Impressions? I'm excited to play with it. The haptic feedback looks cool and it seems like the first actual 'next-gen' controller we've seen. Link: http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamController/
The Steam machine gets more and more interesting to me. Any early interest I had in getting a next gen PS4 or XBone console has evaporated. Instead, I will follow what Valve is doing and wait to see how well the oculus rift will play with it. The fact that Valve went in an unconventional direction for their controller makes it more appealing to me.
I'd like to try it. I think it would work well, most likely, for FPS type games, but probably not too good with platformers and things like that (Spelunky). It's probably not better than a mouse + keyboard, though. Hopefully we can use a PS3 or 360 controller or something like that for platformer type games. I think it's interesting what they are doing, but I definitely do not think they are certain to succeed.
I'm not entirely convinced it's even better than analog sticks, but I'd be foolish to pass judgement so soon. The button layout looks absolutely horrible though, and the pads are gonna need to be nice and smooth to avoid blisters. It could work, but I imagine in a few years time we'll see an improved version that'll be closer to being the "real solution".
First thoughts: What the hell!! Second thoughts: uh...okay I have mixed feelings and tbh I'm not really interested.
Gah, wrong topic. On topic, I'm interested in giving this a whirl. I have no problems with the current controller default but this could help people like my wife who have major problems with them, if they retain a higher level of accuracy they could be a win.
My impression at first sight is it looks like two circular laptop trackpads stuck on a controller. I don't know if that would work for me or not to be honest it might be good or a nightmare I think I will personally just keep to analogues.
"Dont take that as slight to the controller though because its more about the comfort of familiarity over functionality. I would choose a 360 controller because I have several thousand hours experience using it, however if tomorrow all game controllers were wiped off the earth and the only option was the Steam Controller, I dont think this would be a bad thing. In fact, I dont think gaming would miss a beat."
You have to remember they can program the right or left trackpad to have buttons within the haptic surface. I'm extremely interested to see how this all pans out and what it means for games specifically targeted towards the controller. Knowing Valve they aren't just going to slap two laptop trackpads on there and call it a day. I have a feeling this controller is going to be insane (in a good way). Also the idea of buying a cheap Steambox (I'm guessing $150 or less) to stream to my living room TV is the thing I'm most excited for.
I can get the Xbone controller, which is very traditional, other than the feedback in the shoulder buttons, but the PS4 controller? It has a touchpad on it, a light sensor, built in speakers... It has more nontraditional features than the Valve controller (which does look interesting). Valve controller basically just changes the pad layout and adds trackpads where analogs would be.
I really don't care if the PS4 uses the regular DualShock 3, I'm not letting a controller cause me to miss out on games. PC + iOS + console or die.