2023-10-13 06:17:56
Large buttons arranged in a circle and a joystick on one side: Sony is marketing a new PlayStation controller from December designed to make gaming easier for people with disabilities, an issue long neglected by the sector.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see able-bodied people using it“, says Jeremy Lecerf, known as Gyzmo. Sitting in a wheelchair, this French specialist in video games and disabilities was invited by Sony to London to test this new device which shakes up the design of traditional controllers.
Suffering from myopathy, he is present as an ambassador for the French association HandiGamer, which represents players with disabilities. The new controller “is extremely well thought out” because, according to him, the company sought to make it accessible to people with disabilities which can be very different.
“It’s nice to see that the (video game) industry is really getting started“on the question of accessibility, judges Jérémy Lecerf, 39, while testing the “access” controller on Stray, an adventure video game in which the player plays a cat.”More and more publishers are playing the game“, he says.
Two-thirds of gamers with disabilities face barriers or problems playing, and 40% have purchased video games they were unable to use due to poor accessibility, according to a 2021 report by Scope, the UK Disability Equality Association.
But the issue of accessibility is now being highlighted by major studios, publishers and manufacturers. An essential effort, according to Jeremy Lecerf. “Video games allowed me to have a life that approached normality, to have a social life“, he says. It’s a tool”openness to the world“.
Taking into account accessibility issues “is a trend we’re seeing across the industry, it’s not limited to PlayStation“, agrees Alvin Daniel, project manager at Sony.
“We wanted it not to be up to the player to adapt to the controller, but for the controller to adapt to the player“, he says. But it was not an easy task, “because no two people experience disability in exactly the same way“.
The new device can be placed on a table or attached to a support and oriented in all directions. Each button can change shape with magnetic caps, to make them easier to press, or grab, and the user can assign any function to them. You can combine several controllers, “access” or classic.
The controller will be available on December 6 at the recommended retail price of 89.99 euros in Europe.
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