Sony's PlayStation 5 Access Controller makes PlayStation 5 games more accessible for gamers who might have difficulty using traditional console controllers. This gamepad offers a customizable ring of eight mappable buttons and an adjustable joystick that feels great to use, complementing the PS5's built-in accessibility features.
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TechTranscript
00:00 We're here at Sony Interactive Entertainment headquarters here in San Mateo to check out the new
00:04 Access Controller for PS5. A customizable controller that promises to make games a
00:09 lot more accessible to a wider variety of people. Let's go take a look.
00:13 Now Sony's making a big show of pointing out that the accessibility of this controller starts with
00:21 the packaging. It's designed to be opened with just one hand. Pretty doable. And then all the
00:26 extra buttons are here. As you can see you get the Access Controller with the stick attached.
00:31 You also get 19 interchangeable button caps here. Three different interchangeable stick caps. There's
00:37 one with a big arcade stick for example as well as the flat ones here. And you also get 23
00:42 interchangeable little labels that go on top here. So that you can really customize this kit and more
00:48 importantly label where you've put what so that you look down and know what you're doing.
00:53 The Access Controller is designed to be easy to set up so when you plug it in right out of the box
00:57 you should be greeted with a configuration menu that allows you to set up your profiles and get
01:02 right into it. So what's potentially really exciting about the Access Controller is that
01:09 it has a lot of customizability built into it. So not only can you obviously adjust the
01:13 you know distance to a certain extent that the controller is at you know the one stick that you
01:18 get. And there are also additionally there are four customizable inputs here that you can use
01:26 to add additional accessibility controllers. You can actually you know assign different functions
01:31 to each of the buttons using a customizable profile system that you access by holding the
01:37 button here. And you can go into this menu and there's three separate profiles you can create
01:41 you know up to three and you can sell ones for different users or different games. And each one
01:46 allows you to customize each of what I believe are about eight buttons here on the circle yeah
01:51 and then a ninth button in the center as well as you know the one stick that you get. Not only can
01:56 you change the assignment of different buttons but you can also go in and customize things like
02:01 the orientation of the stick where you can actually toggle on different settings for buttons
02:06 like having them be toggleable instead of needing to hold them. So for example you can have a button
02:11 where it just holds down the x button once you hit the button so you don't have to go through
02:16 the stress of holding it yourself. You can also change the actual sensitivity of the stick
02:20 and the dead zones and you can set up even more advanced customizations like being able
02:25 to press a button and have it press two buttons at once which can be a big help for some folks.
02:29 I have a special profile in the controller just for playing Gran Turismo 7 with just one
02:37 Sony PlayStation 5 access controller.
02:41 I'm on this I got it.
02:53 As promising and accessible as this controller seems to be Sony is quick to caution that
02:59 it's not a perfect solution, it's not going to work for everyone and it does take some time to
03:04 get used to new controller configurations even if it is something that can work for you. Perhaps as
03:09 much as a week or two. It's certainly taking more time than I'd like to admit getting the grips with
03:13 it here. So Sony points out that everyone takes a different amount of help and a different amount
03:18 of customizability so your mileage may vary. The access controller will be available starting
03:23 December 6th for $89.99. For more coverage check out tomsguide.com. You can also follow us on
03:29 Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. For Tom's Guide, I'm Alex Suaro.
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