Steam Controller Prototype demonstration video

Here it is folks, Valve's Steam Controller got demoed in a video below.

What do you think?

One of those products you need to experience yourself' like the Rift. But it looks like it has potential.

From the crosshair movement you can already tell its leagues superior than regular controllers for shooters.

I'm surprised how well it works in Civ5 and CS. As @15strong says, you'll need to experience it yourself, but currently it seems to work a lot better than a regular controller.

I'm very impressed by this controller so far. It seems way more precise for aiming which is a huuuuge deal. Let's take a couch game like GTA which is nice to play on TV and with a gamepad for the auxiliary activities. Having more precise aiming for the shooutouts would increase my enjoyment enormously.

The Steam pad will also be way more flexible in terms of input, which ofc opens up all kinds of posibilities. Anyway it's nice Valve is innovating when both Sony and MS were satisified with polishing. This could be a winner :D!

It seems like it actually works.

I'd like to see how Batman would work with it though.

Looks brilliant. Picking one of these up for sure.

I'm not sold on it really working as well as intended for the likes of CS:GO, but I'll pick it up.

Most pc gamers will opt for mouse and keyboard for FPS. For older games though, it will save you having to muck around with programs like Xpadder with this things legacy mode. It seems to be about the only control pad that will actually work decently for strategy games (xbox360 pad sucks).

Looks good. Then again, they'd have to try -really- hard to get worse than analog sticks.

Gaben is like the modern day da Vinci

Very nice, it seems to be working well.

The aiming is much better and more precise than console controllers. Sony and Microsoft will now have to rethink about their controllers. This is Valve's first entry in hardware and they got it right.

Will definitely get this.

Sounds like a good reason to get one. make it easier to use a controller for old games :)

I think Valve completely owned every console manufacturer out there by making strategy games completely playable with a controller.

Also, @Couth_, valve engineers should get more credit about everything that happens around Steam Machines. Sure, Gaben gives "OK" to everything, but at the end of the day, he's only the CEO.

Looks great!

Seems like you'd still want to use a standard controller for most games, this should serve nicely as a controller replacement for games that are impossible on a gamepad though.

@IgGy621985: ONLY the CEO .. Only the CEO :\

I'm interested in seeing if you can adjust the sensitivity on the thing, pretty sure you could just like a mouse I'd imagine.

Because it took him several thumb swipes to turn around and aim in some spots. Counterstrike was noticeably slower compared to say if I'd played the training area. It'll be interesting to see how the ps4/ xbox controller stacks up to this considering the refinements they have made, especially on Sony's end.

Works great on the stuff I always knew it would. I want to see it on fighters, action games, and titles that critically rely on near-constant use of the face buttons.

@Couth_:

Yeah, only the CEO.

Looks amazing!

Precision finally makes it's way into a controller.

I'm impressed. It reminds me of trackballs from long ago. But slightly less uncomfortable, and with the ability to hold a direction for the cursor/screen to move there. So it's like a trackball/mouse hybrid.

Wooow, this does look interesting, like literally very interesting. I guess it was a natural evolution for valve to want to enter that console space, hopefully their arrival can inject a nice bit of innovation into that space as this controller does look really radical and i definately wana try it out

Yep, that's what I'm waiting to see.

I play all my PC games at my desk, but there are a few choice games I would like a controller for like many of the 2D games that make their way to Steam.

There are some shmups, and platformers I'm interested in buying if I only had a functional controller (my old one broke). I'm waiting on the new consoles to release before buying one.

Would love to see the Steam controller work well with those types of games. That way I don't have to settle a DS4 or Xbox One controller that only has functional use with a small library of games. Steam controller looks like it could be great for just about any type of game, and probably has uses outside of gaming as well.

@WilliamRLBaker: He's 100% correct. Sticks SUCK for FPS games.

It's why devs need to paint giant hit boxes and use aim assist/auto aim, and sometimes even resort to less enemies on the screen at one time on consoles.

a true next gen gamepad not the reskinned crap MS and Sony are tacking on to their console. You can tell they put thought into making their controller new, advanced, yet still practical. While Sony and MS were still trying to copy nintendo with motion controls and leaving their regular controller the same with little change, valve was coming up with a way to make the gamepad on par with M/KB. Kudos to them. I will be getting one of these. If only I could hook it up to my PS4/xbone.

Doesn't seem like it has enough buttons to replace a keyboard, it would be hard to play a mmo on that thing.

With a programmable touch screen, you could easily fit all the hotkeys on there.

I'm not sure I like how much swiping I see going on, specifically in the FPS titles.

Never lose hope.

Let me get this straight

PC have k/m(best control scheme), Steam Controller(best controller), and console controllers.

Consoles have some crappy controllers?

@MK-Professor: I'm not sure how the console controllers are considered crappy? I mean they're so crappy that gamers have even started using them on the PC this generation. And the press that have used the X1 and PS4 controllers have been praising them the vast majority of the time.

Again missing the "crappy" part...

Ahh, the new forums hurt my eyes :(

That's because not every PC gamer has a wheel for racing games, and sports games just aren't as fun on the KBAM setup. The controller is just flat out better suited to certain things, but for any genre that requires accuracy (FPS especially), the current controllers are just left wanting.

Gamepad/Mouse > Keyboard/Mouse (FPS, RTS, MMO) = Steam Controller (Action) > Traditional controllers

This depends on what gamers want out of there FPS. I'll be honest and say I like FPS on controllers, but then again I play campaigns and I expect them to be difficult based on their combat scenarios, and not on how well I can aim directly at an enemies weak point.

True enough. I like to compare it to racing... What would I rather race with? A well designed track car, or a ford transit? Both will get you around the track, but only one will set a decent lap time :p

Damn, that actually looks impressive. Surprised how well it seems to work

The accuracy seems to be countered by speed limitations.

and its still leagues ahead of console controllers for shooters and any precision game.

Functional, but its still fugly.

I still wish there was a nub to place my thumbs on, a big part of the experience for me on consoles or even PC gaming is having that feel of a joystick and the slight resistance it has on it.

Unless there's something I'm missing here, maybe there is I obviously haven't had hands on with this thing.

That remains to be seen though since none of us have actually used the controller to see what the trade offs are. I am skeptical that the Steam controller is without its own set of flaws just like every product on the market. However i would definately give Valve A for effort due to the radical nature of this controller and it does seem very interesting, but then again, i think there would be patent rights if they tried to copy the already existing controllers, no?. This way they can differentiate themselves from the available platforms, it does have me excited

Seems really promising.

Now all they need is a Dota2 demonstration and i'm sold xD

jk, but i'm definately trying it out for the shooters

The speed that player was lining shots was slower than I am used to when using a mouse and a console controller, so it does not really matter that the Steampad is more accurate if it is slower than what is adequate.

Besides the frequent swiping, another possible weakness mentioned by a developer:-

"The Steam Controller's weakness: I think analog sticks are better at defining boundaries -- for instance, I can mash a stick forward as far as I physically can, and I know I'm going to walk forward as quickly as I can. I just can't push it forward any further. The trackpads require more finesse; my thumbs will have to learn where to stop."

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/28/steam-controller-dev-reactions/

But it does have the haptic feedback to make it all feel more physical. It will be interesting to find out how effective it is.

Because you're well bloody used to them by now. This controller is brand new and like nothing else in the gamepad market, it's gonna take a bit of practice to get good with it.

This seems to give you more direct control at every nuance of the movement. Sticks are prone to over and under aiming at the compromise of deadzones

This controller interests me greatly because I hate analog sticks for any sort of precision after playing with a mouse for so long, I do like a stick better for movement though

Indeed. The haptic feedback is there specifically to give players an idea of where their thumb is moving. Seeing the Valve worker demonstrate the controller - it looks completely intuitive and easy to me. I could see myself out-doing console controllers with ease with the kind of precision it's offering.

As much as I like the idea, as a long time PC gamer, I can easily say the only controller I've ever used that came close (and to be honest, really close) to the sort of accuracy and speed you get with a mouse and keyboard was a Wiimote. It might sound mental but the Wiimote pointer controls were really fast and accurate for moving a cursor around a screen and aiming. I had hoped Sony's PS move would replicate that kind of responsiveness on some more powerful hardware, but the PS Move wound up having awful support and being pretty expensive so people wouldn't take a chance on it.

If you have a Wiimote laying around and a bluetooth adapter for your PC, try out some of the games that have been modded for it, it's surprisingly good. It's still not mouse and keyboard responsive, but it is in the ballpark.

I just don't think Valve's track pad approach is going to be enough, I thought they would have went with a design / tech similar to the Razer Hydra after having worked with them on the Portal 2 motion DLC pack, but who knows maybe the follow up to the Hydra (Sixense STEM Controller) will catch on next year, it's passed it's Kickstarter goal so it will get released at least.

In any case, this needs to be proven it can handle speeds necessary for fun gameplay.

That is the future of gaming.