Microsoft has now introduced a novel controller designed to make gaming easier for people with physical disabilities. The input device can be customized and connected with additional accessories. The controller is well received worldwide.
Microsoft has unveiled an exceptional controller that is expected to be available this year. The input device is tailored for people with physical disabilities and can be individually expanded. This will allow all sorts of games to be controlled with just one hand, with the shoulder, or even with the feet.
Inclusion in Gaming
What is the controller intended for? With the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Microsoft is breaking into the market of accessible gaming. This is to ensure that people with physical disabilities can play all kinds of games like their friends without disabilities.
How does the controller work? What looks like a music device is the base station of the controller, which can be individually adjusted and expanded with additional accessories. Microsoft has collaborated with other manufacturers for the Adaptive Controller, offering various joysticks, buttons, or pedals.
The extensions, called Adaptive Switches, are simply connected to one of the 19 3.5-millimeter jacks that regulate the respective input. This allows all controller functions to be transferred to the external accessories. The controller can thus be tailored to the needs of the respective gamer.
What do the players think? The new controller is being hotly debated on social media. Many gamers believe it’s a good idea that Microsoft has considered gamers who cannot simply grab the next available input device. On the platform reddit, the controller receives a lot of praise.
Some criticism has been directed at the accessories. Affected individuals are already aware of the prices that specialty shops are charging for the Adaptive Switches. Now they hope that the costs for the input devices will decrease due to the open-source nature of the Xbox Adaptive Controller.
Gaming for Everyone
For inclusion: Since 2015, Microsoft has been striving for inclusion in gaming with its “Gaming for Everyone” initiative. What started as a platform to connect like-minded and similarly skilled players quickly transformed into an initiative for diversity.
The upcoming controller is one of the results of this initiative and was designed together with people with disabilities as well as with non-profit organizations and specific interest groups.
The Adaptive Controller is expected to be offered at a price of $99.99. When exactly and in which countries the device will be available is still unknown.
