Steam Box/OS/Controller

[iNero]

I searched for a thread about this but with the new search engine I cant find sh*t tbh.

 

 

Whats your opinion on this thing? Especially the controller, which I think , is a huge step foward for Gaming with a controller.

 

 

 

 

The reaction of them who used it already was pretty good. What really makes this interessting is that these Touchpads make aiming a lot more precise than with a PS or Xbox Controller. You already see it in the Video.

When you played some shooters on your Smartphone you can tell that you can aim pretty accurate with a touchscreen already.... even when the rest of the mechanics on a smartphone are really crap which makes aiming and shooting at the same time nearly impossible.

 

Before you ask:

The Buttons ( Y,B,A,X from Xbox ) are in that circle on the right side. ( you can see it when the guy reloads in the CS clip ) You can configure it yourself even when the game does not support controllers as this Steam Controller simulates the Mouse and KB to the Software.

 

From what Ive experienced so far with Touchscreen/pad aiming, I think you can keep up with many PC Players who use KB and Mouse. But it has to, otherwise noone would buy it and Vale are not stupid.

[caseclosedjk]

OS seems cool, controller looks like a flimsy piece of crap and I cannot help but wonder what valve was thinking.

[Tchuck]

From what Ive experienced so far with Touchscreen/pad aiming, I think you can keep up with many PC Players who use KB and Mouse. But it has to, otherwise noone would buy it and Vale are not stupid.

 

But you can't. The KB and Mouse allows you a specific type of precision that no other type of controller has been able to replicate. Sure, you can get really really good at the touchscreen/pad aiming, but it will still not be on par with the really good at kb/mouse aiming for specific genres. Controllers are great for platformers, sports, fighting games. The lack of a stick is also a bit iffy for me, as I hate how everything is going "touch based", because until touch can provide proper haptic feedback, it will still not be good enough.

 

On the OS, it looks interesting, but it's not for me.

[Tyler]

The controller is supposed to have something like 32 configurable buttons to map out but that's not really what I care about. The precision and speed that Tchuck mentioned is really the reason I love m+kb above controllers when it comes to strategy, shooters and anything with massive amounts of menus to go through. The Steam Controller seems like an improvement but the amount of times he had to slide his thumb across the pad to get the cursor across the screen tells me the sensitivity still needs to be tweaked up.

 

The SteamOS on the other hand, is quite exciting. I love Linux and I'd love to see a more mainstream break in of it. The problem with that is that Windows is so very easy to use that I don't see why anyone would want to switch unless they knew the full benefits of game development and user-customization options that Linux brings to the table. Even then, that's a lot of work to put on someone, so I can't expect consumers will necessarily flock to the SteamOS simply because Valve says it's better for game devs.

[Finn 7 five 11]

 

From what Ive experienced so far with Touchscreen/pad aiming, I think you can keep up with many PC Players who use KB and Mouse. But it has to, otherwise noone would buy it and Vale are not stupid.

 

But you can't. The KB and Mouse allows you a specific type of precision that no other type of controller has been able to replicate. Sure, you can get really really good at the touchscreen/pad aiming, but it will still not be on par with the really good at kb/mouse aiming for specific genres. Controllers are great for platformers, sports, fighting games. The lack of a stick is also a bit iffy for me, as I hate how everything is going "touch based", because until touch can provide proper haptic feedback, it will still not be good enough.

 

On the OS, it looks interesting, but it's not for me.

 

See that is my issue with it, not having something physical to kind of push in and move around irks me, I don't enjoy playing games on my smartphone partly because of that, it somehow takes out the satisfaction. It'd be like driving a perfectly silent car that just glided along and you just had to steer, it even has gravity compensators, imagine how boring that would be, you wouldn't feel anything from the car at all, the gravity compensator would even take the feel out of sharp corners. Obviously this car doesn't exist, but it's a similar kind of concept, hence why people put loud mufflers on their cars and buy ones that are fast and powerful.

[iNero]

... many of you will be surprised how well this concept will work. That CS clip and the Civ5 clips show how accurate you can be with it. And you can turn with a single swipe.

Plus that guy who was playing wasnt even 100% used to the controller as it is a ln all new concept and prototype. Give a new console player an dual stick controller and he will need a few weeks if not months to get used to it.

So you can be even more precise and quick than in this video.

 

I always find it funny when people act like new and unconventionally devices wont work before they are even released or people tried it themselfes...

 

Like I said, Im pretty sure you can compete with many KB&M players with this controller. I played a little bit FPS on my Laptop with the touchpad to see how accurate you can be with a touchpad and, at least for me, it was just as good. Quick target switching without auto aim and that controller is specificly made for gaming which should make it even better.

 

The big advanatge to dual stuck controllers is that you have no dead zone amd your movement with the thump becomes visible on the screen immediately and the slightest movement with the thumps gives a feedback on the screen.

 

Like I said, people seem to be affraid of new stuff and have that typical "controllers are too clunky compared to KB&M" thinking...

[IDredMan]

Controller looks like the perfect turd.

It's okay and maybe one guy will wanna eat it, but it's still a giant piece of sh*t.

It looks gimmicky as hell, with questionable design choices leaving human beings with different hand sizes to rot in the dust with only one thing working over another.

[DEALUX]

I love how people keep saying that the controller looks bad when it clearly states in the video description that it is a prototype. Looks don't even matter anyway. Functionality does.

[IDredMan]

I love how people keep saying that the controller looks bad when it clearly states in the video description that it is a prototype. Looks don't even matter anyway. Functionality does.

 

I love your name dude.

I love it.

I'm straight as a chop stick but if your name had a dick I'd suck it.

[Tchuck]

... many of you will be surprised how well this concept will work. That CS clip and the Civ5 clips show how accurate you can be with it. And you can turn with a single swipe.

 

I don't know which video you were watching. It showed how accurate you can be with it when compared to other controllers. For anything that requires moving across a large screen, the mouse will still be more accurate.

 

 

Plus that guy who was playing wasnt even 100% used to the controller as it is a ln all new concept and prototype. Give a new console player an dual stick controller and he will need a few weeks if not months to get used to it.

So you can be even more precise and quick than in this video.

 

And you can still be even more precise and quick with a kb/mouse if you have months of practice. Now, tell me with a straight face that you can play Starcraft 1 or 2 better with that gamepad than with a kb/mouse. Or League of Legends.

 

 

I always find it funny when people act like new and unconventionally devices wont work before they are even released or people tried it themselfes...

 

So do I, I was one of the first to back the potentials of the Wiimote and the Kinect and so forth. And also saw how nothing really groundbreaking came out of it. And it's not like we have nothing to compare it to; we have. The touch system works similarly to the touchpad and touch devices. By all means, it's not new or unconventional or groundbreaking, it is a very good attempting at making a controller work more like a keyboard and mouse combo. And it won't be as good as a keyboard and mouse because we have keyboards and mouse.

 

 

Like I said, Im pretty sure you can compete with many KB&M players with this controller. I played a little bit FPS on my Laptop with the touchpad to see how accurate you can be with a touchpad and, at least for me, it was just as good. Quick target switching without auto aim and that controller is specificly made for gaming which should make it even better.

 

But you can't. It might have been just as good for you, but you probably weren't playing at a high competition level, where you need the precision accuracy and speed of a mouse. Or you weren't playing RTS competitively.

 

 

The big advanatge to dual stuck controllers is that you have no dead zone amd your movement with the thump becomes visible on the screen immediately and the slightest movement with the thumps gives a feedback on the screen.

 

As opposed to the huge lag when moving things on the screen with the mouse, right?

 

 

Like I said, people seem to be affraid of new stuff and have that typical "controllers are too clunky compared to KB&M" thinking...

 

People aren't afraid, they're just suspicious of things that make wild claims or that other people put a pedestal under it because it came from Valve, which people are wont to do as they think everything Valve touches is gold and they can do no wrong.

 

It's commendable that Valve is trying to bring the PC experience to your living room, and it will certainly appeal to a group of players. It's interesting to see them try something "new" with this controller, but to me, in my opinion, as a player and a developer, it appears they are removing the key features of a controller (stick, button feedback) in order to try to make it act more like another kind of control. Something in between, a bastard child of a controller with a kb/mouse. It's not going to be their final design and could indeed lead to something more interesting in the long run. But as long as they try to make it more like the kb/mouse, it won't be as good as the kb/mouse, cause it's trying to imitate/adapt the real thing. I feel they should go for something in the opposite direction, moving more away from the kb/mouse as well as the controller, try to explore a new and really revolutionary way of controlling games.

 

And yes, it won't be on par with kb/mouse for a couple of genres. Will work better in platforming, sports, fighting games. FPS, RTS, RPG and the like, still kb/mouse land.

[iNero]

^

You really sound like a butthurt PC Elitist. Never did I say KB&M will be second choice. But with this Controller you will have way less disadvantages than with common controllers as it seems.

This controller was made for PC and to act way more accurate and with a very low latency in mind. Obviously they want you to be able to compete with KB&M when playing on the couch. Games like RPGs obviously better fir with KB&M due the quick keyand so on.

And yes it misses Sticks and the analog feedback, but with sticks it would just be another controller with the same precision issues and the need for auto aim. Plus the buttons which pay on the right Dpad seem tonhave feedback. I dont exactly know what the previewers meant when they descriped it. But one thing I know is that the next prototype will have little symbols on it, like the F and J keys on a keyboard, on the Dpad.

Your statements about the "feedback" only can be based on the fact the we dont know it better. We always had analog Feedback and are used to it. You were used to analog buttons on your phone 15 years ago, now you have a smartphone with a virtual keyboard. Just a matter of time and people wouldnt care about this anymore.

People who play competetive have years of practise. We dont know how accurate you can be at max. with this controller. But those "pro-players" are such a small percantage of PC Players. In games like BF, CoD or ARMA you can compete with most players. Pretty sure about that.

[Tchuck]

Really? Butthurt PC elitist? That's what you're going to resort to? Over 20 years of playing games on many platforms, and 7 of developing games for different platforms. Yes, PC elitist

 

You said that this controller would be on par with kb&m, and that's just not true for many genres. It might be better than the regular gamepad in some aspects, it might be worse in some aspects. But it can't compete on kb&m on certain genres because those genres evolved for the kb&m, just like later iterations of CoD were aimed at the gamepad and were optimized for it. That's my point.

 

Which leads to the more important point of the controller; Will developers take full advantage of it? Valve has to convince developers to balance their games around it, to create special configurations that take full use of it, otherwise it won't take off, it will become just another gamepad.

 

And no, most gamepad players could not compete with most kb&m players. It's been tested before, and it didn't work. This gamepad might put them at a better position, but if that post is to be believed, still won't put them on equal footing.

 

Oh and I just remembered Shadowrun, which featured PC and Xbox360 cross platform gaming. They had to cripple the gameplay for the PC so that Xbox360 players had a slight chance at competing fairly. So yeah. They can't compete, unless you cripple the kb&m players.

Edited October 16, 2013 by Tchuck

[ChumCrumpet]

[Mista J]

The Steam Box has me interested, I think I'm gong to wait for the prices to be announced before to decide between this or consoles. If they can release a Steam Box priced around the price of the XBO or PS4 with the specs not being absolute dog sh*t then Valve might take my money.

[Finn 7 five 11]

You really sound like a butthurt PC Elitist

 

You sound like a butthurt steambox supporter.

[nightwalker83]

Is the OS a different thing to the Steam box or just the os that is on the box?

[Mista J]

Is the OS a different thing to the Steam box or just the os that is on the box?

The OS is in the Steam Box, but you'll be able to download it and essentially make your own Steam Box. The official Steam Box is for the people that don't know/ don't want to build a PC.