The Greatly anticipated Steam Controller is still nowhere to be seen, seven months after Valve decided to postpone releasing anything in favour of more tweaking, but the web may have just got a new glimpse at what’s to come. The most striking feature of this purported latest design is what looks to be the return of a D-pad on the left side.

The image was posted on ValveTime.net by a staff member with the handle ‘Omnomnick’, who added that the designs were taken from files contained within the latest Steam Client beta update. He could only speculate as to the exact function of the D-pad design on the left touch pad.

"It's not entirely clear just yet how the four-point guide will be used or what it's main purpose is," Omnomnick writes, "but we'd imagine the left pad may now be re-configurable to feature as a softer, more diverse alternative to the standard D-Pad by offering more directional input than just the standard four-points of motion". Does that sound good to you?

If we know anything, it’s that the controller won’t be appearing at CES on 6-9th January 2015, as Valve have confirmed that they won’t be present. The company are instead planning a substantial Steam Machine show at GDC 2015, taking place March 2nd-6th.

How do you think this D-pad looks like it would work as a part of a surrounding touch pad? Would you rather have the tried-and-tested standard D-pad, or the innovative flexibility of dual touchpads?