Steam Deck: Trackpad and gyroscopic controls explained in the video

Author

Gullu

Date

Jul, 31.2021

Scott Dalton, Designer at Valve, demonstrates the trackpad and the gyroscopic control of the Steam Deck in a video for the gaming magazine IGN. In combination, these two features should provide improved game control.


On July 26th, IGN's YouTube channel published a video in which Scott Dalton, who works as a designer at Valve, introduces the benefits of the trackpad and the gyroscopic control of the Steam Deck. Right at the beginning, he explains that the Steam Deck has capacitive touch joysticks. The advantage of this is that you can use these joysticks together with the built-in gyroscope to switch gyroscopic aiming and motion control in games on and off. This is helpful, for example, when you want to adjust the sitting position on the sofa and not shake what is happening on the screen.
In the video, it becomes clear that the gyroscopic control is relatively fine and precise to use, instead of clumsy and clunky. According to Scott Dalton, the same precise micro-movements should be possible with this control that a mouse would produce on a desk. In the video, Scott Dalton's explanations can be used to understand how the controls visually affect the game, including the portal.

 

The Steam Deck should be released in December of this year. In the past few weeks, there has been some news about the features and functionality of Valve's new handheld. For example, the Steam Deck should support ray tracing and be able to play all games in the Steam library. All games tested so far achieved at least 30 fps and more. There were also scalping offers of around 1,000 euros on eBay, against which the online marketplace has already taken action.