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Valve’s Steam Controller Receives Firmware Update

Valve announces that the newly-updated controller can be used even outside of Steam.

We are all accustomed to Valve’s approach on the gaming industry, and we are not talking only about games this time. Valve’s steam controller receives firmware update and all of us are excited to see how the newly-updated controller fares outside of Steam.

Yes, you heard it right. With the new firmware update, you’ll be able to use the controller outside of Steam and you can even use it for activities that do no imply gaming. According to the update’s description posted on Valve’s website, the improved controller will now incorporate a myriad of functions which can be used in order to navigate through your computer. Among the goodies packed in the new update are a couple of configurable functions for volume control and even play or pause buttons.

Moreover, it would seem that Valve wants to get the controller out of the yard, and even launched a beta client which enables the controller to work with non-Steam devices. Also, the new Steam Client beta features whole new set of functions that enable the controller’s save setting to be transferred between several Steam accounts.

In terms of gaming, the controller comes to surprise us with enhanced flexibility and versatility. We all know how hard it is for an inveterate computer gamer to switch from mouse and keyboard to a game controller. Most of us would rather smash the joystick into pieces after being machine-gunned by a low-level foe.

But Valve has the solution to that problem. In the new firmware update, Valve included a couple of modification concerning how easily the gaming stick can be handled. And so, the boring rudder will turn into an almost mouse-like controller which is sure to screw a smile on everyone’s face. Moreover, it would seem that the mouse-like joystick is even customizable, meaning that, for example, the players are capable of assigning a hotkey for certain game functions such as switching between the minimap and shooting mode.

As for FPS aficionados, the controller comes packed with other goodies such as gyroscopic aiming. Also, we are able to see that the newly-updated controller is combining the use of d-pads with the body’s movement.

As a part of their campaign for improving gaming controllers, Valve also had the courtesy of including a presentation of their fully automated manufacturing plant. According to their statement, it would seem that the manufacturing used to create the game controllers is considered to be the largest fully automated plant in the United States.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

Valve preparing to reveal third party Steam Machines at CES 2014

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The Verge has gained heaps of information from their recent hands on with the Steam Machine, Steam OS and the Steam Controller, including dates and information surrounding Valve’s TV gaming project.

The mass amount of information surrounds topics Valve has already discussed or hinted at, but the overview of the platform makes it all the more real and close. Looking at the comments made by several journalists on the Steam Controller shows promise for Valve, the only major problem being the need to adapt.

One of the most exciting bits of information on the article was about the third party Steam Machines being built by Valve’s secret hardware partners. No official hardware partner has been named by Valve yet, but they hinted at more than one coming to CES next year in January.

Valve will also not bundle Half Life 3 and other first party games onto Steam exclusively. We may see Valve announce their next line of video games when the Steam Machines are released, but they have said the games will not be exclusive and will be available on other platforms.

This may make the Steam Machines less valuable in terms of exclusive games but Valve already has 65 million Steam users and plenty of people begging to be an early adopter of the platform, its not as if the company is desperate for buyers and needs to resort to making games exclusive.

Overall the Steam Machine looks well on its way to becoming a contender in the TV space. Valve’s co-founder Gabe Newell has often talked about Steam entering the TV space and how to get PC gamers onto the platform, this is their big move.

Challenges do face them but Valve is pushing new ideas and features to compete against the PS4, Xbox One and other possible TV/gaming projects coming in the next year, including something from Apple and Google.

Valve’s three announcements: Steam OS, Machine and Controller

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Valve has made three important announcements regarding the Steam ecosystem and they all seem to configure around the idea of making a PC console, similar to the Xi3 Piston released a few months ago.

This move has been rumored for a while now, with the Steam ecosystem becoming a large flowing mess of indies and AAA studios building games to run on really powerful PC hardware.

Some believed Valve’s third announcement would be three new games for Steam, these would be Half Life 3, Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3. This is a little fantasy many have had for a while and it may still be possible when Valve implements all the hardware and software to create the perfect Steam Box.

Essentially Valve will build everything, Steam OS is a Linux-based gaming operating system, similar to Android but for games, not mobile. Valve will work on Linux and develop a gaming user interface familiar and simple for users, we could see this bootloaded as a second OS.

They will then built a Steam Machine (or Box) with different component options, like a normal computer range the price will start at around $499 for the cheap model all the way up to the thousands for a premium build. Valve has said they will cut the price with video game optimisation.

The controller is the third announcement and allows users to play Steam games without using the keyboard and mouse. Keyboard and mouse are seen as the elite gaming controller simply because of the accuracy, precision and amount of buttons, but most casual console gamers prefer the gamepad.

The Steam controller is a new peripheral that tries to mimic the mouse for older games, with two buttons for the mouse clickers and two rounded haptic sensors for movement, instead of the traditional analogue sticks.

This is a big move by Valve to enter the living room, as the next generation consoles are preparing to launch. The question is will Valve have any exciting exclusives for Steam, ones that run much better on the Steam Machine – we will have to wait and see.