New Valve Hardware Leak [EDIT: OFFICIAL]

[Andrew]

Looks like new stuff from Valve is dropping today(?)!

Komodo, the Japanese distributor for the Steam Deck, went and accidentally let a few things outta the bag. The Steam Frame (VR), a new Steam controller, and a new Steam Machine.

 

[Andrew]

It's real and it has faceplates https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine

 

[jadd]

wasn't expecting this! the controller looks bloated but it has the touchpads from the steam deck which i find really useful and responsive, idk what to think... and they are finally bringing back the steam machine from the graveyard... it's 2015 all over again

 

[NULLRAD]

yep just dropped, lowk disappointed. new steam machine seems dope but I was really hoping people were wrong on the steam frame. Would have preferred an overhaul of the index. Not a fan of the inside-out tracking and wifi streaming. I prefer the strength and certainty of IR and cable.

Like shit all I really want is a higher resolution index with less glare-y lenses.

 

[Andrew]

the controller looks bloated but it has the touchpads from the steam deck which i find really useful and responsive, idk what to think.

This is where I'm at. I trust Valve to handle it and I adored the original Steam controller (if it had one more stick it would be perfect), the footage of people actually holding it is putting my mind at ease thus far.

 

[Term]

yep just dropped, lowk disappointed. new steam machine seems dope but I was really hoping people were wrong on the steam frame. Would have preferred an overhaul of the index. Not a fan of the inside-out tracking and wifi streaming. I prefer the strength and certainty of IR and cable.

Like shit all I really want is a higher resolution index with less glare-y lenses.

On the other hand -- My Index has been collecting dust partly because it's such a pain in the ass to keep track of the cords while I'm playing, and partly because it's a pain in the ass to keep reinstalling sensors every time I move to a new apartment. I haven't even set them up here yet (because the VR gaming landscape is barren, but that's a separate problem)

If I can swap my Index out for a Frame, I will. But I'm gonna have to wait for reception/reviews on it. I've never used a headset with inside-out tracking or game streaming, so I have no idea what level of quality to expect. But it'd be real nice to be able to play Beat Saber 360, or walk around the room in Alyx, without having to mentally keep track of how twisted my cables are getting lol

___________________

The Machine looks like a bangin lil piece of hardware, but I'm not the niche for it. As much as I'd like to have one, I make at least enough money to justify saving up for a higher strength PC instead. Hopefully it hits the right price point to be a competitive alternative to that and the console market, though.

The controller isn't for me either, but I at least like that it's closer to a standard design than the first one was. Concerned about how high those sticks sit though

 

[KeplerElectronics]

My quest 1 is on the ropes, been limping it along for forever since the frame has been known about for years now. Very excited for the frame, I love the simplicity of inside-out tracking. It worked well enough for me until the haloes on my controllers got split from banging my hands together too many times playing Beat Saber. Wifi streaming on Quest was also good enough over Virtual Desktop for everything besides Beat Saber, and it looks like the Frame has a more optimized streaming setup than I was using (Virtual Desktop and my router) since its using Wifi 6.

The number of times I've wished to have a steam controller with my deck in the dock is too high, that's pretty much a Day 1 for me. I'm a controller generalist though. 8Bitdo SF30Pro for platformers, Xbox for most everything else, and the Steam controller would slide in for stuff like Star of Providence and mouse-oriented games on couch.

It looks like the controller is designed with trackpads over sticks, which makes sense to me as the trackpads are the real novelty there. At least the joysticks are there if you need them.