Comments on XBOX Adaptive Controller

[digitalcoffee]

Hello LTT community and thanks for supporting such a great forum for both new and old tech and understanding. 

I'm posting (and finally joined the forum) to raise further interest in a topic Linus Tech has actually had an amazing track record in covering-accessibility. 

 

I was hoping to get some LTT folks' feedback on Microsoft's announcement of their upcoming XBOX Adaptive Controller.  Do you think this will signify a larger shift toward viewing the needs of all players for the gaming hardware industry as a whole or will this be another Sidewinder kicking up a little dust before blowing away?

 

This is a personal topic of conversation for me as well, while serving in the US Navy, stationed overseas, my hand was crushed by several hundred lbs (for my Northern kinfolk thats just less than half again as many hundreds of kilos) of brass during transport. Several surgeries, an earthquake and subsequent radiological disaster later I'm honorably discharged after 8 amazing years of service with a fused left thumb, a really itchy carpal tunnel surgery scar, range of motion issues and cannot use a gamepad for longer than about an hour or I get all Tom Hanks from Saving Private Ryan; my Tom Hands as I likes to calls them :-\ .

 

I proudly tout the PC Gaming Masterrace now- but it wasn't a willing conversion.  Input device restrictions on the console side left me choosing between expensive and T.o.S.-sketchy hardware translation options which hacked gamepad hardware to allow M&K or a scant handfull of custom shops making accessibility devices at a high premium due to the lack of standardization.   This quandry led me to building my first two PCs, learning to love the 2500k, and dancing the Arduino two-step to get various generations of hardware work under Windows 10 with such unusual setups as the HOGAS :-P (hands-on-gamepad-and-stick) or my unparralled joy at unearthing a cellophane sealed Sidewinder Strategic Commander at a garage sale.

It seems that the console winds are changing though, with Microsoft announcing their new XBOX Adaptive Controller.   But questions about M&K on XBOX Live implementation and how broadly compatible the Controller will be with 3rd-party devices still are in the air, along with the broader industry response.   I for one have the best of hopes for getting back to fragging back on the Live range at best and at least to improve my gameplay comfort and playability (joypad emulation lag anyone?)

 

Thanks for sticking with me, on my first and very long post.   I hope that I haven't come across as a Redmond fanboy, they have course-corrected too many times to count and have made some disturbing choices in their hardware peripheral history.  Still Microsoft have maintained a consistant high quality when it comes to their ergonomic devices.  Let me know what you folks think and maybe we can get a hands-on review video; I've been following the site since 2014 and first discovered Linus Sebastian on the informative NCIX videos.

 

 

[DildorTheDecent]

It looks pretty neat. Al though depending on how much the plug-ins are you're going to have to be really into games in order to get one I think.

 

If I woke up tomorrow with no hands I wouldn't bother with it. I'm not gaming enough these days to justify the cost since I imagine it's going to be expensive.

 

Can't wait to see someone eventually beat dark souls by using it though.

[Mira Yurizaki]

11 minutes ago, digitalcoffee said:

Do you think this will signify a larger shift toward viewing the needs of all players for the gaming hardware industry as a whole or will this be another Sidewinder kicking up a little dust before blowing away?

Accessibility for those who are handicapped in disabled are great, though I don't think this will make waves throughout the game industry. Color blindness settings have barely gotten a mention in mainstream media despite it being a thing for a few years now.

 

If anything, it'll probably be something that'll be given some spotlight for a bit before moving on to the next big thing that applies to most people. Unless of course, this controller somehow gives an edge to people who, for lack of a better phrase, function normally.

 

However, the availability of such and it being made by a first party vendor (I think?) at least means it'll have some semblance of support.

[digitalcoffee]

54 minutes ago, DildorTheDecent said:

 

Can't wait to see someone eventually beat dark souls by using it though.

Ha!