It’s been almost two years since we first saw a concept for the steam controller, Valve has now shown us the final version of the Steam Controller. Here it is:
“With one-to-one positioning, the controller can virtualize familiar controls, like a trackball, a mouse, or a scroll wheel, providing a degree of precision that controllers generally aren’t known for”, according to Valve. The triggers are two stage, comprising of a digital switch at the end of an analog pull meaning you can get that variance Xbox uses are used too, and there are also grip buttons, so you can get the whole hand involved. Typing with the controller in Steam Big Picture has been made less of a hassle, says Valve, and control setups can be customized on a per-game basis.
Some controllers will ship early in October, and the rest will start going out sometime in November or December. “A limited quantity of orders will be shipped October 16th, weeks in advance of our official launch,” Valve wrote. “Pre-order now and be among Steam Hardware’s first wave of users.”
You can get a closer look at the Steam Controller on its store page, where pre-purchases are available for $50/£40 in the US and UK. They don’t seem to be available for purchase through Steam in Canada or Australia yet. The Steam Link, a device for streaming games from your PC to your TV over your home network, is also on sale for the same price.
