In a new video posted to its YouTube channel, Valve engineer Jeff Bellinghausen shows off the developer's new dual trackpad-powered Steam Controller, illustrating how effective it can be when playing primarily mouse and keyboard-controlled games.

Bellinghausen plays a variety of games with the prototype controller, from Valve-developed first-person shooters Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Portal 2, to strategy game Civilization 5 and mouse pointer-controlled indie game Papers, Please. The demo shows a number of control schemes, including "legacy mode" controls in Portal 2, a standard keyboard-and-mouse replacement, as well as custom control bindings that can be used to navigate a strategy game like Civ 5.

Valve says it will post additional game demonstrations soon, "including footage of some other game developers using the controller to play their own games."

Last month, Valve unveiled its Steam Controller as part of a series of announcements related to boosting Steam's presence in the living room, which will be driven by operating system SteamOS and Steam Machines hardware.

"The trackpads allow far higher fidelity input than has previously been possible with traditional handheld controllers," Valve said at the time. "Steam gamers, who are used to the input associated with PCs, will appreciate that the Steam Controller's resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse."

The controller will be included as part of a hardware beta test rolling out later this year. Valve's Steam Controller is expected to be commercially released next year.