[games_access] GDC 2008: VERY Bad News

AudioGames.net richard at audiogames.net
Sat Dec 1 13:17:03 EST 2007


Hi,

Well, me? > 1) See my doc, which I think is the best attempt to capture game 
accessibility so far. I anyone disagrees PLEASE :) tell me... :)

Greets,

Richard


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Bannick" <jbannick at 7128.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 6:51 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] GDC 2008: VERY Bad News


> Michelle,
>
> Well put.
>
> So OK. I volunteer to assemble, contribute to, and be responsible for 
> delivery of Item 1.
>
> This means:
>
> 1. Getting from you good folks any work in progress you want to share, 
> synthesizing it into something that works, getting a quick review by 
> anyone here who is interested, and delivering a first cut of SIG Game 
> Accessibility Criteria.
>
> 2. Getting from anyone here who wants to contribute, and contributing to, 
> a list of target developers, organizations, institutions, and distributors 
> we send this to, getting a quick review, and delivering a first cut 
> Distribution List.
>
> 3. Writing a first draft cover letter /  promo piece, that is sent with 
> the Criteria, getting a quick review, and delivering this first cut Cover 
> Letter.
>
> All of the above sent to you, Michelle NLT 15 January, 2008.
> That way you get the volunteer work, you maintain control, and everyone is 
> included.
>
> BTW. This isn't nearly as formidable as developing coding standards for 
> the 50 engineers who did the software that laid out the NY Times, and 
> surviving the process.
>
> Does this work for you, Michelle?
>
> John Bannick
>
> At 12:24 PM 12/1/2007, you wrote:
>>All of the things John mentions are projects we have talked about and/or 
>>taken passes at (the top ten list from two years ago and now the new 
>>project that Barrie has started up, etc). Others have brought up other 
>>ideas that we've either done or attempted and then the projects lost 
>>momentum. All these things are great but there's a problem...these things 
>>also take active volunteers in the SIG and from that perspective our 
>>numbers are low. So we need people who are willing to put in the time and 
>>may/may not get any reimbursement for that time and every project cannot 
>>be started and maintained by me.
>>
>>So instead of continuing to criticize ourselves (I know...I started it but 
>>I was really mad after killing myself over the proposals at deadline), the 
>>industry, the GDC etc...who from WITHIN this SIG can put in the time 
>>needed for these things AND actually follow through? No, it's not fair 
>>that we aren't in a position to reimburse people for time and that won't 
>>change in the near future. But it's something that will have to change and 
>>it will change but we can't just wait for that day to come (because it 
>>won't come if we don't put in the sweat equity now). People need to 
>>honestly commit the time and work because they believe in making change. 
>>Take some of that anger and tell me what YOU are willing to do to help us 
>>make change. Take ownership of something on behalf of the SIG. Ideas are 
>>great...but we need people who will put in the work so that the "SIG" is 
>>able to do these things.
>>
>>So who will join in putting in some volunteer time so that these ideas can 
>>become reality?
>>
>>Michelle
>>
>>>Reid is right.
>>>
>>>There are developers right now who want their work to be accessible.
>>>
>>>This SIG could right now facilitate that by:
>>>
>>>1. Providing, distributing, and publicizing a concise, specific set of 
>>>functional criteria that define what means accessible.
>>>2. Compiling, publishing, and publicizing an annual list of which 
>>>companies and games meet those criteria.
>>>3. Maintaining a forum (The currently rather drifting Game Accessibility 
>>>Project comes to mind) where developers can go for immediate help.
>>>
>>>I'm a developer of games that are accessible.
>>>Have shipped 22 different revenue-generating products in a wide variety 
>>>of vertical markets in the last 30 years.
>>>Am neither stupid nor lazy.
>>>And don't see any of the 3 above items.
>>>
>>>None of the 3 items should take long to build as a first cut.
>>>
>>>And if not from this SIG, then from where?
>>>
>>>John Bannick
>>>CTO
>>>7-128 Software
>>>
>>>
>>>At 02:26 AM 12/1/2007, you wrote:
>>>>Please, can we stop with the negative talk about GDC and the game
>>>>industry? I work in the game industry for LucasArts. Just last week I
>>>>talked to a highly respected programmer and he's 100% behind us and
>>>>wants to talk about what we can do to improve accessibility in our
>>>>games after our current milestone is finished. There are dozens of
>>>>people at LucasArts that support game accessibility. Nintendo totally
>>>>gets it, EA Games totally gets it with their Family Play modes in
>>>>their sports games. Peter Molyneux gets it, Will Wright... the list
>>>>goes on and on.
>>>>
>>>>It's offensive to me when people of this SIG accuse developers of not
>>>>caring because WE DO CARE. The last thing you want to do is insult the
>>>>people you have to work with. It's the quickest way to turn them away
>>>>from our cause.
>>>>
>>>>So, instead of complaining, lets do something about it! First,
>>>>everyone here needs to understand what it's like for developers and
>>>>why it's so hard for them to adopt accessibility features.
>>>>
>>>>1. Limited financial resources - Games are very expensive to make and
>>>>any new features adds to the cost. Before you can add accessibility
>>>>features you must have a game and that's where most of the money is
>>>>spent first.
>>>>
>>>>2. Limited time - Game development is incredibly complex and hard to
>>>>tame. No matter how much extra time gets budgeted into the production
>>>>schedule, it always runs out well before all tasks are complete. When
>>>>this happens, features get cut in order to save the core of the game
>>>>and again, without a game, there can't be any accessibility features.
>>>>Because this usually happens so late, there isn't enough time to work
>>>>on accessibility features before the game has to ship.
>>>>
>>>>3. Limited information - Even if a developer was pro-active and
>>>>scheduled the development of accessibility features into the games'
>>>>development schedule, there's still a major lack of knowledge and
>>>>tools that enable them to do their job. The SIG has been thinking
>>>>about accessibility features for years and we have all the solutions,
>>>>but developers don't yet. We need to make ourselves known and readily
>>>>available to help them.
>>>>
>>>>What can we do to solve these issues? We need to develop our
>>>>relationships with developers and offer our assistance. Our attempts
>>>>to work with GarageGames is a good start. When a new game is announced
>>>>we should contact them and offer our expertise.
>>>>
>>>>We have GOT to get a website up so that we can communicate our
>>>>abilities and expertise to our target audiences (game developers).
>>>>
>>>>But there are technical issues and many of us are volunteers and so
>>>>things move very slowly.
>>>>
>>>>Several of us are writing guidelines for implementing certain features
>>>>but again, this is a slow process. Others are doing research. Going to
>>>>conferences is awesome. Writing articles to Gamasutra is great as
>>>>well.
>>>>
>>>>Eitan is right, we have to "sell" our expertise. It's not that
>>>>developers don't care, they don't know that they SHOULD care.
>>>>
>>>>-Reid
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>games_access mailing list
>>>>games_access at igda.org
>>>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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