Valve’s new Steam Controller is a game-changer

We’re one step closer to the Steam Machine.

Valve’s unique Steam Controller is finally being demoed for the world to see. This video shows just how the handheld will work for a variety of PC games including Civilization and Portal.

It’s looking very good thus far.

The touchpads are versatile tools that seem to be able to adapt well to to first-person shooters (FPS) and strategy games. They’re apparently better than joysticks for the FPS genre in that players won’t require the obligatory console autoaim help. Whether they’ll measure up to the classic mouse and keyboard remains to be seen.

Dota 2, the most popular game on Steam by far, seems like it will pose a unique challenge to Valve’s engineers.

Two genres that fans are aching to see in action are fighting games and real-time strategy. With some creative use of the touchpad, it seems well within the realm of possibility that fighting games will be perfectly playable. However, real-time strategy still seems like a pipe dream. If Valve can pull that off, then they’re on to something incredible.

Photo via Valve