PlayStation employee creates custom PS4 controller for cerebral palsy-stricken gamer

South Amboy, New Jersey resident Peter Byrne has cerebral palsy, a condition which affects muscle movement and coordination. This affects the way Byrne plays games, and sometimes impedes his play on PlayStation 4 due to the placement and sensitivity of the DualShock 4 controller’s touch pad.

“When I play, I would hit the touchpad with my hand,” Byrne told News 12 New Jersey. “It’s very sensitive; I would constantly hit it and it would pause the game.”

Thanks to one PlayStation Samaritan, Byrne now has a custom-made controller that works around these issues and makes Byrne’s gaming much easier.

Two weeks ago, Byrne reached out to PlayStation to inform them of his situation. Not 24 hours later, designer Alex Nawabi told Byrne he would personally take on the request. The following Tuesday, a custom DualShock arrived at Byrne’s door.

“Inside was the letter and this controller that is now modified especially for me,” Byrne said. “[Niwabi] said it’s the first time he’s ever done something like this.”

The modded controller took Niwabi 10 hours to build. To alleviate Byrne’s problems, its touchpad was disabled and a new button was added to take its place. Niwabi also gave Byrne a second modded controller as a backup.

“He did more than I ever expected,” Byrne said.

Source: News 12 New Jersey

Via: Eurogamer