Steam announcement countdown..

[vcoleiro1]

This might perhaps be a good controller for FPS games - and that is it.  IMO, this will suck hard for everything else.  Perhaps this is just a controller for FPS games, lets hope so.

As a general controller:

* No Dpad - Not going to be great for retro type games

* No joysticks - I can understand maybe one touch pad on the right for aiming in FPS games and leaving one left joystick for movement - but two touch pads?.  Using a touchpad to control motion on games best suited for a joystick is not going to be ideal IMO - but we will see.

* I was going to say no face buttons , but then I realised the 4 buttons around the middle touchscreen are the face  buttons.  That would be like using the home and select buttons on a normal controller as your normal action buttons.  What were they thinking.

Remember of course there is touch screen in the middle that can take input also.  trying to access those buttons around it will mean you will occasionally touch the screen - yep that's not going to cause problems.

* No motion sensors -  If they wanted to be a little revolutionary, motion sensors would have been great for driving games.  That's one thing that the tablets really excel at with their motion controls - driving games are great on them.

* Precedence - With the two touch pads instead of sticks, this thing reminds me of the Sony Xperia Play, look how well that worked. Why would you go down the same path

I have seen so many of these controllers now where they have done some kind of hack/compromise with the controls l'm wondering what exactly goes though peoples minds when they design these things. It certainly isn't the gamut of games that they need to  control effectively 

..

 

[kuru]

Just woke up and checked out the steam things... was like "mkay, I might try and partake in this beta" until I saw that abomination of a controller. One would have to tie me to a chair and force it into my hands to make me try that, at least until I've seen a review of it. "Let's throw away what made regular joypads great control devices and replace it with more touch pads"

 

[MrConfusion]

the picture of the controller destroyed this thread way more than any derailment could have ever done.... valve either is trolling the internet hard, or has hired a idiot and this project is doomed to fail, game controller without buttons? Why not just play your pc games with your ipod? I'll tell you why.... they got an app for that... and it sucks!!!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Dilsook.GameController&hl=en

With stuff already available like dance mats, kinect, flight sticks and rudders, etc.

And the stuff up and coming, especially the rift and omni.

I see this controller as more of a setback than improvement.

For example, when I saw the omni I immediately though: This is excellent stuff, a full body controller for FPS enthusiasts, arguably the most popular genre, exactly what many of them need to get their lazy asses up from the sofa.

And for reaction games dance mats are brilliant, I never say no when my kids want to play Mario Dance, as long as they take a shower afterwards .

I think different kinds of games are supposed to have different kinds of controls, shoving everything into one mold is not natural at all and will just result to strains, pains and aches... OK, their target is the sofa, I realize that, but I still think it kind of a shame...

 You can say I'm wrong, but I feel as if I'm right.

You're not wrong, I agreed with pretty much all you wrote about.

You could say the observation point between us was not completely phase accurate, though ;-).

 

[ekianjo]

Just woke up and checked out the steam things... was like "mkay, I might try and partake in this beta" until I saw that abomination of a controller. One would have to tie me to a chair and force it into my hands to make me try that, at least until I've seen a review of it. "Let's throw away what made regular joypads great control devices and replace it with more touch pads"

You don't know until you tried it.

And anyway, you can use other control devices with the SteamOS. Nobody forces you to use that.

 

[ekianjo]

This might perhaps be a good controller for FPS games - and that is it.  IMO, this will suck hard for everything else.  Perhaps this is just a controller for FPS games, lets hope so.

As a general controller:

* No Dpad - Not going to be great for retro type games

* No joysticks - I can understand maybe one touch pad on the right for aiming in FPS games and leaving one left joystick for movement - but two touch pads?.  Using a touchpad to control motion on games best suited for a joystick is not going to be ideal IMO - but we will see.

* I was going to say no face buttons , but then I realised the 4 buttons around the middle touchscreen are the face  buttons.  That would be like using the home and select buttons on a normal controller as your normal action buttons.  What were they thinking.

Remember of course there is touch screen in the middle that can take input also.  trying to access those buttons around it will mean you will occasionally touch the screen - yep that's not going to cause problems.

* No motion sensors -  If they wanted to be a little revolutionary, motion sensors would have been great for driving games.  That's one thing that the tablets really excel at with their motion controls - driving games are great on them.

* Precedence - With the two touch pads instead of sticks, this thing reminds me of the Sony Xperia Play, look how well that worked. Why would you go down the same path

I have seen so many of these controllers now where they have done some kind of hack/compromise with the controls l'm wondering what exactly goes though peoples minds when they design these things. It certainly isn't the gamut of games that they need to  control effectively 

..

You can't have a single controller that does everything well.

This controller is obviously aimed at games that should be played with a mouse, and maybe it will be a good replacement for that. We'll see.

Of course for all other games you'll just use your regular PS3 or Xbox controller. Unlike other systems, the SteamMachines and SteamOS will not force you to use a single controller.

I don't see why you guys are so OUTRAGED because someone's giving you more choice.

 

[kuru]

Just woke up and checked out the steam things... was like "mkay, I might try and partake in this beta" until I saw that abomination of a controller. One would have to tie me to a chair and force it into my hands to make me try that, at least until I've seen a review of it. "Let's throw away what made regular joypads great control devices and replace it with more touch pads"

You don't know until you tried it.

And anyway, you can use other control devices with the SteamOS. Nobody forces you to use that.

Hmkay, if this controller won't be a necessity but is an option it won't do any harm. Having more options is good I guess.

 

[ekianjo]

Hmkay, if this controller won't be a necessity but is an option it won't do any harm. Having more options is good I guess.

That's exactly what they wrote in the announcement Read before commenting

 

[SeeThruHead]

I could see other companies or even valve themselves making a version that has analog sticks as well as the touchscreen in the middle. I'd love to see a version with an analog stick on the left side and a track pad on the right. With the face buttons either below or going around the top like the buttons on the game cube controller went around the a.

 

[Mr_Loon]

Can't get my head round why people think the Steam controller would be good for FPS games. Think how good it would be playing an FPS with 2 mice / laptop touch pads rather than mouse & keyboard. A DPad and 1 'touchpad' would be a far better setup for FPS gaming IMHO. I can see how it would be possible to play an FPS / RTS with the steam controller but then again it's also possible to play FPS with twin analogue sticks, it's just a vastly inferior option compared to mouse & keyboard.

Looking forward to reading reviews when the controller is released & really hope to be proved wrong.

 

[ekianjo]

Can't get my head round why people think the Steam controller would be good for FPS games.

Definitely sounds better than playing with the current pads the consoles FPS.

 

[Asmo]

First hands-on reports:

http://kotaku.com/valves-controller-has-been-tested-here-are-some-impre-1415579308

Favourable, though mixed opinions - note further down, the suggestion from one party that physical nubs be added to the trackpad areas.

 

[fusion_power]

I guess to judge this new device we must hold and test it with out own hands. It really sounds interesting. The Controller also looks decent, nice how NVidia can throw out such stuff out of thin air without any previous announcements in that direction. ^^

 

[WizardStan]

I see this controller as more of a setback than improvement.

You can't have a setback on something that has never existed before. This isn't Sony or Microsoft unveiling the next console's controller with the potential to be better or worse than the previous generation, this is Valve trying something entirely new. There was nothing like this before it and they put a lot of thought into making it the image that they were going for.I can easily make the comparison between this and the Pandora: new and scary, with things a lot of people think they'll never need and think will be hinderences, but for the right people those features are what will make the product worthwhile.

The only difference is Valve has enough money to R&D this thing until it is working flawlessly.

 

[Timstertoo]

I understand the critique about what not will work on it. But I do see a lot of things it can work with. FPS games of course, but also something like Heroes of Might and Magic and Civilisation you can play from your couch.

I might have to slowly start working on a way to claim the couch and tv back seeing as it's my better half and the girls domain right now and the pc is mine. 

With the new baby coming in a couple of months we'll have to move from this house sooner or later, that's when I'll strike. New house, new rules. Yeah, that is what I will do. Can't see how that won't work. I'm the man in the house after all. (ok, we need two tv's and two couches)

 

[Ian J]

Review of the controller from Tommy Refenes, one of the team behind Super Meat Boy.

http://tommyrefenes.tumblr.com/post/62476523677/my-time-with-the-steam-controller

 

[thatgui]

I see this controller as more of a setback than improvement.

You can't have a setback on something that has never existed before. This isn't Sony or Microsoft unveiling the next console's controller with the potential to be better or worse than the previous generation, this is Valve trying something entirely new. There was nothing like this before it and they put a lot of thought into making it the image that they were going for.
I can easily make the comparison between this and the Pandora: new and scary, with things a lot of people think they'll never need and think will be hinderences, but for the right people those features are what will make the product worthwhile.


The only difference is Valve has enough money to R&D this thing until it is working flawlessly.

But devices to control games have existed before the steam controller - it may do things very differently than other devices in that "class" but it still belongs to a defined group I would call "game controllers". The same thing about your Pandora analogy, the Pandora may be currently the only device in its class ("Palmtop/mobile Linux computers"), but she certainly wasn't the first one.

usual disclaimer: I do not wan't to take sides with MrConfusion, just letting my inner smartass out I'll guess I have to wait for a knockoff, to find out wether it is a setback or not

 

[WizardStan]

But devices to control games have existed before the steam controller - it may do things very differently than other devices in that "class" but it still belongs to a defined group I would call "game controllers". The same thing about your Pandora analogy, the Pandora may be currently the only device in its class ("Palmtop/mobile Linux computers"), but she certainly wasn't the first one.

usual disclaimer: I do not wan't to take sides with MrConfusion, just letting my inner smartass out I'll guess I have to wait for a knockoff, to find out wether it is a setback or not

Right, but the point is that, for good or bad, you cannot classify the Steam controller as "a setback" anymore than the Pandora's tribulations were "a setback" on the entire palmtop industry. If the controller flops it will not cause people to suddenly say "oh man, console controllers are all crap. Look at how poorly Valve's controller did". If the controller fails, the only company that will suffer will be Valve, the industry wide "controller" will take the failure in stride, learn from it, and be stronger for it.If this were Sony or Microsoft, yeah, it could be considered a setback, something worse than what it is replacing, but in this case it isn't replacing anything. It's a new controller, unhindered by previous standards that it needs to uhold. Valve is in a position to experiment with input, and experiment is what they are doing. The last 10 years has seen a lot of experiments in technology prove themselves after masses said it would fail. It is impossible to know that this won't be any different.

 

[thatgui]

But devices to control games have existed before the steam controller - it may do things very differently than other devices in that "class" but it still belongs to a defined group I would call "game controllers". The same thing about your Pandora analogy, the Pandora may be currently the only device in its class ("Palmtop/mobile Linux computers"), but she certainly wasn't the first one.


usual disclaimer: I do not wan't to take sides with MrConfusion, just letting my inner smartass out I'll guess I have to wait for a knockoff, to find out wether it is a setback or not

Right, but the point is that, for good or bad, you cannot classify the Steam controller as "a setback" anymore than the Pandora's tribulations were "a setback" on the entire palmtop industry. If the controller flops it will not cause people to suddenly say "oh man, console controllers are all crap. Look at how poorly Valve's controller did". If the controller fails, the only company that will suffer will be Valve, the industry wide "controller" will take the failure in stride, learn from it, and be stronger for it.
If this were Sony or Microsoft, yeah, it could be considered a setback, something worse than what it is replacing, but in this case it isn't replacing anything. It's a new controller, unhindered by previous standards that it needs to uhold. Valve is in a position to experiment with input, and experiment is what they are doing. The last 10 years has seen a lot of experiments in technology prove themselves after masses said it would fail. It is impossible to know that this won't be any different.

Had he actually implied that ? After rereading his post I can't see that he wants his post beeing perceived in such a scale / context you are suggesting

 

[WizardStan]

Had he actually implied that ?

Implied nothing, that is literally what was said

I see this controller as more of a setback than improvement.

I'm saying it can't be a setback if there is nothing before it to set back, unless he meant "the entire industry is being setback" but that is silly as well, as I pointed out. Most likely he didn't think this deeply about it and what he actually wants to say requires a different word, but that's why I pointed out: I like learning about other people's opinions, I want to know exactly what he's thinking, but I won't get that if he's describing it with words that don't mean what he thinks they mean.

 

[thatgui]

I would assert that the thread (or to be more exact, the part of the thread that deals with the controller announcement) provides enough contextual guideline to be sure, that he was only stating that in relation to "game controller evolution". But from a learners perspective, I would be interested in you rephrasing his statement so that his intention can't be interpreted otherwise.