On June 26, Hori announced that an officially Valve-licensed Hori Steam Controller would be coming to Japan on October 31 in four colors, priced at 7,980 yen, or about $50. The colors available are Neon Yellow, Luminous Purple, Glowing White, and Midnight Black. As the yen price suggests, these recent Hori Steam Controllers are exclusive to Japan. However, they still interestingly continue the Steam Controller legacy and could still come to the United States. This seems to be part of Valve’s ongoing effort to court Japanese gamers, who played a lot of handheld games even during the years when handheld consoles (i.e., the Sony PSP) were struggling elsewhere.
🔷New Product Announcement🔷Officially Licensed Steam Pad Now Available ・Wireless Horipad for Steam Midnight Black ・ Shiny White ・Neon Yellow ・Luminous Violet ▼ Product Launch Page https://t.co/macyxnkEke ▼ Click Here to Buy Midnight Black https:/ /t.co/14X3yEyqa5… pic.twitter.com/ILHrnklqIuJune 26, 2024
The most obvious omission of the Hori Steam Controller compared to its predecessors in the Steam Deck Controller/Case and the original Steam Controller is the lack of trackpads. This move is definitely aimed at existing console gamers first, who would prioritize analog controls and the D-Pad when using the Steam Deck, or might otherwise switch from a Nintendo Switch or anything else.
However, not all traces of Valve’s work have disappeared here. The Steam Deck has two analogs compared to the single Steam Controller analog, and these Deck analogs have an additional touch sensitivity feature that allows them to be used for functions such as precise gyro aiming switching. This feature has been ported to the Hori Steam Controller, which supports the full range of Steam input configuration options in the appropriately titled “Steam Mode”. There’s also the usual “XInput mode” with rebinding and stick configuration for non-Steam games.
Like most other current game controllers of this form factor, the Hori can be connected via Bluetooth or a wired USB connection. It also has built-in gyro functionality, similar to Nintendo and PlayStation controllers, although not in XInput mode. There are four built-in programmable buttons similar to the Steam Controller and Steam Deck, as well as the Xbox Elite Controller, but two of them are on the front. Since these are supposed to be for comfort, this less accessible placement is very questionable.
Finally, the controller also has built-in rapid fire functionality that can be enabled in the software, and the two additional Steam and Quick Access buttons are only available in Steam mode. More details and additional detail photos can be found on the official website Hori Steam Controller page.