Attractors is a simple puzzle game developed by The Game Kitchen with AccessAble Games as accessibility advisor. The game have special accessibility options like: no time limit, no death, possibility to restart a level at any time, change game speed, one switch mode, microphone control mode, high contrast and no-click mode.
You can play it for free at: www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor
Also, you can download it and place on our own web site. Take it from here: www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor/attractor-redis01.zip
While playing, press ESC to return to main menu; you will return to the level that you have left when you click play again on main menu. Main menu and between levels menu are also accessible for one switch and no-click mode.
Attractor's option screen:
Labels: AcceessAble Games, Free games, Head Tracker Games, High Visibility, One Handed, One Switch Games, PC
PS3 joypad game played with a Head Tracker
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 5:24 PM.
Fantastic to see a PS3 being uniquely controlled by a head-tracker and symbols based control grid courtesy of the SpecialEffect GamesLab. Read my previous post The Holy Grail of Accessible Controllers? to find out why this kind of work is so important. Special Effect are making some huge strides for accessible gaming.
Labels: Head Tracker Games, PS3
Accessible Gaming - Living in the 80's?
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 9:00 AM.
Graeme's Free Games presently features some highly accessible versions of Namco's all-time classic Pac-Man. All feature the option to reduce the number of ghosts as well as giving the facility to adjust the speed of the ghosts and your Pac-Man independently.There's a really well thought out one-switch version that features the best solution I've seen yet to navigating a maze at speed. A mouse compatible version offers a way to play for head-tracker, eye-tracker and other users too. This too offers a really well thought out solution.
For those wanting to play the exact same version that Namco released in the arcades back in 1980/81 - take a look at 4Noah for a potential solution: One-Switch Pac-Man - Mouse controlled Pac-Man.
So when are main-stream developers going to start making their 21st century games this accessible? We're waiting...
Labels: Eye Tracker Games, Head Tracker Games, Mac, One Switch Games, PC
Design Tips For: Head Tracker Gamers
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 5:20 AM.
A Head Tracker is a device that translate human movement to on-screen pointer control. As with an Eye Tracker, a Head Tracker also replicates what a mouse does in function.A typical head tracker consists of an all-in-one camera and light source that points directly at the user. The user wears a reflective dot, on the peak of a cap or finger tip for example, which beams back a small spot of light to the camera. This reflected light is tracked and translated into corresponding pointer movement. If the user tilts their head up, the on-screen pointer moves up. If they look left, the on-screen pointer moves left too.
So, if a game can be played with a mouse alone, it's playable (to a degree) with a head-tracker or eye-tracker. Take a look at the "Design Tips For: Eye Tracker Games" which is very relevent, but do take the following key points into account:
1. A Head Tracker gamer will generally find it easier to accurately manipulate an on-screen pointer than an Eye Tracker gamer will.
2. Head Tracker users can generally move their pointer deliberately to an approximate point whilst looking at an entirely different part of the screen. Eye Tracker users can not do this normally (unless a plane of movement is locked to a certain area - such as with Demon Attack or a Super Breakout type game).
Retro Remakes, Special Effect, OneSwitch and the IGDA's GASIG are all very happy to take a look at any works in progress, to give support and ideas for tweaking and improving accessibility. Often times there might be just one or two things stopping an average game from being a really great game for disabled/enabled gamers. It would be great to have the opportunity to support people in getting the best out of their ideas.
Labels: Design Tips, Head Tracker Games
Accessible Gaming in 1981
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Monday, March 10, 2008 at 7:57 PM.
I've just received a scan of "Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners" by Karen Hughes - dated November 1981. Fascinating reading for me - and there's an interesting parallel with the photo above with some recent work I've been undertaking.
The photo above is of a gamer using head-control to play Bowling on a 1977 RCA Studio II games console using a "head wand" to press down on the keypad controller. It seems that this plays in a very similar way to "Super Monkey Ball 2" which I've recently had set-up on a Nintendo Wii to play with head-control and/or switches. Nothing is new it seems!
Hopefully I'll be able to get some more up from this article in the near future, if I can get permission from Karen Hughes. Fantastic pioneering work.
Scan with thanks to: Michelle Hinn.
Labels: Head Tracker Games, Historical
Gaze Controlled Games
0 Comments Published by OneSwitch.org.uk on Monday, October 22, 2007 at 5:34 PM.
COGAIN (Communication through Gaze Interaction) have just published a list of eye-tracker compatible games with assistance from the IGDA's GASIG members."One of the major goals of the COGAIN network is to provide people having physical disabilities with affordable, flexible, comfortable and easy to use hardware and software tools to interact with their environment through gaze control. Beyond applications that facilitate basic communication, our work also focusses on developing and sourcing games and other entertainment applications."
Thanks to Michael Heubner of COGAIN for this update.
Labels: Eye Tracker Games, Head Tracker Games
