I was born with Cerebral Palsy, a non-progressive condition that affects the part of the brain that handles the limbs and fine motor functions. The disease rendered me unable to talk and confined me to a wheelchair. In addition, I only have full use of my right arm. As a disabled gamer, I've always been a little concerned about what the future holds. As it is, controllers have undergone a massive evolution over the past 20 years. They've gone from as simple as the original Nintendo Entertainment System controller to as complex as the PlayStation 3 controller. Couple that with a genre like shooters, which use pretty much every button, and you run into a problem: The controls are too complicated for one-handed gaming. When you need to hold the controller a certain way, it inevitably leaves some buttons out of reach. That is my biggest complaint with the controllers for this generation, as well as the previous one: Disabled gamers can't use the shoulder buttons easily. Using the left analog stick and pressing the right trigger with one hand is pretty much impossible.

I was born with Cerebral Palsy, a non-progressive condition that affects the part of the brain that handles the limbs and fine motor functions. I'm unable to talk or walk, which confines me to a wheelchair. I only have full use of my right arm, but I can play one-handed. Playing certain games one-handed can be challenging, and there are some games that I cannot play, but I'm always up for a good challenge. It's part of what makes me, or anyone else, a gamer. I began to play video games at the age of 8, with Super Mario Brothers on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), a game that I've yet to finish. Back then, it seemed endless (and apparently, to Nintendo, it is). I remember playing it for 4 hours each day for 2 weeks, hoping to beat it. Unfortunately, that never happened. Being young at the time, I simply put the game away for another title. I should probably go and pick it back up some day.