Steam Controller and Steam Link

I already have PCs hooked up to my TVs that are powerful enough to handle steam streaming. I might pick up the controller at some point though. Looks like a better alternative to plugging in a 360 or XB1 controller in that it's actually designed from the ground up to work well with the PC instead of an afterthought. Some console type games like Shadow of Mordor would probably be much easier to play with this than KB/M.

 

Steam Link vs Shield Console. I wonder which one people will like more. Both stream games from a PC. Steam Link only runs games from your Steam library but on any PC hardware. Shield can stream any game even from services like Origin but is limited to nVidia hardware. Steam Link is $50 plus $50 for the controller. Shield is packaged with a less sophisticated controller and cost $150 if you already have a Nvidia card but it also comes with Android TV which streams 4k, can run last gen games like Borderlands on the hardware, run android game, and utilize a game streaming service.

 

You do realize they're slowly trying to turn you into console gamers, right?

 

So a controller for PC and a cheap way to stream PC games to a TV = Valve/Steam wants to kill off PC gaming

Yeah that makes sense. Especially at a time when home consoles are dying and PC gaming is dominating. I have my doubts that either of these things or the Steam machines will sell that well anyway. But PC gaming is all about options. And I don't see how giving people more options is a bad thing.

 

I think it's a move towards whole house gaming. Kind of like how DVRs now let you pause TV in one room then resume in another. I'm intrigued but I'm not sure I'd ever use it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCgnWqoP4MM

 

I got both the Link box and controllers for Christmas. My initial thoughts are the instruction for this thing kind of suck but the interwebs has all the answers. The controller is most impressive. Compared to the PS3 and Xbox controllers it's huge. Probably 30% larger than the PS3 controller. I have big hands and it almost feels too big for me. I wondered why they made it so big and I think it's because of the thumb touch pads. If they were any closer together it could get uncomfortable. The pads themselves are rather impressive. I was really surprised at how accurately I could move the mouse cursor around. They also have a tactical feedback that is kind of amazing. Scrolling up on the pad actually feels like scrolling up on a mouse wheel with it's subtle clicks. So while you could use an Xbox controller I think the Steam controller is going to be a lot better for the mouse actions. Now as far as the game streaming it's a mix bag. The interface works rather well. It works pretty much like the regular Steam program but it's designed for the TV which is to says it's a bit more menu-ized. Rather than drop downs the screen just shifts to a new menu with each option. Press button X and it goes back to the previous menu. I tried about 6 games and this is what I found. When you start any game Steam will tell you if it's supported. One game didn't support it and wouldn't run. One game supported it, and the other four didn't officially support it but worked just fine. When you start a game that isn't supported you'll have an option to program the controller yourself or use premade community settings for the controller. I always used the community made ones and they were perfect. But how does it run you ask? It's okay. For my wireless network I'm using a Netgear 1750ac router which happens to be on their recommended list. The Steam Link has one major suggestion on it's quick start guide that's in big bold letters. WIRED CONNECTION HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I of course didn't do that. Streaming has 3 options. Beauty, speed, and mixed. I tried Beauty settings and it's probably 90% of the quality you'd see on your monitor but of course it's too intense for my wireless and stutters a lot. For the most part I used the mixed settings which I'd say is 70% of my PC resolution and it worked pretty well with very few brief stutters. My PC is on the 5GHz ac network I put the Link on the 2.4GHz n network. My understanding is bandwidth isn't as important as delay so a power-line Ethernet solution might help despite having less bandwidth.

My opinion on it hasn't changed. It's a fun gadget that might be useful to some and useless to others. I'll keep playing with it to see if I can improve the performance. In someways I'm really impressed. I never thought I'd see the day where we have high-end video games like The Witcher 3 playing on a TV in our living room! What a time to be alive.

 

I'm not really digging the Steam controller. The right pad feels like trying to use the touchpad on a laptop. It's horrible for aiming. It's actually worse than a thumbstick. It doesn't have a built in rechargeable battery, something that has been standard since the PS3. Games don't seem to have standardized control schemes. At least with the 360 or XB1 controllers, you can plug them into your PC and a lot of games automatically detect them and have exactly the same controls that they do in the Xbox versions. You either have to map out controls (extremely tedious), or use control schemes other people have come up with. It feels messy. It's not plug and play the way a controller should be. It's trying to be a crossover between KB+M and dual analog controllers, but it's not really as good as either one of them. I'm actually a bit shocked that Valve/Steam released something that seems to be such a complete dud.

 

I like the controller. I suck with thumb sticks and the pad works pretty good for me. I also think the hybrid pads were necessary to be compatible with the games that only support keyboard and mouse. Mapping the controller can be a mixed blessing. It takes time but I've found the community setting options to be pretty good. I also prefer the AA batteries over internal rechargeable. I don't play with my PS3 much but when I do the controller is always dead and I have to use a USB cord.

 

I think this is largely a forgotten product in the PC space now that VR hysteria has taken hold.

 

Has anyone used a Steam Link recently with the latest updates? I almost picked one up during the $20 sale to play around with, but ended up just buying more games. It would be neat to couch it while I play PC games without running a 50 foot cable. I wouldn't pay $50 for it, but is it worth the $20 next time it's on sale?

 

Don't know about the Steam Link, but I thought the Steam controller was hot garbage. Truly the worst of both worlds and felt like trying to game on a laptop touchpad. One of Valve/Steam's few misfires. If you want to play games in the living room would suggest either hooking up a PC or getting a console.

 

I like the controller and it seems like a good compromise of functionality. Of course I don't like thumb sticks so the Steam is perfect for me. I can't comment on the update as I haven't used it in a while but Steam recommends that either the PC or the box is wired. The issue isn't with the box or PC. It's the wireless network that can't handle that much data without adding a little latency. I suspect the issue could be resolved with better compression but I'm not sure if any update could help. It's possible if each end connected to it's own router on different frequencies it might work without latency. I'm sure someone has already tried it. I used a powerline Ethernet adapter to run Ethernet over the power in the house. It worked great for several months but then the connector stopped working and I never bothered troubleshooting problem.

 

Steam controller were on sale so I bought one. Its been about a month and my feeling range from mixed to absolute dislike. In games that have full controller support, the touch pads are no replacement for two thumbsticks. Using the right pad as the second thumbstick is a nightmare. The shoulder buttons and triggers are shit.

The worst part about the controller is that the things I like about it are things I will never use. The touch pad actually works pretty well at allowing a controller be used for a mouse game, but why would you? The buttons on the back are a very neat idea, but I don't think I will every use them.

Its a shame, I heard all the mixed reviews and I was hoping to at least be able to play with the customization for fun, but I really don't like it. My Dualshock 4 is far more comfortable and has more responsive buttons. Plus its more familiar.