The Steam Controller’s unusual design has turned heads, and not everybody is a fan. But the good news is, if you don’t like it, you can re-engineer it to your specifications. Valve has just released the CAD files to let you mod the controller. Or the exterior, at least.
The actual guts of the Steam Controller are still off the table, and you’ll need a 3-D printer to create these mods in the first place. But everything else is up for grabs, and Valve has made the files Creative Commons. If you want to sell controller designs, you’ll need to clear it with Valve, but if you want to distribute them for free, you can.
This is a big deal for far more than just nerds looking for the perfect texture on their controller. Modifying controllers so that everyone can game has, to this point, largely been the province of specialty modders who donate their time and expertise, and they can really only build one controller at a time. With the plans widely available and free, this will allow gamers with different levels of ability to play for much cheaper and with easier construction. For that potential, alone, this is great news, and we suspect that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Although, that said, we now await the inevitable “sexy” controllers. You know they’re on the way as we speak.
(Via PC World)