I kind of wish that Valve had kept producing the Steam Controller.

It really made sense in the context of sitting on a couch and playing mouse-oriented games. And when the Steam Machine flopped, that kind of killed a lot of reason for it.

But people also did find a use for them, and there isn’t a real alternative.

EDIT: Well okay, there were those mods that involved tearing up a Steam Deck and using the components to make a DIY controller, but the price and technical barrier-to-entry there is gonna exclude most people.

With the Steam Deck’s success, I’m surprised the Steam Controller didn’t return, as I think it would be an excellent controller for couch-mode gaming. I’d buy 4 of 'em.

checks

I don’t own a Deck, but Wikipedia does say that the Deck has HDMI out. I guess that having the Steam Controller available would presumably let you use the Deck as a console — plug it into your TV, pair a Steam Controller, and then you get a big screen and a lighter controller.