He doesn’t have enough functionality past that knuckle where it’s bent to be able to press down on the left stick. It’s also generally uncomfortable to move the stick around he says.
Is there any way to have a controller made that can accommodate his injury?
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If this isn’t the ideal sub to ask this, I’d love suggestions or any other subs that might be of some assistance
Edit: Please stop suggesting I break my father’s hand again. It’s already shattered to a point where it’s more expensive to get it fixed than just getting an adaptive controller like people suggested.
make the left stick taller for more mobility
Mouse and keyboard or the Xbox adaptive controllers are my suggestions! With the adaptive controller you can get a separate left joystick which might be easier for your dad to control. Mouse and keyboard does not use the left thumb much besides hitting space bar.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-controller
https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/hardware-network/accessories/mouse-keyboard
Elite 2 controller would let you adjust stick height, stick tension, and different response curves to your input. Plus they have paddles on the back you could make the L3 button.
Trackball and keyboard. Just use the thumb for jumps.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
P.S. Wally World has an entry-level TB on the shelf. The M570.
Of course, lots of keyboards also.
Left stick riser, or controller grip could probally work
Look into accessibility controllers maybe or shell out the cash for an elite controller. They have attachable paddles on the back that you can map to be any button and I always mapped to be pressing down the sticks. The also come with different height sticks so you can try the different stick size like another recommended. The controller is on the heavier side so that’s something to possibly be aware of.
Can’t he just have this rebroken and fixed at the hospital?
The first thing that comes to mind is a fight stick but that depends on the game he plays
Vibrating anal beads.
They won’t help with your father’s condition, but if you sync them up to your controller vibration feature they could spice up the gameplay a little for him.
I’ll make my note: I’ve only seen this/read about it in articles, so I can’t confirm if it’s good or not.
I’ve seen the [Xbox Adaptive Controller ](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-controller) pop up from time to time, and from what I’ve read, it’s supposed to be good.
Might be overkill for what your dad needs though.
Ngl, he actually has an advantage on a PS controller. “The Claw” would be parallel to the thumb.
Re-brake and straighten the tumb, they were able to do it with my arm after i beat the dog shite out of kid with my cast for talking bout my momma back in the day.
shift left hand so index is on left joystick, maybe thumb just manages d-pad?
Break it again. The strong prevail. Ave Imperator.
They make these attachments called thumbstick extenders that will add more length to the joystick if it would make it easier for him to grip a longer stick with the busted thumb.
Sidenote: We only have an Xbox to use. We do not own a PC.
I really thought you were to tell us that he’s been unstoppable since then. Having said that, I’m sure is an inclusive build for him.
I don’t think there is a better solution than a keyboard. You can remap any keys you do not want to press. The accessibility options are second to none with third-party support and a plethora of options for accessable controllers if you hate keyboards.
I was like they look fine and perfectly normal and OMG 90°
Others have already provided useful information, so I’ll ask the question were all thinking.
How did his thumb end up at a 90 degree angle and never get shoved back?
Rebreak his thumb. He will thank you when it heals back to normal 😀
Quick search came up with this [https://www.evilcontrollers.com/ps4-one-handed-controller?gad_source=1](https://www.evilcontrollers.com/ps4-one-handed-controller?gad_source=1)
Stick that analog on the back and use your fingers.
Lots of accessible controllers out there.
Thumb-ups
My own father has started to have issues with his hands as he gets older. He just has arthritis, so he was able to go with some off brand controllers that were different dimensions than the official Xbox controller.
His favorite though are the Xbox controllers that are set up like the PlayStation ones, with both sticks at the bottom. He said it hurts his thumb the least. Not sure if it’ll help your dad or not, but it helped mine.
Good luck!
My father was working on oil rigs in Alberta, CA when he was 21 and broke it while they were running pipe into the ground. The brakes went out on the conveyor blocks holding the pipe, and they came down on his hand.
They had put pins in his hand to fix it, but he returned to work too early and it never set right.
It’s been this way ever since. In every other aspect of his life in construction it’s never impacted him. He’s very well honored about it because it’s just a quirk he’s lived with longer than he lived with an injured thumb.
Edit: Y’all can stop asking me to break my father’s hand again.
Consider a custom controller with a remap function, might be helpful for his situation. Paddle style buttons could be a go-to
Break it again. The last time I broke my nose it corrected my breathing from when I got socked in the face at a concert this one time….
Mouse + Keyboard. That way the only thing that thumb needs to do is hit Spacebar (maybe V)
Mouse and keyboard. Left thumb is only used for space bar.
Honestly, keyboard/mouse might be a good option?
He can try to play crab claw style, use index for thumb stick, middle finger for left bumper, ring finger for left trigger, pinke for holding the back, maybe left thumb for left d-pad, if he needs to use up down right d-pad use his right thumb
Straighten thumb out
You obviously have to break it the other direction. That’s just Bono’s 3rd Law
Calcium.
No no no no, this ain’t gonna happen!
We gonna need the story on the thumb breakage…
That thumb done took a right at the intersection
You could possibly find someone to 3D print an attachment that would help by moving the spot where your dad needs to place his thumb or the attachment could alter what part of your dad’s thumb is used to move the joystick itself. Just an idea. Depends on his exact mobility in each direction and how painful or uncomfortable it is to move the stick around.
If his hand is fine besides the thumb then mouse and keyboard should basically be a 0 compromise solution. You can map jump to another key or mouse4 or something. Otherwise they make controllers with mappable back buttons and stick sizes but I doubt that would solve the comfort issue completely.
Go to a doctor. They will break and reset it.
Mouse and keyboard.
Go see a hand surgeon. There are things that can be done for this problem
Use a PlayStation controller
Try to play on PC maybe, i dont think i use my thumb for anything.
Create some kind of sock for a snug fit to his thumb and to the thumbstick. Or maybe swap the thumbstick for something more accommodating to the sock fitted around his thumb. I would try rubber gloves maybe cut the fingers of the glove off and fit it onto his thumb and see how it goes….trial and error.
[xbox copilot mode could work](https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/account-profile/accessibility/copilot). It allows you to use inputs from two controllers as if it where one controller doing the inputs. He could just set up a second controller strapped to his leg and use his elbow for movement, or just have the second controller on the ground and use his feet to move the stick.
Why not try keyboard and mouse ?
Ouch! So what the heck he just dealt with it for the rest of that year and was like well I guess this is my thumb now!
don’t know about controller but he would be perfectly fine to use a mouse and keyboard it seems, make take as bit to learn but it might be better for him
Claw grip. index on the stick, Middle on bumper lil weird but can work.