Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/29/you-can-pick-up-a-steam-contro.html
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Tempted but I do like my xbone controller .
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Hm. If you do a firmware mod, it will support Bluetooth.
Then you could use their discontinued controller with a Raspberry Pi running software from their discontinued Stream Link gadget.
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I wouldn’t have minded paying $5 (or even $10) for another controller, even a slightly questionable one. But I’m pretty sure they’re already all long gone, and they didn’t ship to Canada in the first place. I saw lots of comments from European customers complaining bitterly about the shipping costs, too.
Seems a lot of people lament that Valve seems to exist as nothing more as a massive moneymaking operation willing to hawk all manner of vapid bug-laden asset-flips, but considering what happened when they actually tried to use their position to introduce something wildly new and innovative, perhaps it’s understandable.
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I got a US PO Box. For $5 I am quite tempted.
ETA nevermind… “We can’t ship to PO Boxes” wtff?
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Well I just tried, and it says it’s out of stock. Rats!
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I’m still, in the parlance of the kids these days, salty they’re only releasing Half-Life: Alyx as a VR game, which rules it out for me since VR gives me motion sickness.
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For me, it’s splitting headaches, but I totally feel ya.
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Yes, such a pity. I love the idea of VR. I tried a few games a few games on a Playstation at a friend, and I really liked it for 5 minutes. After that is was sickness + headaches. In a way it was quite a nostalgic feeling as I used to feel that way as a child every time I rode the city bus to school, but feeling sick for hours for 5 minutes of gameplay is not worth it, however cool that gameplay may be…
But I did outgrow/train away the bus-sickness. Today I can even read a book in the bus not problem. So I still have some hope I can train VR sickness away as well. Though there’s a bit of a chicken and egg problem there, as I don’t feel like buying VR sets now, but I won’t ever get used to Vr if I don’t.
I should try to convince my boss to switch from database management to VR game making and let him buy the expensive stuff 
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Of course Valve is still making controllers for their VR system. Seems weird they would give up on making cheaper more accessible hardware for mass market. And there’s this:
There is one thing from the Steam Controller I would love to see in the next gen. The haptic vibration. It used some sort of solenoid for vibration instead of conventional vibration motors. It felt much more responsive to me because with a conventional rotary vibrator, the motor has to spin up but the system the Steam Controller used, the effect was almost instant. Otherwise, I liked the idea of a lot of the Steam Controller, but it just didn’t feel finished. The motion controls were terrible. The touch pads were vague. Etc.
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Next generation? Ha!
(I have a steam link, and now a steam controller, both purchased through their respective final sales. A daring move, for someone who uses a mac…)
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I can read on a rough road, on a bus; it isn’t the motion. I’m pretty sure it’s due to the fact that I have two vastly different vision prescriptions. This also makes most “3D” rather…not 3D…for me, I’ll note.
Movies are even worse, because those polarized lenses make it so each eye only gets 50% of the light, so you get even more eye strain >.<’ .
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3D movies are projected much brighter to compensate for this, so I doubt that’s the problem. I think it’s more that the 3D in 3D movies is often exaggerated for effect.
By the way, if you can’t watch 3D but would like to go to a 3D movie with friends: in most cinemas they have the option of ‘2D’ glasses for 3D movies . Those have the same glass for each eye so you can go the the cinema with your friends without having to endure the 3D.
If your local cinema doesn’t have them you can also easily make them yourself by combining 2 left (or 2 right) glasses from a normal 3d pair. (So you can make 2 ‘2D’ pairs from 2 ‘3D’ pairs.
That’s sort of the thing with Valve. They don’t seem to finish anything these days. And I don’t really think their internal structure allows for it. Apparently they don’t do that whole leadership, defined projects, or project management thing. And don’t really plan things. If enough employees are interested in working on something, they just sort of work on that something. For as long as enough of them are still interested. If the end result is releasable, its released. If it isn’t it gets scrapped when interest wanes and workers move off to other projects.
It seems like with the hardware they’ve put out they’re pretty much selling what would be experimental, pre-release equipment with other companies. And they only seem to have gotten as far with VR cause its Gabe Newell who’s personally interested in it. “The boss wants to do VR” is a more forceful way to attract a team than “Jerry over in the art department wants to kick up a 5th attempt at Half Life 3”.
Somewhat brighter, yes, but nowhere near as much as would be needed to compensate. It would have to be literally twice as bright to do so, which simply isn’t practical.
Well… if you watch a 3D movie without the glasses on it certainly feels twice as bright.
Also, there used to be an ‘underground’ arthouse cinema in town over here. They only used ancient equipment which seemed to be powered by candles. The movies were very very dark. But you eyes adjust to the darkness and after a while you don’t notice anymore (though you losesa lot of dynamic range).
I doubt the low light level is the thing causing the headaches/nausea.
Lot’s of modern movies (especially ‘action’ movies) have very frantic camera work, which in itself is nauseating (to me) even in a normal 2D movie. 3D movies seem to want to show off the 3Dness by turning the frantic camera movement up to eleven. Which for me is an awful combination.
I’ve noticed that I get sick quite fast if the camera moves in between objects where you feel your body wouldn’t fit. Apparently the 3D tricks my brain sufficiently that it gets confused in that case.
Er, no. This isn’t just my “feeling”, it’s the diagnosis of more than one doctor. Additionally, as noted, other high-motion settings (such as reading on the bus) don’t bother me at all.
Yes; this is exactly what causes the eye strain, point of fact
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Oh, well ok.
strange, I’ve never heard of that. Never to old to learn I guess 
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