The third and final announcement from Valve this week is for a new ‘Steam Controller’. A controller for SteamOS and Steam Machines that Valve says they spent a year developing.
The controller will work with all Steam titles (old, current and future) and claims to offer a ‘vastly superior control scheme.’ It contains two circular, clickable trackpads, a touch screen and a new form of ‘rumble.’
“The Steam Controller is built around a new generation of super-precise haptic feedback, employing dual linear resonant actuators,” reads the page for the controller. “These small, strong, weighted electro-magnets are attached to each of the dual trackpads. They are capable of delivering a wide range of force and vibration, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement.”
The Steam Controller has also been designed to be hackable, with Valve planning to give it’s community the tools needed to make the controller better as time progresses. In the case of different games and controller inputs, the community will also be able to create and share new control schemes.
“In order to support the full catalog of existing Steam games (none of which were built with the Steam Controller in mind), we have built in a legacy mode that allows the controller to present itself as a keyboard and mouse. The Steam Community can use the configuration tool to create and share bindings for their favorite games. Players can choose from a list of the most popular configurations.”
It should be noted that this new controller will be different from the one provided with one of the 300. The beta controllers will lack a touch screen and will not be wireless. It will, however, work with any version of Steam.