Valve has given the elusive (vaporous? heh, I'll leave the good puns to Scott) Steam Controller a release date and several refinements to the design. Slated for a November 2015 launch, the Steam Controller will ship with most of the Steam Machines offered by OEMs. Users will also be able to purchase controllers directly from Valve (via Steam) for $49.99.
The final controller features a curved design with lots of rounded edges (no sharp angles here), large handles and dual circular programmable trackpads. The four button d-pad has been replaced by an analog stick while the four A, B, X, and Y buttons sit where a second thumb stick traditionally resides.
A circular Steam button and two smaller buttons finish out the face controls.
The two large (and despite my impressions from photos apparently ergonomic) handles each host two dual stage (analog and/or digital) triggers on the top and a button on the underside of the controller.
The Steam Controller is powered by two replaceable AA batteries and is wireless.
Users will be able to create and save custom configurations to their Steam profiles as well as share those custom settings with other Steam users. This should make adoption a bit easier since you will be able to jump into games with a recommended configuration that other users report works well. Or at least it will be a better starting point for your own custom settings rather than being thrown to the wolves with a new and unfamiliar controller. I think it is going to take practice to get good at this even with the jumpstart on suggested configurations though.
It will be available in November (Steam Store page link) for $49.99 which is just cheap enough that I will likely pick one up just to try it out and see what the hype is about. If it is as comfortable as some writers (who have gotten hands on time with them at GDC) are claiming, I’m willing to give it a shot now that it includes a thumb stick (I think I need to be eased into this dual trackpad setup).
Engadget has several more photos from the GDC show floor that are worth checking out.
What do you think about the final Steam Controller?
So, will user of this this
So, will user of this this get owned in FPS by a X360 controller user as bad as a controller user by a mouse user?
Their goal has always been to
Their goal has always been to make a game-pad that can take on a mouse, lets see if they actually did it.
Well, a journalist from
Well, a journalist from another tech website already was able to try it at GDC 2015 in a few matches of CS:GO. He said it was more accurate than a traditional console controller and he liked it more.
However it was made of plastic that felt cheaper than the Xbone or PS4 controller. The material might change however in the final release version.
this is what you get when you
this is what you get when you try to reinvent the wheel.
I just want one already. I
I just want one already. I actualy love they way they kept releasing demos, getting feed back and re-designing. Every body else, looking at you Nintendo, just keep saying “Here’s our controller, deal with it”
Is there still feedback in the pads? It’s till hard to understand from Ryan’s description way back when he tried the first demo and I been looking forward to understanding that sensation.
I like the D-cross cut into the one pad there, that’s a nice touch.
The store page says there are
The store page says there are ‘haptic force actuators on both sides of the controller’. I don’t know if that means two motors, or something different, but it goes on to say ‘every input, from the triggers to the trackpads, can offer haptic feedback’.
What do I think about the
What do I think about the Steam controller?
Huh? Send us one and we’ll give you an opinion.
Personally, Steam looks like it has the challenge of making touchpads that don’t suk for gaming.
It looks like the out of
It looks like the out of wedlock child of Didila(Didi) Pickles and Jar Jar Binks.
It’s wireless; I’ll pass.
It’s wireless; I’ll pass.
Why do you like wires?
Why do you like wires? Battery life concern you? No mention of that.
There are some gamers who say
There are some gamers who say there is a noticeable difference betwine wired and wireless, like a tiny little lag that can be felt. I’m not sure if they are right or not but who knows, I’ve always used cabled everything cuz I lose shit.
I’m sure you can plug it in
I’m sure you can plug it in micro usb..
No?
Not like it’s powered by AA’s. Lol.
I don’t know about the
I don’t know about the controller itself, but the text input for controllers in SteamOS is very well thought out. It seems they might have copied the idea from this Japanese text input method.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQsyVuEAWFY
I’m willing to give it a go!
I’m willing to give it a go! I have a trackball modded 360 controller that I love, maybe this will be similar. Price point seems good.
I think a lot off people are
I think a lot off people are overreacting about the disposition of the YBXA buttons. Is the same in the Wii U controllers and when I played those it was ok.
If you are a young kid and never experimented other disposition, because the Playstation and Xbox consoles use the same controllers over and over, you have the right to fell strange about the Valve controller.
Maybe people think because
Maybe people think because it’s touch that you’ll have to like hover your fingers over it without touching and then tap to “hit a button”. But I’m sure you’ll be able to set sensativity levels so you need to press slightly before that occurs. And yea’ set any function to any region of that pad.
Maybe if you’re accurate over time you could assign like 8+ different inputs to that region rather just directions?
Or different gestures to do different things maybe?
Sliding your finger/thumb around in a pattern to unlock a door..
Kinda’ stuff.. Just brainstorming.
Hopefully it can be used as a
Hopefully it can be used as a wired controller for ZERO LAG.
If they can actually make a controller usable like a mouse, I will be over the moon happy as thats something I’ve wanted since I was a little kid!!!
As long as that touchpad
As long as that touchpad “d-pad” works perfectly correctly fine with any 2D and 3D fighting games…otherwise – still good ol’ “GODLIKE DualShock 2 through Logic3 PS2-to-PC USB adapter” for me. Because you can’t beat perfection. You can only be on a par with it, or fail it completely. So far, not one got even remotely close.
the Steam-Controller gathers
the Steam-Controller gathers some critic because it’s the one device which you need like several hours to get used to.
And that’s why people get nitpicking the 4 buttons or just state “looks bad”.
I actually find all those comments pretty ridiculous, man it’s 49 Dollars, not 500. I’ll surely pick one up, if I would really don’t like it, I just send it back. At least that’s possible here in Germany with online shopping.