Posted by: One Switch Organisation
on Jul 18, 2009
Tagged in: Untagged

On a fairly regular basis I receive e-mails from disabled gamers wanting to be enabled. Requests for a controller to be modified or as in the case of Anwar Mahmood built from scratch are common:"Hi I came across your site via yahoo search and am very interested in having a joystick made as i suffer from heredotary motor sensory neuropathy which has paralysed my fingers and thumbs, which has made gaming difficult. I have attached a rough sketch of a joystick i would like made to help me play games more easily.The joystick was planned with the xbox 360 in mind but really i would like if the joystick can be compatable with any console. Let me explain how the layout of the joystick is, on the top is a stick which represents the D pad and the 2 buttons on each side in blue are macro buttons or combo buttons. (I hope you do combo buttons lol). The 2 sticks on either side are the anologue sticks which i would also like to be able to push down and use as buttons just like on the xbox 360 joypad. The anologue sticks should be similar in force when pressed down as the xbox 360 joypad.The 4 coloured buttons in between the anologue sticks represent the X Y B A buttons found on the xbox 360 joypad and the 2 grey buttons on each side of the green button represent the LB and RB found on the xbox 360 joypad. I would like these 6 buttons in between the sticks to be 2inches. Lastly the 3 buttons at the bottom of the joystick represent the select button, the X button found on the xbox 360 joypad and the start button. I would like the start and the select button to be 1 inch and the x button to be 1.5inch. Also the 2 combo buttons at the top should be of 1 inch each. I look forward to your reply. Thanks in advance."
Sometimes I can help, even if it's just pointing people to the "Tailor Made Game Controllers" section at OneSwitch. Sometimes I wish I could help more. This controller is beyond my abilities, but if there's anyone out there who thinks they can help, please get in touch.
Posted by: One Switch Organisation
on Jul 07, 2009
Tagged in: Untagged
Posted by: One Switch Organisation
on Jun 23, 2009
Tagged in: Untagged

Nintendo's "New Super Mario Brothers" for the Wii is due to feature a unique accessibility features: 'Demo Play'. If part of the game gets too tough, activating this mode will see the game take over and play automatically. Once demo-play has seen you through the tough bit you were stuck on you can de-activate it and resume manual play.
It's a great idea, although I was dismayed to see that Nintendo have patented it. I don't like the idea of an accessibility feature being patented. Good stuff like this should be shared. It's like patenting a wheelchair ramp. That's just not right. Thank goodness no one ever patented the wheel!