Slalom, the Videogame
0 Comments Published by Javier Mairena (AccessAble Games) on Friday, September 30, 2011 at 7:15 AM.
Wheelchair Slalom is a sport for people with cerebral palsy, in which the players go through a course made up of various obstacles and tests in the shortest time possible.
'Slalom, the Videogame' provides an insight into the sport without the need for space, time and personnel required for its practice.
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Labels: AcceessAble Games, Closed Captions, Eye Tracker Games, Free games, Game Therapy, One Handed, One Switch Games, PC
Remappable/reconfigurable controls has been one of the more successful calls for game accessibility in recent times, helped by the likes of Chuck Bittner and other advocates (examples: 1, 2, 3). There's such a broad range of people using idiosyncratic ways of playing, often with non-standard controllers, that you'd think the vast majority of game designers would keep this in mind.
So does that mean that most games now have the facility to set-up controls to suit your own playing style? No. Not yet, not even for simple left-hand play modes. In general, things are good on PCs, and bad on consoles. Meanwhile, there's a few things that can help:
There are a very small number of off the shelf Joypads that allow you to remap buttons, such as the Thrustmaster 3 in 1.
Some gaming devices allow you to move interchangable control pod clusters such as MadCatz MLG Pro Circuit controllers, eDimensional's Access Controller and the hard to find Radica Phoenix Revolution controller.
Switch interfaces allow for controls to placed within easier reach, in a highly versatile but often quite expensive way.
Some controller adapters, such as the Max Shooter allow a keyboard to be used to control game functions, and to be configured as needed.
Re-mapping modules from the likes of Chinese boffins, XCM, enable PS3 or Xbox 360 reconfiguration (to a degree). See a short review and video over at SpecialEffect's GameBase of XCM's Xbox Remapper and PS3 Cross Battle Adapter.
So does all of this weaken the call for reconfigurable controls in games? No, not at all. Being able to auto-load and auto-save favourite profiles within games adds comfort and convenience for all. For many, it's the difference between a playable and unplayable game. Seems like a small thing to ask to me.
Labels: Campaigning
Game Accessibility Symbols
1 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 5:43 PM.
In their on-going work to form a solid game accessibility ratings system, SpecialEffect are looking for a symbol to represent Game Accessibility. They're asking for people's thoughts on the above. Which grabs you?
Labels: Campaigning
Attractor accessibility usage statistics
1 Comments Published by Javier Mairena (AccessAble Games) on at 2:49 AM.
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Labels: Free games, PC, Statistics
Article 31: The Right To Play
1 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 3:20 AM.
"The right to play is enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the UK government in 1991, and most around the world (not the USA though). The government has a duty under this convention to protect and promote play opportunities for all children and young people."
See also: International Play Association; Children's Right To Play; Play England.
Labels: Campaigning
N-Control's 'The Avenger' is a case that fits over any standard Xbox 360 joypad to bring controls into easier access. There's a great story at CBS Miami on the origins of this device and it enabling a young man who was unable to use a standard Xbox controller.
Link with thanks to Sheri Rubin. Added to the OneSwitch Accessible Gaming Shop.
Labels: Accessible Controllers, Xbox 360
New Wave of Evil Controllers
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 5:16 PM.
Adam from Evil Controllers recently sent me photos of a couple of his latest joypad accessibility adaptations, which I'm sharing with you above.
Top and middle pictures are of an Xbox 360 joypad tailor adapted for Randy Fitzgerald, a quadriplegic gamer known as N0M4D. The D-pad has been made easier to use and four metal buttons have been added to the faceplate. Those metal buttons and the thumb-stick clicks are reprogrammable where any push button can be reassigned. On top of this, Andy's enabled a "toggle" system so that Randy can just tap a button now to make it hold or release a game function. Stunning job!
The hacked in half controller pictured bottom, is a prototype and much like the HORI Separate in effect: Ideal for those unable to bring their hands together. I have to say as the HORI Separates have become so hard to find recently, this is really fantastic news. Read more at Evil Accessibility.
Labels: Accessible Controllers
