From the linked GameSpot article:
"8BitDo has revealed the successor to its popular Pro 2 Bluetooth Controller. Officially called the Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad, the upcoming controller retains the form factor of the Pro 2 while implementing some of the enhanced features found in the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth, such as TMR joysticks and trigger locks. It also has a few entirely new features not found on other 8BitDo controllers, including swappable magnetic face buttons and an extra pair of arcade-inspired ball-top stick caps.
The 8BitDo Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad is available to preorder now at Amazon for $70 ahead of its August 12 release. It comes in three retro-themed colors: G Classic, Gray, and a shade of purple that pays homage to the Nintendo GameCube. All three models come with matching charging docks and a set ball-top arcade stick toppers that can be swapped in for the traditional rubberized caps. Out of the box, the Pro 3 is compatible with Switch 2, Switch, PC, Android, Apple devices, and Steam Deck."
Their controllers are amazing but the naming convention is so bad.
The internal battery feels like such a downgrade…
But bluetooth though, why not 2.4ghz? My 8bitdo has 2.4ghz
It does do 2.4GHz. There’s a dongle stored in the charging base.
I love that word, dongle
I love my Pro 2, best pad I’ve ever had, but I love it enough that I have no real need to spend $70 on an upgrade. This sounds excellent for anyone who doesn’t already have one though.
Not sure I get the point of removing the face buttons though. You shouldn’t need to physically rearrange them in order to remap them. I just use the Pro 2’s profile switcher button to swap layouts, and I see that button is still present, so I don’t see why I would want to do it the hard way.
As someone who switches between PC using an Xbox layout and a Switch, I like the idea of swappable buttons, assuming it doesn’t cause any issues physically with the controller in the long run.
But you can just do that in software already.
It’s more for people who look at the controller buttons while playing. I’ve had people use my controllers and get really confused when B is actually A and so on.
8bitdo has the best specs hands down. But their controller shape is just… Awful.
I thought the same about the 8bitdo pro 2, until i bought one and actually held it. Its my favorite controller i have ever had. It fits so perfect in my hands and feels high quality.
The quality is great but it is very small for my hands. And the hand grips have no angle to them to match my arm curve. They go almost straight down.
Now with buttons that can fall off! Whoohoo 😂
I’ll ask their support about what exactly they mean by steamos support (fully rebindable in steam, or just “the buttons work”) and edit my comment to show the answer.
Ultimate 2 is fully bindable in Steam (even gyro if you do directinput over bluetooth).
Valve gonna Valve but there isn’t a reason to assume a regression on that. But, like everything, don’t preorder things.
I have an Ultimate 2 and I haven’t been able to figure out how to do that so I can’t remap the back buttons with Steam input.
What’s the trick?
- Update the firmware of the controller and dongle (technically the dongle isn’t necessary if you are using bluetooth). I did this in a VM because Linux
- Fully power down the controller. Switch to the connectivity mode you want
- Hold the Circle/B button and power on the controller to enable directinput mode
- Update Steam to the Beta branch
- Open Steam’s controller remapper
- Regardless of connectivity, you should have mappable L4/R4/BackPaddles. If you are using bluetooth you will also have the gyro
