[games_access] Harmonix needs our help!

[Robert Florio]

Couldn't agree more.  Well, my experience as a quadriplegic is pretty
similar to the paraplegic.

Even though some paraplegic have decent amount of risk movement it varies
from one wrist to the other and some can even pinch their fingers slightly.

However, my recommendation would probably be for hardware, something that
does not get in the way being cumbersome to the need of using your hands to
keep the beat with two hands.

Like, some kind of shoulder position censure or even a vast strap that can
act as beating on the buttons on the strap on your chest.  It's much more
applicable than having to balance a device on your lap with limited reach.

Can you bring the issue up to quadriplegics also?  If they can extend their
vision a little bit more to quads, like myself, I have the ability to feed
on drums and my range with extension having no triceps, and very little
pictorial muscles to reach across, I still can't pound decently enough if I
have buttons evenly spaced not too large but within a eight or 9 inch
diameter space.  All the buttons in that area.

Things like, head movement or a device that can be strapped anywhere as an
external alternative to the footpad.

Is there a picture of this?  Of what this drum set actually looks like?

Because, if the footpad has a low enough extension and it's easy enough to
tap its possible that a paraplegic in a quadriplegic can actually strap this
device to the back of the shoulder or to the back of the headrest to tap
with their head.

Robert

-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of AudioGames.net
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 7:31 PM
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [games_access] Harmonix needs our help!

Great question!

First thing to jump to mind is to do something with the gamer's mouth/vocal 
options because it's free and available. Two ideas would then be either some

very simple bite/sip/puff controller or a very simple head mic-setup (of 
course you need to be careful in a room full of sound with placing mics). A 
sip/puff/bite controller has the issue of hygiene which can be a pretty big 
problem. If so, go for the mic (which is simple hardware as well). The only 
thing you need from either the mic or the sip/puff/bite controller is a 
trigger of some sort. A player would then use his arms for the standard 
hi-hat/snare/toms/riot/crashes/cowbell-stuff, and "sing" the kick: 
"boom"+hihat > hihat > hihat+snare > "boomboom"+hihat > etc. A benefit of 
this solution is that I think it can actually add to the fun of the game. 
The drummers in the bands I used to play in were always the types of guys 
who would always mimic what they were playing with their voice: 
"boom-tjak-ka-boomboom-tjakcrash"- that sort of thing (especially in the bar

after practice ;).  Also, when synced with samples of a kick-drum, gamers 
might be awed, thinking it is really cool to "boom" in a mic and hear a 
kickdrum from the machine ;) It might even turned out to make the game a bit

easier... ? Alex, is there is a lot of double kickdrum in there?

Greets,

Richard













----- Original Message ----- 
From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
To: <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 12:30 AM
Subject: [games_access] Harmonix needs our help!


> Hey everyone,
>
> So I've been talking to the CEO of Harmonix about Accessibility and "Rock 
> Band." If you haven't yet seen it (ie, you were definitely not at a booth 
> right across from them at E for All!) -- Harmonix was also behind Guitar 
> Hero 1, 2, and 80s but then they spun that off to focus on Rock Band 
> (which works with up to two guitars, a drum kit, and a mic). Right now 
> it's available (USB wired) for Xbox 360, (wireless -- 
> I think...) for PS3, and then (wired again) for PS2 (they have a USB hub 
> that plugs into the USB slot to allow for 4 separate USB devices).
>
> Here's the situation from Alex:
>
> "One obvious thing that has already become apparent in the forums is that 
> there's a demand among
> paraplegic gamers for a mode of the drumming game in Rock Band that 
> doesn't require the kick pedal."
>
> I was thinking about hardware solutions that might work, that perhaps a 
> set of drumsticks that has some kind of squeeze mechanism might work but 
> that might be tough to pull off while you are drumming. Having the foot 
> pedal in as a hat sensor would be difficult for those who want to "ROCK!" 
> (hehe...head banging). The thing is that there are times when you have to 
> hit the drum pads with both sticks and the foot pedal all at the same 
> time...so simply not using the pedal is not an option if you want to 
> progress through the game.
>
> One thing for sure is the drums? It's the toughest thing on Rock Band -- I

> brought it to a party last night and we had three people playing as "the 
> drummer" at the same time in order to avoid our "band" from getting kicked

> off stage again and again -- even then the point difference between the 
> guitar and vocal versus the drums...guitar and vocal were in the 80s and 
> 90s/100 on "easy" and drums got to about as high as 60/100 also on "easy."

> And this was from people who had never played Sing Star or Guitar Hero on 
> the other instruments. So there's some balance issues that are coupled 
> along with it.
>
> So I'm thinking that a mode that didn't involve the kick pedal might be 
> more attractive in general...perhaps as some sort of patch (harder with 
> consoles if you don't have it hooked up to the net but they might be 
> willing to send out a patch on a game disk for free or the cost of 
> shipping and handling). Or it might just be a "for the next version" kind 
> of thing.
>
> But can anything be done NOW with regard to a hardware alternative for 
> this version of Rock Band that has just come out? If there is a software 
> solution, what would we need access to in order to implement something?
>
> Thoughts? We have their attention! We might be able to really influence 
> this game. Certainly I'll make Alex aware of Eelke's design solution for 
> Guitar Hero for the visually impaired. But this is a rare direct 
> opportunity for us to work with a major game company on current and future

> versions of this so we can get an inside look at what it takes to 
> implement any one solution in a company. If it works out, this gives us 
> some "street cred" as a group and be able to talk about the process at, 
> say, next year's GDC with them.
>
> Hey, it could happen -- this is the CEO we're talking to!
>
> Michelle
> _______________________________________________
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> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access 

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