Gabe Newell says Linux is the future of gaming, new hardware to come out

I would be willing to give it a try as well. If it really does work that well, it could very well bridge the gap between the PC and console markets.
 
Glyphic said:
I would be willing to give it a try as well. If it really does work that well, it could very well bridge the gap between the PC and console markets.
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I'm curious to see if it works as well on RTS games as they say it does. I could really getting into playing Civ 5 or anything Total War from the couch
 
I would actually have preferred to see them use a precise motion control chip that allows hand movements for control (closer to the mouse mechanic) ... the use of fingers may favor the console crowd but isn't as PC Mouse/KB emulation friendly ... I will withhold judgement until the beta starts and we start to see some reviews on the performance though
 
A controller that allegedly just works with everything? If that's truly the case, I'm completely sold on the idea. Bonus points for emphasis on low latency.
 
The action buttons are everywhere. Lol. Looks like it was designed for FPS games first, every other genre second. I don't think this is that playable with NBA 2k14.
 
seanclayton said:
Looks like it was designed for FPS games first, every other genre second.
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I thought the exact same thing. Won't know for sure until(and really, it's not likely) I get to actually use one...but that's the way it looks to me.
 
I knew it was gonna only be a controller.

The placement of those XYAB buttons confounds me. It looks inferior to the 360 game pad for PC; but maybe that's because it's all I know. Hopefully this is better to use, but I can't see it without getting hands on at least.
 
devman said:
From reading the description the point of the trackpads in lieu of an analog stick seams to be that a trackpad offers a higher resolution input. The description of the haptics was pretty interesting as well. The whole thing is hackable so I guess we'll see what interesting things people come up with.
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Also the trackpads gives you 1-1 motion just like a mouse, rather than setting the rate of movement like an analog stick does. This reminds me of playing FPS games on the Nintendo DS which was actually a lot nicer than using a traditional controller, but just a lot more awesome. Probably the best way to get FPS controls onto a controller!
 
seanclayton said:
The action buttons are everywhere. Lol. Looks like it was designed for FPS games first, every other genre second. I don't think this is that playable with NBA 2k14.
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I was just thinking sports games would be miserable on this thing.
 
It'd be pretty nice if there was a way to swap out the track pads for more traditional control (ie: analogue, d-pad, or button array) when you needed to (racing, fighting games).

Still, interested to see how this performs with hallmark PC genres (rts, strategy, fps, etc).
 
Looks like a quality design. Hopefully the track pads are really good.
 
My biggest gripe with using controller for modern titles is that I suck at using the analog stick to control the look camera. I tried playing Batman with the x360 controller, I did not enjoy it at all.

I would love to try this new controller out, and hopefully it helps with my problem with analog stick.
 
Hmm, I'm the opposite Hornet. I really enjoy the controller when playing Batman, Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row, GTA 4 and other similar titles. Mark of the Ninja was a pleasure as well.
 
SeymourGore said:
It'd be pretty nice if there was a way to swap out the track pads for more traditional control (ie: analogue, d-pad, or button array) when you needed to (racing, fighting games).
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Well Valve filed a patent all the way back in 2009, then another updated one in 2011 for exactly that concept - a controller with interchangeable modules - trackball, stick, pad, etc. Don't have it handy but easily googled.
 
Modred189 said:
I was just thinking sports games would be miserable on this thing.
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Got to realize at the same time either of the trackpads can be used at buttons. It's a safe bet that when you click down the trackpad it will record where on the trackpad your finger is. So depending on the game you could use one trackpad for movement and the other for face buttons, as well as the abxy and middle touchscreen.
 
I'm more interested in how this whole new platform will affect game development. Will games have to be written/customized for the Playstation, XBox, Windows OS based PC and now Steam OS environment as well?
 
TheMadHatterXxX said:
I'm more interested in how this whole new platform will affect game development. Will games have to be written/customized for the Playstation, XBox, Windows OS based PC and now Steam OS environment as well?
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Yes, but developing for SteamOS shouldn't be any harder than developing for Linux, and in fact is likely to be much easier than a standard Linux development process since you're only targeting one distro. It's also likely to be made easier by some extra goodies for developers that are in SteamOS, but we won't know what those are until it's released and comprehensive development documents are made available.
 
Modred189 said:
I was just thinking sports games would be miserable on this thing.
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Even if it is, the controls appear to map to regular kb+m inputs so someone else could create a different gamepad for different kinds of games being that it is an open platform.
 
DPI said:
Well Valve filed a patent all the way back in 2009, then another updated one in 2011 for exactly that concept - a controller with interchangeable modules - trackball, stick, pad, etc. Don't have it handy but easily googled.
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Yar, here's the patent. I wonder if they're still looking at the added functionality or if it was too flaky with interchangeable parts.

http://gamerant.com/valve-console-controller-hold-137072/
 
Valve invites several developers to test out the Steam Controller:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...the_Steam_Controller_Heres_what_they_said.php

Chris Remo, designer and writer at The Cave developer Double Fine played a couple different games with the Steam ontroller: Double Fine's upcoming point-and-click adventure game Broken Age and already-released The Cave. "We just plugged it in, and it worked," he said. "We didn't have special support for it or anything. It worked really, really well. I was really impressed with the mouse imitation. It doesn't feel like a trackpad."

Remo said the controller has a tiny speaker in it that offers audio feedback – a subtle "tick" sound that increases and decreases in speed (he compared it to the Wheel of Fortune wheel's sound), depending on how you use the track pad. If you "fling" your thumb across the trackpad – if it's mapped to the mouse – the ticking increases in speed, and slows down as the virtual momentum of your action slows. "It sounds like there's actually a mechanical device in there, which really makes it feel mechanical, but not in a clunky way," Remo said. "It just feels really high-tech and precise. … I can't stand trackpads on laptops, and this felt really good to me. There was almost no learning curve as far as accuracy goes."

"It feels like you're moving your thumbs over a rough surface, though it's all virtual," Ichiro Lambe said. "From a tech standpoint, think about something that can click whenever you tell it to... Simple example: you move your finger 1 inch up, and it ticks 10 times...You flick it up, and it starts ticking, like you've spun a wheel."
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I've mastered using thumb-ball logitech mice, though I don't use them for fps gaming. I use them for desktop use. However I am very accurate with them and have played some games with them on occasion. When you adjust the sensitivity so that the middle of the ball corresponds to the middle of the screen and a swipe 90deg in either direction crosses the screen completely , they can be quite accurate. That is, no "paddling" with multiple strokes (insert joke here). You can get quite good with them.
If a trackpad were to have similar function and resolution as the logitech thumb-ball mice, people would become quite accurate with them (though not as accurate as the best of the pc gaming mice). I can do very well on a fps with my logtech thumb-ball mouse if I feel like messing around with that instead of my gaming mouse, and they are great for rts games. The other obvious advantage is that you don't need a mouse pad or much of a surface and you don't have to move your arm. You could actually hold a thumb-trackball mouse in your hand or on your leg and use it pretty well if you were so inclined (after you mastered using one to begin with). I'm assuming in some games, the one pad will rotate your head and feet, and the other will be mouse-look/gun-aiming. It's really not that different from the two control zones on traditional gamepads. The big difference will be the sensitivity/dpi of the controller, and the fact that the games won't retard the controls with hard-coded console gamepad limitations/training wheels (I hope, from what he said about it approaching keyboard+mouse).
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I dofear that people will trash the steam controller before they actually take the time to get proficient with it.
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Personally if I wanted to play a windows based pc game or steamOS game in the living room, I would probably just use a keyboard+mouse on a couch with a beanbag-bottomed lap-desk tray(they are around the size of a good sized cookie sheet) as I outlined in a reply in a reddit thread post .Either a wireless logitech thumb-ball mouse so I wouldn't have to move anything but my thumb, or a decent wireless gaming mouse (or wireless naga for mmo/rpg/rts). Note that it works better if you support your elbows by sticking a pillow under each so that your arms are stable. I'd prob only use a gamepad for platformers and side-scrollers, indie games,etc.
 
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To reply to the "who is the steambox for" question. Personally I think it might allow some non-pc users to get their feet wet in the pc gaming/steam gaming scene without having to learn the windows OS or any other nuances of using a windows based pc. Basically a kiosk-like interface like consoles and phones where you don't really have to learn much to navigate around.

It also might be good for people who don't like the hard coded console gamepad limitations, "training wheels", and lack of refinement but still want a living room gaming experience with a hand-held controller.
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The steamOS could benefit everyone by providing an open platform and getting away from the windows OS and windows licensing/upgrade costs per pc/box, and as compared to consoles - cheaper games with steam sales, much more robust modding support/more mods, typically better interfaces and more options.
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If it gets more players into the pc gaming space it could be good for pc gamers.
 
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Yes, the SteamOS will be available for download on Friday as well.
 
BETA. said:
Yes, the SteamOS will be available for download on Friday as well.
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Awesome, been wanting to test this out. I'm really hoping netflix makes a controller/remote friendly app so it can take over as my HTPC OS.
 
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