Split controls boost Hero’s gaming skills
Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025
A securely mounted split controller setup has helped Hero to level up her gaming, thanks to support from our specialist assessment team.
Hero was born without a right hand and was finding the right side of the PS5 DualSense controller tricky to use. She loves games like Spyro, Crash Team Racing and Paw Patrol but struggled to complete certain moves, so her family contacted our team to see if we could help.
She could manage the left side of the controller well, so our team suggested that a split setup could provide a solution – a DualSense controller on the left and a PS5 Access Controller on the right. Both were then paired to the family’s PS5 console.
The challenge was then to stabilise both controllers firmly enough so that Hero could use them as effectively as possible. The recommendation of an IKEA lap tray provided a base, on which the DualSense controller was angled with Velcro against a wedge. The Access Controller was held firmly in position with a strip of Dycem grip sheet. Hero could then concentrate on her gaming rather than holding the setup in place.
It’s wonderful to hear that the setup is proving to be a great success. It’s dramatically improved her gaming scores and achievements, and she’s way less frustrated now.
Our specialist teams face different challenges almost every day creating bespoke adapted controller setups to match the specific abilities of individual gamers. Identifying suitable equipment is often only the start of the process and, as in Hero’s case, the ultimate success of a setup may rely on many other factors such as careful and stable positioning, plus the promise of lifelong help and support.
As a result, every assessment represents a learning process, and it’s a privilege to be able to distil this accumulated experience and knowledge for sharing globally through our free accessibility resources like EyeMine, gameaccess.info and Eye Gaze Games. It’s also a privilege to be able to share our accessibility experience with developers through resources like our DevKit to help make their games more accessible worldwide.
We simply wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the support of our amazing friends in the global games industry and of course the many gamers, communities and individual donors who help fund our work and keep all our services and resources free-of-charge. Thank you – you’re truly making a life-changing difference!
You can support SpecialEffect now by signing up for GameBlast, the UK’s biggest charity gaming weekend! Play games and change lives on 21-23 February