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Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord...
Sep 13, 2013
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As expected, the third of this week's trio of Steam-related announcements from Valve is a new controller designed to be used with SteamOS in the living room. And from what Valve has revealed, this isn't a mere copy of the now practically default dual-stick design, but a new kind of controller that will even work with PC games designed for a mouse and keyboard.
Where the two thumbsticks sit on a traditional gamepad, Valve's controller has a pair of circular, textured, concave, high-resolution, clickable trackpads that allow for "far higher fidelity input than has previously been possible with traditional handheld controllers" that "approaches that of a desktop mouse," Valve said.
"Traditional gamepads force us to accept compromises. We’ve made it a goal to improve upon the resolution and fidelity of input that’s possible with those devices," Valve wrote in its announcement. "The Steam controller offers a new and, we believe, vastly superior control scheme, all while enabling you to play from the comfort of your sofa."
To make up for what Valve called a lack of physicality in the touchpads (at least compared to thumbsticks) the company has built in what it is calling "a new generation of super-precise haptic feedback" that it said goes well beyond the mere "rumble" of current handheld controllers. These haptics will create "a wide range of force and vibration, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement."
In addition, the center of the pad is a high-resolution touchscreen that Valve said is "critical to achieving the controller’s primary goal—supporting all games in the Steam catalog." This touchscreen will allow players to select from any number of commands on the screen (or swipe through pages of commands) and then click the touchscreen to activate their choice. Game developers who want their games to work with this new portion of the controller will have access to an API when the prototypes ship to beta testers later this year.
In a novel twist, touching the screen on the controller will bring up an overlay on the monitor showing what is happening on the touchscreen, so players won't have to divide their attention between two displays.
Of course, there are standard buttons on the Steam Controller as well: 16 in all, with eight that can be pushed without removing the thumbs from the touchpads. In addition to four shoulder buttons, the controller features two "back buttons" on the inner edge of the curved rear of the controller that look like they're meant to be pushed with the middle through pinky fingers. The face of the controller features three menu-like buttons below the touchpad areas and four action buttons toward the center, adjacent to the touchscreen, which require reaching the thumbs up and past the touchpad areas.
A "legacy mode" will allow the controller to emulate a mouse and keyboard setup on all Steam games, and players will be able to download from sets of configurations shared by other players to avoid the hassle of having to set up each game separately.
Valve made it very clear that this new controller won't be required to play any Steam games; you can still use another controller or a mouse and keyboard to play your PC games, even on SteamOS

[url]http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/09/valve-unveils-touchpadtouchscreen-enabled-steam-controller-for-living-room/[/URL]
 
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WOW. Speechless. This is incredible, I'd really like to see how FPS would work on that controller compared to our traditional ones today.
 
Yeah I'm pretty curious about it. Seems lacking in buttons but most PC games that I'd use this for are console-like anyways and have limited buttons.

I'm glad they didn't go with a standard dual-analog design, as I'd have skipped that for Mouse/Keys majority of the time anyways.
 
Yeah I'm pretty curious about it. Seems lacking in buttons but most PC games that I'd use this for are console-like anyways and have limited buttons.

I'm glad they didn't go with a standard dual-analog design, as I'd have skipped that for Mouse/Keys majority of the time anyways.

I think for a game like ARMA, it'd be tough to play that on a controller, there are so many keys on the keyboard that have some function in the game.

Hell, I wonder how you could play Starcraft 2 with this? Or do you think it's only limited to Steam games?
 
I think for a game like ARMA, it'd be tough to play that on a controller, there are so many keys on the keyboard that have some function in the game.

Hell, I wonder how you could play Starcraft 2 with this? Or do you think it's only limited to Steam games?

I'm sure they'll have standard PC drivers for it so you could use it anywhere.

But yeah, strategy games for PC are mouse and KB only.. I wouldn't even try to use something like that. It's still never going to be as fast and precise as a mouse. I'm not planning on playing Civ 5 or Rome 2 with it, but games like Max Payne 3 and maybe other console shooter style games could be great with it.

Also the Need for Speeds of the world, and a lot of Indie games that control better with gameplads.
 
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I'm sure they'll have standard PC drivers for it so you could use it anywhere.

But yeah, strategy games for PC are mouse and KB only.. I wouldn't even try to use something like that. It's still never going to be as fast and precise as a mouse. I'm not planning on playing Civ 5 or Rome 2 with it, but games like Max Payne 3 and maybe other console shooter style games could be great with it.

Also the Need for Speeds of the world, and a lot of Indie games that control better with gameplads.

Torchlight 2!!!
 
They might as well call it the DF 1.0 (Design Flaw 1.0).

This thing pretty much throws out years of controller design improvements over 20 years for the sake of being different.

It is simply incompatible with various types of gaming genres like fighting games, side-scrollers, and platformers. Additionally, it does not even seem like it would work well with third-person action games, and even first-person shooters as tracking pads offer imprecise movement (although slightly better aiming precision). It also puts two button on top of your fingers in the back meaning any instinctive squeeze of the controller causes them to be pressed.

It doesn't even have a D-Pad!

Terrible design. What the hell was Valve thinking?
 
I'll definitely NOT be picking it up at launch. And that's coming from someone who has been looking to get away from m/kb trying to find th holy grail of pc controllers.

Right now I have to make due with the 360 controller. It's the best option available despite its useless gameplay and stupidly using a single axis for the triggers.

I guess I'll wait on the reviews to come in and if this new pad will even b an option for me.
 
I think for a game like ARMA, it'd be tough to play that on a controller, there are so many keys on the keyboard that have some function in the game.

Hell, I wonder how you could play Starcraft 2 with this? Or do you think it's only limited to Steam games?

My guess is you'll see the touchscreen in the center used for many functions. Imagine a grid of 3x3 icons for 'crouch' 'prone' etc. - swipe left for another selection of 9, and swipe right for a third set. That's 27 bindable keys at your fingertips and while it will certainly take longer than keyboard shortcuts, at least the controller crowd will now have options.

As for the touchpads, I'll withhold judgement until I can get my hands on a working unit.
 
I'm fairly certain this is going to be both uncomfortable and a leading cause of early-onset carpal tunnel syndrome. ...unless that's the underside of the controller. :really:
 
How can you look at a controller and make a judgement on it's comfort level?
For the reason it looks, to me, like an upside down Xbox "Duke" Controller. Imagining holding the Duke Controller backwards and leaning my wrists inward to hit the A-B-X-Y buttons gives me an uncomfortable feeling just looking at it.
 
For the reason it looks, to me, like an upside down Xbox "Duke" Controller. Imagining holding the Duke Controller backwards and leaning my wrists inward to hit the A-B-X-Y buttons gives me an uncomfortable feeling just looking at it.

I think your brain is tricking you. It looks like a regular 360 controller, only take out the analogue sticks and put a couple of shallow bowls underneath. Your hand position is going to be the exact same except your thumbs will be a bit closer the the fingertips of your index finger.
 
I'd love to see a comparison on aiming fidelity between traditional controllers and this.
 
Lol. It does not look interesting, but it may be interesting. I'd have to use it, but just like the Wii controller, I doubt it will replace my DualShock for traditional gaming.
 
What are the odds of getting the Xbox One controller to work with the Steam Machine instead of this POS?
 
Some info from people who have tested the controller.
Dan Tabar is an indie game developer at Planetoid Pioneers studio Data Realms, and he was one of several indie developers who had hands-on demos with the controller at Valve's Bellevue, WA headquarters on Labor Day this year.

What he described was an extremely flexible, mappable controller -- perhaps the most flexible control option this side of a keyboard and mouse setup -- that offers generous tactile feedback.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...the_Steam_Controller_Heres_what_they_said.php

I used a Steam Controller a few months ago; the button configuration was different at the time, but the cursor pads worked amazingly well.

11:21 AM - 27 Sep 2013

.@firehair12000 Yes, it makes it feel like you're actually operating a real physically mechanical device, not just a touchscreen.

11:26 AM - 27 Sep 2013

http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mi...am-controller-is-designed-for-the-living-room

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It's different alright, but I don't see how it will do well. I'm assuming the two discs are hard and touch sensitive. It will be like trying to play games on a tablet where it super imposes a control stick on the screen and you have to get used to a smooth play surface as opposed to analog sticks or d-pads with tactile feel.

The discs embossed ring can give gamers a feeling of where their thumbs are, but I don't see it being effective.
 
It's different alright, but I don't see how it will do well. I'm assuming the two discs are hard and touch sensitive. It will be like trying to play games on a tablet where it super imposes a control stick on the screen and you have to get used to a smooth play surface as opposed to analog sticks or d-pads with tactile feel.

The discs embossed ring can give gamers a feeling of where their thumbs are, but I don't see it being effective.

Quick. Email Valve right away. We can't have them investing all this time and money into a controller that behaves as you say.
 
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Is that a button on the back, where your fingers rest when you're gripping it?
If so, that's something I wanted on the new xbox controller.
 
It's different alright, but I don't see how it will do well. I'm assuming the two discs are hard and touch sensitive. It will be like trying to play games on a tablet where it super imposes a control stick on the screen and you have to get used to a smooth play surface as opposed to analog sticks or d-pads with tactile feel.

The discs embossed ring can give gamers a feeling of where their thumbs are, but I don't see it being effective.
They also indicated that there is other feedback, not just the ridges, so the player knows where their thumbs are. Of course, who knows how effective this is until we try it, but doesn't everyone who has ever played with an on-screen controller know it is crap? It's really hard for me to believe that Valve would spend tons of money on something this important and not address the biggest complaint with what seems like the most obviously similar (by appearance) control method.