I have always been a bit of a gamer. From Tetris on the original Gameboy to Sonic and the SEGA Mega Drive, I was always keen to pass the time away rapidly instructing a cartoon character to bounce from one side of the screen to another. Since I acquired my disability in 1999 though I felt
that large parts of this world were now no longer accessible to me. I felt with limited use of my arms and no use of my fingers consoles were out of the question. That changed recently when the Xbox brought out their new accessible controller.
I had tried to use several different games on the PlayStation and the Xbox, my nephew had a PlayStation and I had been able to use the left stick and some of the buttons on the ordinary controller but despite me telling him not to use the trigger buttons which were inaccessible to me I still got hammered several times by him on FIFA.
This new accessible controller seemed as though it would provide me with the opportunity to have the full experience of console gaming again, but who is going to buy an Xbox One and accessible controller just to see if they can use it or not? Thankfully Enable Ireland came to my rescue and
they allowed me to borrow their console and controller for the period of a month.
XBox Adaptive Controller (XAC)
The
controller is simple to use and simple to set up. I needed some help to physically
plug some aids in and out of the controller but apart from that it was a
breeze.
The controller is setup for people of all abilities. The variety of configurations
is as wide as the number of disabilities of the people who it is geared to
provide for.
I
used the controller mainly for games like FIFA,
Ryse, Forza 5, and some slightly more intricately
controlled games like Grand Theft Auto and Battlefield.
Some games I used just the accessible controller with the coloured plug in
switches that Enable Ireland provided alongside the console.
For other more complicated games, I used the Co-Pilot feature. The Co-Pilot feature allows you
to use the ordinary controller as best you can while using the accessible
controller switches for any bits or buttons on the ordinary controller that you
can’t access.
Forza 5
My setup for Forza, the car racing game, was the simplest of
all. I took 4 of the aid switches and plugged them into the accessible
controller, one was plugged into RT for the accelerator, one was plugged into
LT for the brake, and the remaining two were plugged into the left and right
ports on
the d-pad. I placed the RT switch under my elbow to continuously accelerate, which
then meant my hands only had to focus on the three remaining buttons for
steering and braking. That was a huge success, and meant I did not need any
assistance throughout any of the gameplay on that particular game. Though that
does not mean I was a great driver!
FIFA 19
For
FIFA I used the Co-Pilot feature. I used the ordinary controller as I had done
previously with my nephew, steering my player with the left stick while
passing, tackling, shooting, etc with the usual A, B, X, and Y buttons.
I used the Xbox Accessible Controller then for the sprint and switch player options.
I simply plugged in the switches into the RT and LT ports on the accessible
controller and played normally on the ordinary controller while occasionally
tapping the switches to change player or holding them down
with my elbow to sprint.
A very successful and intelligent solution which resulted in a 5-1 victory for
me over my nephew! His face was a picture 🙂
Ryse, GTA & Battlefield
Each of these I played with a similar set up to FIFA (pictured above). I used the Co-Pilot feature, the ordinary controller in conjunction with the accessible controller with four switches plugged into the RT, LT, RB, and LB ports.
These games were a bit more intricate in their controls in
comparison to the others and a little more difficult to use as a result. The
accessible controller meant though that it was possible for me to at least give
it a go.
This controls setup was good and meant that I
actually completed the story mode of Ryse, on easy.
I could play the vast majority of GTA and Battlefield without any difficulty,
but there were certain issues. To use the character’s “special abilities”
in GTA you had to press down on both the left and right sticks. I think you
could set that up but that would require two more switches which I didn’t have.
Also, on occasion, while I had all the right buttons the scenario in the game
was so complex that it involved pressing a number of buttons and steering at
least one, if not both, sticks at the same time. It was almost equivalent to
playing some musical instrument. On one mission I did have to fall back on some
assistance from my nephew.
Conclusion
While
it is still not quite the same as gaming prior to my disability the Xbox
Accessible Controller has reopened the prospect of gaming properly on a regular
basis and owning a console of my own again. This was a world that I thought had
long left me behind but thanks to Microsoft and Xbox I’m
right back in the game!