• Valve Introduces SteamController

    From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to All on Saturday, September 28, 2013 08:35:26
    Oh good you haven't started talking about it yet.

    Anyone see the announcement Friday for the new controller? I gotta say it looks promising and I like that they are keeping the "Open" mantra going saying that the controller will be nice an modifiyable, they will be taking suggestions for design up until production starts, etc. It all sounds cool, and the controller itself finally looks like something I'd actually put down my mouse/keyboard to use.

    I've never been a fan of screen's on the controller (since the great Dreamcast), but with OLED screen capabilities I can't wait to see what ends up on this controller when it comes out in 2014.

    Discuss...
    -A.

    http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamController/
    --
    Andy/Android8675


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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Android8675 on Saturday, September 28, 2013 22:28:30
    Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Android8675 to All on Sat Sep 28 2013 08:35:26

    Anyone see the announcement Friday for the new controller? I gotta say it looks promising and I like that they are keeping the "Open" mantra going

    I thought it looked... odd. That's all I have to say.. I supposed I'd have to try it in my own hands to see how well it will work.

    Nightfox

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  • From Deuce@VERT/SYNCNIX to Android8675 on Saturday, September 28, 2013 22:36:09
    Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Android8675 to All on Sat Sep 28 2013 08:35 am

    I've never been a fan of screen's on the controller (since the great Dreamcast), but with OLED screen capabilities I can't wait to see what ends up on this controller when it comes out in 2014.

    To quote them:
    Trackpads, by their nature, are less physical than thumbsticks. By themselves, they are "light touch" devices and don't offer the kind of visceral feedback that players get from pushing joysticks around.

    Looks like a gimmik controller, not something I'd like using except maybe as a pointing device.

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  • From Poindexter Fortran@VERT/REALITY to Android8675 on Sunday, September 29, 2013 08:44:34
    Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Android8675 to All on Sat Sep 28 2013 08:35 am

    Dreamcast), but with OLED screen capabilities I can't wait to see what ends up on this controller when it comes out in 2014.


    My LG flip phone had an OLED screen -- in 2001. :)

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  • From Mindless Automaton@VERT/ELDRITCH to Android8675 on Monday, September 30, 2013 09:04:12
    On 9/28/2013 11:35 AM, Android8675 wrote:
    Oh good you haven't started talking about it yet.

    Anyone see the announcement Friday for the new controller? I gotta say it looks
    promising and I like that they are keeping the "Open" mantra going saying that
    the controller will be nice an modifiyable, they will be taking suggestions for
    design up until production starts, etc. It all sounds cool, and the controller
    itself finally looks like something I'd actually put down my mouse/keyboard to
    use.

    I've never been a fan of screen's on the controller (since the great Dreamcast), but with OLED screen capabilities I can't wait to see what ends up
    on this controller when it comes out in 2014.


    I keep hoping for the old Atari paddles to make a comeback.

    -Mindless Automaton
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  • From Mro@VERT/BBSESINF to Mindless Automaton on Monday, September 30, 2013 17:26:41
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mindless Automaton to Android8675 on Mon Sep 30 2013 09:04 am

    Anyone see the announcement Friday for the new controller? I gotta say it looks promising and I like that they are keeping the "Open" mantra going

    I keep hoping for the old Atari paddles to make a comeback.


    ever notice how the most simple stuff was the most fun?
    there's a certain elegance in simplicity.

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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Mro on Monday, September 30, 2013 19:48:28
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mro to Mindless Automaton on Mon Sep 30 2013 17:26:41

    I keep hoping for the old Atari paddles to make a comeback.

    ever notice how the most simple stuff was the most fun?
    there's a certain elegance in simplicity.

    I agree. Some people complain that older video games lack realism in the form of graphics or gameplay, but I think there's a certain art in making games like that. Older computer technology didn't have the speed graphics capabilities of today's computers, so game developers were forced to be creative with the types of games they created. I still enjoy playing side-scrollers and games with a top-down view, etc. Games with that kind of simplicity can be very fun and addictive if they're done well.

    Nightfox

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  • From Mro@VERT/BBSESINF to Nightfox on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 16:21:40
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Mro on Mon Sep 30 2013 07:48 pm

    I agree. Some people complain that older video games lack realism in the form of graphics or gameplay, but I think there's a certain art in making games like that. Older computer technology didn't have the speed graphics capabilities of today's computers, so game developers were forced to be


    i used to buy those microsoft entertainment packs and they would have a cool helpfile with the history of the games and developers.

    they said that these guys would actually break into work at night to play these games they were developing. i dont think they do THAT nowadays.

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  • From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to Deuce on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 11:14:20
    Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Deuce to Android8675 on Sat Sep 28 2013 10:36 pm

    Looks like a gimmik controller, not something I'd like using except maybe as a pointing device.

    I always thought the dual thumbsticks would never get replaced, I'm hoping that Valve takes this design, incorporates feedback from the testers and comes up with something awesome. 2014, too far away.
    --
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  • From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to Poindexter Fortran on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 11:15:21
    Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Poindexter Fortran to Android8675 on Sun Sep 29 2013 08:44 am

    My LG flip phone had an OLED screen -- in 2001. :)
    ....SHHHHH! Quiet you.
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  • From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to Mindless Automaton on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 11:17:23
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mindless Automaton to Android8675 on Mon Sep 30 2013 09:04 am

    I keep hoping for the old Atari paddles to make a comeback.

    "Since when have those gone away?" asks Andy as he bangs out an answer from his Atari 800?
    --
    Andy/Android8675


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  • From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to Nightfox on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 11:20:25
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Mro on Mon Sep 30 2013 07:48 pm

    I agree. Some people complain that older video games lack realism in the form of graphics or gameplay, but I think there's a certain art in making games like that. Older computer technology didn't have the speed graphics capabilities of today's computers, so game developers were forced to be creative with the types of games they created. I still enjoy playing side-scrollers and games with a top-down view, etc. Games with that kind of simplicity can be very fun and addictive if they're done well.

    So did you pick up the reboot of the Giana Sisters? Just released a second one today, if you enjoy platformers, it's a grat game... $8 for both games on Steam.
    --
    Andy/Android8675


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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Mro on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 19:46:52
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mro to Nightfox on Tue Oct 01 2013 16:21:40

    i used to buy those microsoft entertainment packs and they would have a cool helpfile with the history of the games and developers.

    Those were cool. There were some fun games in those entertainment packs.

    they said that these guys would actually break into work at night to play these games they were developing. i dont think they do THAT nowadays.

    That's interesting.. Couldn't they have played the games at home though?
    In the early-mid 90s, there were some people I knew who sometimes played multi-player games on their work networks after hours. I only joined them a couple times, but it was fun.. And come to think of it, I don't know anyone these days who goes to LAN parties - but it would be fun to do that too..

    Nightfox

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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Android8675 on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 19:48:05
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Android8675 to Nightfox on Tue Oct 01 2013 11:20:25

    So did you pick up the reboot of the Giana Sisters? Just released a second one today, if you enjoy platformers, it's a grat game... $8 for both games on Steam.

    Haven't heard of Giana Sisters, but I suppose it's worth taking a look at.

    Nightfox

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  • From Mro@VERT/BBSESINF to Nightfox on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 22:58:51
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Mro on Tue Oct 01 2013 07:46 pm

    they said that these guys would actually break into work at night to play these games they were developing. i dont think they do THAT nowadays.

    That's interesting.. Couldn't they have played the games at home though?
    In the early-mid 90s, there were some people I knew who sometimes played multi-player games on their work networks after hours. I only joined them
    a couple times, but it was fun.. And come to think of it, I don't know


    yeah, this was asteroids, centepede, misslecommand.

    so they were arcade versions that had not been released yet even to arcades.

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  • From Dreamer@VERT/SETXBBS to Mro on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 14:45:00
    Mro wrote to Mindless Automaton <=-

    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mindless Automaton to Android8675 on Mon Sep 30 2013 09:04 am

    Anyone see the announcement Friday for the new controller? I gotta say it looks promising and I like that they are keeping the "Open" mantra going

    I keep hoping for the old Atari paddles to make a comeback.

    ever notice how the most simple stuff was the most fun?
    there's a certain elegance in simplicity.

    I have. I always got frustrated with the newer games... I could learn
    to play, and certainly the graphics are awesome, but I don't like the
    new controllers...

    I got about ten games I enjoy on SNES and a couple on Genesis, and for
    the most part that's about all I play. Occasionally I'll pick up a PC
    game now and then, usually FPS's. Lately I've been firing up SMB3 the
    most... I had forgotten how fun that game is.

    I'd gotten out of games for quite a few years, but as my kids get
    older, I pull up newer and newer games for them to try. Few years ago
    I got my daughter started on some simple NES games for her age (plus
    a newer handheld with dumbed down gameplay...forget what it was
    called). Last year graduated her to some major SNES and DS titles.
    Sooo much fun watching her play the games I used to.

    Those older Nintendo controllers have always seemed so much more
    natural to me.. and it wasn't just because I played a lot of it. I
    never could get used to Sega's controllers.

    Anyone ever play a Colecovision? Those had to be the oddest
    controllers around. Took a little bit of playing around until I
    figured out they worked best by grasping the top of the controller w/
    one hand (thus cupping the "stick" in your palm), and grabbing the
    backside with the other hand to work the trigger buttons on the side.
    It had a button dialpad on the bottom, although I don't think we ever
    had any titles that really got any use out of that.

    Fun times.


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  • From Froggyme@VERT/LILLYPAD to Mro on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 22:44:22
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mro to Mindless Automaton on Mon Sep 30 2013 05:26 pm

    I keep hoping for the old Atari paddles to make a comeback.

    ever notice how the most simple stuff was the most fun?
    there's a certain elegance in simplicity.

    Hence why Night Driver (especailly the sit down version!) is one of the best driving arcade games ever! :)

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  • From Froggyme@VERT/LILLYPAD to Nightfox on Tuesday, October 01, 2013 22:51:04
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Mro on Mon Sep 30 2013 07:48 pm

    I agree. Some people complain that older video games lack realism in the form of graphics or gameplay, but I think there's a certain art in making games like that. Older computer technology didn't have the speed graphics

    Yes, some games, ... pretty much all the classics ... can be considered works of art. And the abstract concepts and playfields and scenery add to the mysterious alternate-universe feel to the game. And they shaped the idea of what it meant to compute and our notion of the innards of a computer; for example, the influence of these games is undeniable on Tron, which then shaped perception of computers itself.

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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Mro on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 07:34:31
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mro to Nightfox on Tue Oct 01 2013 22:58:51

    yeah, this was asteroids, centepede, misslecommand.

    so they were arcade versions that had not been released yet even to arcades. ---

    From what I remember, Microsoft released those around the mid-late 90s, long after those games had been in arcades. I think the whole reason Microsoft released that was due to the popularity of those games in the arcades.

    Atari later made a similar collection of arcade games for Windows, which may have been a closer re-creation of those games: http://www.amazon.com/Atari-Anniversary-Edition-PC/dp/B00005JD6L

    Nightfox

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  • From Mro@VERT/BBSESINF to Froggyme on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 15:41:30
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Froggyme to Mro on Tue Oct 01 2013 10:44 pm

    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mro to Mindless Automaton on Mon Sep 30 2013 05:26 pm

    I keep hoping for the old Atari paddles to make a comeback.

    ever notice how the most simple stuff was the most fun?
    there's a certain elegance in simplicity.

    Hence why Night Driver (especailly the sit down version!) is one of the
    best driving arcade games ever! :)



    i never heard of that one but i looked it up. i wonder how someone thought that up. maybe a night of driving home late after the bar?

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  • From Mro@VERT/BBSESINF to Nightfox on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 15:42:57
    Re: Microsoft entertainment packs
    By: Nightfox to Mro on Wed Oct 02 2013 07:34 am

    yeah, this was asteroids, centepede, misslecommand.

    so they were arcade versions that had not been released yet even to arcades. ---

    From what I remember, Microsoft released those around the mid-late 90s,
    long after those games had been in arcades. I think the whole reason


    the help files talked about the OLD days, back when they were in development.
    i wasnt saying the microsoft guys were sneaking into work!

    Atari later made a similar collection of arcade games for Windows, which
    may have been a closer re-creation of those games: http://www.amazon.com/Atari-Anniversary-Edition-PC/dp/B00005JD6L


    yeah i got that on some 5 dollar cd from software ect years ago.

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  • From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to Mro on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 08:41:43
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Mro to Nightfox on Tue Oct 01 2013 04:21 pm

    i used to buy those microsoft entertainment packs and they would have a cool helpfile with the history of the games and developers.
    they said that these guys would actually break into work at night to play these games they were developing. i dont think they do THAT nowadays.

    My favorite time working in game development was when I started out at EA back in 1997, DOS was still the most common call we got (How do I run this DOS game on my Windows 3.1 box? My new PCI audio card doesn't work, can you help?), but EA had this genious way of making boot disks (we had to tell people how to make an autoexec.bat and config.sys file over the phone) that when customers booted the disk would start the game without changeing anything on their systems. It was a real treat when you heard the game startup over the phone and you hear the users get REALLY excited and pretty much say, "Yeah, yeah... I gotta go... *click*"

    So our group of about 50-100 phone techs had just gotten our first computer upgrades. We all got terminals with serious video cards, sound and cd drives. It was at this time that Dynamix decided to release "Tribes", a FPS with rocketboots and a sniper rifle that could hit a flea at half a mile.

    Probably for the next month solid, we would get into these insane 16v16 matches (we snuck the server code onto one of our big server machines), and got so good that we started challenging other software studios. We had matches with Activision, Dynamix, EALA, and a few others.

    Matches typically went til about 11pm weekdays, and since the office was open all the time we'd occasionally order pizza and play on Saturdays.

    I met a lot of legends of game development at that place, it was really cool.

    I am totally off topic, aren't I?
    --
    Andy/Android8675


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  • From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to Nightfox on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 09:11:46
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Android8675 on Tue Oct 01 2013 07:48 pm

    Haven't heard of Giana Sisters, but I suppose it's worth taking a look at.

    Basically you control one Giana Sister (one's good, the other is bad/rebel), pressing a button changes you from one to the other sister. When you change sisters the enviornment cjhanges as well. Good sister is in the evil realm, bad sister is in the good realm.

    Beautiful game. I think originally it was on Amiga, so this is sort of a reboot.
    --
    Andy/Android8675


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  • From Poindexter Fortran@VERT/REALITY to Nightfox on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 15:22:32
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Mro on Tue Oct 01 2013 07:46 pm

    That's interesting.. Couldn't they have played the games at home though? In the early-mid 90s, there were some people I knew who sometimes played multi-player games on their work networks after hours.


    DOOM only ran over IPX/SPX - you had to run them over a local network.
    We'd sit in the CS area with telephone headsets and place a 6 party
    conference call over the game. After all of the deathmatch shoot-m-ups, I miss the old cooperative DOOM matches we'd have.

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  • From Poindexter Fortran@VERT/REALITY to Froggyme on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 15:33:04
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Froggyme to Mro on Tue Oct 01 2013 10:44 pm

    Hence why Night Driver (especailly the sit down version!) is one of the best driving arcade games ever! :)

    Spy Hunter was the only driving game that hooked me -- I remember ankle cramps from stomping on the accelerator for 30+ minutes!

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  • From Poindexter Fortran@VERT/REALITY to Android8675 on Wednesday, October 02, 2013 15:40:02
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Android8675 to Mro on Wed Oct 02 2013 08:41 am

    My favorite time working in game development was when I started out at EA back in 1997, DOS was still the most common call we got (How do I run this DOS game on my Windows 3.1 box? My new PCI audio card doesn't work, can you

    I was at Eidos Interactive at the time. Good times.

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  • From Android8675@VERT/SHODAN to Poindexter Fortran on Thursday, October 03, 2013 21:10:18
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Poindexter Fortran to Nightfox on Wed Oct 02 2013 03:22 pm

    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Mro on Tue Oct 01 2013 07:46 pm

    That's interesting.. Couldn't they have played the games at home
    though? In the early-mid 90s, there were some people I knew who
    sometimes played multi-player games on their work networks after
    hours.

    DOOM only ran over IPX/SPX - you had to run them over a local network. We'd sit in the CS area with telephone headsets and place a 6 party conference call over the game. After all of the deathmatch shoot-m-ups, I miss the old cooperative DOOM matches we'd have.

    Doom was JUST Before I started working at EA, apparently that game was played so much it would crash the network (IPX/SPX pretty much spams the network with so much data the whole thing freaked).

    As for why we didn't play at home. Tribes was a 16v16 game, if you couldn't been in the same room as your team you were at a serious disadvantage. Better servers, better network, etc.

    Tribes, the only game where you had to wait in line to get better weapons/armor.
    --
    Andy/Android8675


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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Poindexter Fortran on Saturday, October 19, 2013 07:48:17
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Poindexter Fortran to Nightfox on Wed Oct 02 2013 15:22:32

    DOOM only ran over IPX/SPX - you had to run them over a local network.

    Yes, generally that was true. But eventually there were IPX/SPX emulators that became available that let you play those games over the Internet. One of the more popular ones was Kali, which was a Windows 9x application. Kali would let you start or join a server for a particular game and let you play any IPX/SPX game (including all the popular DOS games) over the Internet. I remember Kali also having server lists for the various games so you could play with anyone.

    I played a lot of Descent on the Internet that way..

    Nightfox

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  • From Poindexter Fortran@VERT/REALITY to Nightfox on Monday, October 21, 2013 09:43:52
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Poindexter Fortran on Sat Oct 19 2013 07:48 am

    Yes, generally that was true. But eventually there were IPX/SPX emulators that became available that let you play those games over the Internet.

    I've been digging into old games; found a multiplayer IP doom and hopped onto a cooperative match a few weeks ago. Quake I was still my sentimental favorite for multiplayer; I worked at a software company at the time and playing games "to test the video cards/drivers" was acceptable.

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  • From Corey@VERT/TSGC to Poindexter Fortran on Monday, October 21, 2013 13:10:29
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Poindexter Fortran to Nightfox on Mon Oct 21 2013 09:43 am

    Subject: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    @VIA: REALITY
    @MSGID: <526559C8.1648.dove.dove-ent@realitycheckbbs.org>
    @REPLY: <52629BB1.1621.dove_entertai@digitaldistortionbbs.com>
    @TZ: c1e0
    Re: Re: Valve Introduces SteamController
    By: Nightfox to Poindexter Fortran on Sat Oct 19 2013 07:48 am

    Yes, generally that was true. But eventually there were IPX/SPX emulat that became available that let you play those games over the Internet.

    I've been digging into old games; found a multiplayer IP doom and hopped ont cooperative match a few weeks ago. Quake I was still my sentimental favorite for multiplayer; I worked at a software company at the time and playing game "to test the video cards/drivers" was acceptable.


    I have hexen 2 and the source code.
    the server client system is really advanced.

    "Practise safe Lunch, Use a Condiment"


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