A gaming phone controller accessory that connects physically to phone (With same layout and functionality like the Steam Controller, Steam Deck, and Steam Frame Controllers) Would be cheaper than regular Steam Controller
With FEX making x86 Steam games capable of working on ARM devices it will be cool to game on mobile with mobile controller that has the dual touch control pad things the hardware above has to go with the phone and what better way than another option aside from the actual controller. Plus it gives phone more of a Gameboy Advance type of feel to play like that
Maybe to incentivize more people to have that you can use gaming phone accessory wirelessly or wired connected to any Steam hardware for using your phone with the gaming phone controller accessory as controllers too
Like the idea? Not like the idea? Anyone wanna suggest changes/additions/etc to the idea to be better be my guest.
Also if anyone wants to suggest other stuff Valve can do then please do!! All of us together can ask for the ecosystem to grow in ways that are good and fun for us all!!
Trying to help make gaming better for us all!
Would be cheaper than regular Steam Controller
Why would Valve make the same Steam Controller again but with a phone cradle in the middle and somehow make this cheaper? It would need to house the same hardware components as the regular Steam Controller AND possibly add an active cooler.
That’s even less realistic than Valve managers reading posts on Lemmy.
Controllers that hold your phone already exist.
So do normal controllers. So did gaming handhelds. So do PCs. So do VR headsets. I’m not sure what your point is.
The difference is each of those options from Valve offer things that traditional options do not. HDMI-CEC, trackpads, SteamOS, foveated streaming, etc.
Why could a phone controller not have innovations such as those? You mentioned track pads yourself.
Because phones already have touchpads on the screen. And games you would play on a phone would be optimized accordingly.
I suppose it’s not impossible, I’m just not sure there is any useful innovation to be had in that area.
The SteamDeck also has a touchscreen. If you’re using your phone to stream games from your PC, I’d imagine that track pads would be much better, similar to with the SteamDeck.
I personally have no use for playing games on my phone with a controller, that’s why I bought a SteamDeck, but there could definitely be room for innovation, both in hardware and software, especially if you take streaming into account. A good steam-input supported controller could turn your phone into a killer game-streaming machine.
The SteamDeck also has a touchscreen.
The Steam Deck has touchpads because many games are optimized for keyboard and mouse, not touchscreens. Phone games are not.
Not saying you’re wrong, just that there’s not a lot of value to be added there, in my opinion.
especially if you take streaming into account
I suppose that’s a fair point.
The other consideration is that if you need those things, you can just connect a Steam Controller, and get one of those cheap phone mounts to attach to it. No need for a new product.
The Steam Deck has touchpads because many games are optimized for keyboard and mouse, not touchscreens. Phone games are not.
I’d assume they want it for Steam remote play
I’d also agree that there isn’t a lot of value to the product, I know I wouldn’t buy one. I mainly just wanted to point out that there is definitely room for innovation and such in the space, and a phone controller that’s as nice as the SteamDeck controls doesn’t exist.
Why could a phone controller not have innovations such as those?
OP didn’t ask for additional innovations, OP asked for “the same functionality as the Steam Controller” which the slot-in things + the phone’s touch screen already provide.
I mean, no phone controller has the same layout as the steam controller. If Valve could implement the software to support steaminput when streaming games to a phone from your PC or a cloud PC, that’d be kinda cool.
I’m also not saying I’d buy it or that Valve should make it, but a controller with feature parity with the Steam Controller would be an innovation.
I mean, no phone controller has the same layout as the steam controller.
100% exactly the same layout is impossible, when there has to be room for the phone cradle in the middle. If you want to clip the phone above the Steam Controller, just get one of those plastic holders where you can attach the regular Steam Controller at the bottom side.
If Valve could implement the software to support steaminput when streaming games to a phone from your PC or a cloud PC, that’d be kinda cool.
Steam Link already exists and Steam Input runs on the PC.
a controller with feature parity with the Steam Controller would be an innovation.
The phone’s touch screen already provides the touch pad functionality when using one of the controllers pictured above.
Where touchpads?
On the screen
The Steam Deck was a real home run for them. I guess we will see for sure when the new lineup but it sure seems like they’ve could become a competitive hardware company and I’d love to see what else is up their sleeve.
My long time wish has been for a truly open Linux based iPhone competitor. Maybe too far outside their wheelhouse still but can you imagine a Steam Phone?
Maybe too far outside their wheelhouse still but can you imagine a Steam Phone?
Valve allows redistribution of the Steam client. Other than resources, there is little that would stop companies like Jolla to put the Steam client on their phones.
Not personally interested because gaming on a phone feels like watching a film or a YT video on a phone to me, some sort of transgression, a line that isn’t meant to be crossed, science gone too far etc. but I do understand that many people do it, so maybe it’s not a bad idea, just not for me.
I think I’d prefer it if they took out the arm on-computer stuff out of the steam frame and just made a good PCVR headset with both streaming compressed jpeg slop wirelessly and decoding on headset and an option for proper lossless HDMI streaming + inside-out tracking over USB-C (one cable, two connectors on the PC end for convenience), costing about $500 bux and aimed at PCVR users with decent-ish hardware like 3090s etc.
You’re looking for Mcon (or however it’s spelled).
