The Steam Controller had some growing pains - I remember building the perfect Metal Gear Solid V configuration only to find out the game continually got confused whether I was using a mouse and keyboard or an Xbox gamepad. Plus, there are paddles around back for crouching, jumping, strafing, you name it without needing to take your thumbs off those trackpads. That’s because it uses a pair of trackpads, complete with tiny solenoid actuators for haptic feedback, so you can emulate a mouse or trackball.

That’s because the controller, originally introduced in 2013 - read our feature on how it was designed - is one of the most fully customizable gamepads ever made, and perhaps the only one to offer mouse-like pinpoint precision.

My Steam Controller, next to an earlier prototype. While I couldn’t recommend it wholeheartedly like I did back when Valve discontinued its amazing Steam Link wireless HDMI cable-in-a-box, I will say that $13 was a pretty excellent price if you ever plug your PC into your television, or sling your PC games wirelessly to the Steam Link app on your phone and need an accurate solution.

The last piece of Valve’s failed Steam Machines initiative is now truly dead, and it’s time for this gamepad’s obituary. The Steam Autumn Sale is now over, but it included one deal that stood out from the pack - a $5 farewell to Valve’s weirdly wonderful Steam Controller gamepad.įor several days, you could buy the Steam Controller for just $5 plus shipping ($13 total for me), and Valve confirmed to The Verge that it was the last batch of these gamepads that will ever be made.

Steam controller