Valve Will Unveil Its Own VR Tech, Final Steam Controller at GDC

[Steven Bogos]

Valve Will Unveil Its Own VR Tech, Final Steam Controller at GDC

Valve is officially entering the VR hardware market.

Valve has just sent out a press release stating that it will be showing a family of new Steam devices at next week's Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, CA. While this by itself is nothing to be excited about - Valve has been hyping its Steam Controller [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/steam%20machines?os=steam+machines], as well as a new VR initiative dubbed "Steam VR" would be on display.

The Steam Controller's multiple Windows-based models in frustration [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134832-Steam-Controller-Delayed-to-2015], but we haven't seen a "true" Steam Machine as of yet. The fact that Valve is now ready to show it's "final" version of the controller means that mass Steam Machine release is imminent.

While Valve gave us literally no other info on its other big announcement, the Steam VR initiative, it certainly sounds a lot like Valve's in-house answer to the Oculus Rift [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/oculus%20rift]. Considering how well all of Valve's other initiatives have integrated with its Steam platform - where the overwhelming majority of PC games are played - we can probably assume Steam VR will have some pretty great compatibility, and may even muscle out its competitors.

"GDC 2015 will mark the 13th anniversary of Valve's first public announcement of Steam, which has since become the leading platform for PC, Mac, and Linux games and software," said Valve.

I'm excited to see the Steam Machines finally reach completion. As for Steam VR, well, we may be approaching the Gabe Newell PC gaming singularity...

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[Zontar]

Valve is going to end up getting soooo much more of my money by the time this is all over, I just know it. Now if only they could release Source 2 and Half life 3 already.

 

[Vigormortis]

Valve is going to end up getting soooo much more of my money by the time this is all over, I just know it. Now if only they could release Source 2 and Half life 3 already.

Mmm...not gonna touch Half-Life 3, but....

Source 2 was already "kind of" soft-launched with the Dota 2 beta Workshop and Hammer tools. But, from what I've been hearing, Source 2 will likely be demoed at GDC this year. More likely than not by showcasing their rebuild of Dota 2 on the new engine.

Could be wrong. We'll see in a week.

As for me, I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes out of their conferences on "glNext", Advanced VR Rendering, and their reveals of the last bits of the Steam Universe.

I'm kind of hoping we hear something about their secret "Vortex" project. There's been some tidbits here and there that hint at "Vortex" being some kind of contact-lense-based VR/AR tech, but I REALLY doubt it. It sounds like nonsense to me, but Abrash and crew were fiddling with that sort of thing back in 2011. Who knows what they've been up to behind closed doors since then?

My guess is that Valve's big VR showing will be something akin to the Workshop. It'll be a series of toolsets, network and platform infrastructures, and community/developer initiatives to make VR coding faster, easier, and more robust.

 

[Vigormortis]

snip

You may want to add some text to that post. Generally speaking posts that only contain pics are considered low-content and will net you a warning. So heads up...

 

[Rozalia1]

Valve's steam machines haven't been released? Odd because I saw a few... oh wait we got to forget that show of incompetence.

Spoiler: A leak on what the Steam controller will look like

I look forward to the new failures. Can't wait for the final final final version to be shown.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Is that pic supposed to be the final version (not yours Rozalia)? The fact that they replaced one of the touchpads with a joystick at one point doesn't encourage me at all, and neither do these Steam machines, With all the possible customization, they are still pretty much PCs. Why do they even need to design a new controller? No one asked for one.

 

[Kahani]

I'm excited to see the Steam Machines finally reach completion.

Why? They're just regular PCs that happen to be preloaded with an OS you can already download for free if you want it. There is nothing in the least bit interesting about them.

Why do they even need to design a new controller? No one asked for one.

Unless you believe that current controllers are perfect in every way and there can never be any possible improvements, why would you have a problem with someone designing a new controller? Controllers have constantly evolved since their invention, as have mice, keyboards, and all other input devices. Valve think they can make a better one. Maybe they're right, maybe not, but either way it seems rather silly to criticise them for trying at all.

 

[Teoes]

Finally! Been waiting for this. Please be awesome, please don't suck - I'd like to not regret the time I've spent not buying a controller for reasons of wanting to see what Valve came up with.

 

[Strazdas]

oh look, another eggsbox 3.60$ controller instead of that cool unique controller [http://media.steampowered.com/steam/store/livingroom/controller/SteamController.jpg] they started with

Why do they even need to design a new controller? No one asked for one.

except everyone that thought the current controllers are shit.

 

[AstaresPanda]

Cool news and all but its not Half-Life 3 and thats what I really want from valve. Its a nice idea but ive never seen the point, its just another pc im buying to play in my living room..... ? The only thing that sounds interesting is the steam controller. Im the only pc gamer in my friends group and i play like a total n00b on their consoles when i play with them.This could be just what i needed......or not the entire steam machines thing has been abit of a cool but do i really want/need it.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

snip

I just find that maybe they should pay a little more attention to the Steam machines rather than fiddling around with new controllers. I'm not sure what you mean by controllers are constantly evolving, sure they make some small improvements, change the shape, etc, but for the past three generations the controllers have been almost exactly the same. Their controllers will hardly be a selling point for the machine, unless somehow they manage to give everyone finger orgasms, then I take back everything I said. But with everything that I've seen so far, I'd guess the controllers will be generic two-joystick controllers in the end.

except everyone that thought the current controllers are shit.

You're the first person I've heard that from actually. Unless you're referring to last gen, then yeah I guess I could agree with you. New gen controllers seem to be generally well liked enough though.

 

[major_chaos]

Really Valve? More tech stuff even though your last 3 "innovations" failed to amount to anything other than rebranding. (Steam OS: AKA Linux but locked down defeating the entire point of Linux, Steam machines AKA: literally just the same overpriced prebuilds that have been around forever but with SteamOS preinstalled, and Steam controler AKA: laptop trackpads are GREAT for gaming right guys? ...Guys? OK fine we made it a generic brand 360 pad, happy now?) With that track record I'm guessing their VR tech is a occulus rift spray-painted white. Then again that's all they really have to do, Valve could slap their logo on a toaster and it would become the highest selling toaster ever made because lord gaben and hats. VR gaming is a thick fog of hype with no substance anyway, so its a smart move for the kings of hype over nothing to get involved, they could make tens of thousands of dollars on preorders right there on the show floor if they wanted.

 

[Strazdas]

You're the first person I've heard that from actually. Unless you're referring to last gen, then yeah I guess I could agree with you. New gen controllers seem to be generally well liked enough though.

i guess all the people asking for different controler sizes and shapes never met you. some people like new controller, some prefer old ones, some dont like either. but with statement like "no one" you are brushing it way too wide.

Really Valve

I never though that day will come but i completely agree with you.

 

[Lightknight]

Lots of VR initiatives, no viable VR consumer models.

Call me when the latter becomes false.

 

[Maxtro]

Lots of VR initiatives, no viable VR consumer models.

Call me when the latter becomes false.

Exactly.

I'm getting tired of all these announcements while we still don't actually have a headset for sale.

 

[Li Mu]

I just wish Valve would make another game.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Could they just release something soon. I'm getting tired of all this VR talk and the rumors of the next Steam controller redesign. I would like, once and for all, to know if they somehow managed to make a passable controller that fuses the benefits of gamepads and keyboards/mice together or if the blunder will show the world that keyboard and mouse controls and gamepad controls are inherently different and they both have situations they suite better than the other. (Either way, I'll probably stick to my PS3 controller, since the d-pad is good for 2D, and using software that tricks games into thinking it's an xbox 360 controller works for me.)

 

[Vivi22]

Valve's steam machines haven't been released? Odd because I saw a few... oh wait we got to forget that show of incompetence.

Don't know what you're talking about. To my knowledge no Steam machines have been released to date. In part because SteamOS isn't even out. It's in Beta now but still not officially released for anyone to download.

So do tell about these Steam machines you saw that ran on an OS that isn't available yet. I'm very curious to see what future you come from where you actually saw any in the wild oh mighty time traveler.