For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved gaming. In my early days, I started off with consoles like Game Boy and the Nintendo Entertainment System. As my love for gaming grew over the years, I would spend my spare time playing with friends at LAN parties. In 2008 that all changed after a workplace accident resulted in the amputation of my left and dominant hand.
This incident changed my life. At the time I was convinced there was going to be many things I loved doing that I wasn’t going to be able to do anymore. After the accident, I lost interest in gaming as I was sure I could no longer play. I tried to focus on living my life, and soon I wasn’t playing games at all.
It wasn’t until four years ago that I finally picked up a controller again and had a go. At first it was a real struggle. I hadn’t played a game in in over five years, let alone one-handed. I would battle a lot with the left triggers, especially while playing shooters as I was not being able to ADS (aim down sights). There were a few indie games like I Am Bread and Unraveled which required a lot of the left triggers and bumpers, and I just couldn’t play them no matter how hard I tried.
However, as the months progressed I began working on controller hacks that allowed me to play – and play well. It wasn’t long until I started dominating most of my two-handed friends in games.
One of the hacks I used often involved doing everything as normal with my right hand with the right side of the controller. Then I would use the remainder of my left forearm (about 4-5cm below the wrist) on the left analog stick, and press the left trigger – which I had to slightly extend with a piece of Blu-tac – down on my left leg.
At the end of July this year I had the opportunity to try out an amazing new accessibility controller, the Xbox Adaptive Controller. At first, I wasn’t sure what to think – I was excited but nervous to see how the device worked. I had many questions. Would it fit my gaming needs? Would I be able to easily use it?
There are third-party products available that other gamers with atypical dexterity or mobility use to play, but I’d always just stuck with my Blu-tac hack – I always thought the special controllers were too much hassle to set up.
Those nerves went within one day, as the XAC was plug and play, and just needed a little mapping to fit how I play.
Once I had the controller set up to address my needs it became a (ahem) game changer for me. Not only has it transformed how I play, but it’s also changed what I can play.
It’s great to see gaming companies making accessibility a priority, not just as lip service, but through pragmatic features like Xbox Co-Pilot – a feature that allows two controller inputs to control a game simultaneously, which is what makes the Adaptive Controller usable. The unique large layout and how each button is mapped to the back also allows for any accessories to be used in any layout.
Eirrace Snead, center, playing with the Xbox Adaptive Controller during a weekly gaming night at Craig Hospital in Colorado.
These may seem like minor tweaks to the average gamer but until you’re put in a position where you need these features, you don’t appreciate how much they can change someone’s life.
They’ve given me the ability to not just game, but socialise and interact with others who share similar interests, and a sense of being seen and welcomed.
As a Twitch streamer, gaming is my job, my life even. Streaming is something I do every day and now that I’m no longer limited to a handful of games I can play, I’m able to stream almost anything.
I’ll be in the diversity lounge at PAX Aus this year, and can’t wait to hear similar stories from other gamers whose access to the games they love has just been expanded in a really significant way.
Seeing what a major company can do when they actually listen to gamers with accessibility needs has been amazing, and makes me excited to see what’s to come next.
TheHandSolo is a passionate one-handed gamer who aims to show everyone that a disability doesn’t prevent anyone loving gaming – or being awesome at it. Follow him on Twitch.