[games_access] Harmonix needs our help!

Sun Dec 16 07:08:40 EST 2007

Which, by the way, could be the start of RapBand*, consisting of one Human 
Beatbox-controller, a turntable-controller and 2 mics :)


*Babes, Bling and Cars not included


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "AudioGames.net" <richard at audiogames.net>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Harmonix needs our help!


> Hi,
>
> You don't really need to "blow" into a mic to trigger it. Simple whisper 
> the right letter (anything with "P" will do - that's why plop-filters were 
> invented), maybe add a noise gate and it'll work as a trigger.
>
> Greets,
>
> Richard
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 3:25 AM
> Subject: Re: [games_access] Harmonix needs our help!
>
>
>> This is a difficult problem to solve. I think in the future a sip/puff
>> mechanism should be considered. Rock Band 2: On Tour or whatever it
>> will be called could ship with headset microphones for everyone, or
>> why couldn't players use their current gaming headsets? You wear it,
>> assuming it's snug enough to stay on with the head thrashing and blow
>> into it to use the kick pedal.
>>
>> Other than that, I say give the players what they want, if they are
>> requesting that the kick stand action be automatic, best to do that in
>> a future patch.
>>
>> I think people who are new to games and not technically disabled will
>> benefit from game modes that automate difficult actions, such as EA's
>> Family Play controls for their Wii sports games.
>>
>> -Reid
>>
>> On Dec 15, 2007 4:45 PM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> Great question!
>>>
>>> First thing to jump to mind is to do something with the gamer's 
>>> mouth/vocal
>>> options because it's free and available. Two ideas would then be either 
>>> some
>>> very simple bite/sip/puff controller or a very simple head mic-setup (of
>>> course you need to be careful in a room full of sound with placing 
>>> mics). A
>>> sip/puff/bite controller has the issue of hygiene which can be a pretty 
>>> big
>>> problem. If so, go for the mic (which is simple hardware as well). The 
>>> only
>>> thing you need from either the mic or the sip/puff/bite controller is a
>>> trigger of some sort. A player would then use his arms for the standard
>>> hi-hat/snare/toms/riot/crashes/cowbell-stuff, and "sing" the kick:
>>> "boom"+hihat > hihat > hihat+snare > "boomboom"+hihat > etc. A benefit 
>>> of
>>> this solution is that I think it can actually add to the fun of the 
>>> game.
>>> The drummers in the bands I used to play in were always the types of 
>>> guys
>>> who would always mimic what they were playing with their voice:
>>> "boom-tjak-ka-boomboom-tjakcrash"- that sort of thing (especially in the 
>>> bar
>>> after practice ;).  Also, when synced with samples of a kick-drum, 
>>> gamers
>>> might be awed, thinking it is really cool to "boom" in a mic and hear a
>>> kickdrum from the machine ;) It might even turned out to make the game a 
>>> bit
>>> easier... ? Alex, is there is a lot of double kickdrum in there?
>>>
>>> Greets,
>>>
>>> Richard
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
>>> To: <games_access at igda.org>
>>> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 12:30 AM
>>> Subject: [games_access] Harmonix needs our help!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> > Hey everyone,
>>> >
>>> > So I've been talking to the CEO of Harmonix about Accessibility and 
>>> > "Rock
>>> > Band." If you haven't yet seen it (ie, you were definitely not at a 
>>> > booth
>>> > right across from them at E for All!) -- Harmonix was also behind 
>>> > Guitar
>>> > Hero 1, 2, and 80s but then they spun that off to focus on Rock Band
>>> > (which works with up to two guitars, a drum kit, and a mic). Right now
>>> > it's available (USB wired) for Xbox 360, (wireless --
>>> > I think...) for PS3, and then (wired again) for PS2 (they have a USB 
>>> > hub
>>> > that plugs into the USB slot to allow for 4 separate USB devices).
>>> >
>>> > Here's the situation from Alex:
>>> >
>>> > "One obvious thing that has already become apparent in the forums is 
>>> > that
>>> > there's a demand among
>>> > paraplegic gamers for a mode of the drumming game in Rock Band that
>>> > doesn't require the kick pedal."
>>> >
>>> > I was thinking about hardware solutions that might work, that perhaps 
>>> > a
>>> > set of drumsticks that has some kind of squeeze mechanism might work 
>>> > but
>>> > that might be tough to pull off while you are drumming. Having the 
>>> > foot
>>> > pedal in as a hat sensor would be difficult for those who want to 
>>> > "ROCK!"
>>> > (hehe...head banging). The thing is that there are times when you have 
>>> > to
>>> > hit the drum pads with both sticks and the foot pedal all at the same
>>> > time...so simply not using the pedal is not an option if you want to
>>> > progress through the game.
>>> >
>>> > One thing for sure is the drums? It's the toughest thing on Rock 
>>> > Band -- I
>>> > brought it to a party last night and we had three people playing as 
>>> > "the
>>> > drummer" at the same time in order to avoid our "band" from getting 
>>> > kicked
>>> > off stage again and again -- even then the point difference between 
>>> > the
>>> > guitar and vocal versus the drums...guitar and vocal were in the 80s 
>>> > and
>>> > 90s/100 on "easy" and drums got to about as high as 60/100 also on 
>>> > "easy."
>>> > And this was from people who had never played Sing Star or Guitar Hero 
>>> > on
>>> > the other instruments. So there's some balance issues that are coupled
>>> > along with it.
>>> >
>>> > So I'm thinking that a mode that didn't involve the kick pedal might 
>>> > be
>>> > more attractive in general...perhaps as some sort of patch (harder 
>>> > with
>>> > consoles if you don't have it hooked up to the net but they might be
>>> > willing to send out a patch on a game disk for free or the cost of
>>> > shipping and handling). Or it might just be a "for the next version" 
>>> > kind
>>> > of thing.
>>> >
>>> > But can anything be done NOW with regard to a hardware alternative for
>>> > this version of Rock Band that has just come out? If there is a 
>>> > software
>>> > solution, what would we need access to in order to implement 
>>> > something?
>>> >
>>> > Thoughts? We have their attention! We might be able to really 
>>> > influence
>>> > this game. Certainly I'll make Alex aware of Eelke's design solution 
>>> > for
>>> > Guitar Hero for the visually impaired. But this is a rare direct
>>> > opportunity for us to work with a major game company on current and 
>>> > future
>>> > versions of this so we can get an inside look at what it takes to
>>> > implement any one solution in a company. If it works out, this gives 
>>> > us
>>> > some "street cred" as a group and be able to talk about the process 
>>> > at,
>>> > say, next year's GDC with them.
>>> >
>>> > Hey, it could happen -- this is the CEO we're talking to!
>>> >
>>> > Michelle
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > games_access mailing list
>>> > games_access at igda.org
>>> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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