Steam controller has precision gyroscope

[Humbug]

Posting this because most of the reviews have not touched on this functionality. Watch the whole of the first video before making a cynical comment.

 

 

he's using the gyro to steer and the haptic touchpad to look around occasionally

 

Very responsive and low latency. I think Valve has gone a long way towards it's goals. Which is not to replace keyboard and mouse (obviously), but to make sure that any genre and any PC game is now playable from the couch and in situations where you have no desk in front of you. And it still has a thumb stick for more traditional operation...

 

The presets are important though, it will not work nearly as well as shown above if you get the presets wrong.You can customize if yourself as shown in the first video or use one of the existing presets which are created by the community for various genres/games which is becoming easier as the controller's popularity grows.

 

Personally I do have a Xbox One controller for my PC. I have decided to pick up a Steam Controller as well. Think i'm prepared for the learning curve. I expect it will take a few days at least to master, but what matters for a controller is not first impressions but rather how well it works once you have truly gotten used to it.

[Mohenjo]

the controller is only good for games like civ imo, every other type of game simply does better with an xbox controller 

[dom1310df]

There's a gyroscope in my DS3 and DS4. Don't ever use them, but they're there.

[pwn_intended]

That is pretty cool. Yea, all the reviews ive watched so far sucked and only showed off fps games without good control schemes.

[CyanideInsanity]

I haven't tried anything with the gyro, but from those, and a few others I've seen, it does seem to work pretty well. Not sure how easy it loses calibration, but from an annotation in one of the other videos I saw you just have to leave it on a flat surface for a few seconds to recalibrate the gryo.

 

 

the controller is only good for games like civ imo, every other type of game simply does better with an xbox controller 

 

Have you been able to try one yet? While it does indeed seem that way, the general consensus among those who've used it over the last week seem to agree its definitely a good competitor to traditional controllers. You just need to familiarize yourself with the device, and adjust settings accordingly to yourself.

 

I haven't spent much time with mine yet as I've been focused on sleep, work, youtube, and pokemon, but to me, its definitely more applicable than strategy games once you get used to it and configure the settings right for you.

 

I would have to say its not for someone who only wants a simple PnP experience, or an experience they're intimately familiar with. Not only do many reviews seem to be ignoring the outstanding amount of settings(its like a fully decked out game graphics menu), they also seem to be keeping the right pad set as stick emulation instead of as mouse control. I didn't try much yet, but everyone seems to agree the stick emulation for camera control is terrible. I'd say for movement its probably fine, but I've only tried that in sonic adventure so far.

[Misanthrope]

I'm sorry but if the solution Valve is offering is motion controls I must make a cynical comment before watching or using this functionality: Fuck motion controls.

[Notional]

Pretty sweet. One of the biggest problems with a keyboard is that it does not have analogue controls, making things like acceleration and steering utter horrible. Gyroscope should be very nice in games like Star Citizen.

[WereCat]

I can't watch video because I am in work on phone but would it be possible to use gyroscope to fly helicopter in Arma 3?

If yes then I am sold because XBOX controller is quite bad at this and it has way too few buttons as I always feel I could use few extra. Especially for head movement.

[ACatWithThumbs]

I'm sorry but if the solution Valve is offering is motion controls I must make a cynical comment before watching or using this functionality: Fuck motion controls.

You should've watched the video first.

It works in combination with the track pads which allows you to make set ups that give you better aiming as an example.

Or you can set it up like a wheel in a racing game.

It's actually really awesome.

[CyanideInsanity]

I can't watch video because I am in work on phone but would it be possible to use gyroscope to fly helicopter in Arma 3?

If yes then I am sold because XBOX controller is quite bad at this and it has way too few buttons as I always feel I could use few extra. Especially for head movement.

Absolutely. Though it could be a bit wonky depending on how arma 3 handles inputs. If it can use both controller and keyboard inputs simultaneously it should work flawlessly. If not it may be a bit awkward having the game constantly switch between xinput and key strokes or mouse movement, as it may cause a stutter in controls every time it switches between each device.

[Bouzoo]

Tbh the only thing about Steam consoles that interests me is the controller, and it really doesn't look bad. Quite interested how it feels.

[Misanthrope]

You should've watched the video first.

It works in combination with the track pads which allows you to make set ups that give you better aiming as an example.

Or you can set it up like a wheel in a racing game.

It's actually really awesome.

 

I did (In fairness though, after posting). To me it still looks as stupid as when Sony did in on their E3 demo in what, 2006?

 

Edit: found it

[ChineseChef]

I'm sorry but if the solution Valve is offering is motion controls I must make a cynical comment before watching or using this functionality: Fuck motion controls.

 

I am with you on this, I hate motion controls.  I hate voice activation, all of that stuff.  They will be great in the future, but they are currently at the stage of 80s 3D in my opinion.  My roommate thinks they are awesome, but when I hear him yell the same thing at his Xbox 10 times and wave his hands around like an idiot for a minute before he just uses his controller to do what he wants (which only takes like 3 second with the controller).  That really doesn't get me excited for voice and motion controls.  I am aware this isn't about voice controls but I feel they are currently in the same bag as motion controls.  They just aren't even remotely close to being good enough in my opinion, and frankly I think most of them are really stupid and make things harder for the sake of making you use the new fancy motion controls. 

[CyanideInsanity]

Tbh the only thing about Steam consoles that interests me is the controller, and it really doesn't look bad. Quite interested how it feels.

 

Physically, it feels perfectly fine to me. On the steam forums some people have said its uncomfortable to them. I saw someone suggest holding it lower then you might hold other controllers. As for usage, it still feels fine to me. I find everything seems to be in the right place. The only issue I have is that I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to the rear grip buttons even being a thing. My brain wants to focus either on them or the shoulder buttons and triggers instead of using all in conjunction with each other. I actually find it to be a bit funny though.

 

Actually I do have one complaint with it. The only issue I have with the physical aspect is the triggers. I find the pull to not be long enough for me to actually manage slight pulls, like for slower acceleration in cars. Though as per pretty much everything else with it I'd say, its a personal thing.

[ACatWithThumbs]

I did (In fairness though, after posting). To me it still looks as stupid as when Sony did in on their E3 demo in what, 2006?

Not really because it's not used as a gimmick.

The way he used it in MGS V clearly made aiming much better as it allowed him to use a low sensitivity on the track pads while still being able to have a fast view switching which looked almost mouse like on screen.

On the Ps3 it was mostly used as gimmick like shaking the controller in certain moments.

Only very few games like Ratchet and Clank made good use of it where you were able to control the weapons at the same time as the movement which isn't even be possible on a mouse+keyboard.

 

[Prysin]

PS4 has that function, well sort of...

 

tried the motion controllers in BF4 to lean from side to side/free look in vehicles..

got sick, turned it off. Never touching motion control while using a controller ever again.

 

The original WII is the limit of how far im willing to invest on motion control.

[Doobeedoo]

Why was there even a need for new different controller. What's wrong with keyboard and mouse on something like couchmaster or use an existing controller?
Maybe for SteamBox advert.

[Misanthrope]

Not really because it's not used as a gimmick.

The way he used it in MGS V clearly made aiming much better as it allowed him to use a low sensitivity on the track pads while still being able to have a fast view switching which looked almost mouse like on screen.

On the Ps3 it was mostly used as gimmick like shaking the controller in certain moments.

Only very few games like Ratchet and Clank made good use of it where you were able to control the weapons at the same time as the movement which isn't even be possible on a mouse+keyboard.

 

Gimmicky or not the technology is stupid. Don't think the implementation is that much better.

[CyanideInsanity]

Why was there even a need for new different controller. What's wrong with keyboard and mouse on something like couchmaster or use an existing controller?

Maybe for SteamBox advert.

 

I could easily see the couchmaster being cumbersome, and controllers can't offer nearly as much precision as a mouse. As valve has said for like 2 years now I think, its a good middle option between extremes, and having one in my hands I believe them.

[WereCat]

Absolutely. Though it could be a bit wonky depending on how arma 3 handles inputs. If it can use both controller and keyboard inputs simultaneously it should work flawlessly. If not it may be a bit awkward having the game constantly switch between xinput and key strokes or mouse movement, as it may cause a stutter in controls every time it switches between each device.

Yes. It can use both inputs at the same time. For each action I can bind as many inputs from as many devices I want and they will work as long as they are connected before I launch the game. If I connect controller after I launch game the Arma 3 won't recognize it.

[CyanideInsanity]

Yes. It can use both inputs at the same time. For each action I can bind as many inputs from as many devices I want and they will work as long as they are connected before I launch the game. If I connect controller after I launch game the Arma 3 won't recognize it.

Then it should work fine. Then only problem I can imagine right now, would be setting the gyro for exactly the way you'd want, so you may need to hold the controller a certain way. You be best looking for a video, or maybe asking in the comment youtube video or on the steam forums for someone to try it to make sure. I've only seen racing games so far, so thats only with left and right control.

[WereCat]

Then it should work fine. Then only problem I can imagine right now, would be setting the gyro for exactly the way you'd want, so you may need to hold the controller a certain way. You be best looking for a video, or maybe asking in the comment youtube video or on the steam forums for someone to try it to make sure. I've only seen racing games so far, so thats only with left and right control.

I was thinking about buying it anyway for review sake.

I might just buy it sooner than I planned before.

[ConnorDahne]

Mine came in a few days ago, been planning on doing a review for LTT forum but have been swamped.
I don't use a controller usually, and the only function I really enjoyed was using touch pad on desktop to watch youtube in bed lol

[JAKEBAB]

$250 AUD get a G27 and be done with it, this is just stupid.

[Eroda]

$250 AUD get a G27 and be done with it, this is just stupid.

 problem is a G27 cant really do other stuff like fighting games etc so you would need another controller ontop. its not bad when you think about the money involved