The Access experience begins before you even get your hands on the device. PlayStation designed a box that can be opened with one hand. Inside, we discover the main body of the console on the left, and on the right, all the components that can be replaced, added and combined to create the most practical board possible.
Given its goal, which is to allow everyone access to the world of video games, the Access Controller is far from resembling a classic console. Instead of the standard pad with its arms, directional cross, stick and All quantityPlayStation has chosen a circular shape that will necessarily remind you of the most poetic flower. Outside the corolla – to stay in the botanical register – we find the only analogue stick.
Because if the DualSense pads for the PS5 have two sticks, this is not the case for the Access Controller which has only one. Is this manufacturer’s choice guided solely by ergonomic concerns? In any case, you will need two accesses (for a total bill of 160 euros, therefore) to make use of a pair of sticks, just to manage the movement and the camera simultaneously, which is what many titles require. To increase the device’s versatility, you can actually pair two access devices. In this case, the user would have 18 buttons to assign, counting the two that are activated by pressing the sticks (L3 and R3 for those in the know). Please note that PlayStation also allows the DualSense to be linked to this duo for external assistance, or for the player to even feel vibrations, as Access controllers are devoid of this function.
In the absence log, we define the trend intersection. Here again, it is difficult to judge the manufacturer’s intentions. Of course, we could always assign directional keys to buttons, but the real cross, even difficult to handle in some cases, was probably not so much.
We also regret that the manufacturer does not provide any analog switch (like the DualSense’s R2 and L2 triggers). This time, this is a deliberate choice, but some games (motorsports, in particular) may be less easy to master without this interface. Finally, the microphone, touch area and vibrations are absent, but their absence seems less detrimental to us.
Despite these few components, we immediately recognize the PlayStation product thanks to its black and white colors, the texture of the different buttons – the handle consists of very small patterns of crossed, circular, square and triangle buttons – and the diode that turns from orange to blue and the famous PS button is placed near the stick. Next to the latter, we find a button that allows you to change the profile even in the middle of the game, as well as a limiter of the distance between the stick and the corolla (maximum distance of 5 cm).
The access console also has four socket ports for connecting very specific equipment: pedal, breathing detector, etc. A USB-C port, which is used to charge or pair the controller, is located near this quartet. Finally, at the bottom of the completely soft console, which can therefore be placed on a flat surface without being wobbly, three AMPS-certified screw threads will allow it to be attached to medical equipment.
