Valve Releases New Video Showing Steam Controller in Action

[gigastar]

Out of curiousity i now want to see him playing a live multiplayer match of CS:GO, a RTS game of decent repute (inevitably StarCraft 2), and one of the MOBA's (probably LoL or DotA2).

 

[Psychobabble]

Just looks like a more compact and slightly more difficult way of doing the same things I've always done with mouse and keyboard. They keep hammering home the "so you can play your computer games from your couch" idea which I have zero interest in doing.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

In fact, I'm impressed with how well the demonstration actually worked in Portal 2 given they didn't adjust the ingame controls to the controller but rather just mapped the controller to the default keyboard settings.

This also caught my eye. I've tried playing Cry of Fear using a ps3 controller mapped to a keyboard and mouse and its hard to walk using a stick binded to wasd keys but its weird moving in 3D with a D-pad and using a right stick to aim. It looks like the track pad would actually be work for that set up. It makes sense cause I've already used a D-pad mapped to a touch screen to play emulated games on my phone and it works pretty well

I was kinda unsure about the mouse precision while he was playing Civ 5, but after seeing him breeze through Paper's Please at the end I'm pretty convinced

 

[Vigormortis]

In fact, I'm impressed with how well the demonstration actually worked in Portal 2 given they didn't adjust the ingame controls to the controller but rather just mapped the controller to the default keyboard settings.

This also caught my eye. I've tried playing Cry of Fear using a ps3 controller mapped to a keyboard and mouse and its hard to walk using a stick binded to wasd keys but its weird moving in 3D with a D-pad and using a right stick to aim. It looks like the track pad would actually be work for that set up. It makes sense cause I've already used a D-pad mapped to a touch screen to play emulated games on my phone and it works pretty well

I was kinda unsure about the mouse precision while he was playing Civ 5, but after seeing him breeze through Paper's Please at the end I'm pretty convinced

I'm not entirely convinced yet; in so far as replacing my keyboard/mouse for most of my games with this new controller. However, these four short, simple demonstrations proved one thing: the trackpads can work. Possibly even brilliantly.

I'm still dubious as to how accurate and responsive they are, given the promises, and I'm still not entirely sold on the layout of the buttons, but I'm definitely more excited than I was before to get one in my hands to try it out.

It's a shame the beta models won't have fully functioning touchscreens. I'm really curious to see what kind of multifaceted control functions can be mapped to it.

 

[Covarr]

The sensitivity looks too low, but that's probably configurable. I certainly hope I can change that as a hardware setting, because having to use in-game settings reduces accuracy.

P.S. Thanks

 

[LAGG]

"We're gonna play CS:GO to show off how precise this controller is"
Proceeds to stand still for several seconds, crouch, take time lining up a shot and still misses firing semi-auto.

I think I'll stick to traditonal KB+M unless something else comes out and impresses me.

I'm sure all downsides where just his personal skill and not the controllers fault.

In portal they have the controller emulating a trackball, he can even do 180 in single swipes, watch again you see he can swipe and release and it holds momentum, he just doesn't use it all the time. The lack od accuracy in CS:GO I can only attibute to lack of practice too, and he was using acceleration (ugh), be all the movements were amazingly responsive.

I'm sold.

Spoiler: Disclaimer

 

[Vigormortis]

This looks cool for the Civ 5 thing. Really not liking it in FPS though. The biggest issue I have with trackpads for gaming is having to lift my finger off the pad in order to get decent mouse range, and that's present in full force. If you can't do a 360 turn in an FPS without taking your thumbs off the pads, it's not going to work in FPS games.

It seemed as though he had the default turn speed, as seen with the mouse, applied to the trackpad. After all, as he explained, they didn't map the game to the controller but rather mapped the controller to the default k+b controllers.

So it stands to reason you could easily turn up the turn speed. I'd imagine you could set the pad to allow for a full 360 turn with any range of movement on the pad.

"We're gonna play CS:GO to show off how precise this controller is"
Proceeds to stand still for several seconds, crouch, take time lining up a shot and still misses firing semi-auto.

I think I'll stick to traditonal KB+M unless something else comes out and impresses me.

You're under the assumption that that isn't how he plays the game normally with a mouse. For all we know, FPS gaming isn't his "thing".

My point is, basing an opinion on the functionality of the controller on how one guy plays twenty seconds of a game is, if you'll pardon the pun-like vernacular, "jumping the gun".

I'm still reserving my judgment until I can get one in my own hands to test it. However, this short demonstration video proved to me, if nothing else, the potential of this controller.

Whether they realize it is another matter. Time will tell.

 

[Agayek]

It seemed as though he had the default turn speed, as seen with the mouse, applied to the trackpad. After all, as he explained, they didn't map the game to the controller but rather mapped the controller to the default k+b controllers.

So it stands to reason you could easily turn up the turn speed. I'd imagine you could set the pad to allow for a full 360 turn with any range of movement on the pad.

Oh yea, absolutely. Like I said, I can't render any meaningful judgment until I've used the damn thing. It's a controller, watching people use it is the next best thing to useless for knowing how it will feel in your own hands.

It's just that this demo wasn't particularly inspiring.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i'm not convinced on this, i'd have to see this on more games (and use it in my own hands) otherwise i don't really consider myself ever getting one.


still millions of miles ahead of the wii controller though, so that's at least saying something.

 

[Vigormortis]

Oh yea, absolutely. Like I said, I can't render any meaningful judgment until I've used the damn thing. It's a controller, watching people use it is the next best thing to useless for knowing how it will feel in your own hands.

It's just that this demo wasn't particularly inspiring.

I actually thought it was. Not entirely convincing, but certainly inspiring.

At least, insofar as demonstrating the adaptability and possibility of customization present in even the beta hardware. I was genuinely impressed with how well it seemed to work in Portal 2 and Civ V, especially, with little to no custom mapping or coding.

Still, as I've said many times already, I'm still reserving judgement. But actually seeing one in action has, in the very least, showed me that the pads aren't quite as seemingly awkward as they look.

Presumably.

 

[fix-the-spade]

That looks not bad, the FPS and RTS controls certainly look no worse than using a dual stick controller, albeit not really any better either. It looks intuitive, which is nice, especially compared to the last fad for motion controls.

 

[Agayek]

I actually thought it was. Not entirely convincing, but certainly inspiring.

At least, insofar as demonstrating the adaptability and possibility of customization present in even the beta hardware. I was genuinely impressed with how well it seemed to work in Portal 2 and Civ V, especially, with little to no custom mapping or coding.

Still, as I've said many times already, I'm still reserving judgement. But actually seeing one in action has, in the very least, showed me that the pads aren't quite as seemingly awkward as they look.

Presumably.

This demo didn't really show anything though, which was my point. All it did was directly tie their hardware (and the parts that were shown have existed for technological ages) into the pre-existing keyboard and mouse input. Literally the only difference from a standard laptop KB+M setup is that there's a second trackpad with buttons behind it. Nothing else changed drastically except for the overall shape of it, and that's pretty irrelevant from a technological standpoint.

Sorry, but showing off a laptop keyboard condensed into a controller is not an impressive display.

There's a great deal of potential for awesome with the thing, and I'm really looking forward to where they go with it, but this video is pretty meaningless aside from the WSAD behind the left pad.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Yeah, not convinced. Aiming in an FPS looks awful and the trackpad erases the bonuses that thumbsticks give you for movement. Looked like shite to use, honestly, don't really see where the supposed upsides are.

 

[ryo02]

I still want to actually have my hands on one before I decide if its any good for me but I am willing to give it a decent chance.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Looks good. I'm really interested to get my hands on one whenever I can. This whole "haptic feedback" thing is something I doubt can be understood until you try it.

As for people saying how much trouble he had with head shots in CS. Maybe he's not amazing at it. I know I'd have a hard time doing as well as he did with a keyboard and mouse or gamepad. Also I'm sure you don't need to swipe like that. You can just set your controller to emulate a joystick rather than a mouse, or change the sensitivity I'm sure.

 

[Simalacrum]

Seemed? acceptable? but it looked to me like you could have a little bit more precision with a keyboard and mouse. Specifically, when there was a mouse icon displayed on the screen.

Now, I don't actually play FPS's on PC (yah yah, whatevs), but I do play strategy games like Civ V and indie games like Papers, Please; it looked to me like both of those would have been faster to use with a mouse, and thats particularly important with Papers, Please which has a time pressure, and with that he seemed to have to be a little bit careful to accurately click the buttons required.

Still, I'll reserve judgement until I've actually tried one.

 

[Vigormortis]

This demo didn't really show anything though, which was my point. All it did was directly tie their hardware (and the parts that were shown have existed for technological ages) into the pre-existing keyboard and mouse input. Literally the only difference from a standard laptop KB+M setup is that there's a second trackpad with buttons behind it. Nothing else changed drastically except for the overall shape of it, and that's pretty irrelevant from a technological standpoint.

Sorry, but showing off a laptop keyboard condensed into a controller is not an impressive display.

There's a great deal of potential for awesome with the thing, and I'm really looking forward to where they go with it, but this video is pretty meaningless aside from the WSAD behind the left pad.

I must respectfully disagree.

Now don't misunderstand. I'm not saying the video impressed in any real, meaningful way.[footnote]Beyond, as I said before, the ease and accuracy with which the controller translates it's own inputs into the games default settings. Most notably in Portal 2 and Civ 5.[/footnote]

However, it did demonstrate that they've put far more thought into the functionality of the trackpads than many people assumed they had. And that alone made the video, at least to me, slightly meaningful.

For now, though, I'm awaiting a demonstration video explaining their plans for their new haptic feedback technology. I'm still curious as to whether they're using gen 3, gen 4, or some other newer form. That's the demo-vid I want to see.

 

[Stevepinto3]

Well I'm interested. I like the feel of controllers, they just seem "right" for gaming, but I like the precision of mouse + keyboard. With 1:1 trackpad control this could fill that niche very nicely.

Still though, I'm wondering how we're expected to use most of the buttons ergonomically.

Here's an idea, a controller with buttons on the back that I can press with my middle fingers so my thumbs can stick to movement and camera controls.