Valve's first hardware beta starting by next year and it's not wearable computing - Polidicks

[url]http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/18/valve-hardware-jeri-ellsworth/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter[/url] [quote]Valve Software's hardware division is still in its infancy. Despite having existed for over a year, recruitment is still its primary concern -- "prototyping is almost secondary," longtime inventor/hacker/now Valve employee Jeri Ellsworth told us in an interview this week. As the team ramps up, production becomes more and more prolific, of course; Ellsworth lights up when she talks about the work her team is doing now. She gets verbose when asked about corporate culture at Valve, about how she's never worked at a company where risk and failure are so acceptable -- even encouraged. She's visibly excited about the prototypes she's creating at Valve's new prototyping facility, but manages to contain herself enough to not let slip exactly what her and her team are working on. When asked what the team's immediate goals are, she obliquely states, "To make Steam games more fun to play in your living room." That's the team's one-year goal, at least. [b] The challenge is making games that require a mouse and keyboard palatable to people who are used to a controller, or to people who just don't want to migrate PC controls to the comfort of their living room. [/b] Working in tandem with Steam's newly beta'd "Big Picture Mode," Ellsworth's team is creating a hardware solution to the control barriers found in many Steam games. She wouldn't give any hints as to what that solution is exactly, but she left no options off the table -- from Phantom Lapboard-esque solutions to hybrid controllers. Regardless, it sounds like gamers will have a chance to give feedback on those designs, as Valve's hardware team is planning a beta for its various products. Ellsworth is hoping to have one for the team's first product in the coming year -- we'll of course know much more about the product by then, she says. [b] Internal beta tests are already underway,[/b] and a variety of the team's prototypes are available in the office for other Valve employees to tool around with. The next step is getting prototypes into gamers hands -- [b]she says Valve already has a production line for short runs, making a beta possible -- and iterating on design before launch.[b] As for how the beta will be handled, she posits it'll be tied to Steam in some way, but [b] no logistics are anywhere near nailed down. [/b] As for the company's wearable computing initiatives, Ellsworth says that's a much longer term goal; 'two to five years" is the projection for anything that consumers will see, pending technology. Addressing images of her office that popped up online last week, she points out that "on any given day you could snap a photo of my office and find a variety of prototypes laying around." [b] She adds that her team has created prototypes in all stages of doneness [/b] -- from the extremely crude to the nearly shippable -- making that [b] bizarre looking Xbox 360 controller [/b] all the more interesting. We may not have to wait too long to find out what it was, however, as Ellsworth and her team are documenting their creative process. She's not sure how much info will get out when they're ready to share, but if her YouTube past is any indication, we're betting it's quite a bit.[/quote]

STEAM BOX?

I definitely called it that their next project would be some sort of peripheral that would try to overcome the gap left by controller gaming when playing PC oriented games. Some kind of mouse-controller hybrid?

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;37720624]STEAM BOX?[/QUOTE] Code name sauna?

The Steam Dome? It's the little thing on top of a steam boiler [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_dome[/url] I think it's a pretty cool steam themed name

I still want my gabecube

Project Choo-Choo Train.

I'm guessing it's a box with Steam on it that you plug into your TV. Kind of like a console, but Steam.

my guess is it's a box with steam in it that you plug your TV into kind of like a gas powered generator, but steam

My guess is it's a box with steam on it that you plug into your TV. Kind of like my PC, but not my PC.

my guess is it's a box with steam in it that you put next to your tv kind of like a lava lamp, but steam

[QUOTE=Chevron;37720713]Code name sauna?[/QUOTE] Valve has been testing their new hardware along with Nvidia secretly in Finland all along. Clever bastards

[QUOTE=ZestyLemons;37721075]I'm guessing it's a box with Steam on it that you plug into your TV. Kind of like a console, but Steam.[/QUOTE] did anyone read the OP

If they were gonna try the OnLive style of PC games to a tv then didnt they do that with Big picture?

So Big Picture was hiding something.

My guess is its a box that you plug into your box, kinda like a box, only its a box.

They should call it the Valve Steam Engine

I can't imagine a way to expand on the mouse that makes any significant difference without it just being a gimmick.

[QUOTE=Don Knotts;37721375]My guess is it's a box with steam on it that you plug into your TV. Kind of like my PC, but not my PC.[/QUOTE] ... That is actually a really brilliant idea. [editline]19th September 2012[/editline] Wait, wouldn't that basically be a PC but with TV-ports like HDMI and SCART?

Whatever it is I'm buying it.

[QUOTE=Derp Y. Mail;37723750] Wait, wouldn't that basically be a PC but with TV-ports like HDMI and SCART?[/QUOTE] A lot of PCs have HDMI ports already.

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;37720624]STEAM BOX?[/QUOTE] Considering that they have a patent on a new gamepad, I think it will be the gamepad.

the gamepad would be nice because you could build your own parts for it and have custom parts (build or bought) that could be used for people with handicaps. I've own plenty of kids and friends in wheel chairs who play video game yet can't use a kinect or even a wii mote, leaving them out seems wrong.

[QUOTE=Ray-The-Sun;37723737]I can't imagine a way to expand on the mouse that makes any significant difference without it just being a gimmick.[/QUOTE] A large graphics tablet with 0 input lag, though it may not suit all games.

[QUOTE=Darkimmortal;37725039]A large graphics tablet with 0 input lag, though it may not suit all games.[/QUOTE] I don't know how I'd feel about not using a mouse - I've gotten so used to it I wouldn't want to give it up.

[QUOTE=Darkimmortal;37725039]A large graphics tablet with 0 input lag, though it may not suit all games.[/QUOTE] I disagree. Tablets are excellent for simulating swirl motions and allowing for pen pressure in drawings giving that fine detail. But the precision and tight control of a mouse blows it out of the water for any normal use, especially games. Also good luck finding a solution that incorporates at least 3 clickable buttons and preferably a scroll wheel kind of function in a way that makes sense and is easy to use. If you can't do that then the mouse will always be superior to it.

[QUOTE=dgg;37725078]But the precision and tight control of a mouse blows it out of the water for any normal use, especially games.[/QUOTE] For fps games it would be nothing special unless it was physically huge or very high dpi, but just look at osu for the difference tablets make to certain games - massive amounts of practice coupled with a perfect sensor+surface are needed for a mouse to come anywhere near a less skilled player with a basic tablet.

I'd like to see an upgradable console from Steam, albeit quite large. Probably an HTPC with Steam preinstalled that boots into Windows 7 into Big Picture mode. I'd love a customized Windows 7 Home Premium install with custom themes.

[QUOTE=The golden;37720645]STOX[/QUOTE] Weird, I could've sworn stocks were around for quite a time already.

[QUOTE=dgg;37725078]I disagree. Tablets are excellent for simulating swirl motions and allowing for pen pressure in drawings giving that fine detail. But the precision and tight control of a mouse blows it out of the water for any normal use, especially games. Also good luck finding a solution that incorporates at least 3 clickable buttons and preferably a scroll wheel kind of function in a way that makes sense and is easy to use. If you can't do that then the mouse will always be superior to it.[/QUOTE] I've seen tablet/phone games emulate a gamepad, but even on the gamepad side it doesn't hold up to a modern controller.