this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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Steam Hardware

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A place to discuss and support all Steam Hardware, including Steam Deck, Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and SteamOS in general.

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Leaker here is Brad Lynch, who generally seems reliable as a leaker for Valve software and products. He was also the source for the leaked renders of the steam controller.

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[–] commander@lemmy.world 68 points 1 day ago (6 children)

That controller is the lynchpin for making a mini PC my future home theater center. I care for it more than the steam machine

[–] makyo@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

Me too, I have my home theater set already and this would be the icing on the

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Look up the Logitech k400. All my home theaters have computers and they all have that keyboard hahaha

[–] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Same! It's perfection.

I was reading that comment and thinking, how will you type!?
I hope it's not the same horrendous on screen keyboard as with the previous controller.

Same. Its a perfect device for running an HTPC / living room gaming device. Im planning navigate through streaming options, kodi, steam remote play, moonlight, and a bunch of emulators all with the same controller.

[–] ZeroPoke@fedia.io 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I hear yeah, I want that Controller, its everything I asked for after using the Deck plus more. My Steam Account is preloaded with Money cause I remember when the Steam Deck went pre order the payment processing couldnt keep up. Frame is interesting. But probably way to expensive for the little interest I have.

[–] nullify3112@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Oh thank you for the heads up! I might add money myself for this.

[–] IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I know you didn't ask but i recommend looking into a rii mini keyboard with trackpad as well.

[–] LucidNightmare@anarchist.nexus 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Got the Rii 4 recently to use with my Steam Deck since I got tired of my Roku I bought 6 years ago sending telemetry/statistics outbound (and getting blocked by my PiHole/router combo) that I unplugged it and threw it into a drawer. Excellent little piece of kit!

[–] Kirk@startrek.website -4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Same. I desperately hope they release a version with the regular thumbstick layout instead of the PlayStation layout that's on the Deck.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

"Regular" thumbstick layout? PlayStation's was first.

EDIT: I see you edited your comment to remove "regular". Thank you! I've always been able to use either kind just fine, but I do prefer symmetrical, probably because I play a lot of 2D games and actually use the d-pad.

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The PS1 controller was my first real PC controller btw, with an adapter! Back then it was such a blast to play emulation with such a great controller. As other PC controllers sucked for the most part.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

It was kind of a pain to find a good controller for PC back in the day. It was nice when standard console controllers just worked with it.

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This controller was peak design. I was using a DS3 as my go to pc controller for years before the sticks died.

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I keep rebuilding the same DS4 controller as it's ideal as a PC controller, both wired and Bluetooth protocol. But it keeps breaking or wearing down on me and parts keep going up in price and the dang thing is getting beat up. I looked into the 8-bitdo controllers but I didn't care for the only one they had with the DS layout, their retro one.

I'll heavily consider the Steam Controller 2 if the price and quality is right.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Roommate has one and I didn't like the feel as much as the DS4 and the DS4 is cheaper than the DS5. But I had been considering the DS4 over the 8-bitdo, and this is so minor, but I liked that the DS controllers had the speaker compatibility with Death Stranding 1 and 2 to add some little sound effects to the game. Tho those are the only two games I've seen it work with on the PC so it's so so minor.

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I love every 8bitdo I own. The pro2 is great, aside from the Nintendo face button labels, it’s become my daily driver and dev controller.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

Did your 8bitdo only have nintendo buttons as an option? I was able to pick from three designs for my 8bitdo pro 2

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'm the opposite, Xbox button labels drive me crazy. I learned the layout on the SNES, so it's hard for me to adjust. I've gotten better since playing more PC games on my Steam Deck since the XBox layout is the default, though I always choose PS button prompts if the game has the option.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

I play so many retro games that i just found it easier to memorize all the different controllers.

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Universal glyphs are better imo. In my head I call them north, south, east, west instead of a, b, x, y (I’m pretty sure that’s how the facebuttons are labeled in the Linux kernel, regardless of Xbox,Nintendo,ps)

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

Yes, universal is also good. I like the PS layout because it uses shapes rather than the same letters in different places, though you of course have to memorize which letters are which buttons.

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)
  1. nobody else does it that way
  2. if we're going with who's thumbstick layout was first then it's n64 and I think we agree nobody wants that
[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)
  1. Wii, Wii U, and Steam Deck (soon Steam Controller) did it that way

  2. N64 wasn't dual analog, so not relevant since it wasn't symmetrical or asymmetrical.

[–] Kirk@startrek.website -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

n64 is relevant in any discussion about analog sticks on console controllera

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The layout was very very non standard and had a single stick. I’m smoking a lot of weed but I can tell you the n64 controller doesn’t count here.

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

I said it was first I didn't say it was standard. But being the first it definitionally can't be "nonstandard" since it was the only one at the time!

[–] OrgunDonor@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

How many controllers since the N64 have used that layout? The Sega Saturn Fat Controller is a more standard layout than the N64 controller.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'll just include consoles that came with symmetrical or asymmetrical for simplicity's sake:

Symmetrical:

PS2: 160 million

PS3: 87 million

PS4: 117 million

PS5: 92 million

Wii U: 14 million

Symmetrical total: 470 million

Asymmetrical:

Xbox: 24 million

Xbox 360: 84 million

Xbox One: 58 million

Xbox Series X: 35 million

Gamecube: 21 million

Switch: 155 million

Switch 2: 17 million

Asymmetrical total: 394 million

More people have played on symmetrical controllers than asymmetrical.

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I prefer assymetrical xbox style for modern games where the analog stick is more important than dpad. For oldschool games I prefer the dpad on the outside (symmetrical) like Playstation does. Just my opinion.

[–] Stampela@startrek.website 3 points 22 hours ago

Similar opinion here! What I’ve noticed since the NES, is that my hands are largely symmetrical, and so the better layout depends more on the game than anything. For example, Microsoft had the advantage for a long time in racing games! Longer triggers giving better control, left stick in a spot making symmetry with the face buttons so everything goes naturally over steering, throttle, brake and whatever the face buttons do in the specific game, maybe turbo or…

Similarly, that layout favors games where camera control isn’t important (or possible) like action games, platformers and so on, focusing on movement and actions.

Now, the symmetrical sticks? They are perfect for things like fps, as the hands will be comfortably over the same spots: both thumbs on analogs, index and middle fingers over shoulder buttons and if there’s back buttons even a better alternative to face buttons!

And as mentioned in another comment, the Steam Deck has everything on the same level, making it perfect for anything. <3

I have played so much that nowadays I don’t even notice the difference in layout so much, be it the Dual Sense for games that support it or the GameSir Cyclone 2 for the rest (TMR sticks!) but what I DO notice is the not anymore start and select. Press “mystery button” to open the menu and I’m there, trying to figure out if it’s the one on the right or left side…

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

I can use either, but prefer symmetrical given a choice.

[–] Kirk@startrek.website -2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

hardly any of those are still in production by that logic a regular TV is a crt lol

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Kirk@startrek.website 0 points 1 day ago

My bad I didn't realize this was a sport that you were trying to win lol

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why would a single analog stick be relevant in a discussion of whether symmetrical or asymmetrical analog sticks are "regular"?

[–] Kirk@startrek.website -1 points 1 day ago

that's not what the discussion is about

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The PlayStation controller is the same as a SNES controller, but with two sticks and finger grips.

Xbox took thier controller design from the Dreamcast. Which came out long after the SNES, and before the xbox.

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

switch and xbox do it the other way

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

What other way? The A and B buttons?
The sticks? I just explained to you why they have the layouts they do.