Could PS5's Access controller put a stop to the gamepad vs mouse + keyboard debate?

A threeway split showing a mouse and keyboard on the left, the PS5 access controller in the middle, and an Xbox Elite Series 2 Core on the right
(Image credit: Future)

Sony has finally given us more details about Project Leonardo, an accessibility-based controller it revealed earlier in the year at CES 2023. Now called simply the "Access controller", we know a lot of research and development has gone into making it something that allows gamers of all abilities to enjoy PlayStation's library of titles.

As someone who reviews both controllers and gaming PCs for a living, I'm so happy to see this. Gamepads, maybe more than any other gaming accessory, are really subjective. Everyone's hands are slightly different sizes and shapes, people grip a controller differently, and depending on what you play, there are so many varying factors in what can be right for you.

It's about time that more big manufacturers like Sony and Microsoft put their money where their mouth is and make something like the Access controller that caters to people that, for whatever reasons, can't hold or play with a traditional controller. Microsoft already released the Adaptive controller back in October of 2022.

We've seen things like this before. Inspiring charities like Special Effect make use of its GameAccess assistive technology to bring gaming into a possible space for people with motor-based disabilities. But from my understanding, this technology is difficult and probably very expensive to make, never mind get a hold of. Thanks to Sony making Project Leonardo, there might be a new wave of accessible hardware making its way to the right people. Accessibility options in games themselves are great, but they can only go so far - there are plenty of motor-based disabilities these just can't lower barriers for.

Project Leonardo

(Image credit: Sony)

For me, the Access Controller points to a really bright future for the gaming community. It takes a big step toward welcoming new people of all abilities into the fold, but that could bring with it a newfound acceptance of every gamer's hardware choices.

Be it the number of online competitive games, the industry's deep-rooted love of challenge, or even our loyalties to the platforms we play on, the games industry is rife with judgemental takes about "how" we all play our games. I can't tell you how many fully-abled streamers I've watched play an online game on PC with a mouse and keyboard and when they get an "easy" kill, they decide to mock someone because that person had "controller aim".

We all know about the console war and the PC master race, but in 2023, I'm sick of the entire "controller-will-never-be-as-good-as-mouse-and-keyboard" debate that still rages in many an online community.

For starters, I think it's a woefully out-of-date take. Today's pro gamepads, as seen on our list of best PS5 controllers, have some stunning functionality. Mappable back buttons, trigger stop levels, customizable dead zones - it all adds up to a much greater device that, in a majority of today's games, means a controller is more than capable of keeping up with a mouse and keyboard.

Victrix Pro BFG review image showing the controller leaning against its case

(Image credit: Future / Duncan Robertson)

It's not as if the best gaming keyboards are perfect, either, and I feel like a lot of PC players pretend they are. With WASD, you'll never get the same fluidity of 360 movements as you do with an analog stick, and the amount of comfort on offer with a keyboard isn't close to what the best Xbox Series X controllers have. It's for those reasons that amazing hybrid keypads like the Azeron Cyborg exist, and prove very popular indeed.

Whether it's the best gaming mouse or PS5's new Access controller, any hardware you choose to play with is valid, and I think it's well past time we all accept that. Every piece of gaming hardware has its strengths and weaknesses - if it didn't, I'd be out of a job. There are pros and cons to every way of playing. What it comes down to, more often than not, is ability.

I hate to break it to the PC players among us, but at some point or another, you've been killed by a controller player without aim assist - the point being - we all potato from time to time. In the same way, plenty of difficult games have been bested by heroes who have somehow found a way of playing with a gamepad that is not designed with their disabilities in mind.

But just as it comes down to ability, people need to keep in mind that it comes down to disability as well. Sometimes, the hardware we choose isn't about what's comfortable, or what we have experience with, it's about what we as gamers are mechanically able, or not able to use.

More important than any of the console war's squabbles, is that new people get to appreciate the art form of video games. If we continue to let petty things like our hardware choices create an unwelcoming air of judgment, there are millions of people around the world that will not ever want to be a part of the gaming community.

So next time you think about mocking or jabbing at someone for their "controller aim", please take a second to think about who you might be mocking, and what you might be mocking them for.


Enough about what you use to play, let's talk displays! Here are our picks of the best gaming monitor, the best TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X, and the best gaming TV.

Hardware Editor

One of my earliest memories is playing SuperMario64 and wondering why the controller I held had three grips, but I only had two hands. Ever since I've been in love with video games and their technology. After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Journalism, I contributed to the Scottish Games Network and completed an Editorial Internship at Expert Reviews. Over the last decade, I’ve been managing my own YouTube channel about my love of games too. These days, I'm one of the resident hardware nerds at GamesRadar+, and I take the lead on our coverage of gaming PCs, VR, controllers, gaming chairs, and content creation gear. Now, I better stop myself here before I get talking about my favourite games like HUNT: Showdown, Dishonored, and Towerfall Ascension. Location: UK Remote

Read more
GameSir G8 Galileo close up
GameSir is one of my favorite controller brands, but I hope it changes one thing in 2025
Best PC controller buying guide hero image showing the Victrix Pro BFG controller and its suite of components
The best PC controller for gaming 2025
A GameSir Tarantula Pro review image of the gamepad on its stand
GameSir Tarantula Pro review: “This is the pro-DualShock 4 I’ve always wanted”
The Hyperkin Competitor controller on a green background
This new Xbox controller looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen, but it could be one of the best gamepads of 2025
A Manba One review image showing the controller in its charging stand with its display on
Manba One review: “The power of a PC app in the palm of your hand”
Spider-Man 2 PC
As console exclusivity quietly dies, I'm reaping the rewards on PC
Latest in Gaming Keyboards
Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid gaming keyboard on a wooden desk with blue lighting
Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid review: "one of the best value Hall effect gaming keyboards out there"
Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard in a desk setup
Alienware Pro Wireless gaming keyboard review: "a nostalgic return to mechanical form"
close up on Razer logo on the front of the Razer BlackWidow V4 75% keyboard
Razer's first hot-swappable keyboard just took one of its biggest price cuts yet
SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Gen 3 Hall effect keyboard with caps removed to show switches
My favorite Hall effect gaming keyboard just returned to a record-low price at Amazon
Ducky One X gaming keyboard in white standing upright on a wooden desk
Ducky One X review: “an analog keyboard for those who have already sworn off them - with some sacrifices”
NZXT Function Elite Mini TKL gaming keyboard with blue RGB lighting set against a blue gaming setup
NZXT Function Elite MiniTKL review: ‘laser-focused on competitive players’
Latest in Features
Marvel Rivals Spider-Man
Spider-Man has become every Marvel Rivals player's worst nightmare
The Punisher holding two machine guns in the rain
Daredevil: Born Again - Learn the bullet-riddled comic book history of the Punisher before he officially joins the MCU
A woman in a underwater machine waving during the cinematic teaser for Subnautica 2.
Subnautica 2: Everything we know about the new underwater survival game
The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G being held above a motherboard by a reviewer
AMD's pro-consumer 9070 strategies are exactly why it's primed to dominate the CPU market in 2025
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows' transmog looks set to combine the best of Odyssey and Vahalla to make changing my drip easier than ever
Split Fiction screenshot of Zoe and Mio in a fantasy world
Split Fiction feels like a Mass Effect-meets-Fable platformer and I'm obsessed with it after just one hour