• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Valve announces Steam Controller

Status
Not open for further replies.

Juravsky

Member
I'm curious, but not really excited. For those who already have an xbox controller I don't think it is going to add that much.
 
Whole genres of games that were previously only playable with a keyboard and mouse are now accessible from the sofa. RTS games. Casual, cursor-driven games. Strategy games. 4x space exploration games. A huge variety of indie games. Simulation titles. And of course, Euro Truck Simulator 2.

tell me they did not just namedrop ETS in that release page
The Steam Controller is designed to work with all the games on Steam: past, present, and future. Even the older titles in the catalog and the ones which were not built with controller support. (We’ve fooled those older games into thinking they’re being played with a keyboard and mouse, but we’ve designed a gamepad that’s nothing like either one of those devices.)
Sounds like it's attempting to simulate a mouse moreso than a traditional gamepad.
 

ekim

Member
The Steam Controller is built around a new generation of super-precise haptic feedback, employing dual linear resonant actuators. These small, strong, weighted electro-magnets are attached to each of the dual trackpads. They are capable of delivering a wide range of force and vibration, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement.

This haptic capability provides a vital channel of information to the player - delivering in-game information about speed, boundaries, thresholds, textures, action confirmations, or any other events about which game designers want players to be aware. It is a higher-bandwidth haptic information channel than exists in any other consumer product that we know of. As a parlour trick they can even play audio waveforms and function as speakers.

That sounds very interesting. I like the look. :)
 

Hexa

Member
I'm not going to fully judge until I hear reviews, but it looks ugly as hell, expensive due to the screen and wierd new stuff(scrolling triggers? Speaker touch pad?)... and quite frankly I can't even begin to fathom how exactly it'll function. Does not look like something I'd enjoy using, as was my immediate first impression with both the X1 and PS4 controllers. o_O
 

SuperHans

Member
Steam copying the Wii U controller. Nintendo validated. Can't wait to get my hands on this thing. The haptics feedback is very interesting.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Assuming it works like it says then it'll be great for some games and absolutely awful for others (aka the same compromise all controllers make) only those games will basically be reversed.

I don't think they get what people want from controllers but I'm willing to give this a shot.
 

ironcreed

Banned
How about triggers or putting the face buttons on one side of the controller? I kind of like it, but I don't know. It is a bit on the radical side.
 

pixlexic

Banned
So xbone controller for my ste machine it is then.

I have a feeling this thing will go through some changes before release.
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
controller.jpg

What...the......hell, is that ?

Interesting, but hopefully we can simply plug a 360 pad into the SteamMachine too, because that just looks horrible for a lot of games.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
even if the touch pads are good......i will not buy it.....i hate gaming on touch pads.

Things hideous as hell as well, I'll stick to my DS4 thank you.
 

novenD

Member
Doesn't look like it has the correct amount of tactile feedback for my tastes. Although those rings might help a little bit, your thumbs will still probably slide from what'd digitally be considered "left/right" to "angled up/down" at the most inconvenient moments.

Valve likely included the Haptic Feedback in an effort to mitigate that issue.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Ehm... I'll stick with my 360 and DS3 :-/
 
The button placement looks odd, & the touchscreen looks a bit too small to be useful (as a screen, it would add good compatibility with the PS4 touchpad), but at least someone is trying to move controllers past Dual-Analogue sticks.
 

Orayn

Member
Each trackpad has two clicks. One in the center, the other in the outer ring.

Each hand also has a trigger, a bumper, and a paddle available to it on the top/back of the controller.
 

Grief.exe

Member
What...the......hell, is that ?

Interesting, but hopefully we can simply plug a 360 pad into the SteamMachine too, because that just looks horrible for a lot of games.

Steam Machine will have USB ports, beta versions shipping this year won't even have wireless controllers.
 

KarmaCow

Member
I don't know about the lack of traditional face buttons. They claim you can access half of the buttons without moving your thumb but we'll see.

Things like having Y and X on the left side seems cumbersome for older games but perhaps there are button schemes to work around it.
 
Well it's certainly unique...I'd love to at least give it a try though. Sure it'd take a lot of getting used to, but it COULD work very well. Only time will tell I guess.
 
That thing could be an interesting solution for a gamepad that might be able to do FPSes and RTSes, but it's quite obviously totally worthless for much of anything else. You'd never, ever want to even attempt to play a platformer, fighting game, etc on that thing, for example. There's a reason why controllers still have d-pads, some games benefit from their type of controls. And given that on the PC swapping between controllers is not always as easy as it is on consoles... well, it could work, but you'd have to swap stuff depending on which kind of game you're playing. I guess that works, and the thing definitely is unique, but we'll see if it actually works well...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom