The new Horipad for Steam will be available in December for $59.99
The divisive Steam Controller was the testing ground for a number of ideas (touchpads, rear buttons, haptics) that eventually found their way into Valve’s Steam Deck. While the company hasn’t yet followed up on its 2015 wireless gamepad, peripherals company Hori has, in a sense. The new one $59.99 wireless Horipad available for pre-order from Amazon (launching December 16) brandishes the Steam logo that doubles as a home button, and this is probably the closest thing to a new Steam Controller we’re going to get. Fortunately, it borrows a number of features that you might recognize if you own a Steam Deck.
Interestingly, the thumbsticks are capacitive, just like those of the Steam Deck, which means they know whether your thumb is resting on them or not. This feature allows you to program functions onto the sticks via Steam’s controller customization tools, whether it’s activating gyroscopic aiming (which the controller supports), displaying a mini-map, or any other command you can think of by simply pressing your finger. to keep the stick. The Horipad for Steam has almost all the same buttons as on the Steam Deck, including the essential system-level buttons, as well as two pairs of assignable macro buttons. While the Deck places both pairs on the back near the grips, this controller places one pair on the front (under the D-pad and right stick) and another pair on the back.
The Horipad for Steam supports Bluetooth and can also serve as an XInput controller when you connect it to your computer via the included 3.8 meter USB cable. A switch on the back lets you switch between wireless and wired mode, and another switch lets you determine whether the triggers are analog or digital. As for what the Horipad is missing, you won’t find rumble support here, nor are there trackpads or a headphone jack.
This controller seems appropriate for the price, but if you have consoles in your home, you may already have a favorite gamepad to use with Steam or a Steam Deck. My former Verge colleague Sam Byford reviewed the Horipad for his blog Multicore before it was announced in more regions, saying it’s an intriguing controller, but not an impressive one.