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Valve Announces Its Open Steam GamePad / Controller

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  • #41
    @dee.

    one or the two trackpads can be reprogrammed to work as D-Pad(s).

    One of game devs invited by Valve did just that and it worked pretty well:

    Game creators who have tried Valve's unusual new game controller tell Kotaku that the device holds a lot of promise. But make no mistake, they also say it feels pretty different from what we're used to.
    Last edited by AJSB; 28 September 2013, 06:33 AM.

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    • #42
      Originally posted by dee. View Post
      Now then there's this idea of a touchpad. In a gamepad. That you control with your thumb. Comparing it to a d-pad would be like comparing an on-screen virtual keyboard to a real desktop keyboard with real spring-loaded keys. Basically it would be like playing on some of those virtual gamepads, there's no proper feedback (haptics aren't the same thing, no matter how "sophisticated" they are, all they do is vibrate on your thumb, possibly causing some kind of disorder) and just try to do any accurate, quick movements by sliding your thumb all over, it's not going to work.
      This is what I am most curious about, just don't see how this touchpads are supposed to work, give proper control feedback (and the precision of a mouse?).

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      • #43
        Been there, done that:

        10 Worst Video Game Controllers
        9. Turbo Touch 360

        Dear Control Engineers: Please don't remove the D-pad on a controller in favor of a touch-sensitive surface. You may try to con fighting gamers into thinking it'll make smooth circular motions easier, but you may not realize they like to rest their thumb on the pad when idle. Thanks. Your Pal, Craig


        25 Worst Video Game Controllers

        25. The Turbo Touch 360
        NES, SNES, Sega Genesis

        The Turbo Touch 360 line of controllers were terrible. Triax thought it would be such a good idea to replace our useful digital d-pad with a recessed touch pad in the days of the NES. Never mind that the NES, SNES, and Genesis were only able to accept digital inputs, making the touch pad completely useless and unwieldy. Not only that, but plastic edges around the touchpad were sharp! Have you ever gotten a plastic cut while playing Contra? It hurts!
        Last edited by TheBlackCat; 28 September 2013, 08:05 AM.

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        • #44
          Originally posted by AJSB View Post
          @dee.

          one or the two trackpads can be reprogrammed to work as D-Pad(s).
          I'm aware of that. It doesn't help. A controller needs to have a real d-pad. Heck, there's room on the controller for secondary controllers, they could have fitted d-pads in there. But nooo...

          One of game devs invited by Valve did just that and it worked pretty well:

          http://kotaku.com/valves-controller-...pre-1415579308
          Obvious promo is obvious... They tried it in FPS games and one simple flash game. I guess it's not that much of a difference if you're already used to (read: resigned to, or never tried anything better) the shitty pseudo-d-pads found in x-box controllers, but someone who grew up with 8-bit nintendo can tell, I promise you.

          Btw I just showed a picture of the steam controller to my gf (she's big into platformers and old zelda games, that sort of thing) and she was like "what the hell is that contraption, how are you supposed to play anything with it..."

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          • #45
            Originally posted by dee. View Post
            I'm aware of that. It doesn't help. A controller needs to have a real d-pad. Heck, there's room on the controller for secondary controllers, they could have fitted d-pads in there. But nooo...



            Obvious promo is obvious... They tried it in FPS games and one simple flash game. I guess it's not that much of a difference if you're already used to (read: resigned to, or never tried anything better) the shitty pseudo-d-pads found in x-box controllers, but someone who grew up with 8-bit nintendo can tell, I promise you.

            Btw I just showed a picture of the steam controller to my gf (she's big into platformers and old zelda games, that sort of thing) and she was like "what the hell is that contraption, how are you supposed to play anything with it..."
            Well, yeah, promo is obvious and to be honest, when i also looked to it for 1st time , for some seconds my jaw dropped and i was also "WTF ?!?" but thinking again at least for RTS and FPS (witch are 95% of games i play) it seems that will be accurate and fast.

            Saying that, i will continue to use mouse+PC/PS3_gampad with some software made by me.

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            • #46
              Originally posted by efikkan View Post
              I really hope they'll be developing a better protocol than HID, HID wired devices have a typical latency of ~10+ ms and wireless ~30 ms input lag, and considering this lag has to be added to the game engine lag, frame sync lag and screen input lag before a movement is visible, it becomes quite substantial.

              And as always, wireless should only be optional.
              Don't forget eye/brain lag, hehe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTOODPf-iuc

              We just need some jacks wired into out brain stem Ghost in the Shell style.

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              • #47
                Originally posted by dee. View Post
                Oh and this too. Wireless sucks. I once had a wireless mouse but it stopped working when the batteries leaked inside it.
                Maybe your mouse sucked.
                I use a Performance MX, it lasts a month on a charge, and then I charge (~1h) it with a micro USB cable (front side, so you can still use the mouse).
                Never had any issue with it (or my second one at work, or my brother's one, or ..)

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                • #48
                  Originally posted by erendorn View Post
                  Maybe your mouse sucked.
                  Yes, that's what I said. It sucked and it was wireless. Thereby forever tainting my view on wireless control devices.

                  There I was, a bright-eyed young lad, full of hopes and dreams. I saw a wireless logitech mouse in a store and though "wow, a wireless mouse, how cool!" and bought it and plugged it in. It was fun. A few weeks I was enjoying the pure joy and exhilaration of using a wireless mouse. Alas, one day, it failed me. The mouse turned out to be total crap. It broke my heart. How could they betray me in such a way? That day, something broke inside me. I felt violated. Something I had had such high hopes of, had turned out to be just another backstabbing whore. I can never, ever trust wireless mice again.

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                  • #49
                    Originally posted by dee. View Post
                    Yes, that's what I said. It sucked and it was wireless. Thereby forever tainting my view on wireless control devices.

                    There I was, a bright-eyed young lad, full of hopes and dreams. I saw a wireless logitech mouse in a store and though "wow, a wireless mouse, how cool!" and bought it and plugged it in. It was fun. A few weeks I was enjoying the pure joy and exhilaration of using a wireless mouse. Alas, one day, it failed me. The mouse turned out to be total crap. It broke my heart. How could they betray me in such a way? That day, something broke inside me. I felt violated. Something I had had such high hopes of, had turned out to be just another backstabbing whore. I can never, ever trust wireless mice again.
                    Get ahold of yourself, man. It's not the 1990s anymore. Tech has improved a bit since then.

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                    • #50
                      Originally posted by johnc View Post
                      Get ahold of yourself, man. It's not the 1990s anymore. Tech has improved a bit since then.
                      You don't understand my pain. How could I once more open up my heart to wireless mice, when they so cruelly betrayed me? No, leave me be. I'm just a broken, old man, with too many scars. Too many bad, old memories. That wireless mouse haunts my dreams. Every night I wake up in cold sweat, from terrible nightmares where wireless mice chase me and I can't run away because my batteries are out.

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