190: Making It Work: Game Accessibility

[Valiance]

I know a player who struggles with gaming using only 1 hand, and I agree games should be more accessible, at least letting players change the controls to what they personally want/need.

I too am surprised that third-party companies haven't really come up with much accessible controllers, aside from the ones that mimic arcade sticks possibly being easier.

 

[51gunner]

You know what? If they made and marketed that one-handed control pad as-is, it probably wouldn't sell too well. If they marketed it as a "pro" gamepad with "all the control in one hand!", it'd probably do a lot better. I support sneaky marketing like this.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

I believe the only realistic appeal here is to petition Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo into making it a technical requirement that all games support button mapping.

Beyond that, it would just be a demonstration to a 3rd party peripheral manufacturer that a disabled demographic is substantial enough to make a profit from. Unfortunately, I don't know if that is the case. Possibly, if a peripheral functioned cross platform and also for the PC it could be covered by insurance? If it could be covered by insurance (due to PC accessibility) than that would mean that even a niche, high cost peripheral ($500 ? ) could make the proposition even more profitable for a peripheral manufacturer.

Basically, don't expect change unless the game industry can be guaranteed financial viability.

 

[EliteFreq]

While I sympathise and agree that it would be better if they did something for 'handicapped gamers' I think it'd be hard for companies to cater for everyone with specialised controllers.

 

[dorm41baggins]

<anti-rant rant mode on>
Look- disabled gamers are going to have difficulty playing these games. Just like someone with one hand is going to have difficulty tying his shoes. Do you think it equally unfair that they don't make FPSs accessible to blind gamers?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for accessibility- as long as it's not at the expense of the fully-abled users. Re-mappable buttons? All the way baby. (But don't make it mandatory- geez. Let the game companys know you want it, then buy the games that support it. If the demand is really there, then the games that offer it will simply sell better and everyone will fall into line.) One-handed controls as standard? No thanks.

If there is a large market for one-handed game controlers and no one is making them, don't complain about it- start a business! You've found yourself a golden opportunity!

If there isn't a market, then admit that this is just one more area that your disability has closed off to you and find something else you can do. Personally, I love interactive fiction- those are games that would be accessible to Stephen Hawking even if he were blind! (No, I'm not joking.)
</anti-rant rant mode off>

 

[101194]

Acually, One of my brothers friends could beat me, My brother, And my other brother at World Ciruit racing game with only one game and laugh at us. I thought he was just showing off, I didn't expext he could only use his right hand.

 

[blankedboy]

I don't need to play one-handed, but sometimes I do. This is pretty much what emulators are for. I use a N64 emulator with WASD, Space, Shift, Tab, Q and E. C-buttons are TGFH, D-pad is IJKL, but I don't use those very much.

 

[ericool13]

I've been around people with disabilities like yours, and it is quite depressing that a disability takes away the possibility for a simple fun pastime. In other words, I completely agree that companies should take initiative and make controllers similar to the one you pointed out available in the mass market.

The problem with that is that it would take a hell of lot of money. Sad as disabilities are, gamers like you are a tiny percentage of all people who play video games, and that unfortunately means that expensive-to-make special controllers would not be profitable. I absolutely hate this, but it's the way it is.

I do think though that companies like MadCatz should at LEAST design and develop special controllers like this and have them available for special order. The biggest obstacle is actually getting companies to consider this even though they wouldn't be economically feasible. The only way to do that is if people keep writing articles like this.

Great essay. Keep up the good work!

 

[Andy Monkelban]

Because it doesn't look like I can get the Andrew account, I made this one.

L.B., as far as shoulder usage goes, you're right and you're wrong. I can think of at least 2 pre-Gears titles that rely on the shoulders, namely God of War, and Killer 7.

Your suggestion about every button being remappable sounds good, in theory, but will it hold up in practice?
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zero, yeah well, I've been disabled all my life. Gaming has been an outlet for me since I was a kid. Why would I give it up?
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SenseOfTumour, I whole-heartedly agree with you.
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jemborg and Phat_Frank, Yeah, I know about the EPOC, and I'm tempted to ask The Escapist to buy me one so I can review it, but I'm not sure how it would fly.
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Nivag, you're right both situations are a bit unfair, but life is unfair at times, so we live and learn. Perhaps a petition is a good idea, but I see 2 obstacles, 1) I don't know of many local disabled gamers, and 2) do internet petitions really accomplish anything?
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Clemenstation, I agree with BOTH you and your thesis supervisor. Successful controller manipulation IS (at least, in part) skill. The increasing complexity is starting to concern me about future generations.
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micktheviking and Break, the size of the market is something that I tackled in the original, but was later taken out. So here's to hoping I can do another piece on this topic, but with a different stance.
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teknoarcanist, XD Thanks.
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PaladinMJ, I, myself, am on the fence about the PS3, If I do get one, I want to be backwards compatible because I have quite a few PS2 titles. What's stopping me is the motion/tilt control.
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Judas, that is another topic I tackled in the original.
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Chaism, you're all too correct on that.
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With that, I believe I have replied to enough people that the rest of you can gather what I'd say to you.

I will reply to a few more of your comments, but not at this moment.

 

[Andy Monkelban]

Killerkittenprr, you'll be surprised to find out that, at least for me the N64 was the beginning of the complexity.

sebar nl, that isn't to say I didn't give up on NG1...

51gunner, I'm actually looking for stuff like "pro" controllers when I go out. Any little help, well... helps.

BallPtPenTheif, while you may be right, EliteFreq and dorm41baggins brought valid arguments. Ones I have to agree with.

dorm41baggins, I wouldn't call either of our "rants," "rants." It's all good.

PoisonUnagi, yeah I use XPadder for WoW, so that helps, but still, as far as console gaming goes...

ericool13, you'll be surprised to learn that 1 in 5 gamers are disabled. While it would take a lot of money, the other problem is the differing levels of severity

 

[Bearstion]

That's an awesome article Andrew. I completely understand your points, it's not easy playing video games with an industry that does not make it easy for mom-and-pop controller makers to create disabled friendly versions. There are some out there though. If you get a chance check out www.AbleGamers.com - it is a website devoted to disabled gaming and helping people get back into the game!

 

[Treblaine]

What about PC controls?

Particularly the Computer Mouse as even my entry level gaming mouse has more buttons than I know what to do with but take a look at this:

Spoiler

O.O

The number pad could be a substitute for the WASD section of the keyboard with 2, 4, 5 and 6 for movement, 1= use, 3 = reload, etc

I can't say it is perfect, but PC gaming staples like RTS, FPS and other games depend so much more on the right hand on the mouse with rapid and precise aim than on the keyboard.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

Though I sympathize with your situation I cannot say I agree with your theory that developers have to make peripherals for physically handicapped players.
Although as cold as it may sound, your demographic makes up I'm assuming a small fraction of their sales and it would make no sense for them to make peripherals that they cannot mass produce and sell. They gain nothing by only selling 100 controllers or so in this way.

A better solution I would agree would be for game developers to make game controls fully mappable, but I can't really think of a profitable scenario of a company making hardware for such a specific market, especially considering people's disabilities are varying.

I do seem to recall a COD player who played with one hand and his mouth or something, I'm not sure how he got the peripherals to make his situation work, but I'm assuming it was third party developers.

I do hope more third party developers offer custom game controllers in the future, but I honestly don't see it happening unless you specifically spoke your case to a company and see if they are willing to help. Maybe they will?

 

[Neon Jackal]

I remember seeing a one-handed control for Xbox a few years ago, looked funny, a bit like the Nunchaku for the Wii but with more buttons.
You disabled people all cry out to be treated like normal people but then one thing might be too difficult and start telling everybody that it's their responsibility to accommodate for that. It's called a disability for a reason.
Video games like it or not are a business, and it's probably not cost-effective to accommodate for everybody.

 

[hatseflats]

You could switch to PC gaming and get the Razer Naga. It's a mouse with 10 buttons on the left side. You can assign keys to these buttons. So in a shooter, you can use the left moue button (to fire), right mouse button for melee, middle mouse button (scroll wheel) for iron sights, and then you've got 10 buttons to move around, crouch and jump. It's probably difficult to master, but easier than trying to use a controller with just one hand. There's also the Belkin Nostromo N52te SpeedPad, but that doesn't have any way to aim as far as I can tell. And there are many other kinds of controllers, and most games let you bind keys.