Steam Controller Demonstration

[Vitalius]

I watched the video THREE times... Just look at the Counter Strike portion and tell me that guy wouldn't get killed instantly in a match. You would be lying to yourself.

Then you don't understand the flexibility this offers. 

 

Just doing a simple 1-to-1 port does not make any sense.

They didn't do that. Which is why I made the comment I did. 

The touchpads are fully customizable. Do you have any idea the possibilities that enables? I'd play any game with this controller. I probably would do better in some with a Keyboard/Mouse (RTS, FPS, TPS & MMORPG),  and in others with this controller (Sports, Racing, Fighting, & Platformers).

The thing this controller pulls off is being great for games that prefer a controller, as mentioned above, while still being moderately good for the other genres, games that most would prefer keyboard/mouse with. 

If you are strictly speaking from a competitive/FPS standpoint, your comments are uncalled for. This controller wasn't made for that purpose. It was made to enable playing games that prefer Keyboard/mouse in a better controllable way and well enough that the performance difference is less noticeable (albeit still there). 

I apologize for being hostile a bit, but I feel your comments were indeed uncalled for as they basically said the controller is a failure when I can guarantee it's not based on how the engineers explained it works. Which is to say, the actual controller could be a failure, but based on this video, it's not. 

[themodernagenb]

Then you don't understand the flexibility this offers. 

 

They didn't do that. Which is why I made the comment I did. 

The touchpads are fully customizable. Do you have any idea the possibilities that enables? I'd play any game with this controller. I probably would do better in some with a Keyboard/Mouse (RTS, FPS, TPS & MMORPG),  and in others with this controller (Sports, Racing, Fighting, & Platformers).

The thing this controller pulls off is being great for games that prefer a controller, as mentioned above, while still being moderately good for the other genres, games that most would prefer keyboard/mouse with. 

If you are strictly speaking from a competitive/FPS standpoint, your comments are uncalled for. This controller wasn't made for that purpose. It was made to enable playing games that prefer Keyboard/mouse in a better controllable way and well enough that the performance difference is less noticeable (albeit still there). 

I apologize for being hostile a bit, but I feel your comments were indeed uncalled for as they basically said the controller is a failure when I can guarantee it's not based on how the engineers explained it works. Which is to say, the actual controller could be a failure, but based on this video, it's not. 

What I am saying is that this controller is a poor solution to a problem that shouldn't exist. There is no need for yet another controller that people need to buy. That's the reason why everyone dreads their Rock Band purchace, and it's my biggest problem with the Wii/Wii U. This controller is supposed to solve a problem with playing mouse-and-keyboard games on the couch. What I am saying is that it should be up to the developer to make a traditional controller work for their games a la Diablo 3, or aim assist. Hate on aim assist all you want, but it works.

 

This is purely a software problem and Valve is trying to fix it with another piece of hardware. That's why I think it's a fail.

[Kilerbomb]

Doesn't look as bad as I originally thought. I'd definitely love to pick one up when they become available to see how it feels.

[Vitalius]

What I am saying is that this controller is a poor solution to a problem that shouldn't exist. There is no need for yet another controller that people need to buy. That's the reason why everyone dreads their Rock Band purchace, and it's my biggest problem with the Wii/Wii U. This controller is supposed to solve a problem with playing mouse-and-keyboard games on the couch. What I am saying is that it should be up to the developer to make a traditional controller work for their games a la Diablo 3, or aim assist. Hate on aim assist all you want, but it works.

 

This is purely a software problem and Valve is trying to fix it with another piece of hardware. That's why I think it's a fail.

Fair enough. With that detailed explanation of why, I can see your point. However, I think this can be fixed from both sides, rather than just purely a software fix. 

However, bad aim assist is terrible and I have yet to find "good" aim assist. Aim assist in CoD (the whole series AFAIK) works through walls (infinitely). That is just absurdly stupid.

[EChondo]

I just want to know a price...I hope it's at most $100...

[TechFan@ic]

That's pretty cool, hopefully it's affordable.

[xRAGExSounDxRIOTX]

I still can't get over the design. It would be really interesting to see one of these go up against a PS3 or 360 controller. Seems like it would have a really big learning curve as well.

[Eroda]

The real question is can you pair these controllers with a PS3/4 or xbox 

[Lord Pantaloons]

I thought it would be a bit clunky and stupid but after seeing it in action it actually doesn't look to bad.

[kuddlesworth9419]

Well I think everyone is very impressed. This controller is by far the best controller you can get compared to the Dualshock and the XBox ones. Obviously a mouse and keyboard are still better but at least it means that there is less of a gap. Plus console gamers can't cheat anymore with auto-aim.

[Ethnod]

Look a lot better than I thought, impressed tbh

[DLM_012]

Couple of things I noticed from watching that video:

• Touchpads are fully customizable, i.e. DPI settings, what each section does, etc. And they can be configured independently.

1. They can be changed between 1:1 mode and "Thumbstick/D-Pad" mode.

   1:1 mode is a normal track pad. If your thumb isn't moving, neither is the thing you are controlling. 

   "Thumbstick/D-Pad" mode means it works like a thumbstick and/or D-Pad. As long as your thumb is in the Up direction, you will move Up (or forward, or wtv). 

2. They can pretty much be mapped to anything. It is possible the edge of the touchpads are macros. Maybe even all of it could be pure macros. That'd be legit.
3. Still no idea what the touchpad in the middle does. Hmm, weird.

• The touchpads have 3 different sections to each of them. The center, the edge, and the area in between.

1. ​The center doesn't cause movement and is a button (like a thumbstick button).
2. The edge is (can be) a momentum switch. As in, depending on how fast you travel across the area in between the center and edge, when you hit the edge, it keeps moving for a period based on how fast you traveled. Thereby giving you the ability to quickly spin around without having to drag multiple times. This is for large sweeping motions.
3. The area in between is used for the edge's momentum switch, and is for swiping to move for very accurate and fine movements.

Obviously, since it is fully customizable, what I described it as above could be wrong in that it is not exclusively what the parts are used for. However, I am very excited about this controller. This thing looks awesome. Hard to get used to, but awesome. I will be buying one if they offer it for Windows (until I inevitably move to Linux) and such. 

Also, the thing about the edge being a momentum switch.... that is absurdly genius. I love it. So brilliant. It makes me excited for this piece of hardware.

 

Interesting observations. I wish it was available the day they announced it.

[rashdanml]

What I am saying is that this controller is a poor solution to a problem that shouldn't exist. There is no need for yet another controller that people need to buy. That's the reason why everyone dreads their Rock Band purchace, and it's my biggest problem with the Wii/Wii U. This controller is supposed to solve a problem with playing mouse-and-keyboard games on the couch. What I am saying is that it should be up to the developer to make a traditional controller work for their games a la Diablo 3, or aim assist. Hate on aim assist all you want, but it works.

This is purely a software problem and Valve is trying to fix it with another piece of hardware. That's why I think it's a fail.

Aim assist is garbage tbh. It's far from perfect and is usually only situationally better. I hate how it's implemented for controllers.

IMO, this controller is addressing two issues:

1. Keyboard and mouse-like control in th living room, and

2. Improved control for games that require it with relying on aim assist and software based compensation, which is never as good as hardware based compensation.