[games_access] Bowling on the Wii - and Super Monkey Ball Bowling - switch inaccessible

[Barrie Ellis]

Realise this may be a bit of a long shot...

Just got hold of my first Nintendo Wii for proper testing, on loan from www.specialeffect.org.uk for their accessible gaming roadshow project. Wii Sports is great, but....

Take a look at these links via new-kotaku:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words/wii-to-the-rescue-269596.php
http://kotaku.com/337925/nintendo-australia-brighten-up-a-girls-christmas-day

The Wii-remote is fine for some when strapped to their arms - although trigger control looks awkward, but some are playing in a hand over hand manner - which isn't exactly the ideal solution. That lad is obviously having fun - but wouldn't it be better if he could play for himself?

I've just discovered for myself that it's possible to hook up my Playstation 2-Switch Interface Deluxe and Redux controllers to the Wii using a Gamecube adapter - plugging into the Wii's joypad sockets. So it's possible to play Gamecube games and Virtual Console games on the Wii with accessibility switches, arcade sticks and so on.

Great but Wii games and the front end menu are only accessible with the Wii-remote...

Would it really be hard for Wii developers to make their games work with the JoyPad controllers too? All of Wii Sports could be made to work with the D-pad and the A button. All the point and click type games would be simple to get working on JoyPads too... Then this would come so much closer to being a potentially universally accessible machine.

Presently - there are lots of people that can't play. I've people in my immediate family unable to play due to shoulder and joint pains. This relatively simple addition to Wii games included as an optional extra would make a big difference....


And getting onto my immediate point...

I know that when this Wii gets taken out on the Roadshow with Wii Sports - there'll be some kids unable to use it and will likely be made a bit despondent by this fact. I've looked for some alternatives that the GameCube had and have turned up Sega's Super Monkey Ball. It's got a nice mini-golf bonus game that can be played with a few buttons. It's also got a potentially lovely one-switch bowling game to compete with Wii Bowling - but it's completely ruined by the overly-fast automatic aiming. Basically your aim sweeps from left to right and back again very quickly - when you hit your switch that's your aim. If it's no good (which it typically won't be) your go is a total waste of time, although it will still ask you to select your power...

Two things would have made this mini-game fun. 1. The option to slow down the automatic aiming. 2. The option to put barriers up so your ball doesn't fly off the edge. 

Does anyone on this list have any contact with Sega for me to pass on this message. It would be great if we could get this fixed (or even better - Wii Sports working on a JoyPad compatible controller - for those unable to physically control a Wii-remote)???

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk

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