Xi3′s PISTON Console, something many have referred to as the first Steam Box, went up for pre-order in March. While details on the console have been given in bits and pieces over the months, Xi3 has published a large round of FAQ on its upcoming console, covering questions ranging from hardware to support and back […]
We’ve only known about the Steam Controller for 24 hours, but it turns out a variety of developers already got a chance to put the controller to use ahead of the lucky 300 beta participants later this year. The devs we spoke with didn’t use the final format of the controller, but the non-touchscreen beta form seen above: four large buttons stand out in place of the clickable touchscreen panel (planned for the final version of Steam Controller). It’s the version that will ship to those aforementioned 300 beta participants later this year, and it’s the version that Valve is showing game developers ahead of anyone else. Follow us beyond the break and find out what they had to say.%Gallery-slideshow99391%
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Peripherals, HD
Earlier this week Valve teased the free, gaming-oriented and Linux-based SteamOS and the PC-console hybrid Steam Machine. It soon completed the establishment of the fundamentals of its living room invasion by unveiling the Steam Controller. As with the Steam Machine, the controller is Valve’s attempt at bringing the best of PC and console gaming together.
The Steam Controller doesn’t seem to have biometrics or gaze tracking capabilities – two features that Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has cited as desirable input options – but one look at it and you can see that it’s still quite different from most gamepads. For starters, instead of a d-pad or analog joysticks, the controller has two high-resolution trackpads. Valve added “super-precise haptic feedback” to trackpads in the form of weighted electro-magnets. The feedback will be used not only to add tactility to the trackpads, they can also be used to provide other in-game cues and can even function as speakers. How about that?
Chris Remo of developer Double Fine claims he was able to test a prototype of the controller a few months ago and said “…the cursor pads worked amazingly well.” When asked if the haptic feedback helps, Remo said, “Yes, it makes it feel like you’re actually operating a real physically mechanical device, not just a touchscreen.”
Perhaps Remo was actually referring to the trackpads in the second statement that I quoted, but the controller does have a high-resolution touchscreen. It’s the small square at the center of the controller. When you touch the screen, an overlay of the touchscreen’s display appears on your TV or monitor, so you won’t have to look down at the controller while playing. Makes you wonder why they even made it a screen right? Then again, it could be used to display data that should be kept hidden from other players. Take that Lambert!
Aside from its touch-friendly input options, the controller also has good old buttons. There are a total of 13 standard buttons – four face buttons at the corners of the touchscreen, three narrow rectangles below the touchscreen, four shoulder buttons and two rear buttons – but because the two trackpads and the touchscreen are also clickable, you have a total of 16 buttons. The image below shows a sample key binding setup for Portal 2. Note that the touchscreen is divided into four buttons in the setup.
What makes this controller extra special in my opinion is that it has a “legacy mode” that fools your Steam Machine or your desktop computer into thinking that the controller is a keyboard and mouse. This makes it compatible with all Steam games, which is why the diagram above indicates the mapped keyboard and mouse buttons and not just the functions. Finally, Valve promises that the controller will be hackable, and that they will provide tools to help people mod the controller.
If you’re interested in owning or building a Steam Machine but don’t want to use the Steam Controller, don’t worry. Valve says you’ll still be able to stick with your trusted keyboard and mouse combo.
Valve will pick 300 lucky Steam members to participate in a closed beta. The beta testers will be given both a prototype Steam Machine and Steam Controller. The prototype controller that Valve will distribute to the testers will be wired and have no touchscreen, but the final version will be wireless and have the aforementioned touchscreen. Check out the Steam Machine FAQ page if you want to know how to apply for the closed beta.
Game creators who have tried Valve’s unusual new game controller tell Kotaku that the device holds a lot of promise. But make no mistake, they also say it feels pretty different from what we’re used to.
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You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
A rare treat this week as you can hear the TechCrunch team react to breaking gadget news (the Steam Controller, to be specific) live as it unfolds. It’s like being inside our brains without the echoes and cobwebs. We also cover the big Surface 2 reveal, Steam OS, the Steam Box announcements, Adobe’s Mighty hardware and BlackBerry’s very bad quarter.
This week, we have a very special episode of the Gadgets Podcast with a ragtag team of lovable characters, including myself – Darrell Etherington – Chris Velazco and special guests Frederic Lardinois and TCTV Producer Steve Long, so you just know it’s going to be the heartwarming comeback story of a lifetime.
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Nobody expected that, but Valve’s most exciting announcement of the week might be a game controller. The Steam controller is a futuristic touch-enabled gamepad with a small screen sitting right between your two thumbs. The company promises that the controller will work with any game as it is a very malleable device.
Valve has taken a hint or two from the smartphone world and ported it to the gaming world. As smartphone interfaces allow developers to make all sorts of buttons, the company took the same approach. Thanks to a tiny high-resolution screen, players will be able to trigger a lot of different actions. It doesn’t seem to be a regular touch screen — Valve has chosen to build a clickable screen to prevent unwanted taps. But there are some familiar touch controls as well.
For example, you can swipe through pages of actions to find the right one. The same screen will be reproduced on your bigger display so that you can keep an eye on the action while selecting an item. Even mouse-and-keyboard games, such as 4X and RTS games, should be playable with the Steam controller. The company illustrates the press release with a screenshot of Civilization V to prove its point.
Below each thumb, users will find two rounded trackpads. They replace the traditional sticks that you can find on your Xbox and PlayStation controllers. Once again, those trackpads are clickable. This is crucial for the right thumb as many games use traditional buttons for the right side of the controller.
The entire Steam catalog should be compatible with the Steam controller, but some games will run in ‘legacy mode’. You don’t need a Steam machine to use it, just a computer that runs Steam. But other computer games that you didn’t buy through Steam may not be compatible.
Finally, the Steam controller can vibrate. Once again, Valve didn’t share any release date or price. But you can probably expect to see a Steam controller bundled with the Steam Box.
The third of three binding announcements has been made this week surrounding Valve’s big move toward living room gaming: SteamOS, Steam Machines, and now the Steam Controller. This machine is a next-generation solution to the relatively stagnant state of gaming controllers in the market today, working with two large trackpads, haptic feedback, and a touchscreen […]
Valve has been announcing up a storm this week, first with its own operating system
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Valve revealed Steam Controller today, a controller for its living room PC-based game console initiative. It’s the third announcement this week from Valve, following reveals of SteamOS and Steam Machines on Monday and Wednesday (respectively). The controller is shaped like a standard game console controller, but in place of thumbsticks there are two clickable trackpads. Valve’s saying that the dual trackpads provide resolution that “approaches that of a desktop mouse,” making previously PC-only games playable on a couch.
In the middle of the controller is a “high-resolution” touch screen (also clickable) that enables both control and navigation. “Players can swipe through pages of actions in games where that’s appropriate. When programmed by game developers using our API, the touch screen can work as a scrolling menu, a radial dial, provide secondary info like a map or use other custom input modes we haven’t thought of yet,” the controller’s announcement page says. There are also haptic sensors all over the controller, which offer “super-precise” haptic feedback to players — they’re in both trackpads on the front, as well as in the shoulder buttons and around the rear grips. Valve says that these sensors not only relay physical information to players, but also “play audio waveforms and function as speakers.”
Like any gamepad, the Steam Controller has a handful of buttons as well: 16 in total, according to Valve. Two are around back, while the majority are found out front — one sits in each corner of the middle touchscreen, and three sit below that screen. Game devs should have no issue getting their games working with the controller, according to Valve, as the API will become available for free for devs at the same time that the Steam Machines beta goes live “later this year.” Additionally, gamers interested in beta testing Valve’s controller can sign up the same way you signed up for the console beta: a quest is now available in your Steam account.%Gallery-slideshow99391%
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, HD
Source: Valve
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