Someone at Valve loves throwing Steam Controller prototypes into charity bins, as another prototype gamepad has ended up at Goodwill. If I had a Steam Machine for every time this has happened so far, I'd have two more than I currently have, but as someone who thinks the storefront giant should have stuck to its stickless design, I'd be thrilled to find one of these oddball touch controllers in the wild.
The story behind this Steam Controller prototype feels like Deja Vu, was highlighted by Waste-Set5032 on the same Subreddit seven years later (via Videocardz). This time, the Redditor says the pad was found by their father in Seattle, who has also chimed into the thread to confirm they grabbed the important piece of Valve hardware history.
"Sometimes you find things at Goodwill and you let them go, aware that although you could flip it for a pretty penny, it would make someone’s day to find something like that," admits ErbilT. "I thought about letting this go, but I know my son is a fan of everything Valve, so I picked it up." Perhaps I need to start sending my family into more thrift stores, but it sounds like OP has potentially paid a high price since their dad signs off with "I now know my son’s Reddit handle."
Seven years ago, another member of this Subreddit found a Chell Prototype in a Goodwill. Well, would you look at this, it happened twice. My dad in Seattle found one. from r/SteamController
I should be clear that this isn't a prototype of the shiny new Steam Controller. Instead, it's a Chell development unit, a prelude to the 2015 version. Rather than including one left thumbstick, though, this version only includes touchpads, meaning it was going all in on the pseudo-mouse and WASD keyboard controls of the 2010s setup.
Here's the thing: I actually think Valve should have stuck with its stickless Steam Controller design. Including a left thumbstick sort of confused the premise of the original pad, leaving players who prefer traditional controls itching for normal camera movement on the right.
I still believe we would have ended up with the same gamepad we have now, inspired by the Steam Deck OLED and its LCD predecessor, but I believe the Chell prototype makes a bigger statement about PC games in the living room. Valve's mission has changed slightly in that it's now focused on making an actual console contender with a pad that can do both mouse and full thumbstick controls rather than a desktop workaround.
Valve's original plans aside, I enjoy the idea of people holding onto dev units like this Steam Controller. When they do pop up in the wild, they spark discussions tied to hardware history and pivotal moments, and while someone didn't value this pad enough to hang onto it, it's now immortalised as an incredible Goodwill find.
This second Steam Controller isn't even the only early piece of hardware I've been mesmerized by lately. On Friday, I shared word that Sony created a battery-powered PS1 and shoved it inside a DualShock controller, and it's now spreading across the internet like wildfire.
Swing by the best Steam Deck docks if you're putting together a makeshift Steam Machine setup using Valve's handheld.
