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Gamepad to feature touch screen, trackpads and haptic feedback
Valve has unveiled the Steam Controller, a new gamepad designed for playing Steam titles in the living room.
The controller, which will be sent out to 300 consumers this year as part of the Steam Machines beta test, features a total of 16 buttons, a touch screen and a pair of trackpads with haptic feedback.
It will support the full catalogue of existing Steam games, work on any Steam platform and can be fully configured by the user.
Steam Controller is designed to compliment Valve's television-focussed operating system SteamOS and Steam Machines, its line of living room PC hardware planned for release in 2014.
"We set out with a singular goal: bring the Steam experience, in its entirety, into the living-room," the firm said in a statement. "We knew how to build the user interface, we knew how to build a machine, and even an operating system. But that still left input - our biggest missing link.
"We realized early on that our goals required a new kind of input technology - one that could bridge the gap from the desk to the living room without compromises. So we spent a year experimenting with new approaches to input and we now believe we've arrived at something worth sharing and testing with you."
The Steam Controller's dual trackpads are said to allow far higher fidelity than has previously been possible on traditional gamepads.
Valve compares the inputs to a desktop mouse, with the trackpads' high resolution said to allow precise aiming and absolute position of control.
Valve claims that "whole genres of games that were previously only playable with a keyboard and mouse" will now be accessible in the living room via the Steam Controller trackpads.
Each trackpad can also be clicked, with the entire surface acting as a button.
The Steam Controller's central touch screen can be utilised by developers to display a variety of peripheral game information, and also acts as a clickable button.
The most striking feature of the Steam Controller though appears to be its implementation of haptic feedback using a number of weighted electro-magnets attached to each of the dual trackpads.
The magnets are capable of delivering a wide range of force and vibration, says Valve, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement.
"This haptic capability provides a vital channel of information to the player - delivering in-game information about speed, boundaries, thresholds, textures, action confirmations, or any other events about which game designers want players to be aware."
The electro-magnets can also be used by developers to play audio waveforms and function as speakers.
Valve says it plans to make tools available that will enable users to 'hack' and physically customise their own Steam Controller.
Steam Controller is the last of three Steam-related announcements made by Valve this week.
On Monday the company revealed its SteamOS. The software, which is free, is hoped will remove hardware manufacturers' reliance on the paid-for Windows operating system.
That reveal was followed by the official announcement of Steam Machines, a line of living room hardware Valve plans to release via various manufacturers in 2014.
Source: CVG
Valve has unveiled the Steam Controller, a new gamepad designed for playing Steam titles in the living room.
The controller, which will be sent out to 300 consumers this year as part of the Steam Machines beta test, features a total of 16 buttons, a touch screen and a pair of trackpads with haptic feedback.
Steam Controller is designed to compliment Valve's television-focussed operating system SteamOS and Steam Machines, its line of living room PC hardware planned for release in 2014.
"We set out with a singular goal: bring the Steam experience, in its entirety, into the living-room," the firm said in a statement. "We knew how to build the user interface, we knew how to build a machine, and even an operating system. But that still left input - our biggest missing link.
"We realized early on that our goals required a new kind of input technology - one that could bridge the gap from the desk to the living room without compromises. So we spent a year experimenting with new approaches to input and we now believe we've arrived at something worth sharing and testing with you."
The Steam Controller's dual trackpads are said to allow far higher fidelity than has previously been possible on traditional gamepads.
Valve compares the inputs to a desktop mouse, with the trackpads' high resolution said to allow precise aiming and absolute position of control.
Valve claims that "whole genres of games that were previously only playable with a keyboard and mouse" will now be accessible in the living room via the Steam Controller trackpads.
Each trackpad can also be clicked, with the entire surface acting as a button.
The Steam Controller's central touch screen can be utilised by developers to display a variety of peripheral game information, and also acts as a clickable button.
The most striking feature of the Steam Controller though appears to be its implementation of haptic feedback using a number of weighted electro-magnets attached to each of the dual trackpads.
The magnets are capable of delivering a wide range of force and vibration, says Valve, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement.
"This haptic capability provides a vital channel of information to the player - delivering in-game information about speed, boundaries, thresholds, textures, action confirmations, or any other events about which game designers want players to be aware."
The electro-magnets can also be used by developers to play audio waveforms and function as speakers.
Valve says it plans to make tools available that will enable users to 'hack' and physically customise their own Steam Controller.
Steam Controller is the last of three Steam-related announcements made by Valve this week.
On Monday the company revealed its SteamOS. The software, which is free, is hoped will remove hardware manufacturers' reliance on the paid-for Windows operating system.
That reveal was followed by the official announcement of Steam Machines, a line of living room hardware Valve plans to release via various manufacturers in 2014.
Source: CVG
