Valve has added a new feature to the Steam controller that will largely benefit gamers that love to play strategy games, action RPGs and MOBAs.
The Steam controller now has a Mouse Region feature, which is still in an opt-in beta stage. The feature adds a new function for the Steam controller’s touchpads that allows gamers to do something that they could not do with a standard PC mouse.
The Mouse Region feature allows the controller’s touchpad to be mapped onto a fixed region in the game window, configurable by the user. With the feature activated, users that touch a certain zone of the touchpad will position the game’s mouse cursor to a specific spot.
Different modes of the feature can move the cursor to and from the specified region through the activation of mode shifts, which could be useful for holding down a single button to turn on a smaller Mouse Region over the minimap within a strategy title.
The regions of the Mouse Region feature can also change shapes, allowing gamers to create a flat and horizontal region on top of a bar of skills within an RPG, for example.
The feature can be used by gamers to improve their accuracy and responsiveness in games such as strategy titles and MOBAs, as it basically turns the Steam controller’s touchpad into a 1:1 map of the entire screen or a part of it, as the size and shape is customizable. Within the space, gamers can tap a region to automatically move the cursor to that location, or swipe it afterwards similar to how mouse controls work. As such, gamers will enjoy faster reaction times on the game, as they eliminate the tediousness of moving around cursors throughout the whole screen.
While the Mouse Region feature definitely holds promise, its usefulness in in-game application remains to be seen. However, video game website Kotaku seems to be enjoying the feature already, as it tested it out while playing the RPG Torchlight II with good results.
