Yeah, gyro is often a hate it or love it type of input.

Back buttons though I can’t do without anymore. Like being able to map jump and crouch or dodge buttons to them so I can keep my thumbs on the left and right joystick instead of having to lift off and momentarily lose movement or camera control has been a nice convenience.

Driving is also where I’ve really loved the back buttons for driving games and setting them to gears. Before third party alternatives became common I had planned to get Xbox Elite for that reason until I saw all the complaints about them breaking despite the premium price, and people getting things like lifetime warranties and paying a portion of the controller cost whenever they went to get it replaced throughout the year over buying a whole new one.

I passed on the Elite because of that, since I could have put up with the high price if it was actually durable. Not sure why they dropped the ball in that department when my 360 has been a tank.

It’s not ideal for mouse gamers, but gyro is ideal for controller gamers with it being the best option available that makes it possible for controller gamers to play fps games without aim assist vs mouse players.

Though only reason I mentioned possible when it comes to the touchpad use on the new Steam Controller is since it is up in the air until I actually get to try it to see if it will be ideal to use as a touchpad gyro controller like my original Steam Controller with the different ergonomics it has.

I’m looking at this controller more as gamepad exclusive gamer than a PC user that only sometimes uses the controller and mouse for other games on PC. Guess more similar to being from the perspective of a console player with many opting for controller even after a game gets mouse support.

I wouldn’t even say they’re good for FPS. Mouse is still gonna be king for that.

I use them to play FPS like The Finals. My set up being gyro being activated when I touch the right touchpad, edge to edge swipe of the touchpad doing a 180, and clicking the edges/center for 5 different inputs.

Gyro and touchpads having mouse mapped to them so no aim assist. Not sure how the ergonomics of the controller will be though for FPS, since I didn’t find them comfortable to use on the Deck due to touchpads being lower than the OG Steam Controller. But, some people don’t have issue with them, so it is possible.

I use it for games designed for controller too. Like Pragmata preferring the touchpads for turning the camera around over joystick, and gyro to aim.

Doesn’t have gyro. I like playing games without aim assist preferring raw input aiming with mouse bound to the gyro.

I’d pick up other third party controllers over a Xbox these days, since hall effect and TMR sticks are standard. Extra grip buttons are common on third party controllers too without paying Xbox Elite prices, which are notorious for breaking down despite the premium price. And lot of third party controllers offer gyro too.

My 360 controller still works and I’ve used them for playing through Yakuza on the PC. But, when it comes to buying a new controller Xbox is last on my list now. Too many missing features while not being cheaper than the alternatives out there.

People seem to like the idea of just having to use when they need mouse input instead of having to grab a mouse or using the touchpads to type something quickly over grabbing a keyboard. Useful if you are gaming in the living room, so more a convenience.

For gameplay others have liked setting up touch menus. Like for retroarch on the Steam Deck I set up a touch menu with short cuts to bring up the menu, select save states, rewind and fast forward.

And in my case I actually prefer to use the touchpads as primary inputs in FPS titles like The Finals. I set up the right touchpad so gyro is activated on touch, swiping to quickly turn, and setting up a dpad modeshift to act as a facebutton replacement by expanding the clicks from 1 to 5. So lets me not have to take my thumb off the right pad.

Not sure the ergonomics of the new Steam Controller will be good for dual pad gaming though, since didn’t find myself finding the Deck touchpads comfortable for that use case do to them being lower than the OG Steam Controller.