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What exactly are you skeptical of? The skepticism previously was that this controller would be unusable. This video shows a person playing PC games with the con

by gfodor 13y ago

What exactly are you skeptical of? The skepticism previously was that this controller would be unusable. This video shows a person playing PC games with the controller rapidly and with skill. I still want to see a platformer and a fighting game since the best mapping is a little unclear. (Though these a) won't be showstoppers and b) are likely to be workable.) Humans are adaptable and if this controller is reasonably usable in all the main gaming genres then very quickly you'll see people get really, really good at using it.

baby 13y ago
> The skepticism previously was that this controller would be unusable. Who really thought Valve making a controller would make an unusable one? This was never a concern. The concern here is that it might work well with FPS, RTS etc... (or good enough)... but might not work as good as button based controllers for other genres.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  In other words, it solves the problem that they are trying to solve well, and does not solve problems that they are not trying to solve?
  - Kylekramer 13y ago
    All the messaging I have been getting from Valve is it is a no compromise controller.
- WalterSear 13y ago
  I don't see this competing with a mouse. "Ratcheting" around your POV with your right thumb would make any FPS intolerable. However, playing a FPS on anything but a Oculus Rift or equivalent is going to feel quaint in a few months.
  - deletes 13y ago
    The controller is not competing with a mouse! Valve is trying to replace the standard console controller and it looks like a large improvement over the thumbstick. If by ratcheting you mean the repeated movements to look around, that is very similar to moving a mouse with a low sensitivity settings.
    - WalterSear 13y ago
      Of course this is meant to compete with a mouse. It's intended to let people play mice based games, such as FPS and RTS with a controller. It's intended to take the gaming pc (and by, extension steam) out of the man-cave and into the living room to compete with consoles. This requires providing people with an ability for people to play FPS and RTS decently with a controller, rather than a mouse, or they are going to stick with their man caves and mice.
      - gfodor 13y ago
        It's not competing with a mouse, it's competing with "a mouse and solitude in a man cave", since these are coupled together due to the fact a mouse can't be used in the living room practically. In other words, if this is close enough to the mousing experience to make the net experience of playing PC games in the living room better than the same experience with a mouse in solitude, it will be a hit.
        jiggy2011 13y ago
        The problem will be in multiplayer. Going online and being repeatedly destroyed by mouse players won't be much fun. Also I guess difficulty in singleplayer games would have to take the control scheme into account.
PeterisP 13y ago
It doesn't show a person playing PC games rapidly - it shows, for example, a common Civ5 action (moving cursor to a position in menu and clicking) being slow and awkward, requiring multiple separate finger movements just to push the cursor from middle of screen to side. It's better than any other couch-options, but the controls in Civ still looked frustrating instead of fun.
- BHSPitMonkey 13y ago
  It's an example of a control scheme the controller drivers allow you to come up with in order to map to a game's expected mouse-and-keyboard inputs. If a game developer wants to explicitly support the controller, then even better schemes can be designed.
- gfodor 13y ago
  He lifts his finger just as much in Portal play as he does in Civ. It's incredibly fast. The ergonomics of this thing make it pretty hard to say that it will be frustrating to track the cursor across the screen just because you have to lift your finger. Think about how you use a trackball. This is basically a trackpad device with the thumb ergonomics of a trackball.
  - PeterisP 13y ago
    The last time I touched (or saw) a trackball was a dozen years ago, so it's hard to say - but on any acceptable trackpad its dpi should allow to move across the screen in a single motion, shouldn't it? I.e., if I move my finger across the whole steam controller right pad, then the sensitivity should be high enough to move across the whole screen in that motion while still allowing enough accuracy to click where I want.
    - chc 13y ago
      I would be shocked if it couldn't be configured that way.
      - 13y ago
zobzu 13y ago
i play for leisure with a mouse on a pc and I'm not a pro or anything. Yet, i'm way smoother, faster and accurate at the same time. I mean I can headshot pretty often within 50ms. This guy needs a full second on NON-MOVING targets in counterstrike. He would have zero chance against a mouse user. zero. Remember that this guy played with the controller for a long time and his job is to make it look like as good as possible. So yeah, the controller seems ABSOLUTELY fine for a controller (and probably more precise in some cases than a "regular" controller), but please, let's not fool ourselves, this is NOT a PC gaming experience - i.e. this is very far from the level of control a MOUSE provides.
- NormaHHopson 13y ago
  my friend's step-sister makes $84/hr on the computer. She has been laid off for nine months but last month her check was $21144 just working on the computer for a few hours. Continue Reading ===================================================http://www.Works23.Com http://www.Works23.Com
  - jdgiese 13y ago
    Spam!!

by gfodor 13y ago

baby 13y ago

> The skepticism previously was that this controller would be unusable. Who really thought Valve making a controller would make an unusable one? This was never a concern. The concern here is that it might work well with FPS, RTS etc... (or good enough)... but might not work as good as button based controllers for other genres.

jlgreco 13y ago
In other words, it solves the problem that they are trying to solve well, and does not solve problems that they are not trying to solve?
- Kylekramer 13y ago
  All the messaging I have been getting from Valve is it is a no compromise controller.
WalterSear 13y ago
I don't see this competing with a mouse. "Ratcheting" around your POV with your right thumb would make any FPS intolerable. However, playing a FPS on anything but a Oculus Rift or equivalent is going to feel quaint in a few months.
- deletes 13y ago
  The controller is not competing with a mouse! Valve is trying to replace the standard console controller and it looks like a large improvement over the thumbstick. If by ratcheting you mean the repeated movements to look around, that is very similar to moving a mouse with a low sensitivity settings.
  - WalterSear 13y ago
    Of course this is meant to compete with a mouse. It's intended to let people play mice based games, such as FPS and RTS with a controller. It's intended to take the gaming pc (and by, extension steam) out of the man-cave and into the living room to compete with consoles. This requires providing people with an ability for people to play FPS and RTS decently with a controller, rather than a mouse, or they are going to stick with their man caves and mice.
    - gfodor 13y ago
      It's not competing with a mouse, it's competing with "a mouse and solitude in a man cave", since these are coupled together due to the fact a mouse can't be used in the living room practically. In other words, if this is close enough to the mousing experience to make the net experience of playing PC games in the living room better than the same experience with a mouse in solitude, it will be a hit.
      - jiggy2011 13y ago
        The problem will be in multiplayer. Going online and being repeatedly destroyed by mouse players won't be much fun. Also I guess difficulty in singleplayer games would have to take the control scheme into account.

PeterisP 13y ago

It doesn't show a person playing PC games rapidly - it shows, for example, a common Civ5 action (moving cursor to a position in menu and clicking) being slow and awkward, requiring multiple separate finger movements just to push the cursor from middle of screen to side. It's better than any other couch-options, but the controls in Civ still looked frustrating instead of fun.

BHSPitMonkey 13y ago
It's an example of a control scheme the controller drivers allow you to come up with in order to map to a game's expected mouse-and-keyboard inputs. If a game developer wants to explicitly support the controller, then even better schemes can be designed.
gfodor 13y ago
He lifts his finger just as much in Portal play as he does in Civ. It's incredibly fast. The ergonomics of this thing make it pretty hard to say that it will be frustrating to track the cursor across the screen just because you have to lift your finger. Think about how you use a trackball. This is basically a trackpad device with the thumb ergonomics of a trackball.
- PeterisP 13y ago
  The last time I touched (or saw) a trackball was a dozen years ago, so it's hard to say - but on any acceptable trackpad its dpi should allow to move across the screen in a single motion, shouldn't it? I.e., if I move my finger across the whole steam controller right pad, then the sensitivity should be high enough to move across the whole screen in that motion while still allowing enough accuracy to click where I want.
  - chc 13y ago
    I would be shocked if it couldn't be configured that way.
    - 13y ago

zobzu 13y ago

i play for leisure with a mouse on a pc and I'm not a pro or anything. Yet, i'm way smoother, faster and accurate at the same time. I mean I can headshot pretty often within 50ms. This guy needs a full second on NON-MOVING targets in counterstrike. He would have zero chance against a mouse user. zero. Remember that this guy played with the controller for a long time and his job is to make it look like as good as possible. So yeah, the controller seems ABSOLUTELY fine for a controller (and probably more precise in some cases than a "regular" controller), but please, let's not fool ourselves, this is NOT a PC gaming experience - i.e. this is very far from the level of control a MOUSE provides.

NormaHHopson 13y ago
my friend's step-sister makes $84/hr on the computer. She has been laid off for nine months but last month her check was $21144 just working on the computer for a few hours. Continue Reading ===================================================http://www.Works23.Com http://www.Works23.Com
- jdgiese 13y ago
  Spam!!