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Valve’s final announcement of the week (following on the heels of SteamOS and the Steam Machines living room PC) is a brand new controller they’ve dubbed the “Steam Controller.”

The Steam Controller will work with any version of Steam (including Windows and Mac) and won’t be limited to Steam Machines-branded PCs or other SteamOS devices. The controller will launch in 2014, and just like their Steam Machines prototype, Valve plans to offer 300 fans the chance to beta test the new controller. But why does it look so weird?

Instead of two analog sticks, the Steam Controller features two massive trackpads that feel more like a desktop mouse than an analog stick. Each trackpad is also clickable. The four face buttons have been shifted to the center of the controller where they encircle a large touchpad, which is also clickable. Four shoulder buttons also sit atop the controller in their standard spot. And finally, two buttons are nestled in the back of the controller next to the grips.

It’s likely that console gamers will be confused by the Steam Controller, but Valve believes it’ll bring PC games to the living room for the first time: “Whole genres of games that were previously only playable with a keyboard and mouse are now accessible from the sofa. RTS games. Casual, cursor-driven games. Strategy games. 4X space exploration games. A huge variety of indie games. Simulation titles. And of course, Euro Truck Simulator 2.”

Who knows if Valve can take over the living room, but they’ve definitely presented some interesting ideas this week.

Here it is, your official “Steam Box” announcement from Valve… err, sort of.

Today, Valve announced “Steam Machines,” their SteamOS-powered living room PC initiative. Steam Machines won’t conform to a single hardware configuration like the current consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. And Valve won’t produce any of the Steam Machines themselves. Instead, the company plans to partner with hardware manufacturers to produce several different Steam Machine form factors optimized for “size, price, quietness, or other factors.” The first Steam Machines will be available to purchase sometime in 2014.

According to Valve, each Steam Machine will be completely customizable. In an FAQ on their site, the question was raised, “Can I hack this box? Run another OS? Change the hardware? Install my own software? Use it to build a robot?” Valve’s one word response? “Sure.”

To test their new platform, Valve has created a prototype Steam Machine that they want to give away to 300 beta testers. Interested? Head over to the Official Steam Machines Page now and read up on what you need to do to become one of the lucky 300. The beta testers will be chosen on October 25 and the beta will begin before the end of the year.

Valve has taken the first steps towards making their long-rumored “SteamBox” a reality with today’s announcement of SteamOS. SteamOS will be a freely-available, Linux-based operating system designed for living room PCs.

SteamOS will add a variety of new features to the Steam platform, including game sharing across accounts, parental conrtols, in-home streaming, and a place to purchase movies, TV shows, and music. All of these feature will available soon on the desktop version of Steam as well.

Valve is also working with “AAA publishers” to make their games natively playable in SteamOS in 2014. According to the company, “hundreds” of games already support SteamOS.

Hit the jump for a look at the full feature set of SteamOS and keep an eye on the official SteamOS page for more details about the operating system’s impending release. (more…)