At the sixth generation curtain, the game industry was depressed – it seemed to many that the era of the consoles was ending, PS4 and Xbox One would not shoot, and the living rooms would begin to empty. It is at that difficult time Valve She made a grand idea to connect PC and the console with a grandiose idea, giving people the opportunity to sit on the couch, playing their favorite PC games bought in Steam.
The task of stopping the eternal confrontation of the “consolers” and “bakers” was truly grandiose and demanded a completely new gamepad – such as allowing him to shoot without a decrease in accuracy and supported even those games where the gamepad is not in principle. That is, could pretend
And finally, the ambitious device under the name Steam Controller reached the Russian market – we are responsible for its distribution " Buka ".
Hard start
► the lower cover of the device is very functional: not only hides the compartment with batteries, but also differs in a pair of convenient additional buttons.
So, the cherished box arrived at the editor. Inside is the controller itself, a pair of batteries, the USB-Micro USB cord, the signal reception device and Hub for it-in case the signal is bad from the system unit. Nothing superfluous and difficult, it is immediately clear that where to stick, you can start the game literally in a minute.
The batteries were located wisely – there is a cover on the latch at the same time playing the role of a pair of additional control keys. The batteries are attached under it, but not in the center of the controller, but in the thickened "sides". Когда батарейка встает на место, сверху выдвигается фиксатор — болтаться элемент питания не сможет. To extract the battery, you need to squeeze the latch up – then it falls out of its deepening directly into the hand.
In the editorial office the device caused approximately the same reaction in all."Wow! The same controller from Steam? Oh, something cheap plastic. And creaks. But this will get dirty. Well, yes, designers are not from Apple ". I have to admit that against the background of some Dualshock 4, the appearance of the controller is not impressive.
Everything looks cheap and unpretentious, as if in front of us is not a ready serial product for $ 50, but a concept. Buttons go free enough in niches, causing involuntary associations with controllers from Sega , the stick is harsh and does not give tactile delight, such as, for example, sticks from Sony.
► Front View: Left Tracking, Call and Inventory Call button, Steam button, Menu Call button, Right Track, Sting, Lamp buttons.
On the other hand, during the game, these nit -picking do not play a role: the stick is obvious, the buttons are pressed without effort. True, at first, due to the unusual location, I often lost the X key, but over time my hands remembered where it is located.
It seems that the contraption of this size simply must be cumbersome and uncomfortable – but no, Valve engineers made a gamepad in their hands perfectly. After five -hour game sessions, the hands did not flow, there was not even any fatigue.
The only serious claim to ergonomics is the bumper. They are unforgivably tough: in the game sometimes you don’t even climb into the inventory again, just not to interact with them. And in games where bumper is used very actively (in our case – GTA 5 ), and you have to change the grip at all: put the index fingers on the bumper, and the middle on the trigger. Not critical, but at first very unusual.
Specific features
► Together with the controller, you can buy Steam Link. In fact – a wireless connection device to the screen in the living room.
The essence of Steam Controller, of course, is not in bumpers, but in tracks. I must say right away, I am a convinced hater of this type of input devices. Working on laptops, I did not just connect the mouse, I sealed the touchpads with cardboard, if they could not be turned off hardware.
So, the trackpads of Steam Controller are beautiful! Whether the point is in a slightly concave form, or in the feedback, but they do not cause fatigue or discomfort and, moreover, understand well what exactly you want from them. And the more you communicate with them, the more convenient and more precisely they become.
While the device is turned off, the trackpads are not active – they are difficult to press, they do not give a response. But after turning on, they become almost alive: they gently bend under the fingers, creak pleasantly, vibrate slightly. Even without marking, you always clearly understand in which part of the right trackpad is now your thumb is located.
► This is how the device looks in the box. Directly under it-batteries and USB transmitter. But the cord, instructions and Hub need to be sought under a shock cardboard.
Separately, I will note that very pair of lower keys formed by the lid. This is a colossal help, especially for action. Firstly, because these are two more buttons to which you can assign important commands. Secondly, to press these lower keys with unoccupied middle and ring finger (with alternative grip-a little finger and ring). Why is it necessary? I will explain.
If you have a default sprint on the Y button (or any other from the right lower group), then you have to squeeze it with the same thumb, responsible for the right tracking (mouse). Therefore, you can’t run quickly and twist your head. But if you assign run and jump on the lower keys, we calmly douch and jump without losing control of the cursor.
We can also shoot at the same time. We get the same degree of freedom as on the keyboard.
Tune in and play
► My setting under Diablo III. The names of the default actions are confused, but from the gamepad it was frankly lazy to rename them.
Since the controller must allow the enemy in the shooters without a miss, the main tests were held in the new Deus Ex. Not in stealth, of course, but through an aggressive style – with an introduction to every fight and a complete stripping of hostile characters at the level.
The controller showed himself perfectly – if at first I had to shoot mainly from shelters and bursts into the body, then by the end of the passage I already quite confidently handed out the headers from the pistol with single shots. The moving goals managed to lead quite decently, but with sights, especially sniper, everything turned out to be not so convenient: the goal was constantly slipping away, the trackpad did not keep up with it.
The main problem is noticeable here: with all its technical perfection, the small area of the trackpad still cannot compete on equal terms with the mouse and spacious rug. Or quick, but not too accurate movements, or the ability to aim in the eye-but not on the run, but from around the corner.
If compared with ordinary gamepads, then Steam Controller has accuracy clearly higher. If we talk about single games, then after going to the living room in a couple of weeks you will not feel a lack of accuracy or freedom of movement. The network will have to get used to longer and you will certainly need to delve into the jungle of the settings, "pulling" the controller for yourself.
► The left trackpad can be turned into a menu as much as sixteen buttons SpinLand Casino. I never needed more than nine.
With old games from the Steam catalog, everything is entertaining. For each of them there are already pre -installed settings that will surely seem uncomfortable for you and will require improvements. And here the controller reveals his true capabilities – it really can be configured in it! For example, the left trackpad can be “arranged” as nine separate virtual buttons – and hang numbers on them to change the weapon in Duke Nukem 3D. Do not need a stick? Let's turn it into a circular menu! There is no mouse in the game? Let's just turn off the right trackpad! In general, freedom is such that it is time to swear to the head.
I went in experiments even further – beyond the limits of the cozy environment of Steam. And on the third attempt, he collected himself quite convenient management for Diablo III.
True, there are subtleties: the controller itself switches the settings only for games from Steam, so you have to load the right layout yourself, digging for a long time in the not the most logical menu. And you need to switch the layouts – that which is good and convenient for moving around the desktop is completely not suitable for Diablo or Heroes 3.
► It is a pleasure to play quests at all – know move yourself a cursor and click.
► Screenshot is made by a combination of Steam buttons + right trigger. It is always convenient, except when you want to screenshot during shooting.
As an option, you can try to add third -party games to the library; In theory, then Steam should remember the settings for them. However, it did not work for me – the settings did not switch to the basic when leaving the game, I had to rearrange them ourselves. By the way, for many popular games, not from Steam there are already ready -made presets from the community – but not the fact that they will like you. For example, my layout option for Diablo III did not suit me at all.
Summing up
Only one function turned out to be unexplored – gyroscope. In theory, this is a rather cool solution for racing, but I am not a fan of the genre, and there was nothing to test on.
I had enough complete batteries for intensive use for three days – in my opinion, this is not enough, especially compared to Dualshock survivability. I suspect, the charge actively consumes all sorts of vibrations of the controller. Then I connected the cord and safely played it, and people who do not loving wires probably would put batteries.
► one of the early prototypes of the controller looked like this.
► The very clamps for batteries under the back cover.
By the way, an interesting moment-when connecting via the cord, turn off the controller, holding the Steam button for five seconds, it will not work-only after taking out the cord from the USB port.
General impressions, despite the cheap plastic and hard bumper, rather positive. Steam Controller turned out to be surprisingly comfortable and noticeably more accurate than controllers from Sony and Microsoft. Play modern games from the Steam library with support for gamepads is a pleasure, everything else is also possible, but already adjusting the settings for yourself. And yes, if you consider Steam Controller not as a simple gamepad, but as an innovative gadget, then it is clearly worth his money. All his problems are typical for first -generation devices that have not yet passed a file and a grinding machine.
But will we wait for the second iteration?
* * *
The device is not enough well -thought -out software shell – buyers of gamepads usually like to turn on and play, and not spend half an hour on calibration settings. If you have not had a convinced fan of PC with gamepads, then Steam Controller is a very good option. You will not be annoyed by design flaws and scare away the settings, and the advantages of the game from the couch are very quickly covered by discomfort from getting used to the new.
And this is also a great device for those who have friendly cats at home. A typical story – just sat down to play, how the cat comes and fits into his hands to take a nap. After half an hour of your fingers, you no longer feel … So, the problem with the controller solved the problem – I now calmly play with my hands on the cat. And everyone is happy.
