The divisive Steam Controller was the testing floor for some concepts (touchpads, rear buttons, haptics) that ultimately discovered their manner onto Valve’s Steam Deck. Whereas the corporate hasn’t adopted up its 2015 wi-fi gamepad, peripheral firm Hori has, in a manner. The brand new $59.99 wi-fi Horipad that’s up for pre-order at Amazon (launching Dec. 16) brandishes the Steam brand that doubles as a house button, and it’s presumably the closest factor to a brand new Steam Controller we’re going to get. Fortunately, it borrows some options you may acknowledge in case you personal a Steam Deck.
Notably, its thumbsticks are capacitive just like the Steam Deck’s, which means they know whether or not your thumb is resting on them or not. This trait permits you to program capabilities to the sticks through Steam’s controller customization instruments, be it triggering gyroscopic aiming (which the controller helps), citing a mini map, or some other command you may consider simply by holding your finger to the stick. The Horipad for Steam has nearly all of identical buttons that current on the Steam Deck, together with its important system-level buttons, in addition to two pairs of mappable macro buttons. Whereas the Deck places each pairs on its bottom close to the grips, this controller places one pair on the entrance (beneath the D-pad and proper stick) and one other pair on the again.
The Horipad for Steam helps Bluetooth, and it might probably additionally function an XInput controller in case you connect it to your pc through the included 9.8-foot USB cable. A swap on its again permits you to toggle between wi-fi and wired mode, and one other swap adjustments whether or not the triggers are analog or digital. As for what the Horipad lacks, you gained’t discover rumble assist right here, nor are there trackpads or a headphone jack.
This controller appears competent for the value, though in case you have consoles at dwelling, it’s possible you’ll have already got a favourite gamepad to make use of with Steam or a Steam Deck. My former Verge colleague Sam Byford reviewed the Horipad for his weblog Multicore earlier than it was introduced in additional areas, saying that it’s an intriguing controller, however not a formidable one.