Valve Index Controllers: Strapped & Trapped

My Valve Index Controllers came in yesterday and I have done some testing on it last night using Valve's own Aperture Hand Lab, which is a short finger tracking demo, and the game Half-Life: Alyx. I started off being very excited about the prospect but ended up finding the whole experience a bit clunky. Bear in mind that this is just a quick first impression after an hour and a half of playtime. My expectation of the peripherals' performance was apparently too high and I also know that I have gotten very comfortable with the HTC Vive Wands so trying out something totally new can be a bit challenging.

I love the cheeky Velcro moment found inside the box, Valve. Clever.

Feels Like $100, Just Not Built Like One

I have been thinking about upgrading my HTC Vive to a Valve Index over the past couple of months and after much contemplations, I have decided to do a half-upgrade. Since I can mix and match components of the Index with my current set, I ended up ordering just the Index Controllers. I haven't lived that long in virtual reality with Steam recording my playtime at 369 hours total since late 2016, which is about 90 hours a year, so I couldn't justify a huge investment on the far superior headset. I am still intrigued by the newfound freedom found with the Index Controllers however in both the finger tracking and object holding mechanics: I am really looking forward to experience these when they arrive in a couple of weeks. On top of the incoming controllers, I have upgraded my launch Vive with the Deluxe Audio Strap. I have been holding off from getting one all this time because I was certain that I would be upgrading my VR headset by now. To me, the default strap for the Vive has been working well though it took some time for the heaviness of the head mounted display on my face to normalize. Now, the Deluxe Audio Strap is ridiculously expensive at $100 and I have waited so long for the price to drop, in which it never did.

I really like the packaging. Just not a fan of the price.

My Switch 2020 Year in Review

Now here's a cute little email from Nintendo. Though it's probably going to make those wearing tinfoil hats spin in their chairs while losing track of the number of ice cubes hidden in their Joy-Cons, I think this is definitely the most fun email I have received from them ever. It's a little summary of my activities on the Nintendo Switch and it made me wish that I could get something similar from Valve for my Steam activities. Speaking of Steam however, I really love that they are expanding the profile customization for the platform that came alongside this year's Steam Winter Sale. So let's see how I did on the Switch.

That's about right, thank you for the acknowledgment.

PS5 DualSense Now Fully Supported on Steam

It's been in the works for a while but on Monday, Valve officially released the full support for Sony's new PlayStation 5 DualSense controller on Steam, which means all of the controller's functions now work on the Steam client. I have received my test unit today and have used it over multiple games. The verdict? It works flawlessly. I have been using the X-Box One controller as my go to controller on the PC for games that play better with one and I may just switch to the DualSense because it has more features built in. I find the X-Box One controller the most comfortable to hold but I have always despised the d-pad on it. PlayStation controllers always have the best d-pads. At this time however, I don't think there are any games on Steam that is using all the fancy tricks they have for the DualSense - most prominently, the adaptive triggers - but it's just a matter of time before the developers start messing around with them.

I prefer a black controller so it would have been nice if the black and white parts switched places.

The Steam Awards 2020 Nominations

Steam is currently having an Autumn Sale event which will last until the 1st of next month and with it, Valve is also accepting their client user votes for the annual "The Steam Awards", which involves nominations for 10 different categories. The winners will be announced on the 3rd of next year. I like The Steam Award because, outside of it and the old Yearly Gaming Analysis of yours truly, it's an actual celebration of gaming excellence that doesn't suck since everything comes from the winners are chosen by the actual gamers on Steam and it doesn't come with an cheesy announcement event featuring questionable, most likely fake gamers and celebrities. I thought this year, I should post my nominations here and I will make this a yearly thing so that I can muse over them in the years to come. I am rather disappointed that I was not able to nominate a game multiple times across multiple categories. I don't remember if it was possible before. Surely the winner of the "Game of the Year" could easily fit into the other categories as well, but I suppose they probably just want to discourage lazy people from nominating just one game for all ten categories.

Feel free to drop your nomination links in the comment section. I am always curious to know!