14 DAY TRIAL // The third and final Steam Living Room announcement ha sjust been made by Valve and, just like some rumors predicted, it's actually a controller designed to work with the SteamOS and Steam Machines computers, but also with other operating systems and computers.
Valve started its array of announcements with the SteamOS Operating System, designed around Steam and gaming. After that, it followed up with the Steam Machines strategy to produce computers centered around gaming.
Now, the third and final announcement is a controller designed to play all types of games, both ones that have already appeared and ones that will be released in the future.
Check out the first actual details straight from Valve's official website below.
A different kind of gamepad
We set out with a singular goal: bring the Steam experience, in its entirety, into the living-room. We knew how to build the user interface, we knew how to build a machine, and even an operating system. But that still left input — our biggest missing link. We realized early on that our goals required a new kind of input technology — one that could bridge the gap from the desk to the living room without compromises. So we spent a year experimenting with new approaches to input and we now believe we’ve arrived at something worth sharing and testing with you.
Complete catalog
The Steam Controller is designed to work with all the games on Steam: past, present, and future. Even the older titles in the catalog and the ones which were not built with controller support. (We’ve fooled those older games into thinking they’re being played with a keyboard and mouse, but we’ve designed a gamepad that’s nothing like either one of those devices.) We think you’ll agree that we’re onto something with the Steam Controller, and now we want your help with the design process.
Superior performance
Traditional gamepads force us to accept compromises. We’ve made it a goal to improve upon the resolution and fidelity of input that’s possible with those devices. The Steam controller offers a new and, we believe, vastly superior control scheme, all while enabling you to play from the comfort of your sofa. Built with high-precision input technologies and focused on low-latency performance, the Steam controller is just what the living-room ordered.
The controller itself has dual trackpads instead of analog sticks, haptic feedback, and a central touchscreen besides regular buttons. What's more, the whole gamepad is designed to be "hacked" by users and they can even share key bindings with others via Steam for their favorite games.