A new Steam client beta update from Valve adds Steam Joy-Con support for the Nintendo Switch controllers, meaning that they are now officially supported as a way to play your PC games. This addition rounds out the list of supported Switch pads, which includes the Switch Pro controller and Nintendo’s range of classic style controllers.
The Steam client beta update for August 5 introduces official support for the small, paired controllers which are the mainstay for the Nintendo Switch console. Much like with the Switch itself, you can use the controllers individually – where they will be treated as a mini-gamepad – or pair them together to enable the functionality of a full-size controller.
While the Switch Joy-Con may not be most people’s optimal way to play, they do offer some rather useful functionality. For example, instead of a traditional cross-shaped directional pad on the left, the Joy-Con features four distinct buttons much like those of the “face buttons” typically found on the right side of a controller. These separated buttons can come in handy for games that require tight directional precision, especially in classic titles such as Tetris or Pac-Man where an accidental wrong directional input can spell disaster.
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