For the skeptics who’ve reserved judgement on the viability of the Steam Controller, Valve has released a video today giving us a first hand look at the game pad in action. The video demonstrates the controller being used to play everything from Portal 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Civ 5. It’s rather evident, at least to me, that the sensitivity of the touch pads will provide a familiar sense of control to anyone accustomed to using touch pads on a laptop. The demonstration also exhibited the versatility of the controller’s button mapping schemes, showing off a “legacy mode” for Portal 2, another scheme that basically replaces the functionality of a mouse and keyboard, as well as a custom control scheme that will allow players to navigate games like Civ 5.

Keep in mind that what’s being seen in the video is just a prototype and the touchscreen that the final version will include is absent from this particular model. Valve says that they will be posting additional demonstrations for different titles in the future, so if there’s a particular genre you want to see in action, keep an eye out for their future videos.

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So what are your first impressions of the Steam Controller? Make sure to sound off in the comments below with your opinion!