Steam Controller or Xbox One Controller

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chegalhavara

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May 7, 2016
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Hey guys

I haven't played with a gamepad in years as i am a Pc gamer. No consoles since i was a teenager.
I am thinking of buying a gamepad. I got some games that would be nice to have something other tham a kb+mouse to play with. Such as some driving games or platformers.
I play mostly fps games like bf1 but from time to time I like to play something else.

From your view should I get a Steam Controller or an Xbox One gamepad?
 
Solution
cryoburner
While a PlayStation controller will likely work with most games by using an emulation layer such as the one Steam provides, it won't likely be officially supported in most titles. The developers are more likely to test and optimize their games for Xbox controllers, which have become the de facto standard on the PC, and things like on-screen button prompts will generally list buttons as they would appear on an Xbox controller.

I've been primarily using a Wireless 360 controller for Windows in games that benefit from gamepad controls, and it has worked pretty well, and is a comfortable controller. The D-pad design on 360 controllers is rather poor though, which can be troublesome in games that make extensive use of the D-pad, like some...
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Given Steam's support for gamepad's and if most/all of the games you want to play are through steam you could even choose a PS4 controller for your gamepad. I would choose the one that feels most comfortable for you to hold and use while playing games.

As a note nonsteam games can also be supported through steam by configuring the desktop profile for the controller to act as a controller instead of a mouse.
 
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I use to have the Steam gamepad and it is not as good like normal one. I sell it back to a friend. The touch and feeling of the pads are not so great. I suggest to buy the wireless PS4, Logitech or Xbox instead since they are more normal and it feel way much better when playing.
 
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Steam supports the entirety of the PS4 controller including the gyroscope and forcefeedback and can be configured to your tastes game by game through steams bigpicture interface. You can even configure the color and intensity of the lightbar.
 
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I have the Logitech F710 and depending of the game the force or feedback do work nicely (depend if the game support this, not all older one does) and can be desabled from the gamepad by a button. The feeling and grips of this gamepad is very confortable to me. I love it because moving from PS3 to PC with the was easy because all the button are pretty much identical and at same location. Logitech provide a 3 years waranty and battery last easily over ~200h of gameplay.
 
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Dont get me wrong but the F710 is one ugly controller.. And I am a fan of Logitech. Got a G810 and a G502..
But I am inclined for the Xbox because of its compatibility with everything, since it's like a standard on any game, or the steam controller because it seems very cool and versatile allthough it seems it has a steep learning curve and the buttons are in strange positions in comparison to "normal" gamepads.
Either way I will have to get used to it. The DS4 does seem cool, but it is not entirelly compatible with everything, for example for non steam games. For that I would prefer the Xbox controller.
Then there is the gyroscope issue.. for driving games it is indeed cooler as the analog stick..
Doubts doubts..
 
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To allay your issues with compatibility for the DS4 controller. -> https://www.tomsguide.com/us/how-to-use-a-ps4-controller-steam,news-24039.html

Again steam supports the controller but it doesn't just work with Steam. For instance I have the desktop setup in steam set to a gamepad configuration. With this programs like PCSX2 and Dolphin (Rpcs3 works but it sees the PS4 controller anyways) (I own a PS3, PS2 and Wii U and games for them I just like messing with the emulators and seeing how my games run on them)

The only real requirement to using the PS4 controller is making sure the Steam client is running in the background. There are other 3rd party software drivers for the PS4 but the steam client seems to have the best support, not to mention I'd rather tell someone to use something they are likely to already have installed anyways. Besides the Steam client is a well supported piece of software.

EDIT: I forgot to mention again the Steam client supports the PS4 Controllers's Gyroscope. You can decide what it does from the steam inside the steam client for your games.

 
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So you are saying that I can play for example an Origin game and still use all the functionalities, like the gyroscope? And the analogs will work as analogs or like keyboard mapping?
btw it also works with bluetooth or do I have to use the sony wireless dongle?
That was something that also put me off of the Xbox controller. I have no BT adapter although one can buy one for like 5€. The wireless dongle costs 23€. Have also read that the controller sometimes doesnt work 100% perfect with a BT adapter.
And the Steam controller has the receiver included.

Edit: I've just read that the DS4 also works with a BT adapter..
 
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The thing is, I know that the Xbox controllers work very well and are the best in compatibility, but don't have the advanced functions the others have..
So I started with a doubt between 2 and now I'm in doubt between 3.. :facepalm:
 
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While a PlayStation controller will likely work with most games by using an emulation layer such as the one Steam provides, it won't likely be officially supported in most titles. The developers are more likely to test and optimize their games for Xbox controllers, which have become the de facto standard on the PC, and things like on-screen button prompts will generally list buttons as they would appear on an Xbox controller.

I've been primarily using a Wireless 360 controller for Windows in games that benefit from gamepad controls, and it has worked pretty well, and is a comfortable controller. The D-pad design on 360 controllers is rather poor though, which can be troublesome in games that make extensive use of the D-pad, like some 2D platformers, so I sometimes switch to an older Logitech controller for such titles. I don't have an Xbox One controller yet, but the D-pad has apparently been improved a lot, and is significantly different in design.

The Steam controller has some neat features, but few games have been designed with it in mind. While the trackpads might technically be more versatile than analog sticks, they are ultimately quite different, and aren't going to feel quite right in some games that are designed for analog sticks. The Steam controller is probably best as a secondary controller for someone who has another gamepad, or for situations where someone wants to emulate mouse and keyboard input on a gamepad, such as for a living room PC. As such, it's probably not the best choice as your only controller.

I suppose it comes down to whether you prefer the feel of the Xbox One controller or the PS4 controller. If you're not familiar with them, you could probably test how they feel if they have any on display at a local game store. They each have somewhat different layouts and ergonomics, and some prefer the way the Xbox controllers have the left analog stick directly across from the face buttons, but both are arguably well-built, and will likely work fine in most games, provided you are using the appropriate compatibility layer for the PS4 controller and don't mind seeing incorrect button prompts. There are Xbox-compatible controllers from other companies like Logitech as well, but I haven't used any of the recent models to know how they compare. Logitech's controllers are typically well-built as well though.
 
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Solution
You can connect the PS4 controller to a bluetooth dongle via holding the ps4 button and share button at the same time on the controller. Just remember if you own a PS4 this will bind the controller to the PC and it will no longer connect to the PS4. I have one connected to an Intel bluetooth/wifi controller that works with the steam client. Steam doesn't seem to care what the controller is connected to as long as the PC can see the controller.

True a lot of games don't support the PS4 controller natively meaning the games won't use the typical PS4 game prompts. Although there are mods listed in the steam guides that can fix this for quite a few games if this is an issue. Thankfully the buttons on the xbox and ps4 controllers are in the same general location and mapping from one to another is simple given the general controller layout is the same even if the buttons are different names.
 
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Turns out it wasnt my mobo. It was the psu.
Anyway I ordered a Steam Controller with a Steam Link.
For someone who isnt used to a controller it seems like the better option. I have get used to it anyway and it seems way more versatile than anything else.
Thanks for the input!
 
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I think the difference comes when you already own an xbox one controller & buy a steam controller to try out.
The learning curve & difference in actual physical useability (I understand the practicality of the right optical trackpad on the steam controller but hate it for the majority of the time) between the two meant I could never get really comfortable with the steam controller.

Once you've used an xbox one pad for any considerable length of time I dont think any other controller will really measure up.

Theres nothing inherently wrong with the steam controller,its well made,comfortable to hold,compatibility is now great when used with the controller configs in steam - it will work with any game out there.

If its the sole controller you own & you put the time in to get used to I have no doubt you'll likely be happy.

Like sizzling though,half the time I just thought **** this ,disconnected it & put my xbone controller back in.

 
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