In its third and final Steam announcement this week, Valve unveiled its very own controller with two unique circular trackpads. September 27, 2013 10:26 AM PDT (Credit: Valve) Valve has rounded out its vision for PC gaming in the living room Friday with its Steam Controller, a specially designed device with dual trackpads that are designed to translate the feel of a mouse and keyboard to a handheld controller meant for big-screen playing. While it was anticipated that Valve would unveil the device as the information was buried in its Steam Machine beta test agreement form, Valve's unique design remained a secret. Coupled with the announcement of the Linux-based SteamOS Monday and Valve's hardware beta test Wednesday, the company has made an especially aggressive push to establish its bid for the living room. "Steam gamers, who are used to the input associated with PCs, will appreciate that the Steam Controller's resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse," says Valve. The two high-resolution trackpads are clickable, allowing the entire surface to act as a button. It's not Half Life 3, but Valve's Steam Controller is the one of the most unique devices to hit the gaming market. (Credit: Valve) "In addition, games like first-person shooters that are designed around precise aiming within a large visual field now benefit from the trackpads' high resolution and absolute position control," Valve adds. The controller, like the Steam Machine prototypes and eventual final products, is completely hackable, says Valve. It also contains a large touch screen in the center equipped with a high-resolution display that can show everything from a scrolling menu to secondary screen info like game maps. In addition to also being entirely clickable for further input control, the screen -- when touched -- will overlay its display on top of the game you're playing. This story is developing. Check back for updates shortly.
In its third and final Steam announcement this week, Valve unveiled its very own controller with two unique circular trackpads.
Valve has rounded out its vision for PC gaming in the living room Friday with its Steam Controller, a specially designed device with dual trackpads that are designed to translate the feel of a mouse and keyboard to a handheld controller meant for big-screen playing.
While it was anticipated that Valve would unveil the device as the information was buried in its Steam Machine beta test agreement form, Valve's unique design remained a secret. Coupled with the announcement of the Linux-based SteamOS Monday and Valve's hardware beta test Wednesday, the company has made an especially aggressive push to establish its bid for the living room.
"Steam gamers, who are used to the input associated with PCs, will appreciate that the Steam Controller's resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse," says Valve. The two high-resolution trackpads are clickable, allowing the entire surface to act as a button.
It's not Half Life 3, but Valve's Steam Controller is the one of the most unique devices to hit the gaming market.
(Credit: Valve)
"In addition, games like first-person shooters that are designed around precise aiming within a large visual field now benefit from the trackpads' high resolution and absolute position control," Valve adds.
The controller, like the Steam Machine prototypes and eventual final products, is completely hackable, says Valve. It also contains a large touch screen in the center equipped with a high-resolution display that can show everything from a scrolling menu to secondary screen info like game maps.
In addition to also being entirely clickable for further input control, the screen -- when touched -- will overlay its display on top of the game you're playing.
This story is developing. Check back for updates shortly.
