The unique Steam Controller went through countless iterations before Valve landed on the 2015 design, which progressively began to resemble something more familiar to an Xbox controller or DualShock. Though it only had one joystick, for some reason.
One among those early prototypes—Chell, named after the Portal protagonist—featured two circular touchpads on either side, with a grid in the center flanked by the Y, B, X, and A buttons. It is easy to see why Valve ditched this idea, because it was far less ergonomic, with awkward button placement that might have clashed with everyone’s muscle memory. Nonetheless, a couple of of the prototypes were manufactured, and have been present in thrift stores through the years by a couple of lucky Valve enthusiasts.
“I Can Agree About It Being Inferior To The Final Product”
Just this weekend, Reddit user Waste-Set5032 stumbled across one in every of these rare Steam Controllers. “That is dope to me,” they said, adding that their dad found it in a Goodwill. “I, as a youngster, wasn’t around for peak Valve, so finding things like these really interests me.” For anyone not within the States, Goodwill is a non-profit store that sells donated clothing, furniture, and other goods at discount prices.
Valve’s idea with the Steam Controller was to make a peripheral more befitting PC, with trackpads easing navigation. Even in the most recent iteration, there are two awkwardly stuck under the joysticks.
4 years ago, Reddit user Creepy-Boss-705 also grabbed a Chell prototype in an eBay auction, and even tested a couple of games with it.
“I’d say the weirdest thing in terms of this controller is the dearth of information regarding of its functionality [sic] after the retail version got here out,” they explained, noting that they like the touch pads on the Chell prototype in comparison with retail. “I’m still surprised that Steam recognizes it in any respect. Up to now, Steam thinks it’s a traditional [Steam Controller]. The 4 middle buttons corresponds to the joystick, so mapping them is not an issue, albeit weird for me. I can agree about it being inferior to the ultimate product, but I have not really done much with anything that uses gyro.”
Taking a look at the incredibly awkward ridged circles and unmarked buttons, it’s hard to assume the controller being way more than a novelty—playing through Dark Souls 2 with the official 2015 version was painful enough. Chell looks like it would be functionally unimaginable to beat the sport with. Nevertheless it’s a bit of gaming history, so it’s fascinating to see one stumbled upon within the wild all these years later.