I gave my dad the PlayStation Access controller – and it let us play video games together again

I GREW up in a household of gamers. My first console was a Spectrum, and soon after we spent long days playing the Sega Mega Drive together.

The reason my sister and I were raised as gamers was due to my father, who wrote his dissertation on the rise of Space Invaders in arcades.

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As Mega Drive fanatics we played Sonic for hours together, particularly the two-player games where one could be Sonic and the other Tails.

Later my dad admitted that after we went to bed he would sneak downstairs to play more Sonic by himself without us holding him back.

However, while my dad was a lifelong gamer this all ended in his 50s when he was diagnosed with early onset dementia.

We are lucky that our father can still live independently with the help of our mum, despite this newfound reliance on calendars and reminders.

There are some things he’s no longer capable of, and playing games that require more than a few buttons is one of them.

Another one of his favourite pastimes is cars, though he no longer works on them. When I previously introduced him to Forza Horizon 5, he found it difficult to play.

I found him mostly in the car purchasing menu, standing close to the TV spinning each car around and taking in how faithfully they were recreated.

So when PlayStation offered GLHF the chance to try out their new accessibility-focused controller, the PlayStation Access, I thought it would be a great opportunity to play Sonic with my dad again.

I chose to play Sonic with my dad not only because it is a game he is very familiar with, but also because you can play it with just a joystick and a single button.

The Access controller has a lot of customisation options, and much larger buttons than your standard controller.

You can decide how it will be orientated, and you are walked through the customisation options as soon as you set it up.

If you struggle with the accessibility options, you may need someone to help you with this, as it can be a bit complicated.

There were a few issues I hit with set up. I couldn’t change the orientation of the joystick after I had selected it in the tutorial.

The joystick is also only held on with a magnet, and had a tendency to fall off if pulled upwards.

However, once everything is set up, playing the game is easy.

My dad chose the traditional joystick and X was assigned to the large button in the centre to make things as simple as possible.

Luckily we were given two controllers, and you can assign them to the same player, meaning that I could take over at any point if things got tough.

We tried Sonic Origins first as these are the games that my dad remembers, though there were many concepts that were too difficult for him.

There were some jumps he still couldn’t make and he didn’t understand why standing on spikes would eventually end in his demise.

He could however complete levels alone – with some gentle instruction – and I think having the joystick and large central button were a huge part of his success.

He was also able to play lying down, which is much more comfortable for him, as previously he had to sit up to constantly reference the controller.

We tried Sonic Superstars next as it has a much more robust co-op, and my dad could rejoin at any point even if he was behind.

While the Access controller was clearly developed with people with physical disabilities in mind, there is a lot of scope for people with other kinds of disabilities.

It allowed my dad to play Sonic with me again, a pastime that is very precious to me.

No controller can cover all disability or accessibility issues, but the production of controllers like this is yet another step in the right direction.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.

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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk