Steam Controller

I understand the moving thing, though I got used to it really well - but the accuracy of my mouse is so much better that it makes the difference between getting killed and dominating.

Nice idea. So going to do that on my spare T61 later :)

"...gamers, who are used to the input associated with PCs, will appreciate that the Steam Controller’s resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse."

Initially, I scoffed at this design ("Of course it's not as good as a mouse for FPS games!), but then I thought about it. Traditional gamepads aren't just a little bit worse than mice for FPS's. They're utter shit. You have to completely rebalance a FPS for gamepad users because they're so clumsy compared to a mouse&keyboard user. Still, gamepads are ergonomically fantastic for what they're designed for. Sitting on a couch, surrounded by buddies, they can't be beat for comfort and compactness.

Trackpads are a lot better than gamepads for precision control, but they're still inferior to mice. This is no surprise. A mouse is centered around a single (okay, sometimes two) point(s) of laser-powered high-precision optical sensing. A trackpad is a giant array of sensors that are trying to approximate your intent from where the center of a mushy blob of flesh is mashed up against it applying pressure. Multi-touch gesture commands can help compensate for this in many applications, but a FPS really demands a single, focused, high-quality stream of user input, and the mouse is still god, emperor, and king when it comes to that!

This steam controller is intermediate between a joystick and a mouse, and Valve is being honest about it. It's not going to be as precise as a mouse, but it promises to be better than a joystick. Yeah, that sounds wishy-washy, but only until you consider just how long the joystick has been with us. We're talking about a method of input that hearkens back to the first automobiles ever built. It's a big honking lever for applying force to a mechanical steering apparatus! The joystick was not birthed out of the need for precision input, but rather, out of the necessity to amplify human strength. This controller, albeit an obvious evolution once you've seen it, is genius. If Valve succeeds in delivering it, all existing gamepads will be rendered obsolete. I don't know if the steambox will succeed because of this, but I know I'd rather use one of these than the XBox360 controller I (very) occasionally dust off to play console titles that have been (incompetently) ported to the PC!

Even if the steambox is an utter failure, I think this controller will be a runaway success. I know Gabe has a huge grudge against Microsoft over their app store, but both MS and Valve could benefit if steambox controller support was baked into the Xbox One. Ditto for Sony and the PS4. This controller could change the course of the console wars.

I don't understand the FPS debate. Do you know what's better for racing games?

http://i.imgur.com/HYOmoQl.jpg - Racing Wheel and Pedals

Flying games?

http://i.imgur.com/ejf4hPf.jpg - Joysticks

Fighting games?

http://i.imgur.com/2lrevkG.jpg - Arcade Sticks

There's one device that works best for every single game genre, and mouse and keyboard is that device for FPS games. Why do people expect one device to match the functionality of all of the above inputs. They're vastly different experiences, it's simply not going to happen. Controllers work great for action games, platformers, and overall, they're the best well rounded device. They're not designed to compete with the above controllers, they're a general input device, so they're not going to be as efficient as something built for a specific task.

If you're a hardcore FPS gamer, bring your mouse and keyboard into the living room, or play at your desk. This is no different than someone buying a wheel if they're into racing simulators.

I think Valve is achieving an even more well rounded device. By the sounds of things, it'll improve the FPS and RTS experience on a controller. It'll most likely make sacrifices to achieve that goal. For example, fighting games might work better on a more traditional controller. However, the Steam library has a much higher number of FPS and RTS games, so that trade off makes sense.