If I remember correctly, Valve stated that for being “Steam certified” the controller needs to have capacitive joysticks to regulate the gyro, similar to the “Horipad” that they partnered to release.
I was hoping that 8bitdo would launch a controller that actually has this because it makes gyro much more viable, to the point that I really don’t like using gyro without that.
But this announcement is just to indicate explicit compatibility for steam input (which has been available in the beta for a while, btw). I don’t think this is a huge change since technically they were compatible before too… even if it was through the xinput / dinput interface without being recognized as 8bitdo.
As if. Steam(OS) has now compatibility for your controllers. Controllers are hardware, Steam is not. That’s putting the cart before the horse, just because the cart is more popular.
full compatibility details will be revealed soon
This is what I’m interested in finding out. Because Steam can pick up any generic-shit-for-brains controller and use it normally. What does “Steam compatibility” give us?
Remapping controls, like using the sticks to control the mouse etc.
That’s also possible by piping your generic controller through Steam Input.
Now, if 8bit is actually supporting native Steam Input, that’s a much bigger deal because we could potentially get access to raw gyro data, stuff that is normally converted to joystick input by the time Steam gets it.
This is what is new: native Steam Input
That’s a big deal then. So far I’m not aware of any controllers that have all of the following:
- Analogue triggers
- Gyro input
- Back buttons
- Xbox layout (preferred)
The dual shock is close, but no back buttons and not my prefered layout. All the Nintendo clones have digital triggers, and almost none have gyro input that steam can use. This will make 8bit the best possible Steam Deck companion until a proper Steam Controller 2 comes out.
Edit: This would also add the ability to map extra buttons to new functions instead of a duplicate of the buttons that already exist. I’m waiting to hear the details but I’ll likely buy one if all this is true because I haven’t seen anything else offering this level of functionality.
Flydigi Vader 4 pro has that + 2 additional face buttons + adjustable tension on the sticks + hall effect joysticks + a toggle next to each trigger to reduce the travel distance + clicky mechanical switches.
And this same Steam beta version that added 8bitdo support also included support for this controller as well so that you can remap the extra buttons (but it’s only detected as a vader if you are using the included dongle and the controller is set to dinput mode).
The only thing I’m missing is capacitive joysticks that can be used for turning on/off the gyro… that’s a pity because I find the gyro kind of annoying to use without that.
Thanks for the recommendation. The 8bitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless has most of that, but competition is always a good thing.
I agree about the capacitive sticks though, I’ve never used gyro without that so I imagine it’d really only be useful for ADS and other situations where you’re already holding a button. Capacitive sticks were a genius move from Valve.
@cRazi_man @linux_gaming @network_switch
Maybe just a kind of guarantee that it works out of the box without having to install anything in addition. Don’t know 😄
They already did. But I’m hoping this means the elite 2c can now wake the steamdeck.
Article sadly doesn’t mention the 2c and I just couldn’t stomach paying $20 more for a stand.
My 8BitDo Pro 2 has been my go-to controller for months… But it already worked with Steam.
I am hoping this means I can map the few extra buttons that aren’t on an Xbox controller.
I think the controllers work fine, but I’m hoping they will make their app available on Linux
