I’m a self-confessed gadget freak. As it is, I’m currently writing this review on my Macbook, which is connected to the internet via bluetooth through my iPhone, and on another day, this might very well have been written on my iPad. Point is: I love my technology, and particularly the way it can enhance my life and the lives of other disabled people.

Playstation Move, for the uninformed, is a little bit like the Nintendo Wii. You play games by standing in front of your TV, pretending to wack a golf ball or fight in a gladiator duel, and your movements are picked up by a camera sitting on top of your TV, allowing you to interact with the game with your body instead of a traditional gaming controller. Needless to say, as soon as I got wind of this revolution in gaming I sped down to my local electronics store and picked up a starter pack. I had one lingering question, however: as a wheelchair user, would I be able to use Playstation Move?

I won’t talk too much about pricing, features, or anything else that’s been covered in mainstream gaming sites, they do that far better than I ever will. But as a young man with cerebral palsy, the Playstation Move certainly presented its fair share of challenges!

The initial set up was fairly painless. My starter pack came with a ‘Playstation Eye’ camera, which I simply plugged into one of my PS3′s USB ports, and placed it (somewhat precariously) on top of my television. The other main component in the pack was what Sony calls a ‘motion controller’, which is kinda the main event. This is the wand (pictured left) that doubles as golf club, sword, and occasional bow and arrow set. Quite amazing stuff. So I turned it on, and encountered my first hurdle: “calibration”.

Calibration is basically the process by which you teach your Playstation about your body height, shape, etc., so it can track your movements effectively. When you begin the calibration process, you’re presented with an on-screen ‘frame’ that you’re supposed to stand in, with your head touching the top of the frame. My head reached abouuuuut the halfway mark. Uh-oh. I tilted the camera down a little bit, so I filled up a little more of the frame. An improvement, but not by much. Ah well, onwards.

It then asked me to hold the controller in front of me, and hold two specific buttons down at the same time, a trigger on the back and button on the front. Now, anyone who knows anything about cerebral palsy knows that dexterity often isn’t one of our strong points. As such, holding down two separate buttons on opposite sides of this bulky wand-thing isn’t an easy ask! Nonetheless, after a few practice goes, I succeeded. Next!

Here, it gets interesting. My Playstation instructed me to hold the motion controller up to my shoulder, and press the central button to confirm. It showed me a diagram of the approximate location within the frame that my shoulder should be (see image on the right). Of course, being in a wheelchair meant that my shoulder was nowhere near this spot. Sneakily, I held the wand as high above my head as I could, which was more or less where my shoulder “should have been”. Clicked the button. Success! My Playstation now thinks my shoulder is well above my head. Not sure if this was going to come back to haunt me. Onto the next instruction…

It now tells me I should hold the motion controller by my side, and click the same button. But my side is full of wheels, metal bars, and various sharp bits! I leant forward, held the wand down by my ankles and pressed the button (on the on-screen guide, my ankles equated to where my ‘side’ should be. Who am I to argue with the Playstation?)

Correct! Two tasks down, one instruction to go. It has asked me to place the motion controller upon my ‘belt buckle’ (disclaimer: I don’t wear belts. It’s hard enough using the toilet without having to undo a belt buckle! With these fingers, it ain’t happening). I do so, slightly wary that I no longer have any idea where any of my body parts ‘ought to be’. My side is down by my ankles, my shoulder is above my head, where the hell should my belt buckle be?! I guessed. Bad idea.

BRMM. Big red box. Exclamation marks. Warning signs. WRONG, it says, your belt buckle is not there! Calibration fail! Start again please!

Shit.

So I repeated the process. About four times, in fact, each time failing at the belt buckle stage, before I threw the motion controller on my bed in frustration. This wasn’t going to work, I thought, I’ll have to take it back. But would Sony accept a return based on disability? Through a lack of accessibility? One more go, I convinced myself.

This time, I made an effort to place the wand at a position relative to my ankle, where my belt buckle should have been, if I was ‘normal’. At this stage, my new toy was making me feel pretty bloody disabled! However I’m delighted to say, this time I got it! It worked! I succeeded in calibration, inserted my ‘Sports Champions’ game and set about playing some table tennis. Only one word can describe the next few hours: wow.

It was quite an incredible experience; smashing the ping pong ball across a table, performing back-hand spins, forehand shots, and overhead smashes, just as you would in ‘real life’. The angle that your hand ‘hits’ the ball with has a direct influence on the type of shot produced on-screen – it really is a deeply immersive, realistic experience. What’s more: my disability didn’t impede me from enjoying the game at all! As long as you have some movement in your arm (right or left), you can play the most realistic game of table tennis you’ve ever seen! It’s such an amazing feeling.

Once my arm tired of playing ping pong, I selected another sport from the main menu: ‘Bocce’. Now, some of you might know that I’m a bit of a dab hand at boccia, so I was stunned to discover that I could now play it on my Playstation! Honest evaluation: I’m a little bit better in real life

I tried some of the other sports: gladiator duel, disc golf, archery and beach volleyball. They were all great fun, however I struggled with beach volleyball and archery, owing to some over-your-head movements that I find quite difficult.

All in all, I shan’t be returning my Playstation Move, in fact my family are struggling to pull me away from it! After spending my entire life yearning to play sports, and having to settle for somewhat removed experiences by way of traditional gaming controllers, Playstation Move has allowed me to ‘play’ in a way I never thought possible. It’s changed my life for the better, and despite a few setup hassles, I can’t recommend it enough. Make sure you ask to test it out in-store before you lay down your hard-earned cash, just to make sure it’s the right fit for you!