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Home / Hot Stuff / Gaming / The Xbox Adaptive Controller is a programmable, extensible and vital controller for gamers with mobility issues

The Xbox Adaptive Controller is a programmable, extensible and vital controller for gamers with mobility issues

Plug and play

Modern gaming is increasingly about inclusion, but gaming by its very nature excludes those who lack the mobility to use controllers. Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller ($99) offers a solution. The sleek slab of plastic at a glance resembles a minimal set of DJ decks, but the two large black discs are actually programmable buttons. In fact, the entire unit’s extensible and customisable, which becomes readily apparent on spinning it around to see the row of ports designed to work with add-on third-party devices. There are 19 ports – one for each standard Xbox controller input – and set-ups and mapping can be changed on the fly, even during a game. This all makes for a revolutionary controller that will extend the joys of gaming to people previously faced with pieces of plastic that may as well have been barriers as high as a building.

Profile image of Craig Grannell Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.