[games_access] Whinge and whine (Top Ten List)

[Thomas Westin]

All,

I understand from Steve that the comment wasn't meant to be perceived the way it was, and a result of editing the video. IMHO I agree with Richard. It is always hazardous to talk about being first at anything, which editors should be aware of; I once talked about Terraformers as the first 3D game for blind and sighted; someone pointed me to a prototype game which was released some time before TF. So, we were not first, although certainly among the first, and perhaps the most serious attempt so far. Or so I thought, until the AudioQuake mod was released about the same time - or was it before/after?. And so on. I bet I would find a blind accessible game with 3D graphics from 1980 if I looked long enough :) But that is the danger of research, you may end up producing nothing but papers, and I strongly wanted to do a game which would make some difference. 

- The point with this is that it is not very interesting who did what first, because that depends on so many factors of what you actually were first about doing. When it comes to this SIG it just popped up in my mind at the first time I visited GDC in 2003: when I looked at the speaker schedule accessibility was nowhere to be found. So when I came home, I e-mailed IGDA and we got started. I didn't do much more research than that - it just felt like a good idea to do at the time, to get the issue on the GDC agenda.

Further, I don't agree with some of the comments about the SIG in this thread. A quick summary of the SIG history may be useful. In May 2004 we released the IGDA white paper, the result of weekly meetings with about 6 people for 8 months. After that was released I stepped down as chairperson for personal reasons, and Michelle worked really hard for years. I also think Tara has done a great job; the new website and the work with Victoria film is very much thanks to her, I believe. Further, I have met many in the research community via this list, and at GDC the SIG has worked hard to reach out to the industry, every year since 2004. The SIG has also been at Develop conference and E3. The top ten list, the Game Accessibility Arcade, the roundtables, the GA-SIG DVD handouts, the Game Accessibility Day etc are examples of what has been done by the SIG. I agree that we could do more (you always can) but I think everyone is doing their best, as Sarah said. 

Finally, to relate to the discussion about collaboration. Collaboration is good, but it is sometimes necessary - maybe even better - to do things yourself / within your local organization. All the organizations which has been mentioned in this thread, had not existed if everyone had been just talking rather than creating them. I like to see all the organizations as gearwheels in an engine. They all fill a purpose, and need each other to advance the car/cause, while being individual units. And which gearwheel that started spinning first is not so important. And what gear the driver has selected to drive the car at the moment is not that interesting either. It is the fact they are working locally which is most important, everything may not be possible to do bilaterally.

So to everyone here - with various involvement in other organizations / gearwheels, I would like to say: keep on doing what you are doing, with or without collaboration with other organizations. Just keep spinning! All we need is <your-choice-of-eco-friendly-fuel> and some oil. The media attention like both AbleGamers and SpecialEffect has received recently are great power-plants. 

Does this make any sense?

Mvh / Best regards
Thomas Westin
Stockholm University :: dsv.su.se :: +46 73-707 86 86

On 26Mar 2012, at 8:10 PM, Sandra Uhling wrote:

> Hi, 
> 
> when I learnt about the Top Ten list
> I was able to give feedback and ask questions :-)
> That was great.
> 
> Best regards,
> Sandra
> 
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org] Im
> Auftrag von Tim Chase
> Gesendet: Montag, 26. März 2012 20:01
> An: Barrie Ellis; IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
> Betreff: Re: [games_access] Whinge and whine
> 
> On 03/26/12 12:47, Barrie Ellis wrote:
>> @Sandra - re. the Top 10 - I see zero problem in opening that up to full
>> scrutiny:
>> http://igda-gasig.org/about-game-accessibility/game-accessibility-top-ten/
> -
>> However, as that takes time, you'll see that may put in perspective how it
>> came about. A list being needed very quickly for support with this:
>> 
> http://igda-gasig.org/2011/10/11/announcement-partnering-with-film-victoria/
> .
>> Not ideal, I agree. Aside from how it came about (and more in its defence,
>> the list was heavily influenced by the original top 10, and the many
>> discussions on this list) - feel free to let rip with your thoughts for
>> improvements.
> 
> As the guilty party who threw together one of the early drafts of 
> the Top 10[1], I'll be the first to admit it could use work. 
> There was a conference around the corner, and I seem to remember 
> the aim being to get some semblance of a Top-10 list out the door 
> with as much useful material as possible without swamping the 
> reader.  So suggestions/improvements won't offend me :-)
> 
> -tim
> 
> [1]
> http://tim.thechases.com/top10.pdf
> 
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> 
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