Top 10 accessibility features in mainstream games (was: [games_access] GDC '06 report of Day 1)
AudioGames.net
richard at audiogames.net
Thu Mar 30 07:29:17 EST 2006
Hi,
Working on an outline document now:
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Top 10 things that make regular games more accessible
Top 10 list of accessibility features in regular games
Top 10 list of coffee musical songs issues
Top 10 list of accessible features in mainstream games
Top 10 accessibility features in mainstream games (?)
by Richard van Tol (and others.join in!)
1. Bullet time: Bullet time is a concept introduced in recent films and computer games whereby the passage of time is displayed as extremely slow or frozen moments in order to allow a viewer to observe imperceptibly fast events (such as flying bullets)[1]. Although it is often used to create a dramatic effect, bullet time gives players with a slower reaction speed (for instance caused by a physical disability) the possibility to play the game at a slower rate, giving the player a chance in the game.
2. Extensive auditory feedback: some games, especially in the fighting/beat'm'up genre, features extensive auditory feedback, enabling gamers with a visual impairment to play (and even win) the game. Good example are Tekken, Soul Calibar, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto.
3. "Not only convey meaning by colour only, but by other distinctions as well" (rewrite!). A good example is Bejeweled[2], which uses shapes and colour to distinguish the different elements of the puzzle. (we'd better not mention bad examples,such as Chuzzle[3]).
4. Subtitles and captioning: Halflife 2 >>> I bet Reid can write an excellent five line summary?
5. Scalable / Zoomable (?) game visuals: Windows Vista's Winesweeper is fully scalable, including the fonts (although this might be a lame example). Several games allow you to extensively zoom in/out on the game while others give the player tools for zooming (binoculars, rifle scopes). Examples include:
6. Customizable controls: . (note: also include the easiness with which to find such options - where are they located in the game?)
7. Training: some games gradually introduce the gamer to the functionality of the game. This enables gamers to learn the game while playing instead of forcing them to read the manual prior to playing the game. Kevin!
8. .
9. .
10. .
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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_time
[2] http://www.mumbojumbo.com/retail/g.bejeweled2.html
[3] http://www.mumbojumbo.com/retail/g.chuzzle.html
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or have a look at the attachment if the email messes things up :) I think having an archive of games with accessible features make a great showcase! Certainly for http://www.game-accessibility.com but also for the IGDA website?
Sander, is there anywhere where we can create a workplace for the "top 10 accessibility features in meanstream games"- list instead of a .doc document? Like the AG-database functionality? Or the SIG-wiki?
Greets,
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: Sander Huiberts
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 11:04 AM
Subject: Re: [games_access] GDC '06 report of Day 1
If a game is rewarded at a certain place on the net, eventually I can imagine that game developers do care....
Let's have a place where gamers themselves can submit "good cases". I'm willing to program a form or anything (I have to reprogram some php-things on the AudioGames server anyway).
submit a good game accessibility feature case
name of game:
developer:
description of feature:
(why is it useful?)
send
Or something like this.
Then we put it on a/the site(s). And we can show them to the rest of the world. And the rest of the world will become very enthousiastic!
The Sondor
P.S. Michelle, you ARE my photo sister! So many photos with the same point of view of same subjects. If you look through the optical finder of your cam, are you a left-eye or a right-eye?
AudioGames.net schreef:
Great! I have already started a "" Top 10 list of accessible things that games do right" ... maybe we should sync them... ?
----- Original Message ----- From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 7:41 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] GDC '06 report of Day 1
Yes, I second that! The whole week was great and soon I'll unveil "Mission Positive Campaign: Press Releases Galore" (once I have IGDA's permission to do those...) that I went on and on about last week! Ok, basically the idea is that we will send press releases stating the things that games do "right" with regard to accessibility in the hopes that they will want to learn more. :) It beats "Mission Negative Campaign: Lawsuits Galore"
Kevin and I are definitely willing US university funding people so if you need University support for a NSF grant or something like that, we can lend a hand!
Great day one write up. Now that I have the sig blog password again, I'll link to it and be adding more news items each week. :)
M
Hey everyone,
I have begun posting daily reports of my time at GDC '06. I have day 1
posted with the other days to follow:
Day 1:
http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/03.20.06_gdc.php
Before I forget, I want to thank everyone for your awesome support in
the past year, this past week at GDC and you're all an inspiration to
me to keep working hard on developing closed captioning for games.
After the tutorial session on Monday I was so motivated and
enthusiastic for the future. I wanted to do whatever I could. I've
always had side projects I wanted to do that got in the way of closed
captioning in games but I've decided to put those on hold. I want to
revamp my gamescc.rbkdesign.com website, make it more professional.
Start writing a weekly column where I critique the quality of closed
captioning in games and make detailed recommendations for how it can
be included if not already. I'll be pursuing alternate funding options
and grants to help develop the CC software for developers to use.
I have a lot planned and I wanted to be sure I thanked everyone for
helping me and Games[CC] to get to where we are today.
-Reid
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