Steam is known for supporting a large collection of controller types on its platform, whether it's the classic Xbox 360 gamepad, or more modern controllers, such as the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. If you're a fan of getting your hands on any of the retro throwback controllers released for Nintendo's Switch Online subscribers, and ever wanted to use them to play classic games on Steam, then you're in luck. A new Steam client update went out today, which added specific support for the Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Nintendo gamepads from the Nintendo Switch Online collection out of the box. In addition, Valve's team also added support for a handful of arcade sticks--the Qanba Obsidian, the Qanba Dragon, and the HORI Fighting Stick Mini 4.

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[ShadowOne333]

Great, now all they need to do is add support for older Nintendo titles to be purchased through Steam as well.
Directly in ROM format, so NIntendo can shut the fuck up about "muh piracy"

 

[yusuo]

Now all we need is the controllers to ever be available

 

[tabzer]

The Qanba Dragon got support with this update? I got one thinking that I'd might use it someday. At this point I'm afraid of defiling it.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

Fun fact! In the patch notes the just called them "Nintendo online classic controllers", which I think is kinda funny

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

Now all we need is the controllers to ever be available

Why aren´t there good 3rd party N64 controllers for PC?
Seems like the demand is there. But they all have horrible sticks or a different form.

 

[tabzer]

Why aren´t there good 3rd party N64 controllers for PC?
Seems like the demand is there. But they all have horrible sticks or a different form.

There isn't a consensus on a "good N64 controller" because the controller was just never "good" to begin with.

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

There isn't a consensus on a "good N64 controller" because the controller was just never "good" to begin with.

Some people have made N64 controllers but swapped out the stick with a more modern one (like GC). I´d consider that a very good controller.

 

[Ampersound]

At this point I gotta ask, who is actually doing all the steam updates?
Who takes care of proton, controller support, and the storefront etc.,
is it actually inhouse Valve, or do they perhaps outsource their work too?

It's really cool to see how supportive steam is being in the gaming space.

 

[tabzer]

Some people have made N64 controllers but swapped out the stick with a more modern one (like GC). I´d consider that a very good controller.

But by doing that, you remove the nostalgic experience of wobbly knobs.

 

[shadow1w2]

Great, now all they need to do is add support for older Nintendo titles to be purchased through Steam as well.
Directly in ROM format, so NIntendo can shut the fuck up about "muh piracy"

Actually a few indie NES games on steam already.
Try Micro Mages, rom included, remote play supported.
Don't really need Nintendo.

 

[jt_1258]

At this point I gotta ask, who is actually doing all the steam updates?
Who takes care of proton, controller support, and the storefront etc.,
is it actually inhouse Valve, or do they perhaps outsource their work too?

It's really cool to see how supportive steam is being in the gaming space.

shoot...if they are just outsourcing work for steam then what is the company even doing. they sure as hell don't make games anymore...odd outliers every once in a few blue moons but still

 

[Xzi]

At this point I gotta ask, who is actually doing all the steam updates?
Who takes care of proton, controller support, and the storefront etc.,
is it actually inhouse Valve, or do they perhaps outsource their work too?

It's really cool to see how supportive steam is being in the gaming space.

It's all different divisions within Valve. Steam is obviously their biggest cash cow by a long shot, so it makes sense that they'd dedicate a lot of time and effort to improving it. They really do go above and beyond though, as it has been the best gaming app/storefront for years now, yet the updates keep on coming anyway.

 

[RedoLane]

Is it really necessary, since all the games on Steam don't have button layouts for these controllers?
Sure, you can just rebind this and that, but if you already knew that, you probably either use KB+M or a different controller.

 

[HarveyHouston]

...And why would people want this? Are there games that even use those controllers other than emulators?

 

[Alefigue2005]

WOOOO time to play Black Mesa with a N64 Controller! (If I had one to begin with )

 

[Marc_LFD]

Now all we need is the controllers to ever be available

That's just artificial scarcity. Nintendo's newest bullshit.

They could have the GCN, N64, Genesis, etc controllers in print, but they too seem to enjoy scarcity as scalpers do. Nintendo even made Mario 3D All-Stars digitally a "limited edition" game. Sigh.

 

[AndorfRequissa]

this is cool but id rather see news about the nintendo 64 or the other referenced controllers being available. doesnt matter what they can do if ninentendont doesnt make any for sale and just craps on the people who want them.

its an absolute sham that nintendo cant even keep a basic controller in stock and doesnt make them available but 2-3x a year. that should be the article.

bad karma to whoever is manufacturing these for designed scarcity. people who are purposely making certain types of products scarce and then putting media focus on what those products should be publicly shamed by anyone with a brain.

but braindead lemmings go "ooh and ahh" at something they cant even buy.

 

[leejaclane]

Nintendo may not sell games on Steam but this is potentially useful for people who want "classic" controls for ports of retro games, or for using it with emulators -- not just emulators and frontends for emulators available through Steam, but also just for using Steam as essentially a passthrough for other emulators as well that may not have support for these controllers. The 6 face button controllers are good for Street Fighter, too -- I always hated using shoulder buttons for those fighting games, my fingers aren't near as fast as my thumb.

On the other hand with a lot of these controllers you don't really need specific support for them and could just have the system treat them as generic HID controllers -- granted it means you'll need to remap buttons, but when the games themselves don't have support for the specific controller then you're going to be doing that regardless. Maybe that's what this does too, I don't know, I haven't checked that.

 

[sley]

With Retroarch being on Steam this update makes a lot of sense actually.