Recently, the digital master Steam showed the world their controller to fit their new operating system. Instead of thumbsticks, the controller has track pads. This little guy has created quite a buzz and recently Sega had a chance to sit down with the controller and had the following things to say about it. So hit that jump to hear how Sega’s PC titles could enter a whole new world.
John Clark of Sega’s Digital Distrubtion VP says,
Even though the controller was still in beta, it felt and looked fairly impressive. I managed to get a first hands-on session a few weeks ago when I remembered how sensitive the track pads were. Second time around I was able to gauge different levels of sensitivity within the trackpad. The important area is how well the developers explore its capabilities over the next few months; as you know we have some very strong PC games and seeing how the controller interacts with Total War: Rome 2, Company of Heroes 2, Football Manager and so on, will be a great measurement of its ability.
James Schall, Digital Distribution Director of Sega says,
What it has got to do is become a ‘standard’ rather than be one of these fancy PC controllers we see every so often. If you go back to when Microsoft had the Sidewinder range, they became the standard on PC and they were very successful. But it doesn’t exist anymore. Could this become it? They have a lot of work to do. But the opportunity is there.
Rob Bartholomew, Brand Director for Total War says,
I was pretty sceptical at first, seemed like a novel move away from thumbsticks at best, but after five minutes you can really see the potential, after 10 minutes I was won over. The biggest challenge I think Valve will have is getting the pad into peoples’ hands, once you’ve tried it you’ll definitely see where they are coming from. We have to abandon the idea that it’s competing with mouse and keyboard, if you want to play the best possible range of PC games in the living room there really isn’t a competition here, it will be the best option for widespread use.
Bartholomew ends with saying,
As a consumer, it’s exciting that there are real, affordable, well-supported alternatives to traditional consoles, the arrival of SteamOS could of course have implications well beyond that.
As you can see, they are pleasantly surprised with how adaptive the controller is. I for one am curious to get that controller in my hands, and can’t wait to hear the impressions of the Steam Machine prototypes that Valve is shipping out. You can read many more quotes in the source link.
[Source: MCV UK]
