An employee went the extra mile for a gamer who wrote to Sony about his difficulties in using the touchpad features of the PS4's game controller. For people who have cerebral palsy like Peter Byrne, the muscular disorder causes uncontrollable movements and poor coordination.
He explained in his email to Sony that his condition caused him to inadvertently hit the touchpad on the dual-shock controller, causing his game to pause often to his frustration.
Less than a day after the 21-year-old Byrne from South Amboy, New Jersey clicked “send” on his email, he got a response – Not from Sony, but rather, from Alex Nawabi who works in PlayStation's Retail and Marketing Operations.
Nawabi informed him that he would tackle the matter personally, and not in an official capacity from Sony.
Just two weeks later, Byrne received a package from Nawabi containing a custom-built PS4 controller for a person with a muscular condition - the touchpad was disabled and a new pause button relocated underneath the controller.
According to Nawabi's letter, which was sent along with the new controller, the email Byrne sent Sony PlayStation hit a chord and that's when he decided to help him on a personal level. So, he tore apart no less than three PS4 dual-shock controllers, disabled the touchpad and rerouted its functions to a new button where it would not be accidentally triggered. Altogether, Nawabi said the work took 10 hours, but it was worth it.
However, the custom-built PS4 controller does not come with any official warranties. Nawabi also promised to make a second controller for Byrne after getting his feedback on how the first one improved his gameplay.
Byrne shared on his Facebook profile that the new controller is enabling him to get through the stages in The Division easier, without the hassle of accidentally hitting the touchpad all the time.
Posted by Peter Byrne on Wednesday, 30 March 2016
He also said that the custom controller was not what he expected to come out of his email, but it was a great gift to receive from someone who cares about people with cerebral palsy and other conditions like his.
“He did more than I ever expected,” said Byrne to News12 about Nawabi's kind act.
Some doctors are also helping to make physical therapy fun for patients with cerebral palsy using video games. Custom controllers like the one Nawabi built put into consideration the special needs of differently abled gamers to help them enjoy their gaming experience just like everybody else.
