As you read this, flocks of people are descending on San Francisco in the name of gaming. GDC kicks off on Monday and it's going to be kind of a big deal.

Sony will bust out its VR headset. Microsoft will talk DirectX 12. Valve will talk more about Steam Machines. And Oculus Rift may finally give us a firm release date.

Our pants are already wet with excitement. Can you feel them? Feel them.

Touchy touchy

First up, Valve just threw us a bone in the form of an up-close look at its new and improved Steam controller, which has switched its touchscreen for a bunch of more familiar face buttons.

Initial thoughts? It's certainly more down the traditional route, but it's those still-present haptic feedback pads that are the real headline act here anyway.

Trust us, you'll see what we mean when you get your hands on one. And if you're at GDC next week, the good news is that you'll be able to - Valve will be showing off its updated controller at the event.

Jungle warfare

But Amazon wasn't going to let Valve take all the limelight. To top off the week, pictures of Amazon's alleged console controller leaked onto the web for our viewing pleasure.

We're a little less enthused about the blocky, somewhat-uninspired design on this one (Where's the soul? WHERE'S THE SOUL?) but that might not be Amazon's biggest problem.

Source Zatznotfunny claims that the gamepad won't come bundled with the console, selling as a separate, optional accessory instead. If that's the case it could seriously limit incentive for developers to build games for the console.

The controller design does suggest that Amazon's set-top box will be about much more than games though, so we'll just have to wait and see what else is on offer before we pass any hastened judgements.

Nowhere is safe

After the "incident" that was Aliens: Colonial Marines (you know what you did, Gearbox), we're exercising every ounce of strength to not become become too excited about Alien: Isolation. But it's proving f*%king difficult.

The game looks better and more terrifying by the day, and the team have just put together a nice behind-the-scenes vid in which they discuss the creation of the game's alien antagonist.

"He's hunting you, using his senses, his instincts, to hunt you down and kill you. He's intelligent, unpredictable and extremely dangerous, and nowhere is safe."

Finally this week, Titanfall continued to wreak havoc on its path of global domination, and we popped along to the big UK launch.

It was a night of heavy mechs, heavy drinking and some light parkour. Even Jonathan Ross showed up for a spot of photobombing.

That's all for this week - here's what our Future pals have been up to:

CVG

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Games Radar

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Official Nintendo Magazine

Issue 106 of Official Nintendo Magazine is out now, with huge features on Smash Bros, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, Hyrule Warriors and much more.

As we approach the release of Ground Zeroes, Metal Gear supremo Hideo Kojim'a spared some time for another game, saying he'd like to see Solid Snake return to Super Smash Bros.

Official PlayStation Magazine

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Dark Souls 2 Covenant guide and tips for finding & picking the best fit for you

Official Xbox Magazine

Help is at hand with our Dark Souls 2 Xbox 360 tips

Rule Respawn's finest with our Titanfall Xbox One tips