If you want these games to be more accessible, you have to put up a front.
The talking calculators we had in the 80s were horrible because they were
for the blind until Sharp somehow got the idea that the sighted folks would
really like to be able to punch buttons and hear the numbers so they didn't
have to look up from their books or whatever when they were calculating--so
if the games talked more, that would be less reading for a sighted community
for whom reading would take away somewhat from the enwrapping qualities of
the game. I especially wish that the WII had text to speech, because the
Miis always move around, and in Wii sports, the only way to play the big
boys is to become one yourself--get a lot of points. That's why in boxing,
you can punch three or four times and knock the computer out in those first
games. Get to pro though, and it's harder--but then, someone else in the
family comes along, plays with a different character and then, you can't
find which is your midi--especially with ten or twenty of them on the
screen! I'd love it if Nintendo would think about these things, but they
won't unless someone puts it in terms they can get--make it easier for the
sighted to hear their scores--all those Wiis in nursing homes, who wants to
have to put on glasses just to read the dang score!
So that's how it has to be done--otherwise it'll never happen.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "shaun everiss" <shau...@xtra.co.nz>
To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games
to bad we can't just hack the stuff to be usefull, and really get their
attention though its probably not going to get us closer.
Truth is Unless we can get on the same tech level as them we will never
win.
Because we are blind we currently are not able to get there.
I have friends interested in playing some games well 1 but no programmers.
and nothing really big enough to make a difference.
Hmm wander if the same thing would happen if we approached ms, maybe we
could get somewhere, xna is free so we could make games, even if ms
marketed those with access features we did or something.
However I remember there was a major cost for that.
At 05:33 p.m. 2/03/2009, you wrote:
Hi Dark,
Yeah, I have to agree it will begin with indipendant markets first.
Smaller developers are more open to new ideas and suggestions then the
mainstream big larger corperations. I can remember last year me and
another person contacted Sony about possably adding voice output to the
menus and various other access improvements for the platform.
Unfortunately, we never got passed the low level guys in the customer
service department. All we got for our multiple e-mails is "thank you for
your suggestion, we can not disclose future plans for the Playstation,
they don't allow their developers to speak to the public about new feature
ideas, and basically get lost."
Really quite sad because we can't even have a reasonable discussion with
these people about access issues because they have lots of middlemen who
act important, talk important, and have 0 power at all. When you ask them
to send you up the chain of command they give you the "sorry, I am not
alloud to do that," speal. So we are really screwed by there internal
polacies as muchas anything else. I suppose if someone got on talk radio,
a television show, put an article in the paper about the waySony was
treating accessibility they might crawl out of the woodwork claiming total
ignorance. In a since they'd be telling the truth since they put the
middlemen there to deflect you and I from talking to them one on one so
nothing we say ever gets braught to their attention. I'm sorry to say I
know of no other way to get there attention than by sticking there face in
it by making it a public media issue, or taking them to court and
performing a class action law suit. Neither way will make the
m any more willing to talk, and will make them angry if nothing else.
One reason I support Sryth is I can have a one on one dialog with the
developer. Get to know him, and he listens when I have an idea, comment,
or suggestion. Even if he never takes my input at least I feel better
knowing I was heard. Not so with Sony or the other big companies. they
blow you off without a backwards glance. As if you were a pesky fly or
something.
dark wrote:
As I've said before, I see independent game developers as very much the
future of game access.
they are small enough both to have a dialogue with, and that the sales of
games to Vi gamers can actually make a difference to them.
While it would be fantastic if the likes of midway, Capcom or nintendo
were to include access features, I'm not certain with their high turn
over of produced games, and their need to sell literally millions of
copies that it would be from a purely capitalistic point of view worth
their while.
Of course this isn't to say that I think the efforts of Igda etc
shouldn't be directed at those companies just that I'd be more surprised
if something came of it.
From the independent games point of view, while I appreciate the
findings of
7-128 on the number of website actually devoted to gaming for the motion
or hearing impared, it does seem that the issues involved are much more
well known, sinse independent games like retroremakes and the indi games
showcase have accessibility guidelines and sections which focus
exclusively upon those areas but have litle to no mention of sound access
at all.
While I don't doubt the findings of the servay, it appears from the
experience i've had that Vi access is less known about in general by the
vast majority of independent games developers than other forms of
access, ----- which probably explains the larger amount of specialized
resources available.
Obviously as with most of these sorts of findings though it's dependent
upon where you look, and it might just be I've stumbled upon the few
handy resources available in this area.
Beware the Grue!
Dark.
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