It has been nearly half a century since the creation of the Magnavox Odyssey, the first commercial home video game console. This spring a major tech company for the first time announced it has developed a controller geared for the disability community.

Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller will be released in September for $100.

Bryce Johnson, the inclusive lead for hardware at Microsoft who has worked on accessibility for nearly 20 years, has been working with others for three years to create the controller. 

Throughout the controller’s development, Mr. Johnson engaged and consulted with charities such as the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, Craig Hospital in Colorado, SpecialEffect in the United Kingdom, Warfighter Engaged and AbleGamers. He said that each had a unique way of approaching services for people who need them.

Steven Spohn, of Upper St. Clair, is the COO of The AbleGamers Charity, which assists those with disabilities to find ways to be able to play video games. He was born with spinal muscular atrophy, which affects muscle movement. He helped start AbleGamers with the hope that he could assist others in the disability community. 

Mr. Spohn said the idea for the controller came about in 2011 with the creation of the Adroit Switchblade, what he referred to as, “the Xbox controller in a box.” It allowed users to play video games with just a few fingers; however, the device cost several hundred dollars — out of reach for many in the community. “It was a good little adventure into what it could be,” he said.

In 2015, Xbox hosted the “One Week Hackathon” at the Microsoft Redmond, Wash. campus with versions of homemade accessible controllers. After that event, Mr. Johnson reached out to AbleGamers for guidance on designing a controller that would crack the mainstream market. Microsoft wanted a device that was more affordable, both for the charities and people without access to them.

In July 2016, the company began working on a prototype. Mr. Spohn said the process took three years of working in secrecy with Microsoft. He loves the fact that Xbox was willing to put its brand on a controller for people with disabilities, allowing the community to feel included.

“If you and I are playing video games and you can grab your controller and I can literally just say to you, ‘Grab my controller.’ ” he said. “I don’t have to say to you, ‘Hey, can you set up my rig with my mouse controller and grab those two switches?’ I can just ask for my controller, and it’s all about being included in that way.”

The Xbox Adaptive controller is a rectangular box on an incline, similar to a computer keyboard. It has two compact disc-sized buttons for the A and B controls, as well as an Xbox home button, a menu button, a view button and a directional pad (D-pad). On the back of the controller are a series of 3.5-millimeter switch interfaces, the size of a headphone plug, as well as two USB ports on the sides, that allow for third party switches and joysticks to be used to control other operations of a traditional controller.

“Because [Microsoft] sanctioned these controllers, you can use quadsticks, joysticks and any third party switches — I can unplug the switches from my wheelchair and plug them in,” Mr. Spohn said. 

According to Mr. Johnson, Xbox’s “Gaming for Everyone” initiative thinks about access, recognizes representation and wants people to be able to enjoy gaming as much as possible. 

Mr. Spohn believes PlayStation and other gamemakers will follow soon in designing accessible controllers. With Xbox acknowledging that the disability market is big enough to put out a controller, he believes AbleGamers and similar organizations will be able to go out and fight to have similar ideas brought to the mainstream.

“I think you’re seeing more and more interest in including everyone from all groups that are considered minorities,” he said. “When it comes to disability, there is a stigma and a distaste that comes from society, where if it’s different from you, you don’t necessarily feel comfortable with it.”

He acknowledged that the controller isn’t perfect. He’s received feedback that the D-pad is small compared to the rest of the controller, and there is no built-in analog stick. This requires users to have to purchase attachments that would range from $28 to $80.

Mr. Spohn hopes additional features will be added to the next version, and maybe Xbox will come out with bundles where consumers will receive a couple switches with the controller.

“This was an amazing starting point, and Xbox, I believe, knows this was never intended to be the miracle cure that will let anyone with any disability play video games,” he said. “This was intended to help as many people as it could.”

Adam Duke: aduke@post-gazette.com or (412) 263-3772

First Published: June 25, 2018, 12:00 p.m.