Street Valve Corporation holiday again – the number of simultaneously present in the Steam network users 1 December exceeded 7,000,000, which once again highlights the growing popularity of the service.

It should be noted that the previous record for the number of simultaneously present in the Steam users was equal to 6.6 million at the time of fixing a new record of the most popular game on Steam was Dota 2 – more than 540 thousand users. Second place deservedly won Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with a modest number of users – about 94 thousand. Among other popular games that helped jump bar at 7 million users, it is worth noting The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Sid Meier’s Civilization V and Football Manager 2013. Many believe that the establishment of a new record contributed to the decline in prices of some popular games.

It is expected that over the next few months interest in the products and service Steam Valve increase from hitherto unseen force, and this will contribute to the recently announced Steam OS, Steam Controller and Steam Machine from companies partners. We recall not so long ago it became known that Valve iBuyPower and in 2014 released Steam Machine for $ 500 .

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Earlier it was reported that the first version of Steam Machine from partner companies Valve, which will be available in mid-2014, will be shown during the CES 2014. iBuyPower has decided not to wait until January 2014, and show a prototype of such a system now.

According to Engadget, iBuyPower is preparing to release two versions of Steam Machine, under code names and Gordon Freeman. Unfortunately, the characteristics of new products is kept secret. However, we know that both models in tandem with any game on Steam can give stable 60 frames per second at a resolution of 1080p.

Recall, Valve still in early October revealed Steam Machine prototype specification and announced its intention to send 300 prototypes of its new gaming system Steam users for beta testing.

Resource The Verge notes that one of the models in the performance Steam Machine iBuyPower (at the moment it is not known what kind) will go on sale next year, priced at $ 499. At its core production configuration includes AMD, Radeon R9 270 video card and hard drive capacity of 500 GB. We also know that it comes complete with a game controller Steam Controller.

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“Three-step” the announcement of the expansion of the universe Steam, Valve which stretched for nearly a week, finally came to an end, and the finale was the presentation is not Half-Life 3, hoped for millions of fans of the series and the game controller of its own design – Steam Controller.

According to Valve, the development of its own controller was conducted throughout the year, and the main task was to provide its full support to the entire library of Steam-games, including even the old name, which in principle are not familiar with this type of control as the game gamepad (about Valve not even refrained from boasting, “We tricked the old games. They think that you’re playing with a keyboard and a mouse”).

Not surprisingly, the result of their labors little resemblance to the traditional to the current understanding of gamepads – the main element of the Steam Controller are two circular trackpad located in the place where the current controllers are analog sticks (it looks as though they were depicted in the schematic icon in the announcement of the third day) . Valve assures us that the touch trackpads (which also act as buttons) to offer a much greater precision than conventional sticks, and that the resolution of the controller Steam comparable with the resolution of the mouse. Thus, it can be used to play all the genres, including those traditionally considered “mouse” prerogative – shooters, real time strategy, simulations, etc. (A separate item here for some reason there is Euro Truck Simulator 2 – the game is, of course, in his own very worthy, but definitely a niche – it really is so important for the audience Valve?). 

However, trackpads – is not the only control that responds to touch. In the center of the controller is the touch pad (similar solution is used, by the way, in your controller, “an indie console» Ouya). It seems that with the help of Valve plans to address the issue of compatibility with old games gamepad is not familiar with such input devices, because it is the touch pad is best suited to simulate a mouse.

Among other developments, applied in the Steam Controller, Valve indicates a kind of “super-precise tactile feedback” that better conveys a sense of control than conventional vibro motors in today’s Force Feedback-gamepad. 

But, of course, no gamepad, even the most revolutionary, can not do without buttons. They have Steam Controller will be as much as 16 (strange, that’s not 100 …). The buttons are arranged symmetrically (which should please the left-handed), and half of them will be available without interruption of the thumbs of trackpads.

An interesting feature of Steam Controller will be the total configuration – Steam users can create their own layout controls for different games using a special tool and share them with each other – sounds like an analogue Steam Workshop.

In this first encounter with the strategy of Steam completed, is to wait for more detailed information (by the way, to publish her ​​promise in this group ), while it is known that the details of the prototype for SteamOS will be unveiled next week.

Well, the last announcement was a disappointment to many – people until recently were hoping for something much more loud and sensational (Half-Life 3, yes). However, it was the announcement of its own controller was actually quite logical and easily predictable – the company is developing a complete solution for migrating your Steam store into the living room, and in this situation is stupid relegated to its direct competitor, what are now automatically becomes Microsoft, is such an important element of the system, as an input device (it is, of course, on your controller, Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows, which is now the de facto standard for computer games).

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