[games_access] Re: Top 10 accessibility features in mainstream games

[Reid Kimball]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_captioning#Video_games

If you are adding links for sources, might want to include the above.

I like the rewording of the closed captioning section. It's much
better now, thanks, :)

-Reid

On 3/30/06, hinn at uiuc.edu <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> ah yes, and one more point to add to my last "one more point"
> is to provide the different disability communities with
> increase awareness that these features are in there because so
> many have been used to gaming not being an option. so we want
> to create awareness for potential gamers as well!
>
> michelle
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:42:35 +0200
> >From: "AudioGames.net" <richard at audiogames.net>
> >Subject: Re: [games_access] Re: Top 10 accessibility features
> in mainstream games
> >To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List"
> <games_access at igda.org>
> >
> >Hi Tim,
> >
> >Thanks for joining in. I just remembered that the purpose of
> this Top10 list
> >might not be clear to those who did not come to the 2nd GDC
> roundtable
> >conversation so here goes:
> >
> >While we were discussing the "Top 10 Ways To Improve Game
> Accessibility"
> >during the roundtable, a new idea was formed. Instead of
> telling the game
> >industry what they SHOULD do or what the industry is
> currently doing WRONG,
> >we thought it would be a nice idea to tell the industry what
> it is doing
> >RIGHT without them knowing so. We found during the
> conversation (and we
> >really knew this all along) that there are several features
> in mainstream
> >games that make games playable (even winable) for gamers with
> an impairment.
> >And then we thought it would make a good Top-0 list.
> >
> >So the purpose of this Top10 list is to name 10 examples of
> features in
> >mainstream games that accidentally make games (slightly) more
> accessible.
> >The goal is the pat the industry on the shoulder and say
> "wow, did you know
> >your [feature] is helping people with a cognitive impairment
> to play ÿour
> >game?". So instead of listing problems in games (which we
> should definately
> >do too in another Top10 list*) or listing possible future
> solutions (this is
> >the Top10 list we already got*), this list concerns only
> examples of
> >features that actually improve accessibility (by accident?)*.
> >
> >Greets,
> >
> >Richard
> >
> >
> >* so to list the lists:
> >
> >1. Top 10 Ways To Improve Game Accessibility (we got this
> already)
> >2. Top 10 Features In Mainstream Games That (Accidentally)
> Make Them More
> >Accessible (working on this right now)
> >3. Top 10 Accessibility Problems In Mainstream Games (maybe
> this should have
> >been the first list by the way ;)
> >
> >(4. Top 10 Issues Concerning Coffee Musical Songs - we should
> definitely
> >work on this one too, although I already know #1: "make sure
> you drank
> >enough the night before before composing the song in the
> morning")
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Tim Chase" <agdev at thechases.com>
> >To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List"
> <games_access at igda.org>
> >Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 5:26 PM
> >Subject: [games_access] Re: Top 10 accessibility features in
> mainstream
> >games
> >
> >
> >> *Top 10 accessibility features in mainstream games (?) *
> >>
> >> /by Richard van Tol (and others…join in!) /
> >
> >Good stuff so far.  I'd add "remappable controls" or
> >"keyboard access".  Some games do it well, some bomb at it.
> >  Bad experiences:
> >
> >-I simply gave up playing Max Payne because it wouldn't
> >allow me to remap controls.  It relied on the mouse...when
> >playing on a laptop with a touchpad, it's just not quite the
> >same.  I didn't have enough desktop space for a mouse, and
> >was too lazy anyways to drag the mouse off an older computer
> >just for a little gaming on my laptop.  Full keyboard
> >accessibility would have made the game much less grating.
> >
> >-it took me forever when playing one of the Tomb Raider
> >games to figure out how to "action" an item.  Turns out I
> >had remapped the "action" key to the un-re-mappable "jump"
> >key, and every time I tried to "action", Ms. Croft jumped
> >out of the way of precisely where I wanted to be.  (no, I'm
> >not still bitter about that)  I finally had to contort my
> >preferences so they didn't interfere with their unremappables.
> >
> >-have you ever tried to play MS's stock games with just the
> >keyboard?  Solitaire?  Hearts?  Minesweeper?  Just can't be
> >done easily.
> >
> >Good experiences:
> >-Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Return to Castle
> >Wolfenstein...pretty much anything by Id (they're usually
> >quite good about it).  Played through the each of these
> >games with just the keyboard...mapped to my prefferred
> >keybindings.  I'm sure there are plenty of others who
> >haven't been so bigoted towards their preferred keybindings.
> >
> >-the BSD games package on BSD/Linux...you can play cribbage,
> >solitaire, etc all with just the keyboard.  Granted, playing
> >them with just the mouse is all the more difficult.  A happy
> >medium of doing both kbd and mouse accessibility would be
> >even better.
> >
> >
> >Just some fodder...
> >
> >-tim
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >games_access at igda.org
> >http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> >
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> >games_access at igda.org
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> .......................................
> these are mediocre times and people are
> losing hope. it's hard for many people
> to believe that there are extraordinary
> things inside themselves, as well as
> others. i hope you can keep an open
> mind.
>  -- "unbreakable"
> .......................................
>
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