Steam Controller Demonstration

It doesn't seem particularly accurate (or at least it isn't being used accurately), but it does seem particularly fast, relative to a joypad. I don't see anything that indicates this couldn't be used quickly with accuracy.

If you ever actually sit down and watch someone mouse around, you'll probably find that they exhibit less accuracy with it than you might suspect. Undershooting and overshooting the way he was doing isn't at all uncommon.
 
wonderfield said:
It doesn't seem particularly accurate (or at least it isn't being used accurately), but it does seem particularly fast, relative to a joypad. I don't see anything that indicates this couldn't be used quickly with accuracy.

If you ever actually sit down and watch someone mouse around, you'll probably find that they exhibit less accuracy with it than you might suspect. Undershooting and overshooting the way he was doing isn't at all uncommon.
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Yep. Since speed/acceleration isn't limited a large factor in the accuracy/speed of the controller will be in who is using it and how much practice they've had.
 
I can see myself at least trying one out for a bit. As long as it does indeed come with a good profiler/configuration software, and high enough sensitivity adjustments for the "mouse" side. Customization and adjustability will make it or break it for me.

I'm not a pure kb/m or gamepad or anything player, I use all kinds of 'weird' combinations for different games. Some games I even use 3 or more input devices at once. I play a lot of stuff juggling between keyboard and gamepad with my left hand. It's not really that awkward once you get used to it.

I may end up using this new Steam pad in conjuction with a traditional mouse (I'm rarely willing to give up my mouse in right hand), sort of how I already do now, who knows.
 
NickJames said:
Most pro FPS gamers lift their mice all the time so I don't see it being any different. That's why some laser mice are engineered with very minimal lift-off distance in mind.
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other way around laser mouse such as Logitec G9x has up to 10 mm height tracking (it is also in my thesis), optical mouse on the other hand has much less height tracking due to the diffused light when lift off surface.
 
darkstarcow said:
Except it isnt really much more accurate from watching that video, particularly the FPS section.
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Although I will never use anything other than KB/M for FPS, it may be a case of skill more than inaccuracy. He is probably not that good at CS which is a difficult game to begin with on KB/M. Most people aren't very accurate even with KB/M. It looked solid and obviously would take work to become proficient on an entirely different control mechanic.
 
Also for those saying the FPS was poor, on top of being a skill issue it is also probably close to a trackball and i've seen good cs players with track balls.
 
Seems pretty good for a controller! I don't think valve is trying to get rid of the kb/m but give a closer go between between the controller and the kb/m.
 
RealityCrunch said:
Yep. Since speed/acceleration isn't limited a large factor in the accuracy/speed of the controller will be in who is using it and how much practice they've had.
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I think a large part of the limit of accuracy is going to be the size of your thumb print on the track pad.
 
Wow, I must say this is actually rather clever blending between mouse and joystick.
 
Looks AWFUL for FPS games. Having to scroll your finger over the pad several times to turn around? Nope.

Touch controls just suck period IMO. I don't think anything is going to change that.
 
I don't think it will be very good for fast paced FPS's, at least in that mousepad mode, but it will make playing RTS's possible with a controller, which is nice, as sup com 2 on a 360 controller was just awful
 
wonderfield said:
Uh...he did a 180 in one swipe. What video were you watching?
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Well, he did about a 120-140 degrees in one swipe at the start of the video, it looked a bit look there was some speed sensitivity to it. If you watch the whole FPS section, you can see to do a 90 degree turn through one door he had to lift once, and turning around about 180 degrees to go up the stairs took him 4 swipes.
 
wonderfield said:
Uh...he did a 180 in one swipe. What video were you watching?
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agreed. i usually lift my mouse to do a 360 anyway. 180 can be one swipe but you don't just spin in circles all day even with a mouse. i am super stoked for this. i hate day 1 purchases and first gen purchases. i always wait for price drops and kinks to be worked out etc since i'm a patient guy, but i have to say: THIS WILL BE A PREORDER FOR ME. yep. first thing i will preorder in maybe my life.

i love valve so much. the things they do just make me so happy and i feel like i'm being gifted these things instead of having them forced on me against my will like 90% of other huge, dominant companies. it's disgusting how much of a fanboy i am. :)
 
and im not saying this will replace kbm, it wont. but it will make a ton of games i like a lot more fun to play kicking back in my bed or on the couch instead of sitting up at my desk.
 
I can appreciate the effort and even people being positive about what they've done so far but it doesn't look like anything I would want to use. It's still not as fluid as a mouse / KB and that's an area I would never be willing to compromise if I had to give up what I was used to over the past 20 years.
 
I don't know why people keep comparing controllers to keyboard+mouse... completely different tools for completely different purposes. This seems to offer quicker/more precise aiming than current controllers and it should be interesting to see how it competes with existing console controllers.
 
I think its a pretty cool controller but I am sure I will never be able to use it since my fingers are a little too big, really not good at controllers. My son would love it though.
 
melteye said:
I don't know why people keep comparing controllers to keyboard+mouse... completely different tools for completely different purposes. This seems to offer quicker/more precise aiming than current controllers and it should be interesting to see how it competes with existing console controllers.
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It's naturally going to draw comparison to KBM because it's coming from Valve and supposedly to Steam, a platform where KBM is king and if you play online, you'll be playing against KBM opponents.
 
Tudz said:
It's naturally going to draw comparison to KBM because it's coming from Valve and supposedly to Steam, a platform where KBM is king and if you play online, you'll be playing against KBM opponents.
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If I was going to play seriously competitive, I wouldn't play in my Living room. Which is why I made the comment it just needs to be better than playing with your stick. Just to be less frustrating for a kb/m person than a stick is.
 
jpm100 said:
Doesn't need to beat a kb/m, just needs to improve enough on sticks.
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I'm not convinced it will be better than sticks, though. Sticks aren't bad for games where peak speed and millimeter accuracy aren't required and I reckon sticks will be less straining on the thumbs over a long period of time.

When it comes to racing games and flying games and adventure games (which is mostly what I played back when I actually owned a console and played in front of a TV) where you don't need tight accuracy but would rather have the tactile feel of a stick.
 
Tudz said:
I'm not convinced it will be better than sticks, though. Sticks aren't bad for games where peak speed and millimeter accuracy aren't required and I reckon sticks will be less straining on the thumbs over a long period of time.

When it comes to racing games and flying games and adventure games (which is mostly what I played back when I actually owned a console and played in front of a TV) where you don't need tight accuracy but would rather have the tactile feel of a stick.
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That's why there are other controllers out there to choose from. This is just another choice to compliment those or take the place of if people feel its better than the current offerings. Why do people feel the need to tell everyone why it won't work before trying it? If you use K&M only great, but maybe others want to try something different.
 
Tudz said:
I'm not convinced it will be better than sticks, though. Sticks aren't bad for games where peak speed and millimeter accuracy aren't required and I reckon sticks will be less straining on the thumbs over a long period of time.

When it comes to racing games and flying games and adventure games (which is mostly what I played back when I actually owned a console and played in front of a TV) where you don't need tight accuracy but would rather have the tactile feel of a stick.
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There are some games not built for sticks that have a PC for their target Valve is trying to enable. Like most RTS's or 4X games. A game like FTL can't be done with a stick at least without a major re-write. Being able to point and click weapons to targets that don't lend themselves to a square or hex grid pattern would be annoying even if it was re-written. Hence no FTL for Xbox anytime soon.
 
And just becaus this controller exists doesn't mean a stick controller or kb/m will not work with the Steam box.
 
pcjunkie said:
Why do people feel the need to tell everyone why it won't work before trying it? If you use K&M only great, but maybe others want to try something different.
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Oh I dunno, maybe because this is a discussion forum? :p I wasn't trying to "tell everyone why it won't work", I was just stating my opinion that I am concerned it will hurt thumbs and not be better in games I'd typically play on a TV anyway.
 
Tudz said:
Oh I dunno, maybe because this is a discussion forum? :p I wasn't trying to "tell everyone why it won't work", I was just stating my opinion that I am concerned it will hurt thumbs and not be better in games I'd typically play on a TV anyway.
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Ok, lets discuss this further so now why don't you flip that around and also tell us why it might work for you?
 
from a pure comfort point of view, running your thumb over those bumps for a few hours seem terrible.
 
Tudz said:
Well, he did about a 120-140 degrees in one swipe at the start of the video, it looked a bit look there was some speed sensitivity to it. If you watch the whole FPS section, you can see to do a 90 degree turn through one door he had to lift once, and turning around about 180 degrees to go up the stairs took him 4 swipes.
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Yeah, there's an acceleration component to it. But the point still stands. It's pretty clear you don't have to swipe the pad multiple times to turn around, as that poster commented.
 
melteye said:
I don't know why people keep comparing controllers to keyboard+mouse... completely different tools for completely different purposes. This seems to offer quicker/more precise aiming than current controllers and it should be interesting to see how it competes with existing console controllers.
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People only seem to see and care about their little world and personal hierarchy of needs and don't understand when a market shift is happening or why. Or they think the market shift shouldn't be happening because they personally have no need for the things that the change will bring. Not exactly big thinkers and there's a whole lot of em around.
 
jhambi said:
It lets you play from the couch. Not everyone is a competitive FPS gamer, or does that exclusively. This is more accurate than thumbsticks on current controllers, while letting you play most PC games from the couch in a flexible manner. For this demo, there was NO special mapping of keys etc. These games (steam) WILL have that on lauch, so this is the most minimal integration you will ever see when using it. If you want the mouse control pad to be a single swipe to 180/360 you and you never have to lift a thumb, then I'm sure they will let you do that. This was just default binding. FFS people, if you love keyboard and mouse then just keep using it. This is for the people who want to sit back and play PC games and don't give a shit about gaining 10ms of timing advantage. Maybe you can match up with them online and jerk the huge e-peen you get from owning them with your laser mouse.
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/thread
 
wonderfield said:
Initial verdict: inadequate for hyper-competitive, super-twitchy first-person play; pretty good for everything else.
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Exactly. Its meant to bridge a gap. From what ive seen its a damn fine compromise between mouse and thumbstick.
 
ekuest said:
agreed. i usually lift my mouse to do a 360 anyway.
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Really? I sure as hell don't. I can spin usually 2-3 times given the full width of my mousepad.

I guess it depends on your sensitivity settings, but I saw a whole lot of having to pick up your finger and swipe all the way across to turn.

In Counter-Strike it looked pretty bad...I don't think you'd be anywhere near competitive with that thing. With a LOT of practice you might do alright, but I just don't see it being that great. For that RTS-ish game it looked decent, though, for a controller.
 
Looks pretty cool and functional.
Problem is its going to take A LOT of getting used to, even more so then Nintendo and their wacky new controllers each new console release.
 
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