Ever since the  Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller was announced at E3 in 2018, modders and developers have been finding new ways for people of all abilities to game. The only issue with the ground-breaking device has been that the controller only works for Xbox devices. Even though the controller has helped many, one father has gone the extra mile and has modified the Xbox Adaptive Controller to work on Nintendo Switch.
Over last weekend Rory set about the Adaptive Controller project to ensure that his daughter Ava could play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. He ordered the Adaptive Controller online, along with several other larger components that would mimic the smaller Switch joysticks. The Nintendo Switch has approximately 8 buttons per Joy-Con, and Rory had to figure out a way to wire every individual button to mimic each control.
Over the course of just one day, Rory was able to mock up a very rough prototype that was able to mimic the Nintendo Switch joysticks. "That's enough for today," Rory tweets late on Saturday evening, "Some serious soldering and wire management tomorrow morning for some game testing in the afternoon." The next day Rory posted a photo of all the wire-work he had accomplished saying that the project was on schedule for testing later that day.
By the end of Sunday, Rory had tweeted out a video of his daughter Ava laughing and enjoying Breath of the Wild with her fully adapted controller. Rory showed how everything worked for a constantly smiling Ava who proudly demonstrated the full capabilities of the controller. Suddenly, his tweet and video started going viral. "I've never been part of a viral post until now," a baffled Rory tweets. "All Ava's reaction to a simple act of making a game accessible, thanks to @Microsoft #XAC".Â
Rory Steel is based in the United Kingdom and Head of Digital Jersey Academy and is passionate about tech and using it in education. Much of his Twitter account is dedicated to helping students advance and praising teachers making great strides in education. Rory says that this is only the first version of this controller, and he'll likely be making further modifications in the near future. Overall, Rory's daughter Ava is all smiles and Steel credits Microsoft's innovations with helping him accomplish the project.
The Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller is available now for purchase.
