It almost seemed at one point like Valve was going to drop its idea of a Steam controller. Early impressions weren't stellar and though it had some unique and interesting ideas, the luke warm reception they received along with Steam Boxes - once the initial hype had died down - seemed to diminish much of the buzz around them.
However clearly Valve was just biding its time and refining the prototype, as it's now announced that Steam machines are still coming and that they aren't even that far away. That also means that the Steam Controller isn't far away either and in a new video, Valve has shown off its gaming abilities, as well as the way it can type, doing so far more efficiently than on-screen keyboards have allowed before.
In the quick demonstration video you can see that both touchpads on the controller can be used to highlight individual letters, with a tap designating their selection, much like we're used to doing with smartphones. The 1-1 tracking we're told, also allows us to make fine movements usually only possible with a mouse.
But it's all customisable, so while you can choose from a number of pre-mapped options, you can also remap everything yourself if you like and customise everything down to acceleration and sensitivity. You can even download control schemes from other players that have more time than you to refine it.
What do you think of the new look and feel Steam Controllers? They're going out to early pre-orderers on October 16th, with more available after that.
