Valve Steam Controller with Twin Trackpads

Two circles take the place you expected the thumbsticks to be.

On Valve’s original Steam Controller, one thumb can sweep a smooth pad like a tiny trackpad. The other gets a second pad with a cross you can find by feel. Steam Input lets you decide what a swipe, a click or a squeeze of the back grip does in a game.

Independently selected
By Valve
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Another unexpected find

Photo by Kenming Wang from Taipei, Taiwan · Source · CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo: Kenming Wang from Taipei, Taiwan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Proportionally resized and converted to WebP. Full composition retained.

WHY IT CAUGHT OUR EYE

A different control mapping can change how the same physical surface feels. It is a curious way to bring mouse-shaped tasks to a gamepad.

BEFORE YOU BUY

Check the seller’s condition and included receiver or cable for this older model. Valve documents it as the 2015 controller. The independent photograph shows the controller alone.

Black first-generation Steam Controller with two circular trackpads and one thumbstick. This is the 2015 design.