^On the subject of controllers, Valve just put out a trailer for Steam Controller, so I guess the design is finalized.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSDMZfvqjOM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSDMZfvqjOM[/video]
While I find they're stretching the -you can finally comfortably PC game from a couch- angle, since people have been using gamepads on PC for some time, it DOES seem to offer far easier game and net navigation than current gamepads. Just the cursor search typing alone is pure genius.
It will also be far more flexible than existing pads regarding profiles and custom bindings. Plus it's designed to be easy to use with games that were made for KB/M, something you can't really say for Sony or MS pads.
I'm not sure Valve has done enough testing and surveying to warrant making it more Xbox-like than the prior version, since a lot of gamers that use one tend to already be OK with toggles vs haptic touch pads, but I gotta say, I'd love to try one.
The only reason I can justify adding the left toggle and changing the buttons to Xbox config is for analog steering, and recognizing prompts better in made for Xbox controller games. Other than that I think I'd be more comfortable with the buttons separated and placed near the touch pads, as on the prior model.
That said, I'm not sure Valve will make Steam Controller work with Windows, as it might hurt made for SteamOS game sales, and by extension Steam Machine sales. The reason I am concerned about this is 1), Valve may not be able to keep up with made for Windows releases, and 2) SteamOS games may not be moddable or even file editable.