Steam Universe 2.0
- Jun 13
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Remember Steam Universe? Yeah, that kinda flopped bad. But Valve didn't stop, and now it looks like Valve is finally gearing up for their new hardware announcements. Last month we got the controller. Well, some people did. I got mine this month because scalpers are fucking scum and decided to rush Valve all at once. (To be fair, having such low stock was kinda silly on their part. Looks like they learned though, cause they are now in reservation and it seems like they're doing that for the machine and frame as well.) Eventually though, I did get my controller. It is pretty cool to have the Steam Deck layout just as a controller. I think I'll talk on that first because I actually have it in hand and I have a lot to say.
Steam Controller & Steam Input
I don't know what crack cocaine Valve did to make Steam Input, but it is incredible. Genuinely, whoever the hell makes the argument of "Oh it doesn't have XInput so it sucks" is so far back in the past. (Also Steam Input just has XInput emulation if you run your games through Steam so I am not sure where that argument even comes from.) Steam Input works so well, and it is so easy to mold into what YOU want it to be. You can customize just about every little thing about the inputs on your controllers. (not just the Steam Controller though, it works insanely well with just about every controller you throw at it.) Now, having said that, it does absolutely work the best with Valve's controller. You get everything the Steam Deck has, and a little bit more on top of that.
The main killer thing about this controller for me is without a doubt the repairability of it. With most first party controllers for consoles, you'll probably need some form of knowledge regarding soldering or just need to take it into a repair shop, leaving most people to just get a new one if their old one goes faulty. With the Steam Controller, it is so modular that you in theory could just buy replacement parts and do it yourself. (iFixit hasn't supplied replacement parts for it justttt yet but Valve says they're continuing their partnership with them, and they already have guides up for it so I assume it will happen soon enough.) This thing is clearly built to last, and in the case of the things that are soldered down like the thumbsticks... well, you won't be needing to for a while considering they are TMR sticks. Traditional thumbsticks are handled with mechanical pivoting that translates to a signal that game can understand. Eventually, those are gonna wear down, be it from casual usage or gunk getting in there, and it will eventually be so bad that it will cause drift. With TMR sticks, it's all handled through magnets. No physical contact means less chance of wearing down, meaning virtually erasing stick drift. Again, built to last.
Anybody that has used a Steam Deck can tell you just how ergonomic it is, and the same is absolutely the case with the Steam Controller. Now, it does take getting used to. I mean, the thing looks bulky as shit at first glance. Take some time with it though, and you'll never look back. That puck is sick as hell too. Valve could've so easily made it just a charging dock, but they went the extra mile and made it a wireless receiver with the ability to connect to four controllers at once. Not only is it just plain nice to have a dock for the thing so the USB-C port on the controller doesn't wear as much, but having four controllers on one puck is going to be absolutely monumental for the couch PC users who just want a more reliable way to connect their controller to their computer wirelessly without huge delay in registering input like bluetooth has. (Although, the controller DOES support bluetooth just for the people who need it. Cool they give you the option!) All in all, this thing is sick and I encourage anyone who uses controller on PC to seriously give it a shot and pick one up whenever you can. It's actually such a game changer.
Steam Machine
I know I'm gonna sound like a bitch here, but this is my blog, I post what I want, fuck you. (That was mean, I apologize.) I hate Windows. Sorry, just do. I don't want 365 ads in my settings, I don't want Copilot baked into my system, and I certainly don't want Microsoft training their models on a computer that SHOULD be MINE. All to say that I have found it less and less easy to enjoy my free time using Windows, and I have been dying for a solution to that. Well, Valve's big black cube seems to be exactly what I was looking for. It isn't the most powerful computer in existence, not by a long shot, but if you're put off by it because of that, you're probably not the target market for the Steam Machine anyways. I am certain that if it does well, we'll get a professional version of it eventually, but for now this is where we are at.
Beyond getting away from Windows easily, another big selling point for this thing, at least in my case, is just how compact it is. I am currently co-parented, and constantly swap between both my father's and mother's house. That being said, there is no way I'm lugging my main PC around everywhere I go. The small footprint of the Steam Machine is absolutely going to be a life saver for me in that case. Also, if I want to stay at a friends house or end up moving into and apartment where I can't really take a big ass tower, I could just take that instead. It's going to be so cool to have a small PC like that, and I know it isn't by any means a new thing, but Valve's level of polish in both the deck and controller make this infinitely more appealing to me than just any small form-factor computer.
Steam Frame
I don't use my Quest 2 anymore. Not only is it pretty out of date, I just hate fiddling with Meta's software, they abandoned that shit so hard. Now as much as I like my Index, I can't say I want to use it any more than I have to. I love having wired VR again to death, but it's for sure starting to show its age in a lot of places. The Steam Frame looks incredible. It looks like it's going to be the most open ended standalone VR headset to date, and that is so cool to me. Having a headset that has the ability to become just as open as the Steam Deck in terms of what you can do with it is absolutely incredible to me. I am so grateful that more people than ever have the ability to purchase a headset now, that is so cool. But DAMN, I wish it wasn't Meta controlling that. Not only are you putting your security at risk when you go through them, you also are also bought into THEIR ecosystem. I do not like walled gardens at all. I have never liked walled gardens. As much as I enjoy Apple products, I hate that they lock everything down. The Steam Frame is going to be the first of its kind in that regard. Or at the very least, the first of it's kind that actually matters.
I also understand that the whole "streaming first" marketing thing Valve has done with it is worrying people. And to be honest, I'm kinda in the same boat. Here's the thing though, it's seemingly got a similar punch inside it that the Quest 3 has. If your game runs on the Quest 3 standalone, chances are if it's brought over to Steam with those same optimizations, it'll run there as well. No, I don't think Half-Life Alyx will run natively unless Valve makes a specific build of the game for it. (I would honestly be shocked if they didn't, it's their one big VR title) Do I think that's a dealbreaker? Honestly, no. I feel like for the people that want a standalone Valve headset first and foremost, they'll mostly get just that. It's really up to developers to push builds of their games that are optimized properly for the thing.
Also I don't know why people thought the Steam Frame was getting it's own demo. We already have The Lab, they'll probably update that to work on Steam Frame natively.
Conclusion
Am I going to get everything day one? Internally, I would love to. Realistically, no way in hell. We would need to see the prices for me to determine that and I honestly am not holding my breath. (And it doesn't look like we'll be waiting very long for that...) I think whatever one is cheaper is going to be the one I buy and then I'll save up for the other. I am absolutely sold on this ecosystem though. Valve has had a certain level of polish with the hardware they put out that just cannot be beat by any company doing a similar thing. You've got me hooked, Gabe. I'll see you when HLX finally drops.