Uncharted 4 Devs Explain Why Accessibility Options Were so Important to Them

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Uncharted 4 Devs Explain Why Accessibility Options Were so Important to Them


The team behind Uncharted 4 added a bunch of features in order to make the game accessible for people with disabilities, and it all started with a single conversation.

In a touching video posted yesterday, Naughty Dog game designers discussed why implementing accessibility features was so important to them during the creation of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

It all began with a conversation with Josh Straub, the editor-in-chief of Disabled Accessibility for Gaming Entertainment Rating System (DAGERS), who loves Uncharted but was unable to complete Uncharted 2 because of a series of doors that you have to button-mash through near the end. Straub's disability left him unable to complete this task, and as a result, he could not finish the game.

"I was faced with the reality that I had played this entire game, I had spent $60 on it, and I could not get any further without the help of an able-bodied person," said Straub.

One of the accessibility options added in Uncharted 4 was the ability to hold a button down in situations where they would otherwise have to repeatedly hit the button, like in lifting and combat. Others, such as camera assist and a lock-on feature while aiming, are detailed in the video above.

"I think video games, for a lot of people, are often about being able to do things that you wouldn't normally be able to do, experience great adventures," said Kevin Keeker, principal user experience researcher at PlayStation. "And so when you find that there are some people who can't enjoy those things, it's kind of crushing."

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End released on May 10 for PlayStation 4. In The Escapist's review of the game [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/17053-Uncharted-4-Review?utm_source=latest&utm_medium=index_carousel&utm_campaign=all#&gid=gallery_6237&pid=1], I wrote: "If Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was the only PlayStation 4 exclusive ever, I would purchase the system all over again in a heartbeat. I could not recommend a game more sincerely than I do this one."

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[Andy Shandy]

Good on Naughty Dog. While I might not be a big fan of their actual games nowadays, I can certainly respect stuff like this to allow those that do to enjoy them as best they can.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I think the hold instead of mash option is a really nice touch. Not that I use it, it feels really weird to do so, especially when the button prompt pulsates like it had a gallon of energy drinks.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I actually figured they'd put the lock-on feature in the game due to previous complaints about the shooting either not being good or just being boring. So that with this feature, the people who like the games but not the shooting had a shortcut. But this reason is pretty swell of them. It's good to give as many people as possible the option to play your game.

 

[The Enquirer]

I always liked the series and was considering putting up the money to get a ps4 to play this one along with a few other games. This type of outreach and effort cemented that.

 

[mysecondlife]

These kinds of story makes me glad I paid 50 dollars for the game. Well deserved Naughty Dog. The game is pretty darn good.

Good doggy.

 

[infohippie]

More developers should think about this sort of thing. Players need to think about this too, mind you. I've heard so many complaints in forums for different games that giving options to make interfaces easier are "lowering the skill ceiling" and "letting low skilled players do better than they deserve".

In one MMO I play I use a simple macro to bind two buttons to a single mouse button so I can hold that down instead of alternately mashing left button/right button over and over again. It helps really well with preventing muscle strain and eventually RSI, but so many other players complain and call it "cheating". Because being able to mash alternate buttons as fast as you can is "skilled play", of course. :-\