New Lawsuit Alleges Valve Ripped Off Patent For Steam Controller Design
Valve was allegedly warned that a smaller company had just patented the same technology the gaming giant used in its Steam controller.
A new lawsuit filed this month in Washington alleges that the video gaming giant Valve Corporation supposedly stole a design feature it implemented in its Steam Controller from a smaller tech company that has connections to the controller manufacturer SCUF.
The lawsuit states Valve was warned in 2014 that a prototype of its Steam Controller, the company s attempt to move PC gaming into a more console-focused experience, used the same rear-sided control paddles Ironburg Inventions patented that year. It goes on to say that SCUF CEO Duncan Ironmonger saw Valve s Steam Controller prototyped at CES in January not long after learning about the patent. (Ironburg is SCUF s IP-holding arm.) Ironmonger warned Valve staff of the alleged infringement at CES 2014 and wrote the company a le
825GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
External storage
NVMe SSD Slot, support for USD HDD
I/O throughput
5.5GB/s (raw), 8-9GB/s (compressed)
Dimensions
390 x 104 x 260 mm (15.35 × 4.09 × 10.23 inches)
Weight
4.5kg (9.92 pounds)
If it s boring on the outside, the Xbox Series X is a beast inside. In purely technical terms, it s got a custom chip and graphics unit supplied by AMD: an 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU clocked at 3.8GHz (3.6GHz with SMT, or simultaneous multithreading), and an AMD RDNA 2 GPU with 52 CUs (compute units) and clocked at 1.825 GHz. The latter delivers 12.15 teraflops of power, which is more than what s offered by PlayStation 5 (10.28 teraflops). But it s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison, because the PS5 s GPU also AMD RDNA 2, clocked faster (2.23GHz) but with fewer compute units (36) is capable of variable frequency (GHz). The PS5 also has the same CPU as the Series X in the custom-made 8-core AMD Zen 2, but it s got a lower clocked speed (3.5 GHz with SMT) alb
Verdict
Microsoft has laid a strong foundation for the future of gaming with the Series X addressing all the grievances gamers had 7 years ago and going the extra mile to make Xbox a more value-for-money proposition. Because of the sheer volume of games available on Game Pass, I find myself playing more on the Xbox than the PS5. With exclusives hitting the service on day one and more and more developers coming on board the service, Game Pass could be the secret weapon that helps Microsoft turn some heads in its favour. Not to mention the fact that the Series X is a beast of a console. Sure, Sony has done something great with the DualSense controller and PlayStation brings with it an unmatched library of exclusive games. But for the price-conscious gamer looking to spend less on games in the long run, the Xbox is a great choice.
The Xbox Series X/S controller’s share button should now bind with Steam, while multiple controllers can be used simultaneously.
The Xbox Elite Controller has also seen further features added, including programmable rear paddles. The PS5 DualSense hasn’t seen as many upgrades on Steam but there still worth finding out about.
Here are the Steam Controller patch notes from Valve:
Added a setting for extended Xbox controller support. The option can be enabled in the General Controller Setting section of your Steam settings and requires a driver installation and restarting your computer.
Extended Xbox features include:
The ability to bind the Xbox Elite controller paddles in controller configurations
OtterBox is launching a Mobile Gaming Collection of accessories.
There are five products in the lineup, designed for compatibility with the Xbox One or Series X controllers, with prices ranging between $30-$55.
All products are available for pre-order on January 25 and will start shipping mid-February at a variety of retailers.
While OtterBox is mostly known for creating tough and rugged cases for the best iPhone and other devices, the company has branched out recently, as they even have an outdoor accessory line. But OtterBox is now getting into the gaming sector with the new Mobile Gaming collection. With this lineup, OtterBox bridges the gap between console and mobile gaming experiences. These new products are currently designed for the Xbox One and Xbox One S controllers, though this is just the start, so more controller support can be coming in the future.