[games_access] Games for All research

[hinn at uiuc.edu]

Thanks Reid! Would you feel ok about putting this in the wiki as the "meeting notes" for the meeting that didn't happen? That way we archive it and have a place to further develop it.

Folks from last Tuesday -- this is what I was trying to explain (badly) last week.

I can get access to the people for the article and, as you know, I think it's a great idea. I'll be glad to help write it as a co-author if you would like. 

Of course we have to make sure that we don't lose gamers with disabilities (sometimes devs will start to make something that might have been accessible but then feature creep takes over). But I can't see us losing sight of that. Instead we get to put it more in the limelight by adding that "see? this is really what we mean by accessibility improving design and resulting in innovative gameplay for EVERYONE."

So let me know what our next step should be and you and I can start contacting the folks you mentioned.

Michelle

---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:51:39 -0700
>From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>  
>Subject: [games_access] Games for All research  
>To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>
>0_o... no one showed up to the meeting on Tuesday morning, here's what
>I wanted to talk about.
>
>Some of you have heard about my suggestion to begin talking about our
>work in a larger context of "Games for All" instead of "Games for the
>Disabled". I suggest this because I see an increasing trend from
>publishers and developers showing great interest in making their games
>more accessible, using the same techniques and methods we advocate.
>However, they are applying these approaches not to the disabled, but
>to the novice gamer who has never played before. The industry wants to
>continue this growth and the only way they believe they can do that is
>to broaden our reach to people who don't play games. Luckily, their
>approaches also benefit those who are disabled, for the most part.
>
>I think our new approach when talking with developers should be to
>highlight, that we can help them make Games for All, and as an added
>benefit, most features will already help disabled to play their games
>without them having to do anything extra.
>
>As an example, Peter Molyneux, famed game designer is working on Fable
>2 which features a one button combat system.
>
>"I want as many people to play this game as humanly possible," series
>visionary Peter Molyneux told us as he began the demo. "To do that,
>it's all about making the experience as accessible as possible, and
>doing that comes down to this," he said, holding up the 360
>controller. The key to accessibility is simplifying the controls so
>anyone can pick up and play the game, he argues. "Action-RPGs like
>Fable are 60 percent combat," he said, "so we absolutely have to get
>that right. If we're going to make it so that anyone can play this, we
>need to simplify things. In Fable 2, all of the combat is executed
>with one button."
>Source - http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3161110
>
>EA Sports has announced a new control mode in some of their sports
>games called Family Play.
>
>"EA SPORTS Family Play on the Wii creates an incredibly accessible and
>user-friendly experience that the whole family will enjoy," said Dave
>McCarthy, Executive Producer for the three games developed at EA
>Canada. "While many fans love to control every piece of the action,
>novice players can have just as much fun jumping in to throw a
>touchdown pass, nail a three pointer or take a shot on goal. Family
>Play brings together fans of all ages to enjoy playing EA SPORTS
>games, and even let's them ease in to Advanced play if they desire."
>Source - http://games.ign.com/articles/801/801917p1.html
>
>LucasArts, the company I work for is in the this same mindset, that we
>must find ways to make our games more accessible so that we can
>attract people who don't normally play games.
>
>Because of this recent trend and our ability to position ourself as a
>leader in this area, I'm doing some research. I believe that novice
>players might experience the same exact control issues that disabled
>people do. The only difference is that the novice player is able to
>improve their skills to overcome the physical and mental barriers they
>first experience. I'd like more thoughts on this, data that proves
>this to be true. The only thing I've found yet is this artice,
>
>http://primotechnology.com/issues/004/04/warrior-woman.html, in it I
>think I've found many quotes that point to the same kinds of physical
>AND learning disabilities as Dyspraxia, Dysgraphia.
>
>In the end, I'd like to produce an article for Gamasutra with quotes
>from Peter Molyneux, Will Wright, Sid Meir, EA and anyone else I can
>find talking about the value of making Games for All and problems and
>solutions encountered.
>
>-Reid
>_______________________________________________
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>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
.......................................
these are mediocre times and people are 
losing hope. it's hard for many people 
to believe that there are extraordinary 
things inside themselves, as well as 
others. i hope you can keep an open 
mind.
 -- "unbreakable"
.......................................