Zotac NEN SN970 Steam Machine Review

The Steam Controller
Being that SteamOS and the Steam Machine’s are supposed to be a living room experience Valve developed their own Steam Controller. This controller is made to not only give you controls that you would expect on a console, but the ability to still use a mouse (cursor) and much more.

Steam Controller

The Steam Controller looks very much like an Xbox 360 controller, but is a bit bigger. Starting at the center of the controller you have the Steam Home button, which will turn the controller. On each side you have two smaller buttons, the one on the left is a back button and the one on the right is the start button. There are two large circles on the controller which are directional pads, meant to be used like a traditional mouse, but with your thumbs. The directional pad on the left has a D-pad built into it. Moving down from the D-pad you have an analog stick and to the right of that are X,A,Y, and B buttons.

Steam Controller

On the top of the controller you will find a microUSB connection that will allow you to use the controller if it is out of battery power. On each side of the top you have a bumper and a trigger. You there are 4 buttons on the top here.

Steam Controller

Flipping the controller over there are actually two more buttons on the back built into the left and right side of where you grip the controller. This is something new that I’ve never seen on a controller before.

Steam Controller

This back part of the controller pops off by using a slider on the bottom-side of the controller that releases it. Once released you can install one AA battery on each side.

Steam Controller

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