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Valve Shows How Steam Controller Works In Real Life

Posted by timothy on from the it-burns-it-buuuuuuurns dept.

sfcrazy writes "Valve Software have demonstrated how the controller works in the real world with popular games like Portal 2, Civilization V, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Valve has posted a video on their YouTube channel to give users a glimpse of the Steam Controller experience."

9 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Real Life? by dunng808 · · Score: 4, Funny

    A new MMORPG?

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    Gary Dunn
    Open Slate Project

    1. Re:Real Life? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I got in the beta and right now it's not worth playing. The classes are so unbalanced it isn't even funny and skills take ages to level up. Although there are a large number of quests, it gets very repetitive and makes "bring me ten rat tails" sound like fun. That reminds me: anyone knows where you're supposed to drop the rat tails? I've tried several vendors but they always say they'll call the guards if I don't get out, is this a bug?
      On the bright side the graphics are pretty good, although not very realistic since there's hardly any brown. Hadn't they blown all the budget on graphics, heroin and advertising the game might've lived up to all the hype, but as it is I give it a 4/10. Back to WoW I guess.

  2. This actually isn't half bad by Khyber · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Might take just a tiny bit of getting used to, but this could actually work.

    I'm actually impressed.

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    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  3. CAD already posted a pretty accurate description by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 4, Funny

    Borderline NSFW

  4. Very nice! by RyanFenton · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A very good video showing movement mapped to real gameplay.

    The obvious: It's not QUITE as 1-1 as a mouse with 4 inches of control surface.

    But I'd still rate it a bit higher than a trackball, which is high praise from me, since I really enjoy using trackball inputs when a mouse isn't convenient.

    This is a real accomplishment in input innovation - even without considering the dynamic haptic feedback portion of the design.

    I'd be amazed, if this works as advertised, if Sony and Microsoft don't push for a copycat controller very rapidly - especially given the PC-like nature of their new consoles.

    The remaining challenge: How would it fare against a 360/Dualshock controller in specialized console games. From what I've heard from developers so far:

    Super Meat Boy dev trys out the Steam controller

    It sounds like it's a good compromise overall - but it's still got some hurdles to clear to being "the best" - but man, it sounds promising so far!

    Ryan Fenton

  5. Re:Wow. by gumpish · · Score: 5, Informative

    If they had some sort of inertia system...

    Did you not see this exact mechanic in the Civ 5 demo?

    Take another look at the "swipe" on the right thumbpad at 2:23 and again at 2:27. It seems to work like a smartphone. If you lift your thumb while it's moving then the cursor has inertia.

  6. Don't compare it to gamepads. by Jartan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've seen a lot of comments naming specific scenarios where a gamepad is better. That's completely pointless. If a gamepad is better in that scenario then you'll just use a gamepad.

    The entire purpose of this thing is mouse/kb games.

    1. Re:Don't compare it to gamepads. by Undead+Waffle · · Score: 4, Informative

      Basically. The point is Valve came up with Steam Box but all of their own titles are designed for mouse and keyboard, so they needed an appropriate controller or there wouldn't be anything to play. I was wondering how they were going to solve this problem and this controller design was a brilliant solution.

    2. Re:Don't compare it to gamepads. by umafuckit · · Score: 4, Informative

      Of course a gamepad can't beat a mouse in doing a mouse's job. Valve isn't stupid. The target market isn't PC gamers but console gamers, so Valve needs something like a gamepad.

      The target market is people who want to play games in the living room. I'm a PC gamer at heart, but I often like being in the living room. I'd be interested in Valve's angle if it works well.

      There is still the problem that on competitive multiplayer games the console gamers would be up against PC gamers. Unless Valve finds a way to segregate the servers that will be a very painful experience for the mouseless.

      How is that that a problem? They're segregated now. If the console kids were mixed with PC gamers in a multiplayer FPS they would be anhialiated instantly. All you have to do is segregate according to input device (or allow the gamepad user a choice of whether they want to be). But let's see how it performs. If it's good enough there may be no need to segregate.

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      soylentnews.org