Valve followed up their Wednesday reveal of Steam Machines with something that feels a little more tangible. The Steam Controller is the last piece of Valve’s attempt to take over your living room.
It’s a somewhat curious design, ditching traditional analog sticks for two big circular touchpads. Each touch pad will also serve as a button that can be clicked in. In the center of the controller is a touch screen that can also be clicked in like a button. There are two bumpers and triggers that adorn the top of the controller and then there appear to be two large buttons on the back where your fingers rest while you grip it.Although the controller looks devoid of buttons Valve has identified 16 of them.
If you want a better idea of how the controller maps to a game they have included a picture showing a button layout for Portal 2:
Click for a full size version.
Valve is reporting that any game available on Steam will support the controller. Older titles that may have never even been intended to use a controller will be tricked into thinking they are working with a traditional mouse and keyboard.
No word yet on price or release schedule but you can go sign up for the hardware beta by following this link.
