Blind Gamer Beats Ocarina of Time After Five Years

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
Jan 5, 2013
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Blind Gamer Beats Ocarina of Time After Five Years


Terry Garrett has spent the past five years trying to beat The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time using sound alone.

The realm of gaming is nothing if not one replete with individual who have pulled off feats that, for the everyday person, likely seem <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132994-Speed-Runner-Beats-Ocarina-of-Time-in-Less-Than-19-Minutes>insane. Mad as they may seem however, the people behind these accomplishments usually have at least a working set of eyes to help them do it. Terry Garrett can't say as much. An engineering student at the University of Colorado, he lives his life as a blind person. It's this lack of sight however that allowed him to complete one of the coolest gaming accomplishments we've ever seen: beating <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/the%20legend%20of%20zelda%20ocarina%20of%20time?os=the+legend+of+zelda+ocarina+of+time>The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time blind.

Beginning in 2011, Garrett has spent the past five years working his way through the classic game relying almost entirely on its sound. Placing a pair of speakers in front of him while he played, he used cues from the game's audio as well as his own memory to help him navigate environments, solve puzzles and fight enemies. As this process required a sizable amount of trial and error, he also used an emulated version of the game complete with save states that allowed him to bounce back more quickly from his mistakes. Speaking in the final video chronicling his exploits, Garrett thanked everyone that "stuck with me through this series even after it seemed like I was giving up." Fans have been helping Garrett along over the years with tips and advice to guide him through the game.

Just speaking personally, I'm intensely impressed by Garrett's accomplishment here. Ocarina of Time isn't the most difficult game in the Zelda series, but it's still a meaty and complex experience. The amount of patience it must have taken to keep going with it over the past five years is something I simply cannot begin to fathom. For anyone interested in seeing Garrett's journey from the start, his <a href=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCECECWmH0U0bwxnPYEXuKA>YouTube channel contains the entire 30 part video series recorded during his years-long conquest of the gamer.

Source: <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbU1w5S0QgU>YouTube


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The Enquirer

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Apr 10, 2013
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Holy crap. I don't think I've ever spent even a year trying to beat any one game.

Does he say anywhere how many hours it took him?
 

McElroy

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That's some dedication. Though to be fair the gameplay is painful to watch. 3 seconds - load - 3 seconds - load - 3 seconds - save - 3 seconds - load - and so on...
 

RJ 17

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Nov 27, 2011
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Yeah...I'd say this tops Twitch beating Pokemon. Sure you've got thousands of people all trying to press a button and the character ends up just spazzing out in a corner somewhere, opening and closing the menu a dozen times (I swear, every time I popped on to watch that was all that was happening o.o), but we're talking about a game in a 3D space that requires a lot of visual cues. Imagine how long it would take to get past a part that requires the hookshot. First you'd have to realize that you need the hookshot, then you'd have to "find" it in your inventory, then you'd just sit the randomly shooting until you hit the mark.

I think this begs the question of just how "blind" are we talking about, here? As in is he totally, completely, "I cannot see anything at all" blind? Or is he simply "legally blind" (as in he wouldn't be allowed to drive)?
 

ProtoChimp

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Feb 8, 2010
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That is super impressive and heart warming... Okay I really, really hate to be that guy, this story is really inspiring, but this article is terribly written. Isn't someone supposed to edit articles before they go up?
 

Silence

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RJ 17 said:
I think this begs the question of just how "blind" are we talking about, here? As in is he totally, completely, "I cannot see anything at all" blind? Or is he simply "legally blind" (as in he wouldn't be allowed to drive)?
He seems to be totally blind, judging from the software he uses.

Although the article says from memory as well, so he could see before and played through it once? That's what's unclear to me.
 

DudeistBelieve

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Sep 9, 2010
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I'm quite impressed, but I wonder how much actual fun it was.

I just recently beat the game myself, and I know it's pretty much text heavy. What could he take from the story or anything?

I'm thinking it's like an Mt. Everest kinda deal. Ya do it cause it's there. Then you get to the top, see the view and start thinking "well thats that then. Time to go down."
 

Seraj33

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Jun 18, 2012
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the silence said:
RJ 17 said:
I think this begs the question of just how "blind" are we talking about, here? As in is he totally, completely, "I cannot see anything at all" blind? Or is he simply "legally blind" (as in he wouldn't be allowed to drive)?
He seems to be totally blind, judging from the software he uses.

Although the article says from memory as well, so he could see before and played through it once? That's what's unclear to me.
According to an article from nydaily he lost his eyesight in 97 when he was 10 years old.