Your typical videogame controller mod is usually for looks, style or function. But rarely are they ever for necessity.
Dedicated gamer KitsuneYume of the PlayStation boards had to mod his controllers, though, as his condition leaves him unable to use a regular hand-held game controller. Inspired by some of the hottest upcoming games, KitsuneYume made things work, working with an engineer to devise an adaptive controller to help him get his game on.
From his posts on the PlayStation message boards:
One day I was looking at a trailer for Final Fantasy 13, Killzone 2 and Mirrors Edge. I was like... I have to definitely play FF13 because I love it with all my heart... the series I mean. Ever since I played 2/4 I have been hooked. I sat there thinking of ways I could play it and finally came up with this. Me and a guy from Minnesota built and design this controller together.
KitsuneYume worked with broadenedhorizons.com and a gentleman named Mark Felling of GimpGear to create his custom controller, which uses movements of his tounge and sips or puffs of air in straws to control games. Fingers and toes help round out many of the other controls.
Kitsune's goal was to share the news with others that may be handicapped, letting them know that a solution is available. Good on him, and good on the the people that are helping him out, including an unnamed donor that paid for some special switches he needed.
In another post he says, "Since 1986 I have lived for gaming and will continue to do so for eternity."
KitsuneYume, you are an inspiration to gamers everywhere, living proof that you can't keep a good gamer down. See you online, man.
Contest:
1:18 PM on 11.11.2008
| 
I think your heart might be in the right place (or not) but it probably isn't the best of routes. You really have to tread lightly in these topics.
When I was 12 years old my father had a stroke, and I've always wondered how I could still play a video game with him. Nintendo Power had a similar article years ago. The user rigged up a voice recognizer along with an analog stick that the kid controlled with his chin. (mind you I believe this was in the NES days, so your average game only had 2 buttons, 4 at most). I'm really impressed. Overcoming something like this and being able to play games must make this guy feel awesome. It made me a little happier inside to see that even a gamer who can't move his arms and legs too well is now set up to pwn some noobs!
And special big thanks to the people that helped him out.
But yeah, this kid is amazing.
You'd have to be ridiculously naive to think it'd make sense to make a commericial version of this, it'd be a massive money sink.
Anyway, kudos to the guy. It's one hell of an effort, I can only admire him.
I'm also familiar with Broadened Horizons and have been looking in to setups like this for myself when my disease inevitably worsens.
Awesome article. Thanks for posting this.