Steam Controller

[isiolia]

There are areas where Valve could wind up doing some cool stuff. Part of the reasoning for rolling their own hardware support and all was that MS just doesn't seem to care much about the segment - gaming stuff goes to XBox moreso than the PC side.

This just seems like it's trying to fix a problem that isn't there. Maybe if the software side winds up being flexible and giving us a great unified input API for games to support.

[BogusMeatFactory]

There are areas where Valve could wind up doing some cool stuff. Part of the reasoning for rolling their own hardware support and all was that MS just doesn't seem to care much about the segment - gaming stuff goes to XBox moreso than the PC side.

This just seems like it's trying to fix a problem that isn't there. Maybe if the software side winds up being flexible and giving us a great unified input API for games to support.

Hold on. I am confused...can you reword this? What segment does microsoft not care about? Also what problem are they trying to fix?

[TSTR]

[Fragems]

Something I would definitely have to try before I buy so I probably won't pick one up. Might be good for shooters but the button layout just doesn't seem geared to none shooters.

I see no real reason why I would want to swap from my 360 controller to it when playing pc games with controller support.

[Erik_Twice]

I can't see anything good coming out of this. Call me paranoid or wary but I don't trust Valve and this seems simply a move by the ruler of PC gaming to turn PC gaming into yet another console.

And I don't think that's a good thing.

[isiolia]

Hold on. I am confused...can you reword this? What segment does microsoft not care about? Also what problem are they trying to fix?

MS is not putting much into PC gaming. From a business standpoint, that could be understandable, as they've got the XBox platform to sell people on instead. Same as they've kind of abandoned it for living room integration compared to the XBox.

GFWL was terrible, Kinect for Windows was an afterthought, Smartglass is all about XBox, PC games are basically encouraged to use the controller API from the 360, etc. Heck, Media Center is now a (paid) additional install.

The original interview when Gabe Newell was talking about the kind of stuff they envisioned for a Steam platform has some ideas too. Like, the streaming angle they have with it. One PC, multiple devices using it for gaming. Where's MS on that? streaming XBox games to PCs.

I mean, there's been updates to DirectX and all, but the effort, most of the first-party titles, all that, Windows doesn't seem to be the focus.


The "problem" thing I mean Valve, not MS. Basically, people seem largely happy with the 360 or Dual Shock style controllers. Or KB/mouse, or arcade sticks, or motion/touch when appropriate. Maybe this thing will come out and be the new standard, but right now there just doesn't seem to be a notion that existing controls aren't good enough.

The software side is where I see more room for improvement right now. You've got DirectInput, XInput, or "we didn't include controller support". Putting a layer in Steam that lets me set up any interface to send commands to a game how I want it to would be a cool thing. Replacing joysticks with touchpads...ehhh.

[Hatta]

The good news is that you'll be able to use your existing USB controllers, or a mouse and keyboard if you want. Steam OS is just a Linux distro, so anything supported by Linux should work. In light of that, it wouldn't make sense for Valve to produce a controller at all, unless they were going to do something radical. Why would they want to compete with Logitech on that front?

I agree with a lot of concerns here, but it will be neat to see how it actually works, and worse case scenario we have existing controllers to fall back on.

[sonic2041]

I can't see anything good coming out of this. Call me paranoid or wary but I don't trust Valve and this seems simply a move by the ruler of PC gaming to turn PC gaming into yet another console.

And I don't think that's a good thing.

I was thinking the same thing the other day. Steam is turning PC into a console. With the OS it just seems that way. But computers are turning into platforms so they really don't have a choice. Kind of sucks if you are a PC gamer.

[MrPopo]

This. I had one of these. It sucked hardcore because you lost the ability to naturally put your thumb into neutral. With a d-pad you release pressure, with an analog stick you let the natural mechanism guide you back to center. But anyone who's owned a very old, well worn N64 knows that when that mechanism starts to lose that stickiness you stop being able to center without thinking about it. This is going to be worse.

[TSTR]

This. I had one of these. It sucked hardcore because you lost the ability to naturally put your thumb into neutral. With a d-pad you release pressure, with an analog stick you let the natural mechanism guide you back to center. But anyone who's owned a very old, well worn N64 knows that when that mechanism starts to lose that stickiness you stop being able to center without thinking about it. This is going to be worse.

Thank you! I knew I couldn't have been the only one who thought about that wretched contraption when I saw that pic.

I feel like the design of this thing is partly influenced by the current technological circle jerk over every device having some sort of "touch" mechanism. Can't we just press a damn button anymore?