Valve Demos Steam Controller with Portal 2, CS:GO

[Unolocogringo]

What ferooxidan and bustapr missed in the actrical was "tech allows gamers to aim and shoot without any kind of auto-aim help." end quote. People don't realize that counsel's have to use tons of auto aiming programing to make the playable with game pads. A joy stick was made for pac-man and pong not a 3D shooter. That why mice and controllers don't play together. One got better accuracy and the other needs aim assist or or sticky aim to play. Whit out it the games would not be as playable or fun. Just do a web search if you don't agree. Here some info on it.

There are four types of assisted aiming in console games: Snapping, Friction, Acceleration, and Magnetism.

1. Magnetism defines and outlines how far a bullet will "bend" in order to hit an enemy. Bullets and projectiles do not necessarily travel in a straight path; they will curve very slightly in order to hit a target. Different projectiles will experience different curvatures.

2. Snapping reorients the gun barrels toward enemies whenever a player's reticle are in proximity to their target.

3. Acceleration makes it so that when the player pegs their aiming stick in one direction the player's reticle will start moving slowly in that direction then pick up speed.

4. Friction slows the player's turn rate as soon as their reticule passes over an enemy. What it does is that it slows your top speed, and then dramatically decrease the rate at which the crosshair will slow down when you release the stick.

Here a few link and a video about controller auto aim being demonstrated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaom3cdZv1c

http://www.halopedia.org/Aim-Assist

" In the beginning the PS3 was to have mouse/keyboard support for gaming.
But in their testing mouse/keyboard players were much better than controller users.
They decided to end support for keyboard/mouse as it would ruin the experience for casual gamers using a controller. Always losing to mouse/keyboard users.
This was published a long time ago.
I think the only game to receive m/k support was CS. "

This is fuckings stupid. So you are telling me that because of couch gamers I'm forced to skip on good console only FPS games like The Last of us (I cannot play a FPS on a controller it makes me angry) ? That is just retarded.

This was the decision of the console makers. I also own a PS3. It gets used for BR, DVD and Streaming Netflix.
Occasionally when the grandkids come over it gets used for gaming.
I can not use controllers on consoles. The auto aiming assist really throws things off for me. Plus I have extra large hands. I can push all four buttons easily at one time with my thumb. And trying to hold it makes my hands cramp pretty quickly.

 

[rokit]

Doesn't look good really. First, one of developers that used it said that pad didn't always understand where he was moving and when pressing.
Second. They used games that don't require any speed and didn't utilize ABXY buttons. Leaving sensitivy alone and talking about something that killed this pad, ABXY. They killed figthings, they killed FPS, majority of TPS - and all those types of games are perfectly playable with Sony's and even MS' gamepads. There is a reason why they choose to place 4 buttons near each other, there's a reason why they went for analog joystics and not sensors. Sony showed eyetoy - noone cared or even thought about that thing replacing gamepad, MS showed kinnect - result was the same but better, now atleast casual games were more playable. Its simple, technology is not allowing for sensors right now, and those 4 buttons.... if companies with over 10 years experiance place them together it was for usability, why do you change something like this?

 

[airborne11b]

In the beginning the PS3 was to have mouse/keyboard support for gaming.
But in their testing mouse/keyboard players were much better than controller users.
They decided to end support for keyboard/mouse as it would ruin the experience for casual gamers using a controller. Always losing to mouse/keyboard users.
This was published a long time ago.
I think the only game to receive m/k support was CS.

unreal tournament too... it also got mods if i remember right.

The point of this is not to "replace" the mouse an keyboard, but to offer a better solution to playing PC games on the couch than using the joystick based crappy PS and Xbox controllers.

The main issue is that games are designed on the PC specifically for mouse and keyboard. Often times you have to use 3rd party programs like Xpadder to get a controller to work, and even then it sucks. This new control address that issue extremely well. It isn't supposed to be "superior" or "an upgrade" to the mouse and keyboard. It's a livingroom friendly alternative.

Sure, if you bring one of these to a CS, CoD or Battlefield LAN, you're gunna get smoked hard, but again, that's not the point.

The point is to bring the PC into the living room.

than bring the keyboard mouse on a table, its not that hard.
xpadder also works great, though you have to know how to set it up right

You`ll get eaten alive in fps games vs mouse users... Still don`t get it why they take a perfectly accurate device like the mouse and try to make it something else... This pad is similar to what you currently have on touch screen phones while playing FPS games.. tried it once and totally hated it

I agree but its an interesting idea. No one else has really innovated gamepads for years. Since the first dual shock they have been pretty much the same.

This will be interesting to see how well it works with games meant to have controllers like platformers.

there is a reason, i would rather have thumbsticks than a track pad.

The point is that this controller works natively and is a more comfortable living room alternative than bring a keyboard and mouse on a table, and it supports PC games better than other controllers. Xpadder, even if you know how to set it up, isn't perfect, and this controller gets rid of that kind of hassle (Something console gamers look for). Also, as demoed in the video, the alternate modes and features on this controller are something Xpadder or an Xbox controller could never do.

This controller is not supposed to be a mouse/keyboard replacement. It's simply a way to make the living room more PC friendly. Telling people to "Just bring a keyboard and mouse" to the livingroom is not a solution. It's short sighted laziness.

I'm a PC gamer through and through. I almost never use anything but a keyboard and mouse. But at least understand where this controller fits in and how it ties in with their plans. In that respect, this controller is amazing.

 

[rokit]

@airborne11b
"I almost never use anything but a keyboard and mouse....this controller is amazing."
Really?

 

[chaospower]

Really all of the comments above. Get real people. Comparing to mouse and keyboard setup? Really? It feels like u compare a lambo and a vw beetle in a drag race. There are tons of people playing CoD on Xbox 360 using gamepad. With ur comments above, why should they bother using gamepad then? Play it on a PC.
But that is not the case, this demo is to show you that the gamepad is accurate enough to be a replacement for a mouse and a keyboard setup. Also in my opinion it is even better than playing a fps game with gamepad. Those are 2 things u should compare, apple to apple, a gamepad with a gamepad. And they did mention that the Steam Machine will be compatible with keyboard and mouse, still want to make kids comment like "way to get killed early on fps"?

Why should we compare the accuracy of this to a gamepad? a steam box is a PC, and as such if you play it using the gamepad that comes with it, you'll be facing people who use a mouse and keyboard in multiplayer games. If everyone were to use a gamepad on PC, then sure, I wouldn't mind. But when you'll be decimated in CS:GO or BO2 because you failed to react fast enough just because of your steambox gamepad compared to the trusty mouse and keyboard that your opponents use, then you'll realize that there is truly a problem.
It's a very nice try to make PC gaming more accessible, to be used in a living room environment. And while I was suprised with how accurate and natural it seemed to feel for the person in the video, I remain skeptical about how this can be used in competitive multiplayer gaming (And I really don't even mean pro level)

youre still missing the point though. sure, pcs are most usually played with mouse and keyboard at all times, but this is NOT the case in the living room. what valve is trying to do is make the pc a viable option for gaming on your big tv. because really, playing with mouse and keyboard on tv isnt a good option. for playing fps and strategy games, this is superior to traditional gamepads.

this is not trying to be better than mouse and keyboard, JUST trying a better solution for certain pc games on your tv.

Also, I would strongly disagree with people saying youd get "decimated" by pc gamers with mouses. it is very similar to mouse in fact because it relies on very precise movements. its not like analog sticks where you move a little and it keeps going. with mouse its the wrist and with this its the thumb. it just takes getting used to.

I'm not missing the point, I get it clearly, I'm still certain it'll be bad when used in fps multiplayer games. Ever tried playing an fps on a laptop trackpad? it'll have exactly the same accuracy and quick response. Moving a mouse with your wrist on a large mouse pad will give you far better control than a thumb on a small trackpad will ever give you. I'm not saying this trying to make a point about how this cannot replace mouse and keyboard, I know it's not meant to do that, but to point out that there'll be a problem in multiplayer games of competitive nature.

 

[ferooxidan]

The point of this is not to "replace" the mouse an keyboard, but to offer a better solution to playing PC games on the couch than using the joystick based crappy PS and Xbox controllers.

The main issue is that games are designed on the PC specifically for mouse and keyboard. Often times you have to use 3rd party programs like Xpadder to get a controller to work, and even then it sucks. This new control address that issue extremely well. It isn't supposed to be "superior" or "an upgrade" to the mouse and keyboard. It's a livingroom friendly alternative.

Sure, if you bring one of these to a CS, CoD or Battlefield LAN, you're gunna get smoked hard, but again, that's not the point.

The point is to bring the PC into the living room.

THIS!!!! this is the comment I've been waiting for, a real rational comment. I mean come on, the video is showing you that the gamepad is better than any other existing gamepad when playing those kind of games, not telling you or force you to play with it. So read again, my point is, please see it with the right point of view and do appreciate when some company, like valve here, try to introduce a new innovation like their gamepad which is a better step up than any other gamepad existed when handling that kind of game. It is ur choice to play fps game with mouse+keyboard, I don't give a fuck. heck I even stated that u can play fps game with keyboard and mouse setup in SteamBox. I mean come on, the video just want to tell u "Look, we are making this far with our new innovation on gamepad, u can play fps kind game smoother now WITH A GAMEPAD. Not that we force u to play with it if u want to own ur game". get real. i don't give a fuck on how games should be played with in order to own it. i don't give a fuck on how we should play our games with the right equipment. all i care is that there is actually someone or a company that still makes innovation and progress in the game world instead of only upgrading specs, but only to get a comment like "way to get killed on fps". for real?