Valve’s new Steam Controllers will complete the SteamOS experience
The last in a triad of Steam Living Room announcements has finally arrived, drawing the Steam Box conversation to a thrilling close. The Steam Controller is here, and Valve thinks it will help shape a new generation of gaming.
Valve’s Gabe Newell has been quoted in the past lamenting the lack of innovation in the controller space. The gaming world is in an interesting place right now, as PC gamers, console gamers, and even mobile gamers search for common ground. Valve took their initial Steam Box concept and morphed it into Steam Machines, allowing their hardware partners the ability to make console-like SteamOS devices that suit the needs of the various kinds of users. In the end, Valve needed something to unify that experience, and with that comes the new Steam Controller.
One quick look at this unique new controller and it’s clear there’s elements from every corner of the gaming ecosystem. The large touch zones in the controller are clearly there to create the joystick experience, with grooves to keep your thumbs in place as you slide from side to side while playing. The ergonomic design of the hand grips seems similar to the rest of the current generation controllers, but the touch zones of this design will reveal a very different experience when you grab one to play.
What Valve calls super-precise haptic feedback areas can be found in the thumb sockets as well as the finger grips on the back of the controller and the trigger zones. This haptic feedbackis powered by small electromagnets designed to deliver a wider range of force and vibration than the current rumble systems found in existing consoles and gamepads.
In between these two thumb sockets is a touchscreen with buttons surrounding the glossy area for additional controls. This touchscreen is clickable, so the pad can be used for browsing and navigating more complex user interfaces. Being a high resolution display in your hand, you will also be able to use it to interact with Steam features during gameplay. The buttons surrounding the display are well placed in between the corners of the screen and the thumb sockets, so you’re likely to be be able to hit them with ease.
Valve promises that the Steam Controller will work with any version of Steam, and they have shown off some key bindings forPortal to demonstrate how the button mapping could work. Valve claims the design is intentionally hackable and looks forward to seeing what Steam users do to improve the controller experience when given such an open accessory.
If you’re ready to get your hands on one of these controllers, you’ll need to head to Steam and make sure you are signed up for the Steam Machines beta. Just like with the consoles, there’s no mention of when this new controller will be publicly available.
