[NFB-Idaho] Blind student excels in video games

[Yiska]

'You just got beaten by a blind person': Blind Boise High student excels in
esports
Gareth Brown relies on sound effects rather than visuals, proving you don't
have to see the game to master it.
Author: Hunter Funk
Published: 6:27 PM MDT March 16, 2026
Updated: 6:27 PM MDT March 16, 2026

BOISE, Idaho — Video games are incredibly complex. There is a lot of fast
movement.

Players need to keep track of the constant action happening all at once on
the screen. Imagine trying to compete at that level, without relying on
what most players depend on the most.

Inside the esports room at Boise High, senior Gareth Brown plays his
favorite game of Super Smash Bros. The headphones are on, and he's
listening closely, because for Brown, that's how the whole game works.

"I can't see shapes, shadows, anything like that. It's just brightness and
darkness," said Brown.

Brown was born blind. When he was in 6th grade,  he discovered something
most players overlook: the game is full of auditory clues.

"Different moves make different sounds, and so I'm exploring my joysticks
and my buttons and really getting to know some commands," he said.

It started at the boys and girls club, playing on an old Nintendo 64.

"I liked the sound, so I was like, I want to kind of keep playing this,"
said Brown.

*RELATED: Boise State's Rocket League team is dominating digital arena
<https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/boise-state-rocket-league-team-dominating-digital-arena-power-esports-conference-champions/277-c90e1daa-175d-4fd0-963a-df04e70a8304>*

Over time, Brown learned to recognize the sounds of different voices,
footsteps, and even how characters move across the stage.

"Some characters have flip-flops so you can hear a lighter sound, but then
there are some characters, some giant characters, like Bowser, whose feet,
like, shake the ground as they run," he said. "Some characters kind of
glide across the stage, and so there are so many different sounds, and they
put so much detail into those sounds."

A lot of the time, he beats players who can see everything.

"It makes me laugh, honestly, because I'm just like, haha,  you just got
beaten by a blind person," said Brown.

His coach, Paul Perotto, said the first time Brown played with the team,
everyone noticed.

"There were five or six other players down here playing, and he came down
and, as he said, they eventually didn't think he was visually impaired,
because he ran the gauntlet right through all of my players," said Perotto.

Now, Brown is just another part of the Boise High esports team.

According to his coach, he brings something else to the room, too.

"Gareth is the first one to say, like, it's okay, guys, we'll get the next
one, or just always positive, even when we lose, he walks out here with a
smile because he got to come in," said Perotto. "It just, it gives me
chills every time he's down here."

For Brown, winning isn't really the point anyway.

"I honestly had never thought that I would end up on, like, an actual high
school team," said Brown. "So this is really great. My first year was on
the team. Last year, actually, that was my first time ever being on the
esports team, and it was just a wonderful experience, because I just got to
stay after school on Monday and play some Smash Bros. Of course, there are
some times when I lose, but I don't get too frustrated at that, because
it's just fun."

He just enjoys the sounds, the adrenaline when a match gets close, and when
everything goes right, there's one sound Brown always hopes to hear.

"I heard the victory theme for my character... in Smash Bros, each
character has its own victory tune when they win," he said. "I heard mine,
and I was like, dude, let's go."

Proof that sometimes, you don't have to see the game to belong in it.

"Personally, I say I'm goated," said Brown.


On Mon, Mar 16, 2026 at 9:23 PM Ramona Walhof via NFB-Idaho <
nfb-idaho at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> JGareth was at our Christmas party and in VIEW.  We have known him since
> he was 5 years old.  But I cannot make this link work.  can somebody copy
> the article into the body of a message?
> Best,
> Ramona
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: NFB-Idaho <nfb-idaho-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Susan Bradley
> via NFB-Idaho <Nfb-idaho at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2026 1:53 AM
> To: NFB-ID listserve <Nfb-idaho at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Susan Bradley <craftisue at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [NFB-Idaho] Blind student excels in video games
>
> <
> https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/blind-boise-high-student-excels-in-esports/277-40dcc368-80ad-4003-a3ee-922674af63e7?tbref=hp
> >
> [5e49f0cc-f537-4e52-9a02-13049e82005c_1140x641.jpg]
> 'You just got beaten by a blind person': Blind Boise High student excels
> in esports<
> https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/blind-boise-high-student-excels-in-esports/277-40dcc368-80ad-4003-a3ee-922674af63e7?tbref=hp
> >
> ktvb.com<
> https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/blind-boise-high-student-excels-in-esports/277-40dcc368-80ad-4003-a3ee-922674af63e7?tbref=hp
> >
>
> Check out this article about Gareth Brown. He was a BELL student when he
> was young.
> Susan Bradley
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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