I seriously have to wonder if everyone who praises living room gaming is single.

I doubt it - 90+ % of my gaming is done when everyone is in bed. I am a late nighter and me time comes
when everyone else is down for the night - that includes gaming. I am sure it is the same for others.

There's also the possibility that their partner enjoys gaming as well. ;)

But since I was once married to a woman who regarded computers as horrible and cold machines which couldn't possibly provide entertainment, and who also needed the living room for watching her favorite soap operas and talent shows, I think I can see where you are coming from. ;)

That was also the last time I had a living room though, so I'm rather indifferent toward living room gaming now. But The Woman of My Dreams (tm) and me are sometimes cuddling on the bed while gaming. Even better than a couch imho.

What does the legacy mode mean?

Spinorial has a fair question. I think the main question is, will you need Steamworks for all the advanced features of the controller? If so, then I am probably against it, even if it is technically sound.

I am not. The thing is, in some cases (not always) I would prefer playing on the big TV... but as you implied, I can't because I am not the only user of the TV. So it isn't because I don't want to, but because I can't.

There's another thing as well, even if I were alone: I quite often like to use my computer (laptop), even play games, while the TV is also running in the background. Like right now for example. If I see something interesting coming from the tube, I might pause what I'm doing on the computer, and concentrate on the TV instead. If I use the TV for gaming, it rules out this as well, of course.

But still, sometimes, when I've been alone home, I know nothing interesting is coming from the TV anyway... I might switch the video output to TV, grab the wireless keyboard and mouse, and start playing with a bigger screen. But since it takes some time to adjust to a comfortable position where I can use the keyboard and mouse without a desk (from couch), for those cases I might prefer a gamepad that has accurate mouse aiming as well.

That also partly explains why I prefer laptops to desktop PCs. Easier to use from the couch + coffee table, near the TV.

Knowing Valve it will most probably be : You don't need Steam to use the advanced features of the Steam controller but if you want to use them outside of Steam you will need to implement them yourself from scratch.

Most today PC games use Steam as their DRM, so if developers ever want to take advantages of those extra features they will do so through Steamwork API and most like won't spend time and money implementing a custom "non-Steam" version.

It will of course it will depends of the amount of integration, if it's just some extra information displayed on the touch screen then it's not an issue but if the game use those feature as a gameplay mechanics (e.g. having the inventory displayed using Steam overlay, or requiring you to use the TC to select something or for QTEs, etc... ) then it will most probably kill any chances of ever seeing this game released DRM-free and like I said earlier it will probably make the game a lot harder to crack. (at least at first)

I doubt we'll se ethe controller implemented into a game like that any time soon. From what I can tell it's intended to mimick PC functionality more than it is to have any particularly unique functionality of it's own.

I also don't think they expect developers to bother building a game around something which currently has 0 penetration rate and might only ever be a small userbase.

That said, worst comes to worst and if it only, and really only works with Steam then I'm sure there'll be programs designed to get around that in no time, so the controller can be used on non-Steam stuff as well. Personally I doubt it'll be restricted though.

"Joy2Key", in essence. At least that's how I understand "allows the controller to present itself as a keyboard and mouse".

I imagine the versatility is nice. I stick with desktops mainly for the large monitor. My monitor is 30", so it's larger than my 44" television because of how close to it I sit. Whenever I play games on my TV they seem super small to me.

Ooh, arguments based on insults, wild guessing, and exaggeration. You should start arguing with jamotide, that'd be awesome to watch!
Well to be fair that's exactly what I want - playing Expeditions: Conquistador on a controller is perfectly funtional, but having what is basically wireless touchpad with a lot of gaming functionality is precisely what I need to enjoy games like Total War series somewhere else than on my bloody chair when I sit the whole day working

If the Steam controller will allow me to play the whole Wing Commander series without a hitch, I'm good. Plus, I think it looks cool.

Here's an updated design:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/valve-replaces-steam-controller-touchscreen-with-new-analog-face-buttons/

That "D-Pad" looks horrible for any kind of 2d games. But overall it is an improvement from the original design.

I think it's a lot better than the usual dependent layout where it's one button but 4 degress of direction. Compare to 360 controller layout.

Isn't it more like 8 effective directions because of diagonals? Or is that just hitting two directions at once?