In their latest article on PlayStation.blog, PlayStation reveals the packaging for the upcoming Access Controller for PS5. It’s difficult not to compare it with the Xbox Adaptive Controller’s packaging, but the inspiration is obvious and welcome. Designed to open with a single hand, the packaging has easy to pull loops allowing to slide or pick out the different parts without much effort.
The article also contains an interesting video detailing the design process of the Access Controller from concept and prototypes, to testing, and finally the packaging. It is refreshingly honest in talking about how some initial assumptions proved to be wrong. Something that was discovered and corrected thanks to extensive user testing. It shows how important it is to design and test with disabled people.
Logitech G Adaptive Gaming Kit
Along with the look at the process and the packaging, we learn Logitech has created a kit for the Access controller. The kit is very similar to the Logitech G Adaptive Gaming Kit for the Xbox Adaptive Controller. It contains the same gaming mat, two triggers, two light touch buttons, and two small and large buttons as well. Completing the kit are stick-on labels with PS5 symbols.
Observant readers may have noticed there are a few less buttons than in the kit for Xbox. This makes sense considering the limited ports in comparison, and the different approaches the controllers take. At $79.99 USD, the price is also a bit lower than that of its Xbox counterpart. The stick-on labels aside, the buttons should be interchangeable between both sets, which could give players a bit more choice and flexibility as well.
Hands-on impressions
For a more hands-on impression of the Access Controller, we’d like to refer you to Steve Saylor and Kennedie (Dynamic Reactions). They were both at the preview event at the PlayStation headquarters in California. There they had hands-on time with the controller, and were able to interview Senior Technical Program Manager Alvin Daniel. You can view Steve Saylor’s video on his own YouTube channel, and view Kennedie’s extensive preview on IGN.
It’s great to have finally seen the Access Controller for PS5 in action. If we are not mistaken, this was the first time the actual controller has been shared with the public, only a few months before its December 6 release. The Logitech G Adaptive Gaming Kit for Access controller releases January 2024, a month later.
