We here at Stack Up are always looking for new ways to support our Troops with gaming. From our Air Assaults to Supply Crates, through our Red Shirt Raider Gaming Guild to Rigs4Vets, or The Stacks, we are always hard at work trying to find the next way we can help make an impact in some veterans life. Sometimes, however, things just line up in the right way and an opportunity presents itself.
This is the case with Tyler, and our quest to help get him back to gaming. You may remember the Marine Veteran, Tyler, as he was one of our San Diego Comic-Con Air Assaults, and you can learn more about him HERE!
During our time with Tyler, he expressed his desire to get back into gaming. You see, due to the injuries Tyler received during his service, gaming with a standard controller was impossible. During our time in San Diego, he got some hands-on action with the unique controls offered by the Switch, and was ready to get back into digital action!
However, as said, gaming with a standard controller was impossible, and while motion controls allow for some wiggle room, it wouldn’t solve the issue as most games would be unsupported.
Enter Warfighter Engaged!
The folks at Warfighter Engaged specialize in modding and building game controllers for disabled Veterans. We knew they were the right people for the job to help us get Tyler back up and gaming again! After some discussion was had, Warfighter Engaged told us what they needed to build the rig, and together we went to work!
Here are some words from Ken Jones, the founder of Warfighter Engaged, about Tyler’s controller.
“I always regretted not being able to hook up with Tyler when he was still at Walter Reed but he was always on my radar. Hearing from Stackup that he was ready to get back to gaming and needed a rig from us was great news. Tyler is a double above the knee and above the right elbow amputee. His left hand has some trauma as well but he could still hold the controller and work the left stick.
That meant that everything else needed to be figured out. Drawing on experience with similar rigs, we were able to put together a setup that works for Tyler. It uses an oversized right joystick, an adjustable face button quad, dual leg trigger/bumper pairs and a tethered PS4 controller attached to his movable tabletop. He was a great guy to work with. Very positive, full of energy, and always smiling. We are so happy to see him play again and wish him the very best.”
Thanks, Ken, and everyone at Warfighter Engaged, for helping us get this Marine back to gaming. We could tell you how much Tyler enjoyed the new controller, but as always it is better to show, and Tyler had some words of thanks that he too wanted to pass on, so take a moment and check out the video below!
WOW! Just amazing! You can also check out some of the awesome photos Tyler shared as well!
If you’d like to make a donation that helps our troops with gaming, Stack-Up takes lightly used PS4, and Xbox One games and gear as well as cash donations. Please help us help these vets out here:
