The lights are on
During Spike TV’s Video Game Awards, Stevie Wonder surprised the crowd of game developers and journalists with one request: make games that can be enjoyed by people with disabilities. While this may have been the first time some viewers have heard about game accessibility, it is a topic that’s been advocated for years and is slowly gaining recognition. Even though most mainstream games still do not include accessibility features including (but not limited to) color blind modes, closed captioning and reconfigurable controls, there are resources out there that can help. Read on for Game Informer’s Accessibility Buyer’s Guide for some cool gear and resources for gamers of all abilities.
Games
My Football GameVTree LLC and EA Sports have created a football game accessible to players with physical and developmental disabilities. My Football includes adjustable speed settings and accommodates gameplay based on performance. The game is compatible with Xbox 360 controllers as well as adaptive gaming devices. The game also supports one to two players.$39.99; www.vtreellc.com
EASe FunhouseDesigned for children with Autism, this game sets players on a treasure hunt across six unique rooms, all of which produce auditory and virtual vestibular stimulation, and encourages the child to participate in fun therapeutic activities. Treasures to be found include word cards, images of human expressions, colors, shapes and more. $39.00; www.vision-audio.com
Mystery Case Files: Dire GroveDire Grove is one of a series of Mystery Case Files titles by Big Fish Games that offer closed captioning for the Deaf and hard of hearing. Dire Grove is a point-and-click adventure game where players solve puzzles to uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance of four graduate students. The Mystery Case Files franchise at the top of the casual games market with more than 2.5 million units sold to date. $6.99; www.bigfishgames.com
audiogames.netThis site offers a wealth of audio games for the visually impaired, most of which are free. This includes accessible versions of Snake, Ms. Pac-Man, Battleship and more. These games rely on audio cues for game instructions, feedback and game navigation. This is a great resource for gamers with visual impairments and the legally blind.Varies; www.audiogames.net
posting first is so stupid
some of these things cost more than the consoles themselves and probly make the games harder. if i had a disability i'd just watch tv.
It's great to see the kinds of peripherals available for the handicapped consumer, but it'd be nice if the prices were more accessible. I'm not laying blame, though, as I'm sure the demand for these items is a lot less than a typical controller, and the amount of research and testing that went into them was probably very costly.
I was particularly interested in how Harmonix would've responded to Stevie Wonder's comment since their game won.
I'd like to say that I am no means handicapped or disabled but I am fully in support of this movement. Video gaming should be accessible to everyone if they choose to par take in in, and making a conscious effort to make these kinds of peripherals for handicapped individuals is a great way to get more people involved.t
Always nice to see more options available to those who need them.
A lot of these things are ridiculously overpriced. Honestly, there's so many handicap accessible games for the Wii and DS. I think Nintendo's on the right track with everything they've been doing.
We've got games like Trauma Center, Ace Attorney, Animal Crossing, Advance Wars, all of which are excellent games that are very handicap accessible.
However, there are the people that don't have use of even one hand, which I guess makes the breathing devices pretty cool, if not wildly impractical. There should be more games like Endwar that can be played with voice recognition.
It's nice to see the community becoming available to more people... provided it does end up making the Wii shovelware end up being the norm for gaming.
I think it's sad how so many people can't experience the greatness of video games. Every time I play, I'm thankful I am able to do so. This is a great list for anyone who wants to play video games, but are unable to due to disabilities.
It's great to see that they do have these options for people with disabilities, although i do agree with DeadByDagger, some of them are overpriced. I understand how it make take a lot more money to make some of these controllers, computers, etc. However gamers without disabilities get to pay a much smaller price than people with disabilities and that doesn't seem fair to me.
The reaction to accessibility is pretty amazing. Especially considering that the technology is still pretty new. Yes, the prices are hell-a expensive but given time to develop and release worth-while software and products, the prices will go down.
I am glad that companies are also thinking about players and gamers who have disabilities or the abilities that we have. It is nice that they have things out there that can help and assist them while making gaming fun for them. This also opens games to even more people.
It's great to know that there are options for disabled gamers out there like these. I hope that more companies include simple options like better subtitles and completely custom control schemes in the future.
i can't imagine anyone actually having fun playing by using these, they must take so much away from the gameplay
Wow, that is the longest title for a book I have ever seen...and I'm actually surprised anything good can come out of being an MMO addict, lol.
wow then why is it so expensive?
Even if this stuff is expensive, I am sure with time and recognition, it will become less expensive. I think it's just fantastic to see steps being taken in efforts to make games accessible to people of disabilities.
That's cool that they do that.
I need a new HD tv for my room so I can play 1080p games and movies on it 40in + so far a 26in is not getting the job done...
Dang some of these are so expensive
DeadByDagger, you couldn't be more wrong about the Wii and DS. They are two of the most inaccessible consoles ever made for people with physical disabilities.
I have mild Cerebral Palsy and run a website that covers areas like Game Accessibility in addition to Serious Games and Health & Fitness Games.
I wrote a review of the Access Controller (http://bit.ly/6cst43) when it was released and more recently whipped up a post about some of the tricks I use to help me play Wii (http://bit.ly/1kupNa).