Valve’s Steam controller was a very interesting idea, a gamepad that ditched analogue sticks and buttons in favour of dual touch pads which performed similar functions to a computer’s trackpads. There was also a touchscreen planned for the peripheral but, at Valve’s Dev Days event, it was revealed that the touchscreen won’t be hanging around much longer.
The touchscreen, which was supposed to function as a customisable section of the controller, will be replaced by something that Valve calls “ghost mode”, a method of interacting with virtual onscreen buttons by using the controller’s trackpads according to reports.
Also changing are the controller’s buttons, which will be rearranged in order to better resemble other, more established, controllers – which should make gamers feel a little more at home with Valve’s hardware. There is also talk of a direction pad being added to the gaming peripheral and then there’s the controller support for Steam Machines. The Verge reports that Steam Machines will support up to 16 controllers at once, citing Steam Dev Days attendee tweets for the information. How a Steam Machine will allow 16 players at once is something that hasn’t been explained.
Source: The Verge