Current Total - $582.03

I want my own stomp controller! Do I have to buy all of this?

That depends on your needs and what you want the controller to do.

My recommended entry point: the Adaptive Controller and one Logitech Adaptive Kit (~$225). The kit comes with a variety of button types (to help identify what works best for you), is notably inexpensive compared to other buttons on the market, and provides enough buttons to play any Super Nintendo game (through an emulator) with minimal setup.

Starting with a lower number of buttons also helps reduce the learning curve of remapping your controller in the Xbox Accessories desktop app. As you use your controller, you'll find what movements you're comfortable with and adjust the layout of your buttons to support them. Learning to remap your controller allows you to change what your buttons do without having to physically swap them around or do anything with the input jacks.

Once you understand mapping, you can introduce SHIFTing (also implemented through the Xbox Accessories app). Just as holding the shift key on your keyboard changes each key input from lowercase to uppercase, you can set one of your buttons as a SHIFT key and assign secondary inputs to the rest, upgrading your available inputs from 11 (disregarding the SHIFT switch) to 22 at no additional cost. For reference, a Nintendo Switch controller has 26. That said, having 22 inputs is not the same as being able to easily use 22 inputs. Hence-

Upgrading over time: The benefit to the XAC being a modular controller is you can pick up more buttons as you go and replace any that don't fit your needs. There's also a variety of switches on the market offering different accessibility solutions, where just having pushbuttons may fall flat (or, in my case while making the stomp controller, joysticks). That said, here are the items I picked up over time and why I chose to do so:

• A second Logitech Adaptive Kit: When bought my XAC, I actually purchased two adaptive kits. This was because I had already been using a foot controller I'd developed on my own, knew there wouldn't be any issues transitioning to the XAC, and wanted a larger number of inputs (to support modern games). A second kit means 24 buttons in your arsenal, though the XAC only has 19 inputs jacks (meaning, if there's any of the four types provided in the kit you despise you don't have to use them). Having more buttons on your controller means more to account for, but they make up for it by taking away a significant degree of complexity in mapping/remembering your SHIFT inputs.

• A Latchbox: If there's one upgrade I can't recommend enough, it's this. Microsoft did not implement the ability to give your buttons toggle behavior. This becomes an issue when using SHIFT for secondary inputs, as one foot has to hold SHIFT while the other does everything else. In some games, that's not realistic. One solution is for the user to hold the SHIFT button in their hands, but that's not a solution for everyone. A latchbox is just a piece of hardware that enables toggle behavior to whatever button you attach it to.

• A second Latchbox: (Two!?) It's an extra $47, but trust me on this. You'll want one latchbox to handle SHIFTing and a second to handle any sort of hold. For example, if you're playing minecraft, having break assigned to a toggle-able button is going to save your ankles in the long run. If you're playing a first person shooter (which is not easy, even with assistive aiming), having scope/zoom assigned to a toggle-able button gives you the ability to use both feet for aiming. In the worst case scenario, you'll have a spare latchbox if the first one breaks.

Additional notes:

The cable management supplies are no joke. If you can't buy some, find your own means.
Handling 12-19 cables, especially if your controller isn't kept stationary, can become very, very time consuming.

Note: videos below were recorded at various points throughout the stomp controller's development.