[games_access] "The disabled and the Wii - an open lettertoNintendo"

[Barrie Ellis]

I must admit, some of the comments people left after the main letter made me want to slap them into seeing sense. So frustrating when people take such a selfish attitude.

As regards the old accessible Nintendo controller, it did exist (in very small numbers). It was called the "NES Hands Free", and was controlled via a chin guided joystick and a sip/puff switch. More on it here:

http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/2/pioneers.htm 
http://www.nesplayer.com/database/accessories/neshandsfreecontroller.htm 
http://play.tm/story/7943


Name: NES Hands Free Controller
Company: Nintendo
Console: NES
Year: 1989

Price: $120 standalone kit or $179 including the console and a game.
Nintendo's philosophy has always been that its games should be available to everyone, not just children and spotty teenagers - or as the case was in 1989, not just to able bodied individuals either.

The NES Hands Free Controller consisted of a back-to-front backpack-type device that strapped onto the front of the player and was compatible with all of the console's games (multiplayer an' all) except those that required the NES' light gun or zapper. The directional pad was replaced by a chunky joystick that could be manipulated by the player's chin whilst the functions of the 'A' and 'B' buttons were carried out by softly 'sipping' or 'puffing' from and into a bendy tube that stuck out from the top of the chunky piece of kit. Meanwhile, the 'Select' and 'Start' buttons could be activated by sipping or puffing more forcefully. In addition, two dials on the front of the unit enabled the sensitivity of the breath inputs to be tinkered as well as switching around the sipping or puffing functions.
The Hands Free Controller was a non-profit device sold directly through Nintendo's Customer Care line and made available in three sizes. Due to its target audience it was distributed in limited numbers, but the idea behind it was certainly both heartfelt and novel.





----- Original Message ----- 
From: Robert Florio 
To: 'IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List' 
Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2006 8:56 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] "The disabled and the Wii - an open lettertoNintendo"


It was great to read this letter and the comments some people suggested Nintendo created a controller in the past with sipping and puffing but I don't think so haven't heard of the doing the anyway others say can't please everyone and one person even mentioned something about, how can you expect to do something in the game world if you can't even do it in the real world which is the point to do it in a game world because you can't do it in the real world.  The whole world needs a wake-up call and I can't wait until one of these days some of us get that huge opportunity to speak to the world where everyone is, for example widely aware of recycling the need for reducing greenhouse effect I think it will take that awareness for people to know when they say things like that it's a no-brainer to the rest of the world foot in mouth thing.
 
Robert
www.RobertFlorio.com 
 



From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Barrie Ellis
Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2006 1:18 PM
To: IGDA GA mailing list
Subject: [games_access] "The disabled and the Wii - an open letter toNintendo"
 
Are Kotaku trying to redeem theirselves?
 
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/wii/the-disabled-and-the-wii-an-open-letter-to-nintendo-216826.php
 
 
Some of the comments from their readership are great - and predictably some are from turds. However, good to see this sort of thing in Kotaku.
 
Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk
 



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