When I first heard that the Steam Controller was $99, I immediately recoiled. For what is ostensibly a core controller, it’d be a big price hike above its fellow $75 PS5’s DualSense 5 or $70 Xbox Series X controller. But the more I sit down and think about all the tech that Valve managed to shove into this thing, the more it seems like a pretty decent deal. <\/p>\n
That mostly comes down to where it’s competing. The world of PC controllers is full of ultra-premium “pro” controllers, that pack in some of the same features as the Steam Controller but at a much higher price. I mean, just look at the Asus ROG Raikiri II: It has the same TMR sticks, but with added RGB lighting, and it costs almost twice as much<\/em> as Valve’s controller. <\/p>\n But where Valve’s controller lacks fancy rainbow lighting, it has the same haptic trackpads as the Steam Deck. These are divisive, of course, and they make the controller quite a bit larger than it would be otherwise, but they’re genuinely useful for anyone playing PC games that don’t usually play nice with a traditional controller. <\/p>\n Really, that’s what also sets the Steam Controller apart from some of the more affordable controllers with TMR sticks. Something like the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 or the GameSir G7 Pro also have the same kind of joysticks that’ll probably last you for years, but they’re much cheaper, coming in at $69 and $79, respectively. But, again, those controllers don’t have Valve’s fancy little touchpads. <\/p>\n I’m not saying that the Steam Controller is the best deal out there for a controller \u2013 far from it. But for all the features, Valve probably could have got away with charging quite a bit more. And I just hope the company carries that philosophy forward for the Steam Machine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nSteam Controller \u2013 Hands-On Photos<\/h3>\n