A gaming phone controller accessory that connects physically to phone (With same layout and functionality like the Steam Controller, Steam Deck, and Steam Frame Controllers) Would be cheaper than regular Steam Controller
With FEX making x86 Steam games capable of working on ARM devices it will be cool to game on mobile with mobile controller that has the dual touch control pad things the hardware above has to go with the phone and what better way than another option aside from the actual controller. Plus it gives phone more of a Gameboy Advance type of feel to play like that
Maybe to incentivize more people to have that you can use gaming phone accessory wirelessly or wired connected to any Steam hardware for using your phone with the gaming phone controller accessory as controllers too
Like the idea? Not like the idea? Anyone wanna suggest changes/additions/etc to the idea to be better be my guest.
Also if anyone wants to suggest other stuff Valve can do then please do!! All of us together can ask for the ecosystem to grow in ways that are good and fun for us all!!
Trying to help make gaming better for us all!
Edit: Looking at comments the post does sound like a eh idea but it is salvageable initiative. This post was mainly meant to be focused on extending that dual trackpad for mouse/etc functionality with another addition to the family for mobile to give mobile users ability to have those trackpads at lower price point.
But what would be cooler to see is more companies make their own versions of optional variant controllers with dual trackpads into their own controllers and mobile controllers cases to have more ability to use it as mouse/etc in-game/in other software/operating system as we do in Steam Deck already but having that functionality on phones/other non-mobile hardware across a larger breadth of controllers and devices
Controllers that hold your phone already exist.
So do normal controllers. So did gaming handhelds. So do PCs. So do VR headsets. I'm not sure what your point is.
The difference is each of those options from Valve offer things that traditional options do not. HDMI-CEC, trackpads, SteamOS, foveated streaming, etc.
Why could a phone controller not have innovations such as those? You mentioned track pads yourself.
Because phones already have touchpads on the screen. And games you would play on a phone would be optimized accordingly.
I suppose it's not impossible, I'm just not sure there is any useful innovation to be had in that area.
The SteamDeck also has a touchscreen. If you're using your phone to stream games from your PC, I'd imagine that track pads would be much better, similar to with the SteamDeck.
I personally have no use for playing games on my phone with a controller, that's why I bought a SteamDeck, but there could definitely be room for innovation, both in hardware and software, especially if you take streaming into account. A good steam-input supported controller could turn your phone into a killer game-streaming machine.
The Steam Deck has touchpads because many games are optimized for keyboard and mouse, not touchscreens. Phone games are not.
Not saying you're wrong, just that there's not a lot of value to be added there, in my opinion.
I suppose that's a fair point.
The other consideration is that if you need those things, you can just connect a Steam Controller, and get one of those cheap phone mounts to attach to it. No need for a new product.
I'd assume they want it for Steam remote play
Yes that was addressed in the comment you just replied to.
Was it? I might be missing something but I dont know which part addressed that. You mentioned getting a steam controller and a mount if they need those features, but not any mention of remote play being why they'd need them.
I'd also agree that there isn't a lot of value to the product, I know I wouldn't buy one. I mainly just wanted to point out that there is definitely room for innovation and such in the space, and a phone controller that's as nice as the SteamDeck controls doesn't exist.
OP didn't ask for additional innovations, OP asked for "the same functionality as the Steam Controller" which the slot-in things + the phone's touch screen already provide.
I mean, no phone controller has the same layout as the steam controller. If Valve could implement the software to support steaminput when streaming games to a phone from your PC or a cloud PC, that'd be kinda cool.
I'm also not saying I'd buy it or that Valve should make it, but a controller with feature parity with the Steam Controller would be an innovation.
100% exactly the same layout is impossible, when there has to be room for the phone cradle in the middle. If you want to clip the phone above the Steam Controller, just get one of those plastic holders where you can attach the regular Steam Controller at the bottom side.
Steam Link already exists and Steam Input runs on the PC.
The phone's touch screen already provides the touch pad functionality when using one of the controllers pictured above.
Where touchpads?
On the screen