The Steam Controller
Being that SteamOS and the Steam Machine’s are supposed to be a living room experience Valve developed their own Steam Controller. This controller is made to not only give you controls that you would expect on a console, but the ability to still use a mouse (cursor) and much more.
The Steam Controller looks very much like an Xbox 360 controller, but is a bit bigger. Starting at the center of the controller you have the Steam Home button, which will turn the controller. On each side you have two smaller buttons, the one on the left is a back button and the one on the right is the start button. There are two large circles on the controller which are directional pads, meant to be used like a traditional mouse, but with your thumbs. The directional pad on the left has a D-pad built into it. Moving down from the D-pad you have an analog stick and to the right of that are X,A,Y, and B buttons.
On the top of the controller you will find a microUSB connection that will allow you to use the controller if it is out of battery power. On each side of the top you have a bumper and a trigger. You there are 4 buttons on the top here.
Flipping the controller over there are actually two more buttons on the back built into the left and right side of where you grip the controller. This is something new that I’ve never seen on a controller before.
This back part of the controller pops off by using a slider on the bottom-side of the controller that releases it. Once released you can install one AA battery on each side.
Considering the form factor, can you really build a comparable PC in the same price range (or even at all)? There are some folks – myself included – for whom the form factor is quite important, so I was willing to dish out some extra cash for the SN970. However, using this hardware as a Steam OS machine limits its capabilities dramatically, so if somebody is willing to buy it, you might as well add additional cost of XBox One controller and Win10 license – with those additions you’ll have a full blown gaming PC in the sexiest of the form factors.
Thanks for the review – I too now own 2 Steam Machines and still have mixed feelings. But I think the potential is there – I’m just wondering if Valve will bring that potential to realization. With that said – I’ve kept SteamOS on both my Steam Machines (one an Alienware, the other a CyberPower Syber). The Zotac looks like a nice upgrade from the Alienware.
My issues with SteamOS isn’t the lack of games, or even the performance of games. I think they perform fine. Not as good as the windows counterparts – but as good or better than the Console version. What is holding it back to me is it doesn’t replace my Xbox One fore media functions (Netflix, Vudu, etc.). I hardly game on the Xbox One anymore – except for Shape Up which is a kinect based exercise program. But I do still run a slew of media related apps. I have a very large collection on Vudu now. Without a Blue-ray/DVD Player coming with most steam machines – and the clunky browser interface, I’m afraid that it’s a huge hole that I’m not sure Valve can fix. They can’t write their own Netflix or Hulu App, and there isn’t critical mass yet for those companies to even consider it.
Hopefully that changes around – cause other than that, I have no issues with my Steam Machines.
I have nothing but issues with Windows as a living room device. There is ALWAYS something getting in the way – whether it’s a notification that won’t go away or a device driver that quits or games getting launched simultaneously (like my kids always seem to do). Windows 10 has made it even worse as Microsoft keeps going more an more towards touchbased GUI’s. It’s clunky at best… At least SteamOS addresses those issues – which is why I’ve decided to stick with it on the Steam Machines and keep windows on my gaming PC’s. Kids are happy with it so far – so no reason to put Windows on it. Xbox 360 Wireless Controller works great with it as well. I know there are a few developers now working on getting the Xbox One Controller to work wirelessly (right now it works only wired).
sure, Win 10 is far from perfect OS, but for a hardcore gamer it’s still far better option than Steam OS, the benefits (bigger selection of Steam games, better performance, access to non-Steam games) outweigh the problems. then again, if one doesn’t require their hardware to be utilized to its fullest potential, Steam OS might be a viable choice – but if that’s the case, this particular machine seems to be an overkill for this purpose.