The most insane gaming story since the guy who finished Dark Souls with a Guitar Hero controller.
When he was 19, Rocky Stoutenburgh took a nasty spill that dislocated two of his thoracic vertebrae and severed his spinal cord.
Today, Rocky is paralysed from the neck down, and yet he can probably wreck you in most competitive games.
*LIVE on #Twitch playin’ PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS – Catch me here: https://t.co/aWvgx0eLp1 || #SupportSmallStreamers @SupStreamers #G… pic.twitter.com/BCunuhokvY
— Rockynohands (@rockynohands) July 27, 2017
He is a Twitch streamer and YouTuber under the name RockyNoHands and he enjoys games such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), For Honour, and Rocket League.
An impressive feat for someone who can’t use his hands, but then how does he play at all?
He was an avid gamer prior to his accident, and didn’t return to gaming for a while, as he tried to adjust to his condition. That is, until his brother told him about a gaming controller designed for quadriplegics.
“My brother found this website for a gaming controller, and I kept telling him no. But then after a while, we bought it and tried it out,” said Rocky.
“The first model wasn’t a great model. It would fall apart a lot and break. After about five years, I just quit playing video games because they all broke. But then a new model came out and I started playing again.”
The controller he uses is a mouth-operated device called a Quadstick, which allows players to customize their controller layout. “There’s three holes that you can sip on or puff into,” Rocky explained.
The QuadStick is a mouth operated game controller for Quadriplegics.
PS3 to PS4 converter can support the device.https://t.co/NeuuNCkWdw pic.twitter.com/voikw593Ek
— Brook (@brookgamingfans) May 9, 2017
“You can sip on two holes or even all three at the same time, and then there’s a button underneath that you can press with your lips.”
Rocky plays using the FPS (first-person shooter) model of the Quadstick, which has more sensors than the regular model.
Gamers who use the Quadstick typically avoid fast-paced shooters such as PUBG, and instead opt for adventure games where you can take your time instead of needing to react quickly to everything.
To that, Rocky says no. He has all but mastered PUBG on the Quadstick, racking up several headshot kills. But it was no easy task getting to the level he is now.
“PUBG was probably the hardest game, it took me about three days to make a (controller) layout. I use literally every button you have, and there’s some stuff I can’t even do,” he said.
Rocky is a huge inspiration to many gamers who feel they’ve lost their means to play. You don’t need hands to be awesome.
Take a look at even one of Rocky’s videos, and you’ll understand why he’s considered the world’s best Quadstick player.
-Tyler Roodt
