Valve have revealed their final secret of the week and it’s not Half Life 3, sorry. Instead, it is the much rumoured Steam Box controller which does away with joysticks completely and replaces them with dual trackpads.
The trackpads allow far higher fidelity input than has previously been possible with traditional handheld controllers. Steam gamers, who are used to the input associated with PCs, will appreciate that the Steam Controller’s resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse.
The Steam Controller also includes haptic feedback which can be used to deliver in-game information such speed, boundaries or textures.
The now obligatory touch screen can be found in the centre of the pad whilst the buttons have been “placed based on frequency of use, precision required and ergonomic comfort.”
It’s certainly rather different, what do you think?
Source: Steam
mad_mac_hl
I’m a PC gamer 99% of the time – never really got on well with existing controllers largely because I don’t feel I have the right kind of tactile control that I’m used to with a mouse. But even I’m cautiously excited by Valve’s new controller. The dual trackpads should give me exactly what I’ve been missing from existing controllers so I’m interested – it may well open up the way I play games which can only be a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
As far as appearance goes, I actually think it looks pretty decent. The shape is similar to existing controllers albeit with a variation in approach to ergonomic design of the controller and how you hold it. I’ll remind people of how the X-box controller was pretty well slated on its release yet its done well in the end.
The features of the touchscreen and trackpads sound like a step in the right direction and I think this is where Sony and Microsoft have missed a trick in their next gen consoles. They had an opportunity to really go for something more and opted for something that while conmfortable and familiar to most, doesn’t really add that much to the gaming experience.
So fair play to Valve. I think they’ve done well with their announcements this week. The potential is there. They’ve done their homework. They’re importantly looking for user feedback. Lets just hope that the final product meets expectations.
Wardy-77-
It looks like something that fell out of a christmas cracker! don’t think ill sleep tonight after seeing that nightmarish abomination ewww.
cam the man
It’s not the best looking pad I’ve seen but certainly not the worst.
I like the trackpads which look like they should be better than the current XB/PS sticks for more precise control. Will have to wait for more info/review to be certain.
KeRaSh
Not sure how this is supposed to emulate a mouse any more than any other controller currently available. Not a big fan of the idea but I’d have to give it a try. I probably won’t buy it just to find out that it doesn’t suit me since I’m not bothered by current input methods and apparently the PS4 controller is natively supported by PCs which means the potentially best controller can already be used for PC gaming (basing this off of the general consensus of journalists that have used the DS4).
The omission of a D-Pad is also very, very off-putting.
Foxhound_Solid
Don’t know how practical or annoying it might be, I’d still like a go. With the standard Street Fighter, Killzone, Gran Turismo and MGS type tests :-)