How to use… the Game Control Mixer XAC

The GCM XAC is an expansion kit for the Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller. It’s one of a range of game control mixer systems from oneswitch.org.uk and Celtic Magic which all make use of a Titan Two adapter. These systems aim to enhance the abilities of players who can operate at least one thumbstick or joystick but not a full gamepad.

The GCM kit consists of an instruction booklet, Titan Two adapter and two upgrade options including the Bluetooth kit. It’s intended to be used with an Xbox Adaptive Controller and one or two joysticks but it can also work with other standard gamepads. You can see the instructions online by visiting oneswitch.org.uk, then going to the Library, then Instructions and in this example clicking on GCM XAC Playstation.

So what can it do? The Titan has eight different slots which you can select from the front of the controller using the buttons on either side of the LED number display or from the controller itself. These eight different slots give eight different ways of using the Xbox Adaptive Controller or other connected controllers. Slot 1 is the Mouse Mode so the stick that’s connected will move the mouse pointer and you’ll have access to Left Click and Right Click through your connected game controller or switches. There’s also a special Axis Lock which will lock movement onto a horizontal plane or a vertical plane as well as drag for people who might not be able to hold a button and various other controls, too. So if you plug a switch into the A socket at the back of the XAC which acts as Cross in Playstation mode you’ll get Left Click. Left Stick mode will act as the mouse pointer. Right Stick mode is a more precise pointer and it moves more slowly. Cross or the A button, which are the same thing, is the Left Click and B, or Circle, the same thing again, is Right Click. Square, or X on an Xbox, will lock you to a single axis – left and right. Press it again and you have just up and down movement. Press again and you’re free. Triangle or Y is for dragging. This is the Left Click held down. A red LED means it’s latched, a blue LED – unlatched. Using an on-screen keyboard you can use this mouse system for text entry. Slots 2 to 8 are the gamepad modes. There’s a PC or Xbox 360 controller emulation mode in Slot 2. The most commonly used one will be Slot 3 which tries to automatically detect which games console you’re connected to. Look at the help guide later on in the instructions for how to connect to the machine you want to. There are many machines it will connect to but some require extra adapters. It’s always possible to use the system alongside an extra gamepad controller, either for a helper or just as part of the mix. For Playstation 4 use you do need to have an extra controller attached. One of the most important features is the View button. This works as a special Shift control and it enables the Left and Right joysticks to be set into any one of 24 different modes as shown in this guide. This includes making either stick act as a Left Stick, a Right Stick, D-pad, Shape, or, if on Xbox, the ABXY buttons. It also gives access to Menu buttons including Touch, Click or View and some special exploration and driving modes and more. If you hold Shift which is via the View button or a connected switch then move the joystick up, right, down or left one to six times, you can access any of these different modes. So, for example, if you hold Shift and move the stick to the right two times that takes you to East 2 Shapes Mode. The small Titan Two display will change to reflect this. It will turn a pink number 2 for East Mode number 2. When set in this mode East 2 is the Shape Stick or ABXY on Xbox. On a Playstation, in this mode, if you push up it will act as a Triangle. If you pull down: Cross. Push right, you’ll get a Circle and push left: Square. Some special modes are available. If you Shift and pull down you can get into these South Modes. South 1 is a special Explore Mode where with a single stick you can move around a 3D world. You can use the stick to look left and right. If you push up you’ll walk forward and if you pull back four different times you’ll either move backwards or look up, move backwards again or look down. There’s a simpler version of that with the South 4S4 Mode. You’d get to that by holding Shift or the View button or View switch and pull down four times to enter the S4 South 4 Mode. Here you’d enter a basic Explorer Mode on the joystick which is a much simpler version of S1 where you’d simply look left and right with the stick and could move forward and back in a 3D world. Similarly, S2 Mode is a Driving Mode and that merges steering left and right which would normally be with the Left Stick and Right and also the triggers – the L2 and R2 – all onto one single stick. Here, if you push up, you can accelerate, pull down you’ll decelerate or brake and you can steer left and right – again all on one stick. Hold Shift and push up once for North 1 Mode. From here you can get to all the conventional Menu options and that includes pushing left, you can get at Touch Click, View or Minus, depending on if you’re using an Xbox, Playstation or Nintendo. One Stick and one Shift button is enough to reach all the controls on a Playstation, Xbox or Nintendo controller. There are some special modes that try to simulate touch and six axis movement. This is for advanced use. Shift also gives a secondary function to buttons. For example, if you hold Shift and press Cross or A (the same thing here) on a Playstation this is the Playstation Home button. There’s also a special Tap Mode which allows you to get some extra controls. For example, if you tap the Shift button five times it will trigger a short press of the L3 and R3 buttons at the same time which is useful in some games. From Slot 1 Mouse Mode you tap Shift six times to move into the gamepad modes. From all of those you have to go to North 6, tap shift six time to rotate the stick to go through all of the available modes, 1 – 8 and then press Shift to select. For advanced use a Windows PC can be brought into the mix using a quality USB cable. This makes it possible to use speech and other utilities. For example, Crawl, Walk, Run, Jog, Sprint are all possible using a combination of a connected PC and software like Voice Attack. There are profiles available online to help with that advanced use. Customisation options are possible upon request, such as increasing the sensitivity of joysticks, simplifying mode changing, blocking controls and so on. PGA Tour 2K21 shows a mix of shifted modes. West 1 and East 2 here. Pure Pool also shows some shifted modes. Left Stick, Right Stick and Shapes modes. Tekken 7 shows use of the Shape or ABXY modes, E2 and E5. E5 is an auto-repeating mode which can really help with a fighting game. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture on the Playstation 4 shows use of the S1 Explore Mode where you can explore the world using a single joystick. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe shows use of the West 4 Mode which combines A and B and Left and on one stick. Gran Turismo shows use of the Driving Mode, S2. A slower mode, S5, is also available. Pinball FX 3 shows use of the West 3 Mode which combines shoulder buttons all onto one stick. Peggle 2 and the West 4 Mode where you can aim and fire balls all from one stick. This old retro game, Phoenix, on a RetroPie, shows use of the East 4 Mode. If there’s anything we can do to make gaming more accessible for you, please do get in touch.