this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2026
158 points (92.0% liked)

Games

48215 readers
770 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ShadowRam@fedia.io 145 points 4 days ago (7 children)

prices that have raised eyebrows among some gamers.

WTF?

Only those that know nothing about the features and tech internal.

price is a steal.

With prices of hardware in general world-wide (non-ram related) we're lucky this isn't $120US or $150US

Switch 2 Joycon's are the same price for fuck sakes...

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller is more expensive, and can't do the things this controller can do.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 55 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Also Xbox controllers have garbage ass build quality. Valve seems to make pretty solid hardware. The only one I see as comparable is the PS5 dualsense controller, but it's still missing some things like the extra buttons. It has a touchpad, but just one, and it's not optimally placed, imho.

[–] kata1yst@sh.itjust.works 18 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I have serious stick drift on Dualsense controllers after using them on and off for just a year. 3 controllers, all with the same issue.

[–] ConstableJelly@piefed.social 5 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I like the Dualsense a lot at its best, but I go through roughly a controller per year probably. One of them something with the rumble loosened. Not noticeable in some games, but when I was playing Returnal it sounded like a jackhammer. Another the sticks got...sticky in a way that was really distracting. Stick drift on another, and my current one the right arrow stopped working. I had to re-map it to the left stick click to play Infinite Wealth, and other games like Elden Ring just won't work with it.

[–] kata1yst@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago

Agreed though, when they work they're comfortable, responsive, intuitive. At their best they're the best controller I've used.

But for $80+ these days they should have hall effect sticks and mechanical switches. I've started buying https://www.gulikit.com/ controllers, which have both and are much cheaper, but not as comfy or responsive.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago

Ackshully, the PS5 touchpad has two sides that can be individually configured. But you're right that it's not optimally placed.

[–] FellowEnt@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago (3 children)

The Index conttollers were a bit of a joke, in terms of both build quality and ergonomics. I had like 3 RMAs.

[–] ericwdhs@discuss.online 8 points 4 days ago

Build quality is debatable, but I thought the ergonomics were great. What didn't you like about them?

[–] Phunter@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 days ago

Never had a problem with mine and I have smacked them into solid objects pretty hard a few times.

[–] verdigris@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 days ago

Anecdotal RMAs aside, I think the ergonomics are fantastic and they blew every other VR controller I've tried out of the water.

[–] djdarren@piefed.social 6 points 3 days ago

Last year my wife picked up a pair of regular Xbox pads for us to use when playing couch co-ops over Sunshine/Moonlight. When the pricing for the new Steam controller was announced, she went back and had a look at what she paid. They've gone up in price and are currently £80.

Each.

For an extra £5 you get haptics, touch pads, FAR better stick technology, and all in a package that's as repairable as it can be.

Yeah, £85 is a fucking bargain at this point.

[–] MagnificentSteiner@lemmy.zip 17 points 4 days ago (2 children)

we’re lucky this isn’t $120US

£85 GBP is pretty much $120 USD (it's $114).

[–] OfCourseNot@fedia.io 18 points 4 days ago

And that's very much what the yanks will pay for it. American prices are always before taxes.

[–] Arnl@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 days ago

Polish prise is 420 pln wchich is also 115$

[–] WeLoveCastingSpellz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Not everyone is in us. 99 euro no matter how reasonable prices a lot of Germans out

[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 12 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Yeah, but is it really that much more expensive than other controllers? PS5 Dual Sense is 79€. Xbox Series X/S is 65€ with the Elite 2 at 200€. Considering the additional features of the Steam controller and current development of hardware prices, the pricing seems reasonable.

Edit: I should add, those are recommended retail prices (UVP), and the actual prices from individual stores can be lower.

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 9 points 4 days ago

Prices can't be compared directly, because in Germany we have the taxes in the price included already. And the taxes in the US vary I think. So the difference is less than it looks like by just converting with current exchange rates.

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Right? Just compare it to the glued mess that is the $90 Switch 2 controller or to a $200 DualSense pro (or whatever name Sony’s premium controller goes by).

Say what you will but Valve built the Steam Controller to last. I expect the first weeks to be a little bumpy on the software side (as is always the case with controllers) but it will quickly become very future rich. Likely more so than any other controller. And Valve is doing all that with a focus on Linux.

I am not one to easily praise US tech companies and Valve is far from perfect but the Steam Deck has a very good track record and this controller seems like it meets those standards as well.

It‘s a very good deal if repairability, full Linux support and feature richness are what you‘re looking for.

[–] Rossphorus@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Sorry dude, I'm not paying $100 USD for a controller. The last controller I bought cost me ~$30 USD (GameSir T4 Kaleid) and has everything I need, including hall effect sticks. The steam controller having cool tech like touchpads and a gyro and whatever else is cool I guess, but I don't need or want that. No amount of stuff like that is gonna make me spend that much on a controller.

So yes, the steam controller price raised my eyebrows, in the same way that basically all first-party controllers do. They're all crazily overpriced imo.

[–] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They're priced for all those things you don't want that other people do. It's a bit like complaining that a racing motorcycle is too expensive because all you need is a scooter to get around.

[–] Rossphorus@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If it's priced like a racing motorcycle then you shouldn't be surprised when people raise their eyebrows at the price.

[–] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Do you often look up the prices of racers to be shocked by the price?

[–] Rossphorus@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Only when people comment that 'the price is normal, actually', and that I ought to buy one because they're so cheap.

[–] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

In comparison to comparable devices. Are you incapable of understanding context?

[–] Rossphorus@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago

The original comment couldn't understand why people were 'raising their eyebrows' at the price. I said because it's basically a luxury item. Whether there are other alternatives that are even less value doesn't factor into it. That's the 'door in the face' fallacy.

Regardless of whether a Rolls Royce is more or less 'value' than a Lamborghini there's gonna be a whole bunch of people that are gonna look at that and say 'why would you spend X times the money when it gets you from A to B just the same as a Toyota Corolla'. That's the answer to the original question.

[–] Guitar@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Both of the other controllers you listed are already too expensive for what they are. That doesn't really justify the price of the Steam controller imo. This isn't a "pro" controller either. This is the only one Valve offers. Sure it has a lot of good tech and features, but its all stuff they have been putting on the deck for years. I would hardly call the price a steal. I feel like a fair price for a controller like this would have been about $70-80. Not to mention, Valve isn't trying to only sell this to tech enthusiasts. They want this to be a widespread product. $100 for a controller is too steep for an average consumer.