[nabs-l] accessible video games

Mon Sep 19 20:04:20 UTC 2011

Hi Dave,

We all do it.  You're the moderator, so you can't place yourself 
on owner status! * Smile!

 Chris Nusbaum

"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The 
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that 
exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and 
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical 
nuisance." -- Kenneth Jernigan (President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, 1968-1986.)

  Visit the I C.A.N.  Foundation online at: 
www.icanfoundation.info for
information on our foundation and how it helps blind and visually
impaired children in MD say "I can!"

Sent from my BrailleNote

 ----- Original Message -----
From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:58:14 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] accessible video games

Well, you make some good points, but the two situations are not 
the
same and I still am not convinced.

Yes, some people say the Blind Driver Challenge is a waste.  Many 
of
us think it is important.  We the blind are either paying for it
ourselves, or raising the money.  This is different from 
compelling a
third party to do it for us.  Secondly, most people can see the
importance of being able to drive, and most of us, sighted and 
blind
alike, would not put playing video games in the same place.  Yes, 
we
could learn valuable things from it, but it frankly would be a 
hard
sell to members and outsiders.

For me it is a pretty low priority.  I work in rehab and it is
getting harder to get blind guys jobs, even entry level jobs, in 
part
because of more complex computer systems and software.  This, and 
the
BDC and other ythings should be a higher priority.

Finally, I am guilty too, this is mostly off topic for this list.  
Sorry!

Dave

At 05:53 PM 9/18/2011, you wrote:
Dave,
   Some people would say the blind driver challenge is a waste of 
time
and money which would be better spent on something practical and
possible and it's a valid point.  But I think lots of us agree 
that
it's a risk worth taking because of the potential benefits.
   Now I'm not suggesting accessible video games would be as 
valuable
for us as a car we could drive, but if our goal is to help us 
live on
terms of equality with the sighted world then it's certainly 
within
the scope of that mission.  Should pressuring gaming companies to 
at
least try and make something accessible be one of the top 
priorities
of the nNFB?  Of course not.  But is it something worth pursuing?  
I
say so.  After all, it's very possible, some would say likely, 
that
the blind driver challenge will just be a waste of millions of 
dollars
that could be put into something actually useful.  I think this 
is a
similar situation, on a much smaller scale.  Thoughts, anyone?
   Best,
Kirt

On 9/17/11, Juan Munoz <jcmunoz1989 at gmail.com> wrote:
 Hi all,

 My favorite games are the only games I know for sure I can play, 
and
 those are fighting games, in particular, Mortal Kombat games.  
The
 newer versions of these incorporate stereo surroundsound, 
meaning that
 the location of my fighter is very easy for me to keep track of.  
I
 grew up with some sight before losing it, and therefore was able 
to
 play games like Tetris, Super Mario, and 007.  I do get 
nastalgic when
 I hear my nephews play newer versions of my childhood games, and 
often
 wonder how these could be made accessible without taking away 
from the
 enjoyment of both blind and sighted players.  The only thing I 
can
 think of is to at least have audible menu options read allowed 
by
 either human or synthesized speech so that we can customise 
player
 options, create online accounts on XBOX Live and PSN, etc.  
Beyond
 this, I've got nothing, but wouldn't that be quite the huge leap
 forward?

 Respectfully,
 JC

 On 9/17/11, Patrick Molloy <ptrck.molloy at gmail.com> wrote:
 Thanks for all of your thoughts.  It seems like game companies 
should
 at least try and make their games accessible.  What's the worst 
that
 could happen? Furthermore, how will we know unless we try?
 Patrick

 On 9/16/11, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> wrote:
 We are just to small a market for it to be worth their while.  
And
 ...  in many instances, it just wouldn't be possible.  Many 
games are
 based on eye-hand coordination and can't be reproduced with 
sound or
 other  modalities in the same way.

 Dave

 At 08:00 PM 9/14/2011, you wrote:
Hi All,
I'm curious to get your thoughts on this question that's been in 
the
back of my mind recently: Why haven't mainstream video game 
companies
even attempted to make their products accessible to blind people?
Wouldn't it grow their profits? And would it be all that 
difficult to
make a video game accessible? We have described movies, after 
all, and
there's the blind driver car.  If they can make an accessible 
CAR, why
not video games? What do others think about this issue?
Patrick

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 --
 Respectfully,

 Juan Carlos Munoz, President
 Texas Association Of Blind Students
 www.nfbtx.org/tabs
 Phone: (832) 378-8632

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