would have been more popular and caught on like Cronus and Xim as opposed to from its release to discontinuation being a niche device among enthusiasts while many complained because they expected it to be like a regular dual joystick controller. This thread itself and others on other sites seems to support that with people saying they tried it and didn’t care for it, don’t get the touchpads, and some not even knowing of gyro. I even had a conversation in this thread with someone who believes people who say the Steam Controller must be good are being contrarian, since they can’t imagine how people could possibly consider it good over regular controllers.

What I remember is that aim assist got cranked up over the years to the point some mouse users started dropping it for gamepad, which led to complaints about rollers growing. And then more complaints happened about rollers as regular controller users in games like Apex used Steam Input to set up movement exploits in Apex through macros and moving while going through their inventory like mouse and keyboard users. Then rewasd with it offering recoil script. And that took a while to happen with Apex releasing in 2019, which by then SC was discontinued the same year. Rewasd was especially notorious because of not only the recoil script, but being able to map controller inputs to keyboard and mouse for people wanting to XIM on PC.

It failed because it offered too much customization. Really.

I also disagree on that too much customization was why it failed. Steam Deck has the same “too much customization.” Difference is it has dual joysticks. Many people who picked up a Steam Controller just approached it like a dual joystick controller so were disappointed, and they didn’t want a controller that needed setup. I’ve been using Steam Input many years and aside from UI changes people disagreed with, Steam Input has become much more advanced and feature rich as opposed to “neutered” as you say. Introduction of things like chords, being able to set up multiple gyro activator inputs, touchpad gestures like in Sony first party games, and mouse delta to name a few over the years.

I was happy with the Steam Controller because I didn’t pick one up expecting it to offer an experience like my Xbox controller I was using on the PC at the time. I got one because I wanted the touchpad functions the Xbox didn’t have and picked it up intending to map mouse to gyro and the touchpad. But, most people don’t want that. They want a pick up and play controller, no setup, and just be like the dual joystick controllers they used and they didn’t need Valve for a dual joystick controller either with xbox offering plug and play support with no setup with no need for Steam. And if they wanted accuracy they’d just pick up a mouse.

Even gyro is niche among all controllers, which speaks to how much people just want a Xbox experience of plugging in a controller, getting controller icons, and just playing and don’t care for aiming without aim assist. They don’t want to set up anything, and that is what having dual joysticks lets people do.

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.