Controller Hacks for Disabled Gamers

Conventional controllers, like those found on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, work if you have the mobility to use them. For those unable to maneuver joysticks or reach out of the way buttons, gaming turns into a MacGyver-esque learning experience. Tara Lynn Tefertiller, an accessibility advocate, came to GDC 2010 to demonstrate a few of the ways disabled gamers have had to improvise with controllers to play their favorite games.

The modified controllers use electronics that are ripped out of stock controllers. Then, they are mated to devices with modified buttons, varied positions, and, in many cases, entirely different means of input.

Tefertiller explained that disabled gamers generally turn to the PC versions of games due to broader availability of customizable control schemes. Many console games don’t provide control schemes that can be remapped. Although Tefertiller mentioned that even if the options aren’t built in, asking never hurts. She went on to explain that one gamer (a pro gamer actually), Randy "NOM4D" Fitzgerald, went so far as to contact Infinity Ward about modifying Call of Duty 4. The developers in turn responded by patching the game in a way that allowed him to play and then named the new setting after his alias.

The pictured controller allows the user to blow and suck to actuate buttons. Joystick movement is done by pressing the mouth or chin against the white plate. Trigger buttons were removed from the Xbox 360 controller and were mounted to the plate. A data ribbon connects to an existing Xbox 360 controller to map the new control scheme over to the electronics.

To learn more about game accessibility, check out the IGDA Game Accessibility group