News Valve unveils the Steam Controller

Stick and FPS just don't work, its why (afaik) there has never been a game that has controllers vs K+M as it would be seen as a unfair advantage.

As for long gaming sessions and friction, there is always KY jelly or some other lube

The link posted by d_stilgar makes for good reading if you have doubts like most people myself included, but unlike some im willing to wait until we get some more feedback from the beta testers. Speaking of the beta testers has anyone on the BT forums applied to take part ? it would be great to get some direct feedback and answers to questions.

 

This looks amazing. I sit in front of my tv playing pc games with a 360 pad ,I love using a mouse but hate using a keyboard so This will be an upgrade for me

 

Dust514 on the PS3 has native USB keyboard and mouse support and you're playing against people using controllers. And yes, people with gamepads get slaughtered by the keyboard+mouse players

Anyways, to those who are saying that we bash the new controller without experiences....

I've played alot of games on my iPad recently and I can tell you, that there's simply no finetuning possible on a touchpad, especially not when you're using your thumbs.
Your index-finger is a totally different thing, and hence the touchpads on a notebook do work well, but when you're covering half the touchpad with your thumb, than there simply isn't any finetuning possible.
With thumbsticks that's different, as the stick underneath is very thin and springloaded giving you the needed precision.

But yeah, believe in marketing-crap and sponsored articles on gamasutra etc. This device won't work for the majority of gamers, especially when talking about FPS-titles.

 

So we are writing it off as a dud before anyone has had the chance to use it ?

 

Yep, you know the rules. We've gotta have our time to hate on something new, THEN some of us will try it

 

Call me naive, but from the little I know of Valve, why would they bother putting something out there that wasn't going to live up to their promises? It would die an embarrassing death and tarnish their image. I'm certainly willing to wait and see...

 

waiting to see what comes out of it as well, but I will be honest and I say I won't be surprised if this is gonna take some time before it comes out (or cancelled).. cough.... HL3... cough...

 

I've signed up for the beta and I live close(ish) to Seattle, WA. Maybe that will help. I've also participated in some of their betas before. I've never submitted anything through the steam workshop though, which I guess is supposed to give you a leg up.

 

I wish you the best of luck, i think they are only picking 30 based on their past community contributions. Goes without saying if you need any help

 

Let me fix that for you...

 

The huge difference for me (never being a controller fan) is that there is no opposing force. I think Valve have conquered that by removing the sticks, and I think it will be much easier for me to use and get more accurate movement control.

I booted Great Giana Sisters plus a controller in BigScreen mode, just to complete my entry in the draw for testing the hardware (god, please!!). However, using keyboard gave me so much more satisfaction. My Logitech 510 pad felt waaaaaaaaaaay too 'opposing'.

 

Frankly I've got so used to it that not having some sort of resistance throws me WAY off. I'm willing to at least try it once it comes out(if ever ), and if it works well enough it might just join the legion of mouses, keyboards, headphones, joysticks and controllers peripherals that I have. Until them I'm content with hating on it b/c it's "new"

 

Really not a fan of controller gaming but this does look interesting. Maybe the "haptic" side of things will give a slight improvement over traditional game pads.

Since some have mentioned it already, I don't think they will go release exclusive with HL3. Value has by it's very nature plugged their openness and limiting it to just their OS goes completely against their values.

Of course, ANY news on HL3 open or closed would make it good day all round.

 

How has no-one mentioned the obvious use for this controller? Nerds everywhere can finally rub virtual nipples

 

Those who can't manage to get the real deal. (you know who you are)

 

Nipples with haptic feedback....

 

Gabe Newell just gave an interview where he talks about the Cleveland Steam Box. Definitely worth a watch.



NSFW warning on language.

 

Can't watch the video right now but shouldn't someone tell Gabe what a Cleveland Steamer is? Perhaps he'll call the next box the dirty sanchez.

Edit: Ah, just watched the video. Suddenly it all makes sense. Glad I didn't watch it at work!

 

All those talking about lack of tactile feedback/resistance, isn't that what the inner raised "ring" on the trackpads are for?

Presumably the trackpads will have two modes, one for "relative" mode simulating analog sticks in which case the inner ring would simulate the dead zone so you can feel with your thumbs when you're not central (my personal issue with touchscreen controls!) and movement is the relative position of your thumb to the centre. Also, those talking about locking to full extreme of stick movement, that would be the outter ridge ring (slide thumb until you feel the ring, that's "full tilt" of the "stick"). Looks to me like they've already considered the tactile feedback aspect...

The second mode, which I get the impression from all the press releases about FPS and RTS is the intended use, I'll call the "absolute" mode (for lack of a better name at this time) where it is the same as a laptop track pad. In this case, a stationary thumb will do nothing and only moving your thumb will cause a movement the same as a mouse. In this mode, there is no "deadzone" and there is no need for resistance because it is the movement of your thumb rather than the position.

For me, the biggest issue I see with this controller is that of games like DmC and Dark Souls etc. where the face button "diamond" is more crucial than right analog stick. If you can set the four corners of the trackpad and "button" combined to be the face buttons (touch top and press = Y, touch left and press = X etc.) and then have the right analog stick configured to movement across the surface like my "absolute" mode above then it could work...

It depends on how customisable the controller and interpretation of input is on the final design. If it works like I would want it to, then I can certainly see myself picking one up; I've been wanting a controller with a trackpad in place of right analog stick operating in "absolute" mode for ages!