Using the Xbox Adaptive Controller on Xbox One | How To… Video

Here at SpecialEffect we use the Xbox One and the Xbox Adaptive Controller with a lot of the people we work with. In this video we’re going to look at getting started with setting up the Xbox Adaptive Controller on the Xbox One. We will also look at Forza Motorsport 7 as an example of a game. When you unbox your new Xbox One you will have the main console itself. You will also have the mains power cable. Also a standard Xbox One Controller and an HDMI lead. The HDMI and the main power cable plug into the back of your Xbox One. The mains power cable plugs into this socket here. You then plug it into a socket in your wall. The HDMI cable plugs into this socket here, labeled ‘HDMI OUT TO TV’. You then plug the other end into a spare HDMI socket on your TV. Once you have your Xbox One all plugged in press the Xbox button on the console to turn it on. If this is the first time you’ve turned on your Xbox One it will most likely need an update. Also the Xbox will give you a series of instructions that you need to follow to set it up, such as connecting to the Internet. Once you have set up your Xbox One you are ready to sync your Xbox One Controller or your Xbox  Adaptive Controller which we will call the XAC from now on. To sync your standard Xbox One Controller if you want to use it wirelessly first need to make sure you’ve got two AA batteries in the back. You then press the Xbox button on the controller until it lights up and press the small black sync button on the top which makes it flash. You then press the small sync button on the Xbox One Console. Then once they both stop flashing the controller is synced to your Xbox One. Syncing the Xbox Adaptive Controller is pretty much the same. It has an internal battery so you don’t need any external batteries for this. Press the Xbox button and then the sync button is this small black button on the back. You then press the sync button on the Xbox One Console. Once they stop flashing the  controller has synced with the console. To move around the Xbox you use the left joystick or the D-pad. Generally in menus A is Select and B is Cancel or Back. It is exactly the same with the Xbox Adaptive Controller. You can use a D-pad to move around and then you have the big A button and a big B button to select to cancel or go back. If you want to make any changes to your Xbox One Controller or the XAC such as button remapping or copilot which allows you to use two controllers as one player you need to go into the Xbox Accessories App. We have made a separate video on how to remap buttons and create profiles on the Xbox Adaptive Controller as well as how to turn on Copilot. The XAC acts as a hub which you can plug compatible peripherals into to create a customised controller. Different peripherals and how they’re positioned will suit players differently. Different games require different inputs. Some games will only require a few whereas some games will require a lot of different inputs. We will look at some of the peripherals we use here at SpecialEffect. We will then look at Forza Motorsport 7 and use some of these in-game. There are a variety of different joysticks and switches available for the XAC that come with different sizes, shapes and forces required to move them. Some joysticks come with a USB fitting. For these joysticks you need to plug them into either the left USB for left joystick, or the right USB for right joystick. Some joysticks come with a 3.5 millimeter jack. For these you need to plug them into the X1 socket for left joystick or the X2 socket for right joystick. These are some of the joysticks that we use here most frequently at SpecialEffect. There are a variety of different switches available for the XAC. These switches all plug in along the back of the XAC. These are some of the switches we most commonly use at SpecialEffect. Also available is the Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit which has a variety of different switches in it. Once you have set up your controller and you want to play a game you either need to put your game disc in or, if your game is downloaded you either select it from the home screen or you can find the game in My Games and Apps under ‘Games’. The first time you play a game you will need to set aside a bit of time to either download or install the game onto your Xbox One. Games quite often also need updates every now and then so you need to set aside a bit of time   let the Xbox do this. We are now going to look at Forza Motorsport 7. It is a game that we use quite a lot here at SpecialEffect because compared with other games you can play it with reduced controls. It also has Assists which can enable this further still. It is always a good idea in games to have a look at the options because they might have some accessibility features that can make them a little bit easier to play. Once you’re in the game you need to decide how you want to play it. If this is your first time playing Forza it’s probably best to go into Free Play. To access this press the RB button to move across to Single Player. You can then use the left joystick and press A on Free Play. If you want to find the options and assists you press the RB button again to go to Set-up. In this menu you can select your car, you can tune and upgrade, you can set up the race. You can also change the Options. However, you can also find the Assists Menu if you press A. This is where you decide how easy or difficult you want the car to be to control. In these menus, if pressing RB is difficult you can just use the left stick to scroll across. This game does have quite a few default controls. To see what these are you can find them in the Options Menu under Controller. Default controls to this game are:left joystick to steer RT for accelerate LT for brake. LB is clutch if you have the car in manual. RB is look straight back. Press the View button: it changes the view of your car. Y is rewind. X is shift up if you have the car in manual mode. A is handbrake B is shift down if you have the car in manual mode. And the Menu button will pause the game. This game does have a lot of inputs if you want to access the full range of controls. However, if this is difficult it is possible to prioritize some inputs over others to make it a bit easier. It is possible to play this game with just a joystick for steering and two switches: one for accelerate and one for brake. In this set-up we have a joystick plugged into the left USB in the XAC for steering. We also have the green Buddy Button plugged into RT for accelerate and the red Buddy Button plugged into LT for brake and reverse. If you set the driving assists to super easy the steering assist is so strong that you can play this without a joystick. All you need to do is have a switch for accelerate. If you set the driving assist to easy the game will give you some help with braking and steering. However, you will still need to be able to steer with a joystick access inputs for brake and accelerate. One thing to bear in mind is that even though you can play the game with reduced controls you will still need to be able to press the A and the B button and possibly the Menu button to be able to independently set up the game. If this was difficult for someone, someone else could use a standard Xbox Controller alongside their XAC set-up and co-pilot and do this for them. Or, the person could have accessibility switches plugged into these buttons if they were able to access them. Once you have finished playing you can either press the Xbox button and return to the home screen to play another game or, if you hold this button down, you’ll get the option to turn the console off. Thank you for watching this video. If you have any questions about the Xbox Adaptive Controller or accessible gaming in general please contact SpecialEffect.