Why Should It Take Two Hands To Play Videogames?

Thanks to StatePaper.com for their article discussing a Nebraska radio talk show host's plans to create a one-handed game controller. The host, Mike Reed, "has learned to play many of the games using a controller with only one hand", following an accident which happened when "an acquaintance at a party pointed a loaded .410-caliber shotgun at Reed [and fired]", leaving him with very limited use of his right arm. He says that "many games are impossible to play one-handed", and has "designed a dual-motion game controller that consolidates all movement, button response and directional function into a one-handed video game controller", although he and his partners "haven't built a prototype yet." In the meantime, are there any existing console controllers that might work for those only using one hand?

Comments

One Handed PSOne Controller

[YomikoReadman]

A few years back Sony released a one handed controller for the PSOne. There is a catch with it, however. It does not feature one of the analog controllers, and would most likely not work for any game that required it. The other problem is that it is really designed for use with RPGs and is probably not suited to any other genre. I'd think that would be the case with most games out there, IMO.

Re:One Handed PSOne Controller

[cgenman]

It was actually released by ASCII, as a successor to the somewhat more successful SNES single-hand controller. Both were terrible to use.

The controllers were just overloaded with buttons. You had a D-Pad in the center, 4 buttons surrounding it, 2 on the underside, and a pad for L1R1L2R2SelectStart thrown in below. It was impossible to use the D-pad and any of the buttons at the same time except for the underside two because you were only using one digit, and even then you were busy using those fingers underneath to hold the controller. Anything involving action or timing was impossible to do. Most RPG's were more enjoyable with a traditional controller, but for those without that luxury it must have been nice.

I actually gave mine to a colleague with one arm. He was happy to get it, but he recognized the limitations. If you really want to make a controller for disabled people, use the feet. It would be rather easy to handle forward / back / left / right with your feet, and two analog sticks could be used concurrently. Mount 4 thumb buttons on the end of a cylinder and L1 R1 L2 R2 on the length, with a hand strap to hold it all together, and you're good to go. The feet are vastly underutilized in gaming, relegated to simple acceleration / deceleration, but they are capable of far more than that.

Nintendo had a controller at one point where the joystick was moved with the mouth, sucking counted as an A, and blowing as a B. Because today's controllers were built to the full capacity of both hands, it is somewhat futile to attempt to condense that down without looking to other input sources.

You've got the appendages. Use them.

Depending on what you need

[The-Bus]

I used to play Cruisin' USA on the N64 one-handed... It wasn't really a game where you needed to brake, so I was content with Go and the Analog pad.

If there was gonna be a one handed controller, that's how I would design it... The thumb controller is analog (And can be pressed down like the Xbox's and the PS2's), the buttons are on the bottom, so it almost looks like you're holding a fishing rod... Something interesting to think about is that your tactile feedback and ability to touch something in detail decreases as you move out towards the pinky finger. Hold a glass or a small bottle, and use the pinky finger to touch something right next to it. It won't be a smooth controlled motion. On the other hand, the index finger moves very slowly and accurately. So near the bottom of this controller you'd need larger fatter buttons that can be easily pressed and are very textured, near the top you can have an analog trigger for the index finger, and 2-4 buttons for the other fingers. Then again, you can always have some buttons as pedals on the floor if it's convenient. I know someone who didn't like having a lot of important FPS buttons be very far away so he got pedals and used them for forward and backward movement. To get really complex, he could even have an analog "stick-shift" for his right arm for those who lack accute detail but could handle gross motor movement.

So that in effect gives us 1 analog, 1 trigger, 2-4 buttons + 2-3 buttons + 1 analog (and a button or two?) essentially replacing all the buttons of a controller. While it seems like an elaborate set-up, it could do what he likes.

Or, he could do what someone on my floor in the university did... He was born with a birth defect which left him with no arms (but hands at the end of his shoulders). He still played videogames, IIRC correctly he used one of those mega-huge Neo-Geo-styled arcade pads. I believe it had a steering wheel, and he may have used his mouth.

The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived

[spudwiser]

My old manager at Circuit City had gotten his right arm cut off in a car accident. This was back before Xbox was even out. The PS2 we had on display came with a selection of demo games. Ever gotten your ass handed to you in hockey by a man with one hand? The only thing he had trouble with was in this Nintendo64 basketball game, in order to make a free throw you had to use both triggers and the stick at once. That messed him up, bad.

Just use your foot to help.

[pocopoco]

My right hand was out of commission for a few months ("accident" involving a rottweiler...) and I found one hand and one foot is plenty to run a gamepad (PS2 mostly). At first my foot was rather clumsy so I held the controller backwards (direction controls on the right) with my good hand and used the big toe to handle the d-pad and analog stick. With one hand and one foot direction controls are actually very easy because you can move the gamepad around against your foot using the hand that's holding the pad and doing the buttons.

Later on I actually grew to prefer hitting the buttons with my toes (well big toe mostly) since it required less fine control (and worst case you just lock your toe and move the gamepad against it using your one hand that's holding the pad and handling the other half again). I was even able to hit all the shoulder buttons fine with my big toe using this method (again move the gamepad to help you reach), although multiple buttons at once was tougher. Anyway you hear stories of kids who can write with their feet, running half a gamepad with your hand moving it about the help is nothing.

Feet are quite versatile

[Anonymous Coward]

Organists regularly use their feet to control several devices at once. 32 keys, 2 to 5 analog expression pedals, several reversible and combination pistons. Some of the best organ music has very complicated pedal solos requiring one foot to hold one or two notes while the other foot plays a detached melody line. Others have pedal solos in which both feet work together to hit several keys a second. One of the best known examples is Bach's fugue in D minor, of course. Most people don't know that much of that is played by the feet!

It would be relatively simple to take a pedalboard (or an entire console) and turn it into a game controller. But the cost of the console itself would be prohibitive, unless some local church were to donate their discarded console. ...is there a Disabled Gamers Association?

Dance Pad plus a Controller?

[g-san]

Would that work? I read about someone using a controller with thier toes but this might be a bit more ergonomic. Of course you have to hack your own interface...

Happy New Year