Sony has collaborated with accessibility specialists to create a PlayStation 5 controller designed for impaired gamers.
The Access Controller is a “highly customisable kit” with various buttons, triggers, and sticks that allow users to construct a setup that best meets their needs.
Microsoft’s Adaptive Controller, which works on both Xbox and PC, has been available since 2018.
However, this is the first device created particularly for the PS5.
“The idea is that you unbox it and you can start using it right away as a PlayStation controller,” Sony Interactive Entertainment Senior Technical Program Manager Alvin Daniel told the BBC.
“If this works for you and is comfortable for you, there is no need for you to buy additional third-party accessories and buttons and wire it all together.”
Sony Debuts First PS5 Controller For Disabled Gamers
“We wanted an all-inclusive kit in a box.”
However, building accessible goods is a tremendous effort because each disabled person’s impairment is unique, and gaming technology is constantly evolving.
Sony’s solution to this challenge is personalization, allowing each person to modify the solution to their specific needs.
Mr Daniel stated that the company had collaborated with accessibility experts AbleGamers in the United States to solve the problem.
“When they created their own custom solutions for different players, they would inevitably try to address three issues: thumbsticks, pressing buttons, or having to hold the controller.”
“If you have challenges in those three areas, this controller will help regardless of your underlying condition.”
All aspects of the Access Controller were built with the disabled people in mind.
Even the package is user-friendly, and the setup process, while occasionally clumsy, allows consumers to customize the controller to their specific needs and even create various profiles for different games or scenarios.
As a disabled gamer, I waited years for button remapping to become the norm so that I could play games that rely heavily on the trigger buttons typically found at the back of a regular controller and map them to a more accessible button.
This, however, was always a workaround rather than a solution. That is now a more accessible reality, thanks to this controller.
However, there are one or two design decisions that are, at best, perplexing – for example, it lacks a right stick, which is common on all modern controllers and quite necessary in many game genres.
I attempted to play Spider-Man 2, which featured a Deaf character and was virtually unusable. The only choices are to utilize the Access Controller alongside a conventional PS5 controller, which is a cumbersome setup, or combine two Access Controllers, which becomes costly.
Sony Debuts First PS5 Controller For Disabled Gamers
This tool, and others like it, are a step forward for impaired gamers. Its existence, as well as the fact that it was co-designed with and for disabled people, demonstrates that gaming accessibility is now a popular concern.
This is the beginning of the evolution of these types of devices, and manufacturers continue to iterate and innovate in response to feedback.
The grey line for presentation
The gaming industry has been pressed to offer accommodations for disabled gamers.
In recent years, racing sim Forza Horizon 5 added a sign language function, The Last of Us Part II offers a mode for blind and deaf players, and Just Dance has a wheelchair-friendly routine.
However, the hardware alternatives for persons with impairments have been limited, and Mr Daniel stated that Sony’s new controller aims to remedy this.
“I think particularly if you’re a young person today, gaming is such a big part of popular culture that you are socially isolated or you’re left behind if you can’t participate in the same experiences your friends or your schoolmates are doing,” he went on to say.
“We have seen that we bring joy to players who couldn’t play before.”
SOURCE – (BBC)
