Button remapping has eluded console gamers for the longest time. While PC players have had access to that functionality for decades, Xbox 360 and PS3 owners could swap between preset control schemes only when developers included them. Sony took the next step forward first, adding custom controller configurations in the PS4’s 2.50 update. Now it’s the Xbox One’s turn.
Button mapping arrived on the heels of the New Xbox One Experience, and can be done through one of three ways:
- Settings / Kinect & Devices / Devices & Accessories
- Settings / Ease of access / Button mapping
- Launch the Xbox Accessories app directly
After diving into the Xbox Accessories App, you can alter the controller’s universal inputs, which works with first-party and third-party peripherals. How many players forget to invert the Y-axis camera controls before starting a game? Now, your up-is-down, down-is-up style of aiming is a menu toggle away.
As Major Nelson also confirmed:
For standard controllers, you can now swap button pairs. For example, if you choose to map LB to X, then X is automatically mapped to LB. This maintains that all buttons are always mapped on a standard controller. You can do multiple button swaps in sequence to move button commands to where you want them to be on the controller.
However, standard controllers cannot save your custom arrangements. To get the most out of the Xbox One’s button mapping, an Xbox One Elite Controller is a must. Not only does the controller remember your settings, it includes a wealth of other adjustments. Stick, trigger, and vibration sensitivities give players that extra advantage online.
Similarly, “you can have multiple buttons mapped to the same function.” In other words, you could use the paddles or triggers, not just X, to interact with objects. It may not seem like a huge improvement for the able-bodied gamers out there, but thousands still lack motor control of one hand or the other. Like Sony before them, Microsoft’s engineers just bettered the gaming experience for all impaired fans.
That’s some grade-A customer service.
