First reported by The Verge, peripherals manufacturer Hori is making an official Steam-branded controller set to release in Japan on October 31. While this is a Steam controller, it's not a Steam Controller if you take my meaning. But this is the first time Valve has licensed the Steam branding to a third party hardware manufacturer since the quiet death of the ill-starred Steam Machines.
Like many beautiful things in this fallen world—the works of Vincent van Gogh, RPG powerhouse Troika Games, the 1995 film Johnny Mnemonic—the Steam Controller was not appreciated in its time, only getting a wistful, bittersweet reappraisal after the fact. Yes it definitely needed a second analogue stick, and maybe could have benefitted from a rechargeable battery instead of two double-As, but it was something strange and new, and its software support helped usher in a new era of customization for gamepad controls on PC.
