Valve replaces Steam Controller touchscreen with new analog face buttons
When we briefly got our hands on Valve's prototype Steam Controller earlier this year, we found the face buttons placed right up against the lip of the circular touch pads more than a little awkward to use.
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second major hardware pivot for the Steam Controller in two months. In January, Valve dropped the planned touchscreen entirely in favor of physical buttons ahead of a retail launch it had slated for later in 2014 via Steam and stores.
Today's Ars Technica report shows the refinement continuing: the replacement face buttons are now analog rather than fixed digital keys, a direct response to the same hands-on criticism — reviewers found the original buttons jammed awkwardly against the lip of the circular touch pads. The breadth of pickup (Wired, Engadget, CNET, IGN, Forbes and others all carried the news within a day) reflects how much weight the controller carries: it is the input device for Valve's rumored living-room console ambitions, alongside a VR-friendly Steam interface beta and a headset reveal Valve has been preparing since January.
First-order effects
- Buyers awaiting the 2014 retail launch get a materially different controller than the one shown at announcement — analog face buttons instead of both the touchscreen and the earlier fixed-button layout.
Second-order effects
- Hardware partners betting on Steam Machines now depend on a controller still being reshaped months before launch, so their living-room box designs must track Valve's revisions rather than a frozen spec.
Third-order effects
- Valve is effectively running hardware the way it runs Steam software — iterating in public on press feedback — which, if it holds through launch, makes pre-release revision a normal stage of its product cycles rather than an exception.
The trend: Valve is developing consumer hardware iteratively in public, folding reviewer and user feedback into successive Steam Controller revisions ahead of retail.