Thomas, you rule On 2/9/11, Thomas Ward <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > As moderator and an interested party I've read almost everything > written on the "frustrated with the blind gaming community" topic and > it seams to me one of the biggest issues here is clear cut > communication between those who are in the know and those who aren't. > There are a lot of myths expressed by many of the VI gamers who don't > have any experience with mainstream games. I'd say most if not all of > the myths are based on ignorance of what the other side is trying to > say. > > For example, let's take the term "vidio game." One person said that > the word "vidio" meant that you had to have sight to play these games > because the word "vidio" is a visual term. This is not necessarily > true. > > To start with obviously vidio games have graphics and animation. > However, that isn't the beginning and ending of the game. There are > sounds, music, etc that have become extremely realistic over the past > ten to fifteen years or so. This means as things like 3d audio have > advanced and games use wav files instead of beeps and so on it has > made it more possible for us to listen carefully and play a number of > games through sound. Nobody is saying this is easy, but that it is > possible. > > The second issue is types of games. It is not really possible to pick > up a first-person or third-person vidio game and begin playing it by > sound because of complex level layouts, too many items to find/pick > up, and over all it is just very very complex to manage without sight. > Although, I have actually done it after an insane amount of practice. > However, this doesn't mean there aren't vidio games we can't just pick > up and play. There are wrestling games like Smackdown VS Raw that is > fairly playable without sight. There are the music games like Guitar > Hero and Rockband that can be played with some practice. There are > fighting games like DC VS Mortal Kombat that are fairly accessible to > play with some practice at it. There is a very good reason why the > fighting genre of games in particular are fairly accessible to play by > a blind individual. > > First, someone said, "it isn't very strategic to keep punching when > the enemy is on the ground." That wouldn't happen for one very good > reason. In a fighting game you can hear the enemy fall and hit the > ground. If you know what that sounds like you aren't going to stand > there mindlessly kicking and punching thin air. You'll know they are > on the ground by the sound he/she makes when they fall. Okay? > > The second issue is someone said, "if you have already been punched > you can't block it." Again this indicates ignorence of how advanced > these fighting games are. There are actually two attack sounds. There > is the sound of the punch, kick, whatever coming and there is the > sound of it connecting with your body. If you are paying attention, > listening carefully, you can hear the attack coming and either attempt > to dodge it or block it in some way. In this way even though you > can't physically see the attack coming on screen there is plenty of > audio queues to give you advanced warning of what is happening. > > > Basically, what I'm saying is the main reason guys like Yohandy are > into playing these fighting games is it can be done, and there is > plenty of audio queues and sounds to make it more than possible to do > totally blind. It is cases like this were vidio has nothing to do with > weather or not you can play it because the audio really is fairly > equal to what is happening on screen. > > Finally, there is the issue of menus and things like that. Yeah, this > is something of a hastle. It takes a bit of memorization, but there > are work arounds. One way is simply to take a sheet of braille paper, > put it in your brailler, and type up a list of what every menu item is > for this or that game. Sure it isn't as straight forward as a talking > menu, but it is an easy work around for a problem. > > One way I look at this is to look at it this way. How many times have > you gone to a regular store like K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc and purchased a > standard board game like Monopoly or picked up a deck of playing > cards, taken it home, and brailled up the game. I've done it many many > times. I never purchase games through Independant Living aids, because > I can do exactly the same thing for a fraction of the cost with a > braille writer and a roll of dimo tape in most cases. > > This is what I mean by there are work arounds. All of us are blind > living in a sighted world. Most of us by now have figured out if we > want to do something bad enough it can be done. I'm not saying playing > mainstream games like Street Fighter, DC VS Mortal Kombat, etc is for > everybody. No, I know it is not. However, for those who are a bit > curious, perhaps interested at looking at it, you should give it a > try. For those who aren't interested, but constantly make uneducated > comments like, "I don't want to stand there punching at air while the > enemy is on the ground," please stop. All you are doing is muddying > the water with your uneducated point of view. To make it clear "if you > don't have anything constructive to say don't say it at all." > > Thanks. > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. >
-- Nick Helms "I will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do." --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
