Listen to the new Steam Controller buzz to the tune of Doom
Valve’s new Steam Controller can produce sounds and music through its haptic feedback motors, despite lacking a traditional speaker. The controller demonstrates this capability by playing music from popular games, including the “Ground Theme” from Super Mario Bros. 2, “Still Alive” from Portal 2, and the iconic theme from Doom.
This functionality builds on the legacy of Valve’s original Steam Controller, which despite being discontinued, earned a reputation among hardware enthusiasts for its tinkering potential. The community has built on this tradition, with developers creating open-source software to enable these creative uses of the haptic motors.
The innovation showcases how modern gaming hardware can be repurposed beyond its intended function, allowing the controller’s haptic feedback system to function as an unconventional audio output device. This demonstrates both the technical sophistication of the new controller’s haptic implementation and the creative potential that emerges when companies design their hardware with flexibility and community modification in mind.