Gabe Newell: Valve will release its own console-like PC

[RenegadeRocks]

SOOOOO SEXYYYYYY ! Holy moly, Why didn't Sony or MS come up with this as next gen ! I would have bought any console with such a sexy new controller ! I literally feel like jumping around with that in my hands !!!!

 

[RenegadeRocks]

But it looks pretty small in the picture where we see the hands, I want this to be big like th eXbox controller for PC.

 

[baten]

So Valve is sticking with a controller, no motion sensing in their percieved vision of the future...

 

[Cjail]

The downplaying of face buttons is equally intriguing, and together with the 2 additional back-side buttons makes this a very 1st person focused controller.

Those two extra triggers are there basically L3 and R3, which are not used only by FPS so what do you mean?

 

[Blazkowicz]

It is interesting. Clicking the pads make for L4 and R4 too. In effet they make a dichotomy you can find on eg. Dualshock/PS2 controllers go away, where the face buttons are usable if you use the left stick or D-PAD, but not so much if you use both sticks.
If you control a racing game with both sticks on a Dualshock, you're tied to using L1/L2 and R1/R2, anything else will be infrequent stuff that interferes with your controls. That's only four buttons.

So Valve optimized for that and gives you six main buttons, plus four auxiliary ones to hit with thumbs, plus clicking the pads in a less intrusive way than L3/R3 on Dualshock.

For the racing game example on Dualshock you may have "turbo" on R3, "look behind" on the top face button, pause the game with start. On the Valve controller you could have that on L3/R3 and then have other stuff on the A/B/X/Y.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Did anyone else notice how it would be impossible to play Portal with this controller and key bindings?

There's no jump button!

Yes there is, clicking the left pad is space bar.

Movement is implemented with a simple trick too. It's digital in nature (as an example of keyboard emulation) but if you "move" using the interior of the trackpad, it simulates pressing shift so you "walk".

 

[JPT]

SOOOOO SEXYYYYYY ! Holy moly, Why didn't Sony or MS come up with this as next gen ! I would have bought any console with such a sexy new controller ! I literally feel like jumping around with that in my hands !!!!

I guess it would have been to drastic, you can easier get away with some radical change like this if your the underdog. If Sony or MS did this, everybody would be out poo pooing it ala this is ruining gaming, I liked the old controllers, why did they destroy the controller.
As for Valve doing, everybody are more like, hmm different interesting, maybe not for me, but I might give it a go etc.

 

[baten]

Will it work with PS3/4? or XBox? The more I read about it the more I am excited about this trackpad.
Can somebody check if there is any patents related to the tech in the trackpads?
Seems like toshiba had something a few years ago that could give touch feedback on a flat surface by electrical currents.

I would love a PS4 controller with these trackpads instead of the thumbsticks.

 

[MfA]

If I'm ever going to use a controller I want a trigger under every non-thumb finger.

Having three fingers on each hand used is just not going to cut it ... I'm used to having quick access to ~10 keys with my left hand and ~5 mouse buttons with my right.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Everyone else thinking it's useful for playing even DOS games?
The touchscreen could even reveal a virtual keyboard, controlled by touch or the pads, which even if imperfect and requiring you to scroll and whatnot, is enough to enter a name for high scores, savegame, your character etc.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Will it work with PS3/4? or XBox?

Not as it will on Steambox. If it did work, it'd be a DS with pads instead of sticks, but not providing the mouse-like interface that some games will use.

 

[BRiT]

Did anyone else notice how it would be impossible to play Portal with this controller and key bindings?

There's no jump button!

Never noticed that until you mentioned it. Quite funny.

Did they give any details on the controller being able to be used on a system with actual games ( Windows ) ?

 

[Jwm]

Developer impressions up on Kotaku are rather interesting. Pads can be uses as virtual buttons (abxy), but not clear if they can be in both modes at once.



They need to license the MS tech for having the trackpads raise up for virtual buttons.



Overall I am willing to try it, but it will go in the bin if it is painful to hold.

 

[Malo]

Disappointing I think. Doesn't seem to actually solve the keyboard issue. For instance as someone who plays dota, I don't believe this is a practical solution. I'm not against the controller itself per say, but it's just another controller to me.

Thus the problem remains, how do I play dota on my couch? (cue "but just buy a bluetooth kb/mouse...")

Have you ever tried the text input on Steam Big Picture? It's quite cool with one stick for selecting the petal and the 4 buttons to select which button on the petal.

 

[Blazkowicz]

In Dota you need split-second keyboard chat, they coordinate with abbreviated jargon I think to warn of an ennemy attack, ask for help, kill a wandering hero etc.
Wasting a second on petals and menus may get you killed. Of course I don't get the point much : if it's a game that can only be played on a desktop with the good old chair/keyb/mouse combo, then sure don't expect to play it on the couch with the Valve controller.

I remember that for some heavy handed Quake 3 / CS, the chair itself could make the game playable or not : with a too soft or unstable one (like a piece of crap too lightweight or with wheels) I couldn't frag properly

Still I guess you can mostly use a PC from couch with a Valve controller and bluetooth keyboard, somewhat decently too with just the controller (at least for launching movies and apps etc.). It would be pretty cool be able to do all stuff from the couches, needs a giant monitor (that's the modern TVs, or even LED projector) without needing tablets, laptops etc.
I like using only desktops : cheaper, more reliable, more powerful. This ties to a desk the old way. How nice would it be to have a desktop without the desk - then I could have a desk to do paper stuff, unencumbered by computer crap

The missing piece would be a mechanical bluetooth keyboard, something heavy and meant to be used for 10+ years, not the cheapo thing with netbook keys that flips over, falls from the couch and will be damaged or destroyed with moderate force.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

In Dota you need split-second keyboard chat, they coordinate with abbreviated jargon I think to warn of an ennemy attack, ask for help, kill a wandering hero etc.

If only there was some way to communicate more directly, such as using voice or something? Of course, there's no way yoghurt pots and string can stretch to everyone's home, so I guess that's fanciful thinking on my part.

 

[MfA]

We've had it for years ... PC gamers still use keyboard chat any way.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Aside from not wanting to hear random strangers's voices, there's nationality. Isn't a problem for the US (or US/Canada) but when you're on a german or romanian, polish server etc. it's nice not to be submerged with people speaking Deutsch or something else.

At least people can get by with reading/writing some simple english (and messages in some slavic language are less annoying). There can be "voice commands" too.

 

[joker454]

Some impressions of their new gamepad here:

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

I suppose I should wait and give it a chance. I do recall when first trying to play shooters with the 360 gamepad I thought it was impossible compared to keyboard and mouse yet now I only play games with the 360 gamepad and haven't used keyboard and mouse for gaming for many years. So who knows maybe the Steam controller could grow on me after a period of time.

 

[Grall]

I've been thinking about those touchpads, like, what are they made of? Looks like plastic. How will they stand up to wear and tear? A surface which lets a finger glide easily over it when it is fresh and new may not be as smooth when it has been rubbed and polished by your thumbs for hundreds of hours.