The Steam Universe is Expanding in 2014...

[kimplix]

Steam controller. I knew this was coming

[SkyLlama]

I WAS RIGHT IT'S A CONTROLLER. Called it.

[Candescence]

WHOA. The new controller looks crazy weird. Clickable trackpads and haptic feedback, plus a touch screen? Oh, man, this is big, if the trackpads are as precise as a controller, well... Wow.

[JezMM]

I really REALLY want one of these in my hands now.  It sounds fascinatingly weird but if it works like they say hoo boy traditional controllers are gonna look as silly and retro as joysticks do (for most people anyway, I know they have their uses, especially for hardcore fighting game players).

[Badnik Mechanic]

[SkyLlama]

I really REALLY want one of these in my hands now.  It sounds fascinatingly weird but if it works like they say hoo boy traditional controllers are gonna look as silly and retro as joysticks do (for most people anyway, I know they have their uses, especially for hardcore fighting game players).

 

Indeed. If this works it could bridge a gap the traditional controllers haven't been able too. Literally everything will be playable with it. I want one right now.

 

If this works well I can easily see this being the biggest thing to come from these announcements.

[Solly]

Controller looks unorthodox. I'll check it out, purely out of curiosity, but generally I use a 360 controller or Fightpad when I actually do use a controller on Steam games. Most games recognize them, and even have preset button mappings identical to the console versions.

ah yes pretentious PC master race bullshit from people who can't accept that some like the convenience and lower price of a console and are willing to trade off the positive aspects that PC gaming has

It's a joke. It's satirizing the " PC master race" image, which is really already presented ironically more often than not.

 

It's obvious the image isn't being played straight, and while the artist is actually a PC gamer there's really nothing to suggest he doesn't "accept" why some people like console games. Not sure why you sound so sensitive about this.

[JezMM]

Ah just thought of one thing.  Of course most games have little benefit to text chat over voice chat but for those who DO prefer text chat, I wonder what the possibilities are for quick text input are on this controller.  The touch screen looks a little too small for anything other than old-style phone keypad typing.

[Chaos Warp]

So it is a controller..........I might buy one of those for PC gaming, I wonder in practice it'll work as well as in concept...........Will the trackpads respond perfectly with no lag at all or be laggy and not precise enough, and will it be comfortable to use?

 

Admittedly this is what I'm most interested in, I probably won't get a Steambox or SteamOS since I'll have my WIi-U and PS4 for living room gaming, but I'd love to try this controller on my PC. 

Edited September 27, 2013 by Chaos Warp

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Kinda looks like a boombox with handles.

[Chaos Warp]

 

It's a joke. It's satirizing the " PC master race" image, which is really already presented ironically more often than not.

 

It's obvious the image isn't being played straight, and while the artist is actually a PC gamer there's really nothing to suggest he doesn't "accept" why some people like console games. Not sure why you sound so sensitive about this.

I know it was a joke. I was joking around too. 

[Solkia]

That is the goofiest fucking controller I've seen  since Phillip's soup spoon contoller.

 

I want one.

[Candescence]

NeoGAF is shitting itself over this, it's amazing.

 

Honestly, with all the relevant factors considered, this could be potentially godly. I want to try it out for myself before I fully decide for myself, but I am excite.

[Chooch]

That's the funkiest controller I've seen in years.

[Solly]

The controller feels so far removed from anything I would expect to play a game with. I think the ability to use half of the buttons without taking your thumbs off the trackpads is to make it better for games where you use the sticks a lot, like a shooter, but the design is just so crazy. The ABXY buttons might be the weirdest part.

I know it was a joke. I was joking around too. 

That wasn't the impression I got, but I'll take your word for it. In that case, my bad.

[Barry the Nomad]

[Indigo Rush]

Oooh my~

 

I approve of this controller. Makes me want a Steam Box. Naaaoooowwwww.

[Autosaver]

I'm going to be honest, it doesn't look too good.

 

Maybe it's because it is different. I really wonder what it will be like to use.

[Badnik Mechanic]

 

As strange as it looks, I really want to get my paws on it and see what it's like, it's just so different to the usual controller types we get I can't wait to see if it's going to be an improvement or have some problems.

[Ultimate Waffle]

Interesting. No need for Xpadder crap once this comes out

[Candescence]

One of the Super Meat Boy devs got hands-on time with it, and he says the controller can work with virtually game out there. Oh, and it works fine for platformers, too. He notes that while it does need some improvements (which Valve are doubtlessly working on via beta testing), it's a great start and it works fine overall. Plus, the right trackpad can be used as a substitute for face buttons when a second 'stick' is not needed.

 

Sounds awesome, so far.

[Mr Useful]

Me-likey. This looks so wrong compared to traditional controllers but I want it so badly.

[SkyLlama]

 

 

 

http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/04/valve-steam-machine-hands-on/

 

The images they've got of it look good so far. The real photos (unlike above) of it make it look a bit rough around the edges (because it is seeing as it's a prototype).

Edited November 15, 2013 by SkyLlama

[Candescence]

Might as well bring this up to date:

 

Firstly, at CES, Valve announced a whole lineup of Steam Machines from various vendors, varying from $500 to thousands.

 

Secondly, at Valve's 'Steam Dev Days' event, Valve unveiled modifications to the Steam Controller, removing the touch screen in favor of a 'D-pad' and placing that and the ABXY buttons in a more traditional format, for the sake of backwards compatibility.

 

 

 

At its Steam Dev Days event, Valve announced that the Steam Controller no longer has a touchscreen.

 

The Steam Controller is Valve's "different kind of gamepad" to be used with the upcoming line of Steam Machines. When it was originally announced, the developer stated that the controller's touchscreen, "allows an infinite number of discrete actions to be made available to the player, without requiring an infinite number of physical buttons." According to reports from Endgadget and various Twitter posts, it seems Valve has changed its mind, as now instead of a touchscreen, the Steam Controller will have a directional-pad (D-PAD) and a standard ABXY button configuration that can be remapped. Twitter user Leszek Godlewski posted a prototype of the button layout from the presentation.

 

The new Steam Controller?

 

These changes were made to help with backwards compatibility issues. Additionally, Valve thought that the touchscreen distracted folks from the games they were playing as they were constantly looking at their hands instead of their TVs. In the past, Valve has said it wanted the Steam Controller to be competitively priced with other controllers. This may have been another reason they ditched the screen.

 

Valve also revealed that the controller will have an API that's built in to Steam API for developers. This will help them integrate the Steam Controller into their games and it will support up to 16 Steam Controllers at once.

 

As for connectivity, the Steam Controller will use low latency Bluetooth. For power it will use two AA batteries.

 

For more on the Steam Controller, read our latest hands-on impressions.

 

This is a bit of a mixed bag. While I do understand the reasoning behind the changes, it is slightly disappointing to not have the screen for additional functionality. On the other hand, the changes basically mean the controller has as much functionality as the one used in the beta, and the controller still has more functionality than any traditional controller. I really hope that they do fill in the space in the middle, though - I think a 'Steam' button and a whole bunch of 'shortcut' buttons (such as, say, F1-12 in button form) in the middle of the controller would be pretty great.

[JezMM]

Yeah I'm curious how this is still gonna work without the touch screen.  The touch screen basically gave you infinite buttons, which would be necessary for playing complex mouse+keyboard games on your TV.