"The Steam Universe is Expanding in 2014"

[Amras.MG]

People would buy the controller if it was $150, but only if they were hardcore Valve fans and the controller was really good. There are people out there who buy controllers that expensive all the time.

Valve is making this a huge part of their living room push, though, so I'd be surprised to see a price over $50.

[Kindrindra]

Well, yeah, but I tend to remove the hardcore fans from calculations because they're generally a given. :P

/WorstOpinion

[Talon87]

I remember there being a MechWarrior game for the original XBox which sold with a custom controller for $200. I can't seem to find that game and controller right now when Googling, but I did find Capcom's Steel Batallion, selling on Amazon for $600 (though only because it's no longer manufactured, of course; original price would have been much lower). Most people seem to offer the game and controller on eBay for around $270 which would fit with my memories of the $200-to-$250 MechWarrior game+controller bundle.

That stated, these are obviously niche products sold to a miniscule market. They're not the sort of thing intended for sale to nor ability to be sold to the mass market. 99% of gamers will pass -- and did pass -- on the MechWarrior et al games and their controllers. While the number may not be 99%, it'd probably be something close to 90% if Valve tried to sell a controller for a stand-alone price of $150.

Someone remind me how much Wii U gamepads cost though. Don't they run you over $100? Yeah, a quick eBay search seems to suggest $150 or more for one of those. And I'm sure people buy them, so ... *shrug*

[Kindrindra]

That's a good point, Talon, though it's worth noting that Wii U gamepads are designed to be 1-per-system, with the other controllers used being Wiimotes (and, unless I'm mistaken, the system generally comes with the one you need?). Obviously this has no relevance on the guy playing singleplayer games by himself or online, but it's still an aspect of the market that could affect pricing.

[Amras.MG]

Yeah, pretty sure Wii U doesn't even support two gamepads right now. You get one when you buy the system.

[Loki]

Yes, Steel Battalion was something I mentioned to you not too long ago in a discussion we had, although I don't know why it came up. And yeah, at launch it was a $200 40 button controller, pedals, and dual joystick controls.

The difference being is that Steel Battalion was pretty much a unique experience that fit the niche market as you explained, but the Valve Controller would likely end up being used by a lot of games. The uniqueness of Steel Battalion is lost when you are look at what should be a $150 generic controller. (Assuming that is the price tag)

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Loki

Yes, Steel Battalion was something I mentioned to you not too long ago in a discussion we had, although I don't know why it came up. And yeah, at launch it was a $200 40 button controller, pedals, and dual joystick controls.

You make it sound like you're the one who introduced me to this notion of a $200 controller for MechWarrior games. I'm going to tell you right now that I've known about these games since no later than 2003 -- because I had a friend in high school who went and bought the MechWarrior one.

[Concept]

Left 4 Dead 2 is free on Steam for the next four hours or so.