Pinoy PlayStation

Each and every month, Steam conducts a survey to collect data about what kinds of computer hardware and software its customers are using. And according to the March survey, the most popular OS is Microsoft’s Windows 10 64bit. In addition, NVIDIA and Intel are still dominant as most PC gamers are still using Intel’s CPUs and NVIDIA’s GPUs.

As we can see, 56.35% of Steam users are using an NVIDIA GPU, while 25.5% are using an AMD/ATI GPU. Moreover 17.77% of Steam users are using an Intel integrated GPU. What’s really interesting here is that despite the debate about whether NVIDIA’s GPUs are optimized for DX12, the green team was able to increase its fan-base. Back in November 2015, 54% of Steam users were using an NVIDIA GPU, while 26% were using an AMD/ATI GPU.

Intel has been going strong with its CPUs and as we can see, almost 76.67% of the survey-takers prefer its CPUs, while 23.33% prefer AMD’s CPUs.

Last but not least, 47.6% of Steam’s survey-takers own a dual-core CPU, while 45.58% own a quad-core CPU. Only 4.63% has a CPU with more than four CPU cores, and 2.19% is still on a single-core CPU.

In a recent announcement, Valve revealed that they would be shipping an update to Steam that will make PlayStation controllers compatible with the Steamworks Controller API.

Players will be able to pair PlayStation 4 controllers with their PC and customize its functionality down to the gyro and the touchpad. This should be quite exciting news for players that have been using third-party programs to get their PlayStation controllers to work with Steam.

Valve's own Jeff Bellinghausen notes that the Steam Controller and the DualShock 4 have quite a bit of overlap, making this a great place to start when it comes to bringing more controller compatibility to Steam.
It is worth noting that Dualshock 4 support doesn't exactly mean that the coming update will bring DirectInput support across the board, so there is a chance that arcade sticks may not initially be compatible, but that doesn't mean that will always be the case.

"Other controllers are on the horizon, with the PS4 being the first among them," says Bellinghausen.

A new Steam client update is being rolled out now, introducing a variety of tweaks and fixes that will enhance the experience for most.

Among the most notable changes introduced in the update are new higher bandwidth options for 4K In-House streaming, new controllers options, including Steam Configurator support for the DualShock 4 controller, improved downloading and patching speeds when games are installed on a traditional hard drive and more. You can catch the full update notes below.

PayPal’s United Kingdom account has confirmed today via Twitter that Steam’s Winter Sale will begin on December 22nd.

Interestingly enough, the date can only be revealed if one clicks through the Tweet’s button prompt. Once done, the date “22.12.16” not only appears on the Tweet directly in front of the user, but on the user’s feed as well. That’s some pretty clever marketing, if you ask me.

Steam’s Winter Sale, as with all Steam sales, is infamous for steep discounts on the platform across a wide variety of genres. Though there’s no confirmation as to what games will be featured in the sale this year, it’s best to prepare your wallet well in advance.

Steam’s latest update, in addition to a variety of fixes and changes across the service itself, added native controller support for the DualShock 4 controller, meaning that once enabled in Big Picture Mode, users are able to use it with supported titles. Mappable inputs for the trackpad were featured in the update as well.