Home Gaming Valve reveals the Steam controller

Valve reveals the Steam controller

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Steam Controller

I believe that everything in life comes in threes, from sneezes through to marriages. Valve has had two announcements so far this week. First, they announced their new operating system, SteamOS. Second, they hit back with some new hardware. And for their third announcement, Valve just revealed a unique controller that is bucking design trends.

The most notable feature of the Steam controller, is that it happens to have no thumbsticks whatsoever. Not even a tradtional D-pad. Instead, the controller has two trackpads which will feature haptic feedback, are touch sensitive and happen to have a high resolution.

Think of it as the traditional PC mouse meeting a console controller in the middle. The controller has a central screen as well, that will overlay whatever graphics it happens to be showing, directly on your TV/monitor when activated.

Steam Controller

It’s a helluva design, and a big departure away from the industry standard idea for a controller. But it has potential. There’s a bunch of games that could utilise that device well, such as strategy and and RPG games, so it’ll be interesting to see how its adapted when it hits your Steam library.

Last Updated: September 27, 2013

54 Comments

  1. HAHAHA no…

    Reply

  2. SaintsRowNigri

    September 27, 2013 at 22:41

    Man that thing is as ugly as my mama!

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      September 28, 2013 at 09:55

      So your mom is a 9/10 on the MILF scale? Is she single 😉

      Reply

      • SaintsRowNigri

        September 28, 2013 at 11:05

        No. She’s dead. 🙂

        Reply

        • ZackFirst

          September 29, 2013 at 14:15

          Ahhh shame 🙂

          Reply

        • Sageville

          September 30, 2013 at 09:52

          Necro time!

          Reply

          • SaintsRowNigri

            September 30, 2013 at 10:05

            Dude, that is sick. Even by MY Low standards… That’s my dead mother you are talking about there! For real. She’s dead!

          • Sageville

            September 30, 2013 at 12:14

            Hey you brought your mother into this.

            You called her ugly, was that in life or currently? (Yes I can do this all day)

          • SaintsRowNigri

            September 30, 2013 at 12:59

            Yes. I called her ugly. Does not mean she is now available for some necrophilia fun, you know?

          • Sageville

            September 30, 2013 at 13:29

            Personally I wouldn’t bring my dead mother into the interwebs in the first place, I mean exactly what sort of responses were you expecting? Did any of them not end with the ultimate STFU : “No, She’s dead” response?

            Ag, point is, I made a joke, please take it as such, unless you are actually concerned that I have some necrophyllic tendancies towards your mother.

          • SaintsRowNigri

            September 30, 2013 at 14:05

            Ag, Sageville. The point is, my mother and I had this standing joke going. Whenever I would see her, I would say “Hello, Ugly!” and she would respond “Hello, beauty box!”
            So my original comment was a one man inside joke really.
            I just bemoan that the internet does not have a sarcastic font…

          • Sageville

            September 30, 2013 at 15:06

            Fair enough.

            Also want sarcasm font.

  3. ElimiNathan

    September 27, 2013 at 22:54

    Damn, I like it!!!!

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief of Rivia

      September 28, 2013 at 00:18

      Agreed, same!

      Reply

      • ZackFirst

        September 28, 2013 at 01:36

        Is jy ernstig ? want daai ding is poes lelik -_-
        it may have more types of control but design has to be there and this is not the case !

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          September 28, 2013 at 09:42

          Ive never seen a “lelike” one? Maybe you should up your standards? 😛

          Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        September 28, 2013 at 09:41

        Is this really supposed to replace the mouse though?

        Reply

    • FSR

      September 30, 2013 at 08:24

      Agreed. It looks really ergonomic and it’s great to see someone trying something new. I’m all for it. Interested to see what it’s going to cost.

      Reply

      • ElimiNathan

        September 30, 2013 at 08:27

        Im waiting to see if anything about it is appealing at all ! Need a good reason to have another PC in my house lol

        Reply

  4. King_Anonymous

    September 27, 2013 at 23:52

    Crap. If every publisher or developer had Valve’s mindset we’d have to install an Operating System for every game we play.

    Reply

  5. ZackFirst

    September 28, 2013 at 01:39

    Im guessing that’s a touch screen in the middle its cool but the design make’s me wana jump off van stadens bridge ! xD

    Reply

  6. hairyknees

    September 28, 2013 at 02:08

    I think it looks awesome 🙂

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      September 28, 2013 at 09:40

      I though it was speakers on the front at first glance. It’s gonna be all about how well it controls though.

      Reply

  7. Alien Emperor Trevor

    September 28, 2013 at 08:50

    A Steamroller? 😉

    The trackpads in place of thumb sticks is an interesting idea.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      September 28, 2013 at 09:39

      LOL

      Reply

  8. Hammersteyn

    September 28, 2013 at 09:40

    Quickload? Quicksave? This controller is clearly meant for PC games

    Reply

  9. Umar Jaeger

    September 28, 2013 at 09:42

    It’s at the very least interesting. At first I was like..why does this control have speakers. But it could be interesting

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      September 28, 2013 at 09:43

      Hehe, I thought the same! This is a very novel idea though. I like how to call the buttons portals. What’s the abbreviation going to be in the manual? OP and BP?

      Reply

      • Umar Jaeger

        September 28, 2013 at 09:48

        Lol BP sounds like some point measurement in a rpg. It is very novel , I can’t judge it until I actually try it but I mean it might even open the door to play some mobile games on this box too

        Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        September 30, 2013 at 07:56

        They’re not calling the buttons portals, they’re giving an example of how the kb&m bindings are applied to the controller.

        Have you never played Portal? O_O

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          September 30, 2013 at 08:04

          Only people who hasn’t played Portal are those who are still balancing themselves on their WII boards. I saw Portal 2 on the top of the image, I just thought it would be cool if the ran with it for all games. Controller = Portal gun.

          Reply

  10. MacDoodle

    September 28, 2013 at 10:16

    For console gamers this might not work so lekka, personally I like having the resistance that a thumb stick gives which is why I can’t stand playing games on a touch screen phone although if it’s accurate maybe it will work real nice

    Reply

  11. FoxOneZA

    September 28, 2013 at 10:47

    Welcome to the future!

    Reply

    • ZackFirst

      September 29, 2013 at 14:16

      yea the shitty futute

      Reply

      • Me

        September 29, 2013 at 22:55

        yeah your grammar shows it all.

        Reply

        • Sageville

          September 30, 2013 at 13:39

          You spelled “Grandma” wrong!

          Reply

  12. Alt View

    September 28, 2013 at 12:13

    keyboard + mouse thx

    Reply

  13. George

    September 29, 2013 at 12:10

    How is this thing going to work? Really am curious. It looks more like a docking station with speakers.

    Reply

  14. Ryanza

    September 29, 2013 at 14:36

    I like it.

    I do not know why.
    no triggers = not interested.

    Reply

    • Zubayr Bhyat

      September 29, 2013 at 19:55

      Triggers are a requirement for me, especially for racing games.

      Reply

  15. TiMsTeR1033

    September 30, 2013 at 07:35

    That controller looks like shit if you ask me!

    Reply

  16. Grant Hancock

    September 30, 2013 at 08:15

    I love it .. looks awesome 🙂

    Reply

  17. Rincethis

    September 30, 2013 at 09:20

    I may not be part of the master race, but DAMN that thing is beautiful! It’s like Tron and Batman had a love child. WANT!

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      September 30, 2013 at 09:33

      I’m keen to feel those pads under my thumbs… I think they’re going for a touch-screen feel, but the padding on it will make it feel less “funny”. That’s the issue I have with playing on a tablet, it just feels weird…like you’re smudging your dirty finger on a dirty glass…

      But this is cool. It’s different, and I like it!

      Reply

      • Rincethis

        September 30, 2013 at 09:34

        Agreed. Nice to see people trying different things. There will be PLENTY of haters out there, but I would like to try this before I judge!

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          September 30, 2013 at 10:20

          Hey, I’m a gamer first, a fanboy second, unless we’re talking about Kinect or the Bone 😛 But seriously though, I like that they’re trying something completely different. WIll be keen to check it out. Hopefully the Steamboxes won’t be too expensive.

          Next year is going to be a bit tight!

          Reply

  18. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    September 30, 2013 at 09:30

    I think it’s awesome.

    Reply

  19. DadGamer

    September 30, 2013 at 09:47

    Seriously, who gives a shit about how it looks? 99% of a controller’s value is how it handles.
    Interested to see some hands-on reviews of the device.

    Reply

  20. Sageville

    September 30, 2013 at 10:00

    I dunno, I think it looks cool, it’s doing something different to the norm.

    If it’s response/performance is equal or better than analogue joystick then I’d like to see that on the conventional consoles.

    Wait and see methinks.

    Reply

  21. iAmWeasel

    September 30, 2013 at 10:07

    Looks a bit iffy but definitely a step in the right direction to get people away from keyboard and mouse. I’m more excited about Steam OS to be honest.

    Reply

  22. TiMsTeR1033

    September 30, 2013 at 12:33

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      September 30, 2013 at 12:52

      WUB WUB BOOODDAAWUUUBB WUBBB BOOODDDAAAAA WUUUBB!!

      hehehe that’s gangsta Tim!

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        September 30, 2013 at 13:12

        Why thank you!

        Reply

        • SaintsRowNigri

          September 30, 2013 at 14:07

          You my friend have waaayyy too much time on your hands. With that said, have an upvote!

          Reply

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