8BitDo Lite SE: Accessible Controller Review
The 8BitDo Lite SE is billed as a controller for gamers with mobility impairments. It lives up to that pretty well! As with any accessibility solution, it won’t work for everybody, but I’m always excited for there to be another controller option. And for only $35, you can’t beat the price! I’m reviewing this as someone with arthritis in my hands, and I often have a hard time gripping standard controllers, reaching the shoulder buttons, and generating enough force for buttons. I’ve had the Lite SE since it released last July, so this is a review built on hundreds of hours of use. What is the Lite SE? The Lite…
The Xbox Adaptive Controller Isn’t Accessible While It Costs Hundreds
The Xbox Adaptive Controller (XAC) is revolutionary for disabled gamers. When it came out in 2018, it seemed to signal the end of expensive, cobbled-together, DIY solutions for adaptive gaming. But even 4 years after the release, Microsoft’s biggest gaming accessibility tool has two huge issues that make it extremely inaccessible: cost and availability. To start with, I love my XAC. I use it because I’ve had arthritis since I was a kid, and it makes my hands stiff, uncoordinated, and painful. I’ve also spent almost $500 to build my XAC to the specifications that my disability needs. Despite the hefty price tag, it still includes cobbled-together, DIY parts! Here,…
Review: (In)Accessibility in Ring Fit Adventure
I started Ring Fit Adventure with high hopes. COVID had halted most of my go-to fitness activities, and I was optimistic that Ring Fit would provide an in-home alternative. I’d been taking fitness classes through my school to keep moving, but this would give me some motivation to exercise on my own time! When I found the accessibility settings, I was excited that they’d considered it at all. My shoulder makes everything that’s overhead difficult or impossible, but there’s a “shoulder assist” option! Unfortunately, I was disappointed by how limited the “assist” was. In the end, Ring Fit’s attempt at accessibility features left me frustrated and demoralized, but they may…
Review: Using a Vertical Mouse for Arthritis
Over the summer, I worked as a camp counselor in Minecraft. Probably more arthritis-friendly than an in-person camp, right? Still, I started getting horrible flares of hand pain and stiffness from keeping my hands in unnatural positions for so long. Eventually, I knew something needed to change, and I tried out the Logitech MX Vertical Mouse. Now that we’re all using our home computers more than ever, the equipment we use is critical for our physical health. I never paid much attention to my work and gaming station before it became my primary location throughout the day. Really, I should have paid attention to it much sooner. You’ll probably be…
Gaming gloves for arthritis: reviews
Hand arthritis can turn gaming from an enjoyable hobby into a painful chore. The pain and stiffness can also take a toll on performance in competitive games. I don’t want my arthritis to keep me from moving up the leaderboards! I’ve tried a lot of different controllers and gloves to try to make speedrunning more possible and enjoyable for me with my juvenile arthritis. I previously covered some tips and strategies for arthritic gaming, back when I was still figuring out how to competitively game with arthritis. Since graduating from undergrad, I’ve been lucky to finally have the money to try different compression glove options, so I’ll share what I’ve…
Stardew Valley as a metaphor for fatigue
I've seen people use a lot of different metaphors similar to spoon theory that they feel fit them better. Personally, I think of my fatigue like the energy bar in the game Stardew Valley.
Arthritic gaming
I looked up “video game arthritis” recently (or something similar). I’m not completely sure what I was looking for. Advice for how to keep gaming when it makes it hard to use your hands? Other people going through the same thing, so I don’t feel like the only one? Motivation to work through it? Gaming can be a hobby, a competition, a social space, and even a livelihood. What about when your body makes it hard to keep going? Unfortunately, when you run a search like that, all you get are articles warning that gamers are in for arthritic futures. I don’t care about that. I have arthritis now. If…
