Blind Gamer Tackles Zelda: Ocarina of Time

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Blind Gamer Tackles Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Millions of gamers have beaten the legendary Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time over the years, but how many of them could do it without ever being able to see the screen?


Back in the day, I played the hell out of Ocarina of Time, and I was damn good at it, too. I had that game memorized backwards and forwards to the point where I'd have the elusive Biggoron's Sword before I ever set foot inside the Forest Temple. But no matter how good I was at the game, I couldn't imagine ever doing it without looking at the screen.

And that is, in fact, what YouTube user genuinescorruption [http://www.youtube.com/user/genuinescorruption] is trying to do. Genuines, who has been blind since birth, is progressing his way through the classic N64 title with a bit of help:

[blockquote]This is an entirely community-driven project.
These are videos of me, a person blind from birth, playing through Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, with the help of four Zelda fans on YouTube who have put a very generous amount of time and dedication into writing very specific, script-stile (sic) directions that have allowed me to navigate through the game.[/blockquote]

Back in 2007, he posted a video of himself fighting a boss [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPiV5Sq8CmI&feature=related] in Zelda: Twilight Princess in order to prove his blindness, so this clearly isn't his first time with the Zelda series.

It's almost impossible to imagine playing a game without such a fundamental sense as sight, and yet, here he is. It's obviously difficult, and you can tell that he gets stuck at parts, but somehow he manages to keep on trucking. So for that - for doing something I could never even imagine doing - this blind gamer gets mad, mad props.

His most recent video has him doing sidequests [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJhLCO8y6qc&feature=channel] in Hyrule Castle Town, so he's still pretty early into the game, with a ways to go. And boy, do we wish him luck.

(Nintendo Everything [http://www.nintendoeverything.com/?p=20656])

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ChromeAlchemist

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Aug 21, 2008
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...what?

This man is a god. Nothing more needs to be said. His method is quite interesting to watch actually. And it's just incredible, this man doesn't even need his sight to play and finish this game. Something I just wouldn't have deemed possible. I'm trying to figure out how some of the battles will pan out though, like dark link and some of the regular grunts.
 

Flying-Emu

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Oct 30, 2008
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That's just amazing. Human ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. Kudos to him, and good luck.

I wonder how he'd do in a game of TF2.
 

IrrelevantTangent

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Oct 4, 2008
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Toph Bei Fong, you have met your match. This man deserves a medal- or at least an entry into the Guiness Book of World Records.
 

Calobi

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Dec 29, 2007
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And I sometimes struggle when I play games with no sound. Guy puts me to shame.
 

The_ModeRazor

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Jul 29, 2009
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I know a guy (well sorta) who became blind after a failed operation. And he simply kicks everyone's ass at every fighting game he plays.
 

ohgodalex

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May 21, 2009
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I have so much respect for him right now. I wish I could be his million girlfriends.
 

Chiefmon

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Dec 26, 2008
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He is 1337. He must have a sixth sense or something. It's like the world's least useful superpower.
 

BobisOnlyBob

is Only Bob
Nov 29, 2007
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GamerPhate said:
Commander Breetai said:
Dude plays like he's blind.

Oh, wait.
It's okay, he doesn't read the forums XD
Unless there is a brail Escapist hardcopy coming out sometime?
You don't know about text-to-speech internet browsers, do you?
 

Ajna

Doublethinker
Mar 19, 2009
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The_ModeRazor said:
I know a guy (well sorta) who became blind after a failed operation. And he simply kicks everyone's ass at every fighting game he plays.
Fighting, as in "Soul Caliber/Street Fighter"?

No offense to your friend, but winning routinely at a fighting game isn't exactly the same as beating "OoT"... My mom (who's experience in games falls in the "killing people in 'The Sims 2'" category) beats me every time in SCIV. To the point where I stopped playing it.

Of course, the guy mentioned in the OT got farther than I ever did in OoT in the span of two videos. So it might just be that I suck at games.
 

UsefulPlayer 1

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Feb 22, 2008
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That's pretty fucking impressive. Not sure how he got into gaming, but maybe it's a testament to how cool the Zelda series is.

I just hope he can enjoy playing OoT.