2016-10-26 08:36:01

Hi, I'm doing a project at university based on spatial audio and audio only games. I am wondering, who are the main users of these games? Are there a lot of people who are visually impaired? Audio buffs? Or just people who like a change?

Would appreciate some feedback, thanks smile

2016-10-26 09:03:01

The main users are blind.  I would guess that 99% of this community are users with either no vision or such low vision that playing mainstream (sighted) games is not possible... or is possible but very limited.

- Aprone
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2016-10-26 09:26:45

I agree. I guess you need as many unique responses as possible, right?
If so, then I have been totally blind since birth, and although I have tried to play mainstream videogames in the past, or have seen a sighted person playing some, the experience was never as free and accessible as it should be. Some games are absolutely unplayable without sighted assistance at all (Tomb Raider), some can be done but involve a lot of trial and error, discussion with other players, and memorization of complex routes (Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid), and others can be played so easily that you only have to memorize the layout of their menus as a blind player, but those are really far and few (Mortal Kombat, Tekken and probably Street Fighter and other fighting games like that which I haven't had the chance to either play or watch being played).

That's why I prefer true audio only games designed specifically with the blind in mind as much as possible over the last few years. First, I don't have a console or a powerful enough computer to act like one, second, I no longer have anyone sighted available close enough to share the mainstream gaming experiences or discuss such games with, and third, I don't have the patience or time needed to learn all these routes in the game worlds, menu layouts, and other little tricks to make the experience at least semi-accessible. True, many audiogames are still pretty limited in terms of complexity, sheer amount of content or in replayability when compared to what the modern day mainstream games have to offer, but the situation is gradually getting better even in this regard.

Lukas

I won't be using this account any more or participating in the forum activity through other childish means like creating an alternate account. I've asked for the account to be removed but I'm not sure if that's actually technically possible here. Just writing this for people to know that I won't be replying, posting new topics or checking private messages until the account is potentially removed.

2016-10-26 10:54:46

Lukas is correct here unfortunately, the vast majority of players of audiogames are indeed themselves blind because the experience of mainstream graphical games is lacking so much in access, and is either impossible or takes so much sound and memorization it is in no way an equal experience to that of sighted gamers. This is why a lot of the audio only games for Pc such as crazy party, shades of doom and swamp are very  deliberately targeted at a blind audience, or at least, the vast majority of their players tend to be blind.

That being said, there are games now on the Ios ap store who have expanded the audience rather. Generally if a game isn't presented as "a blind game", and is visible on a platform like ios, it's got more chance of being played by fully sighted users, albeit still a fraction of those who play graphical games.
Such games include the games from somethinelse such as pappasangre 1 and 2, audio defense zombie arena and the night jar, blind side, and a blind legend, as well as audio addventures which function like interactive audio dramas such as codename sygnus and the inquisitor games.

Also note however, that as well as self voicing audiogames,a large proportion of games played by visually impared people have textual output as well as, or instead of sounds, output which can be read by a screen reader, including the aclaimed a dark room and king of dragon pass for ios as well as muds and interactive fiction games. Indeed frequently if a screen reader can get hold of some of the text of a game it is possible to add access, making games like browser based rpgs and several games on ios accessible. Often these also feature sounds.
I'm not sure if you'd call these audiogames or not, particularly something like adventure to fate, but there is definitely more in the audiogames cannon these days than just specifically self voiced games produced uniquely for blind people or bvisually impared people's attempts to play mainstream games via tortuous memorization.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)