[games_access] GDC 2009!

Sat Apr 4 15:25:37 EDT 2009

It's a secret :)

Sent from mobile device.

On Apr 4, 2009, at 2:56 PM, Reid Kimball <rkimball at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm still looking forward to hearing about the "secret" news that is
> alluded to in so many posts on AbleGamers.
>
> On Sat, Apr 4, 2009 at 7:06 AM, Thomas Westin <thomas at pininteractive.com 
> > wrote:
>> GDC this year was pretty good, especially the Game accessibility  
>> 101 was
>> well attended (perhaps 30-40 people?), but also our social  
>> gathering at the
>> booth was more than the usual suspects, and the SIG roundtable too  
>> - we had
>> about 5-6 new people at each.
>> Just sad we couldn't have an arcade this year. The DVDs was also well
>> recieved.
>> /Thomas
>>
>> On 4 apr 2009, at 11.25, AudioGames.net wrote:
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Barrie Ellis
>> To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>> Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 10:47 AM
>> Subject: Re: [games_access] GDC 2009!
>> I recommend taking having a mooch
>> around http://www.ablegamers.com/gdc-09-9.html - I think Michelle,  
>> Mark and
>> Annette are somewhat exhausted from the show at the minute. Any  
>> news from
>> Thomas and Eitan?
>>
>> Barrie
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: AudioGames.net
>> To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>> Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 8:50 AM
>> Subject: Re: [games_access] GDC 2009!
>> So.... how was it?
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: d. michelle hinn
>> To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>> Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2009 2:16 AM
>> Subject: [games_access] GDC 2009!
>> Hi All!!
>> Here's the rundown of this year's SIG and Game Accessibility  
>> related talks
>> happening at GDC! I'll include the times and places first and at  
>> the end of
>> the email you can read the full descriptions!
>> Talk One: The Story of AudiOdyssey & My Journey through Usability
>> Speaker: Eitan Glinert (President, Fire Hose Games)
>> Date/Time: Monday (March 23, 2009)   1:30pm - 2:00pm
>> Location (room): Room 3007, West Hall
>> Track: Serious Games Summit
>> Talk Two: Game Accessibility SIG Roundtable
>> Speaker: Michelle Hinn (IGDA Game Accessibility SIG Chair)
>> Date/Time: Thursday (March 26, 2009)   9:00am - 10:00am
>> Location (room): Room 120, North Hall
>> Track: Game Design
>> Talk Three: Accessibility 101: Crash Course for Beginners
>> Speakers: Michelle Hinn (IGDA Game Accessibility SIG Chair), Mark  
>> Barlet
>> (Editor-in-Chief, AbleGamers.com)
>> Date/Time: Friday (March 27, 2009)   9:00am - 10:00am
>> Location (room): Room 2002, West Hall
>> Track: Game Design
>> Talk Four: Game Accessibility & Developers with Disabilities Social
>> Gathering
>> Speaker: Thomas Westin (Dep. Computer & Systems Science, SU/KTH,  
>> Stockholm
>> University/KTH)
>> Date/Time: Friday (March 27, 2009)   10:30am - 11:30am
>> Location (room): IGDA Booth, West Hall
>> Track: Game Design
>> This year we will have full coverage on AbleGamers.com who have  
>> agreed to
>> host our soon-to-be-unveiled SIG web presence! This will be  
>> unveiled this
>> week but if you go to AbleGamers you'll already start to see some  
>> cool
>> social networking features that will undoubtedly help us reach to  
>> consumers,
>> which we have always been spread a little too thin to do, and help  
>> them
>> reach out (even more than the awesome job they've already been  
>> doing!) to
>> the industry.
>> So anyway, look forward to seeing videos from the talks and  
>> interviews with
>> major developers and daily coverage thanks to AbleGamers reporter  
>> Anet (who
>> is my former game design student/game journalism graduate from  
>> Illinois!).
>> This is our year -- I can feel it! Time to get Game Accessibility  
>> out and
>> about through some big time activism!
>> After GDC, I'm going to call a series of online meetings to get  
>> some of the
>> things some of us were talking about getting going at the beginning  
>> of the
>> year. Some of this is already underway but I can't yet tell you  
>> what it is
>> (it's BIG though...) until I get the permission of the third party  
>> involved.
>> Upcoming conference appearances by members of the SIG include:
>> * GDC Canada
>> * GDC Europe
>> * GDC China
>> * Microsoft One Day Game Accessibility Seminar (that's me!)
>> * Develop Brighton (Barrie -- can you make it to this again???)
>> More news to come! Follow me at Twitter (@vrgrrl), Mark Barlet and
>> AbleGamers (@ablegamers), Barrie Ellis (@OneSwitch) , Richard van Tol
>> (@AudioGames), and more! :)
>> Michelle
>> Chairperson,
>> IGDA Game Accessibility SIG
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Full Descriptions of Sessions:
>> ---------
>> Talk 1:
>> The Story of AudiOdyssey & My Journey through Usability
>> Speaker: Eitan Glinert (President, Fire Hose Games)
>> Date/Time: Monday (March 23, 2009)   1:30pm - 2:00pm
>> Location (room): Room 3007, West Hall
>> Track: Serious Games Summit
>> Format: 30-minute Lecture
>> Experience Level: All
>>
>> Session Description
>> Not all serious games need to be those with visually exciting  
>> graphics or
>> even graphics at all. AudiOdyssey is a game that provides the  
>> serious games
>> community with an interesting twist - developing a game that can be  
>> used to
>> engage visually impaired gamers and gamers together in the same  
>> shared
>> experience. The story of AudiOdyssey is itself a journey not only  
>> into game
>> design for the visually impaired but overall issues with how to  
>> create games
>> with easy UIs and engaging experiences. During this talk Eitan  
>> Glinert who
>> built AudiOdyssey while at MIT will present the story of  
>> AudiOdyssey while
>> also covering further issues in usability that are useful not only  
>> for
>> improving access for people with disabilities but all levels of  
>> people
>> learning, training and doing more with videogames. Together this talk
>> provides some critical highlights of issues that are of paramount  
>> importance
>> to games that don't get to be selective about their audiences and  
>> gives
>> insight into a game that moved beyond presenting just a graphical
>> experience.
>> -----
>> Talk 2:
>> Game Accessibility SIG
>> Speaker: Michelle Hinn (IGDA Game Accessibility SIG Chair)
>> Date/Time: Thursday (March 26, 2009)   9:00am - 10:00am
>> Location (room): Room 120, North Hall
>> Track: Game Design
>> Format: 60-minute Roundtable
>> Experience Level: All
>>
>> Session Description
>> The Game Accessibility SIG exists to help the game community strive  
>> towards
>> creating mainstream games that are universally accessible to all,  
>> regardless
>> of age, experience and disability. This SIG meeting will briefly  
>> highlight
>> our accomplishments from the past year. We are eager to accept  
>> input for new
>> initiatives to tackle and we are actively recruiting volunteers and
>> contributors.
>> -----
>> Talk 3:
>> Accessibility 101: Crash Course for Beginners
>> Speaker: Michelle Hinn (IGDA Game Accessibility SIG Chair), Mark  
>> Barlet
>> (Editor-in-Chief, AbleGamers.com)
>> Date/Time: Friday (March 27, 2009)   9:00am - 10:00am
>> Location (room): Room 2002, West Hall
>> Track: Game Design
>> Format: 60-minute Lecture
>> Experience Level: All
>>
>> Session Description
>> Want to increase the size and diversity of your game's audience by  
>> including
>> gamers with disabilities? This talk provides a list of 10 easy  
>> changes any
>> game developer can use to start increasing the accessibility of their
>> designs for ALL gamers, especially gamers with disabilities, with  
>> minimal
>> effort but maximum impact. Learn what disabled gamers and  
>> developers are
>> doing, from modding your game to your controllers, in order to play  
>> your
>> games so that you can begin implementing these fixes right from the  
>> start of
>> your development cycle!
>>
>> Takeaway
>> Session participants will learn at least ten concrete ways that game
>> designers can use to get started in increasing the accessibility of  
>> their
>> mainstream games titles, as well as some innovative ways of gaming  
>> that will
>> interest all gamers, not just gamers with disabilities. Different  
>> disability
>> types will be discussed - including visual (including low vision  
>> and color
>> blindness), auditory, mobility, and cognitive disabilities - and  
>> how these
>> different disabilities affect certain aspect of game play. Audience  
>> members
>> will come away with many examples of how gamers with disabilities  
>> currently
>> game and how their game companies can help assist these gamers  
>> through
>> design variations to make their game play experience the best  
>> possible.
>>
>> Intended Audience and Prerequisites
>> Designers, programmers, marketers, and publishers interested in a  
>> "crash
>> course" to learn and ask questions about game accessibility -  
>> issues that
>> gamers with disabilities face every day as they try and play your  
>> games.
>> Information given will include an overview of the issues that those  
>> with
>> specific disability types face, including color blind gamers, the top
>> accessibility problems in mainstream games, and concrete solutions.  
>> No
>> prerequisite knowledge is required - just come with an open mind and
>> willingness to seriously consider making games accessible to MORE!
>> -----
>> Talk 4:
>> Game Accessibility & Developers with Disabilities Social Gathering
>> Speaker: Thomas Westin (Dep. Computer & Systems Science, SU/KTH,  
>> Stockholm
>> University/KTH)
>> Date/Time: Friday (March 27, 2009)   10:30am - 11:30am
>> Location (room): IGDA Booth, West Hall
>> Track: Game Design
>> Format: 60-minute Social Gathering
>> Experience Level: All
>>
>> Session Description
>> Social Gatherings are a chance for like-minded developers to get  
>> together
>> for networking and open discussion at the IGDA booth. Come to meet  
>> your
>> peers and engage in deep dialogue over your area of specialty - or  
>> just
>> partake in witty small talk.
>>
>> Takeaway
>> Networking and discussion with your peers in a casual setting. A  
>> sense of
>> community.
>>
>> Intended Audience and Prerequisites
>> Developers interested in game accessibility and developers with
>> disabilities.
>> ________________________________
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>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
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