Watching Aaron Cendan play a video game is like watching someone type. Instead of using a controller with joysticks, Cendan鈥檚 fingers furiously click an array of buttons on one of his own custom creations. It looks like a rectangular box with buttons that allows him to perform every move needed in a game.
鈥淚n 鈥榯witch鈥� games or really fast-moving games, a millisecond can be a long time,鈥� Cendan says. 鈥淪o having a controller that doesn鈥檛 rely on joysticks can speed up your responses.鈥�
Cendan鈥檚 custom controllers were inspired by a friend who could no longer play games because of a hand issue. 鈥淚 was surprised to find no custom controllers out there on the market, so I decided to try and build them myself,鈥� says Cendan.
In 2018, he formed the company聽Stickless聽and started building the boxes for competitive and disabled gamers. Now he鈥檚 got more orders than he can fill, making 85 custom controllers last year alone. This is on top of his graduate work in interactive entertainment at 91吃瓜网’s , where he is in the production track with a focus on audio.
Cendan says about half of his clients are disabled gamers who need a way to play their favorite games.
鈥淔or so long accessibility was an afterthought in the game industry, and in every industry really. And that鈥檚 no longer the case.鈥� 鈥� Aaron Cendan, FIEA student
鈥淔or so long accessibility was an afterthought in the game industry, and in every industry really,鈥� Cendan says. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 no longer the case.鈥�
The design process starts when Cendan gets clients to send a diagram of where their fingers touch the faceplate.
Then he drills the button holes using that design and builds the rest of the controller using wood, circuit boards and a polycarbonate faceplate. A contract artist working in Brazil creates custom artwork based on the client鈥檚 wishes. Each controller takes 8-12 hours to make.
鈥淚 really like doing it,鈥� Cendan says. 鈥淚 like helping people play who couldn鈥檛 previously. And people seem to love them.鈥�
