Accessible Design at Global Game Jam 2013
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 5:29 AM.
Global Game Jam is an annual game hack weekend, where teams around the world are given a common theme to work to (this year's was 'heart beat'), and divide into teams to produce an entire end to end functioning game by the end of the 48 hours. Read on...
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Labels: Audio Games, GGJ, One Switch Games, PC
Kenji Eno (1970-2013)
1 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Friday, February 22, 2013 at 4:39 PM.
Sad news to hear that game accessibility advocate and pioneer Kenji Eno died this week at the age of 42. Kenji produced the first ever audio game to make its way onto a games console, RealSound: Kaze No Regret (aka The Regret of the Wind). Here's a brief excerpt from a 2008 interview with 1UP.com:
1UP: After D, you surprised Warp's fans by creating an offbeat Sega Saturn adventure game, Real Sound.
KE: Oh, that's a funky game.
1UP: Yeah, not only was it funky, it was also a game without any visuals. What inspired it, and how did you get Sega to publish it?
KE: After I released D, people were always expecting more CG graphics from me, and I got tired of that. I didn't want people to think that they could predict what Warp would do next. Also, I had a chance to visit people who are visually disabled, and I learned that there are blind people who play action games. Of course, they're not able to have the full experience, and they're kind of trying to force themselves to be able to play, but they're making the effort. So I thought that if you turn off the monitor, both of you are just hearing the game. So after you finish the game, you can have an equal conversation about it with a blind person. That's an inspiration behind this game as well.
So Sega was asking for exclusive rights to the game, and I said, "OK, if you'll donate a thousand Saturns to blind people, then I'll donate a thousand games along with the Saturns." And my condition was that if Sega would go for this idea, I would make that game Sega exclusive. So, that's how this happened. It's been several years now, and of course the contract probably isn't valid anymore, but the reason that I haven't done anything with this game is that I made this promise with Sega back in the day, and it's exclusive because of those conditions.
Labels: Audio Games
BlindComputerGames.com
1 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 5:16 AM.
"blindcomputergames.com is an information resource that includes:
A set of guidelines for developers who want to improve blind accessibility in their games.
An article for gamers who are blind to help them show developers how to make their games accessible to them.
Articles that give developers technical information, including code samples, to help them make their games accessible.
For gamers, it gives the technical words they need to communicate with developers at companies, big and small. It explains who to talk to, what information the developer will need, and when in the development cycle to communicate with a developer and to have the best chance of obtaining the changes that will increase accessibility.
For developers, it explains screen readers and self-voicing, and includes a blind accessibility checklist, some good example games, technical “how to's”, and a short guide to blind etiquette.
It's totally free and requires no registration.
The project took three months and was done at the request of and with the help of Dark, the administrator for audiogames.net and the leading advocate for blind gamers.
He is frequently asked by developers, "What would it take?" Now he has a place to send them, and a place to send his readers who have a game or other software program that they can “almost use”.
Although it is focused on games, much of the information is applicable to any software, not just games.
Any feedback would be helpful."
Via: Eleanor Robinson - 7-128 Software on the IGDA GASIG mailing list.
Labels: Audio Games, Design Tips
Imagine Wii Sports Tennis in the dark, and playable, and you have VI Tennis. It's a brilliant idea and happily, is well executed too. You'll need one or two Wii remotes, a Bluetooth equipped PC (I bought a USB Bluetooth dongle for 99p from eBay which works fine) and the free PC download of VI Tennis.All game play is through sound, feel and motion. I did find setting up tricky on my Windows 7 machine, but once it was, I was away. Reviewed over at the Accessible GameBase. Over at VI Fit, they also have an audio Wii-remote version of Bowling, which will hopefully be a sign of many more games to come.
Labels: Audio Games, PC, Wii
Electronic Soup Podcast: Audio Games
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 9:31 AM.
The "Access Collective" is a new podcast which brings together a slew of accessibility-bods including myself representing the Accessible GameBase and OneSwitch. No surprises, we're doing the accessible gaming bit.This month's item is part one of two on Audio Games. Aimed at blind and visually impaired people, I found that I also really benefitted from audio games, after getting pink-eye so badly after swimming in strong chlorine, that I couldn't look at my monitor for a few hours.
Like many games that are highly accessible, they can be fun for all kinds of people. You'll also hear just how far speech synthesis has come since the days of Speak and Spell. Listen on...
You can stream or download the podcast at Podbean.com and iTunes, get a transcript here and learn a little more here.
Labels: Audio Games, Podcast
Handheld Audiogame: Bandai Mousou Controller
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 8:42 PM.
GameSetWatch recently posted about the Mousou or Moucon range of mini handheld video games, with the twist being that you have no screen. You have to play by sound and feel alone. in short, they're hand-held audio-games.There are three games at present being two arcade classics (Street Fighter II and Xevious) and a baseball game that I've never seen before. Fascinating idea. See more over at Bandai's YouTube channel.
Labels: Audio Games
Top 10 Ways To Get Mainstream Game Accessibility
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Monday, August 31, 2009 at 10:43 AM.
"Top ten ways to get mainstream game accessibility [with an audiogaming slant]:
10. Organize all the guide dog owners in the country to visit mainstream game company headquarters and have their dogs poop on the floor.
9. Kidnap the children of mainstream game company executives and hold them ransom until their games are Accessible.
8. Picket mainstream game company headquarters with Braille signs saying that they are discriminating to the blind.
7. Have every blind person in the world learn computer programming and require them to debug a line of game code before they can read an audio book.
6. Start a charity, National Association of Accessible Games, and get people to donate millions of dollars, then hire sighted programmers to develop accessible games.
5. Get all colleges to add a class of Accessible game development to all
computer programming courses.
4. Get the NFB and ACB to protest that there are not enough mainstream game accessibility.
3. Petition Stevie Wonder to be the spokesperson for mainstream game accessibility.
2. Get all blind people to send a dollar to Thomas Ward so he can finish his accessible game engine.
1. Visit the homes of mainstream game company executives and poke their eyes out."
Cribbed from Phil Vlasak's post on the Audyssey Blind Gamers Mailing list - tip via Richard Van Tol on the GASIG Mailing List.
Labels: Audio Games
"Largely invisible to the mainstream, sightless gamers help each other tackle titles like Rock Band and Left 4 Dead, while others focus on games made for--and by--the blind."Read the rest of Mathew Peters' superb article on blind gaming at GameSpot. Unmissable. Link via Richard Van Tol on the IGDA GASIG mailing list.
Labels: Audio Games
BBC Radio 4 - Game Accessibility - In Touch
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Friday, March 13, 2009 at 6:42 PM.
Graham Race of MERU kindly pointed me in the direction of an interesting Radio 4 "In Touch" item on Accessible Gaming. It reflects the experiences of many blind and partially-sighted gamers. Seems Mortal Kombat can work out as a playable game for completely blind players due to the diverse use of sound. The item includes direct contact with Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft which was quite illuminating:Sony
"I'm David Wilson at Sony. Whilst we have had experience of visually impaired gamers, to the best of my knowledge we have never had any approach from people who are fully blind. Because video gaming is such a visual art form we're not sure how we could recreate the experience of non-linear interactive entertainment for a blind gamer. Of course we would never seek to exclude anyone from the joys of video game entertainment and we have worked with people with disabilities to enable them to participate. For example, redesigning a controller for a person with cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. But unless any of your listeners have some valid suggestions we are currently not sure how to adapt such a visual interactive medium without fundamentally redesigning the whole game to the point where it ceases to be the same product or experience."
Nintendo
"We are continually looking at ways we can bring our games to as broad and diverse range of people as possible. Creating video games that work effectively for blind or partially sighted customers is however a major challenge. While it is relatively simple to add a sound layer for DVD menus, for example adding audio assistance or tutorials, will not work with most existing games which depend on fast moving visuals, such as Mario Cart. Achieving a game such as this that works equally well for sighted and visually impaired users is unfortunately not practically possible. It is possible to create games based purely on sound and Nintendo published one such game in Japan for Game Boy Advance in 2007 called Sound Voyager which involved players using sounds from the left and right speakers to guide a target. These games are currently very rare but with the video game market and technologies evolving all the time this may change."
Microsoft
"We're still awaiting a reply from Microsoft."
Labels: Audio Games, Campaigning
Experimental Audio Games 2008
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 3:01 AM.
"It's that time of the year again! Groups of game design students of the Utrecht School of the Arts have developed 13 small audio game prototypes! Try them out and let the developers know what you think in the forum! You can find all the experimental audio games, as well as many others from the previous years, in the Experimental Audio Games Section. Have fun!"
This is my favourite time of year for Audio Games. "Typing of the Deaf" sounds especially fun - although shouldn't it be "Typing of the Blind and Partially Sighted"? Not so catchy I guess!
Via: AudioGames.net
Labels: Audio Games
Blind Gamer Shreds Guitar Hero
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 5:14 AM.
A short YouTube video of a prototype Guitar Hero controller for blind gamers. The gamer wears a glove for fret work. Small transponders tap the guitarists fingers, prompting them as to which buttons to press. Inspirational work from Eelke Folmer and his team.
Labels: Accessible Controllers, Audio Games, Videos
AudiOdyssey is a PC music game aimed at all gamers, but intended to be accessible to the blind too. It makes use of a Nintendo Wii controller, but can be downloaded and played without one too. More on this at AudioGames.net.Via: Eelke Folmer.
Labels: Audio Games, PC
