Only for Americans. In Japan where both of thee consoles originate, O means good/confirm and X means bad/cancel. The button functions were switched for Americans oafishly large hands that would have been uncomfortable pressing O as the primary button. In PS2 and PS3 iir, you can switch this behavior back to its normal Japanese state for menus, but games are generally unaffected.

Wow I never knew. Makes sense now the O and X. On another note: Xbox uses A to confirm which makes it all the more confusing. I'm sticking with my playstation controllers.

(I can't seem to get a reply to process right now, so BrandeX, this is a response to post 46)

I don't think that's the reason as somehow using the MUCH smaller NES and SNES controllers, Americans were able to push the A button, which is located where the O button is.

Having average hands myself (not yuge, large hands; nor tiny hands), I find using either position fine. I just sometimes find myself hammering the wrong button to scroll through text. Similar to how I sometimes accidentally slam the brake pedal in an automatic transmission vehicle...

Does that work ok also with other "client" games, like EA Origin games? So you launch the game from Steam, which in turn starts the Origin client, which launches the game itself...?

I wonder if Microsoft will come up with a PC gamepad that can be used only with Windows Store games? Nice how the PC (Windows) gaming scene is starting to become fragmented when even hardware peripherals start requiring store clients...

How so? "Games" > "Add non-Steam game to Library..." and away you go. It works literally no different from Steam games that way. Yeah, it has issues with Origin and Uplay because those launchers interrupt it and you have to set up GloSC to get around that. Yeah, it has issues with dosbox games for the exact same reason. But if it's a Windows game that doesn't have a separate launcher, it works exactly the same, including community configurations. When the controller was first released it didn't have as good of support for nkn-Steam games, that is true, but that changed really quickly.
Yeah, gonna have to completely disagree with you on this one. Yes, the D-pad takes some learning and configuration, but I've found it to be superior in my use than even a regular D-pad. Shrink the deadzone and set it to touch instead of click and you can just rest your thumb right in the middle, use the indentations to feel where on the pad your thumb is, and just shift slightly to get immediate input in whatever direction you want. Faster, smoother, and more ergonomic than any analog D-pad I've ever used.

As for twin-stick games, like twin stick shooters, set the right pad to mouse region instead of joystick or normal mouse, again, far better than anything I have EVER used.

I don't know what your specific experience with the Steam controller is, but I must say it just sounds like you haven't really experimented with and learned the ins and outs of the steam controller. I can understand if that's not something you wanna do, but unless you do, you've kinda got no base saying it's useless for any kind of game. I haven't found a single genre of game that hasn't been improved (both in enjoyment and skill) by my use of the Steam Controller.
That's the one place that I've found the Steam Controller to have real issues. It's possible, but you have to use GloSC (Global Steam Controller). Download, install, open, add new game, navigate to the .exe for the game itself (not the client), and change the settings to make it work. For Origin and Uplay games you have to uncheck the box that says "Close GloSC when shortcut closes" as if you don't, when it launches the game, it will work for a second while the Origin or Uplay client takes hold, but will then close right as the actual game launches. After that, click the "add all to Steam" button, then launch steam and launch the new shortcut. So yes, it does work, it just needs a piece of 3rd party software to do it.

I use an F710 myself and every once in a while I have to go into device manager and set it to use the XBox 360 controller driver because it will randomly stop working. Definitely have had driver issues. They aren't debilitating, but they happen. Sometimes it I run into the issue right when I boot the computer up, sometimes I run into the issue when I leave one game and launch another, sometimes I run into the issue when I plug the USB dongle in after using it on another computer. All in all, about once every 3 hours of gaming I have to re-do the drivers for it.

Crap, that's not what I mean at all! I was referring to how ChrisRevocateur said that it likely isn't selling much anymore.

Sorry for giving the wrong idea.

Most controllers cost around that price when they're not discounted. I think the steam pad was £30, roughly $45 CAD on sale.

The 360 pad is good enough as a basic pad. The big problem is that it sets a low bar for what a game pad on the PC, not games consoles, should be. The gyro on the steam pad is quite good so it can easily act like a steering wheel or joystick and like was said before you can combine it with the touchpad to fine tune your aim.


When not used with steam the right touch acts like a track ball with triggers as mice buttons. The the left touch or joystick like cursor keys.

I don't know if there's proper non steam drivers for the controller but it would need some 3rd party configuration software to go with it to get the full use. I don't know how good the old free programs like xpadder or glove pie is and pinnacle profiler would add $6 onto the overall cost.


Pricey. You could buy two joysticks for that.

Sad it took so long for mainstream pad makers to think of putting buttons on the back. It reminds me of the scuff pad putting face buttons on the rear oraddons so that people could press the face buttons on the xbox pad without having to use a claw grip.

There are drivers for running the Steam Controller as a pure xinput device without the Steam client installed, but I haven't used them since it's either one or the other, and with GloSC I don't see any reason to not run it with the Steam Client. Without those special drivers though, xpadder or any other controller mapping software would be useless for the Steam Controller.

Honestly, if you want to use a Steam Controller, just get GloSC and use the Steam Client, especially since the controller mapping that the client offers is way more powerful than any of the other controller mapping software out there (and I've used every single one I've ever run into), and it understands the trackpad either as a joystick or mouse, which no third party app will ever do.