2018-06-12 19:59:20

Canada's AMI created a documentary on blind gaming. It includes Madden, plus a bunch of other things.

http://www.ami.ca/category/documentarie … ming-blind

Thanks,

- Karen Stevens

2018-06-12 20:03:41

That's very cool. I wish they would've explored other perspectives as well, such as those of us who play mainstream games that are a bit out of the scope of imagination, like fighting games which don't have accessibility features. Great documentary though overall!

Discord: clemchowder633

2018-06-13 02:19:49

I have seen this documentary and I think that it was great!  I hope that more developers and  gamers see this documentary and more people can learn that people who are blind do play games, and want to play mainstream  games.  I think that if larger companies start to see the potential for the blind community, than it would mean more mainstream games would become accessible.

My goal is to become like one of the great game accessibility advocates such as Ian Hamilton and Brandon Cole, helping to increase awareness  for  accessibility of  mainstream games for people who are blind  through talks, streaming, and many other ways which I can help to advance accessibility in video games.

Hi there, if you wanna find me on twitch, you can do so at Twitch.tv/LeonianUniverse and on YouTube at the same channel name. I stream Hearthstone and other games and love to chat with people, so if you like my content, feel free to subscribe or follow me.

2018-06-13 04:27:16

Pretty cool.

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2018-06-13 14:49:40 (edited by Munawar 2018-06-13 14:51:09)

I like how one of the gamers makes a point that while audio-only games exist, it's not what the mainstream is playing.

It made me think a little more about audiogames, and I couldn't help but come to the conclusion that audiogames help to segregate us from the mainstream instead of fostering inclusion. It's like, "Oh yeah blind people have their own thing going on," like how Window-Eyes' solution to an inaccessible Outlook calendar was to write an overlay.

Audiogames have shown us that we as blind people can definitely game efficiently (though, arguably, many of us were doing this before audiogames existed,) and they've helped to bring blind people together (like with Accessible Chat,) but eventually the benefits need to be realized in the mainstream market.

As an example, one reason I love what Apple has done is because they've made accessibility a mainstream thing in their devices. Pick up any phone, owned by any sighted person, and make it instantly accessible by triple-clicking the Home button. I remember recently a sighted person wanted me to show her the maps app. I was able to take her phone, switch on VoiceOver, and off I went.

Gone are the days when we as blind people needed nothing short of "assistive technology" to get our jobs done. Nowadays, at least 60% of the time, we can rely completely on mainstream devices, and the market for "notetakers" is slowly fading away. This is thanks, in large part, to Apple

2018-06-14 10:57:13

Hi.
Wow, awesome documentary. Really great job.

Best regards SLJ.
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2018-06-14 14:43:51

I never actually got into audio games all that much until around 2015 or so, maybe a little earlier. My theory is that they were created due to inaccessible mainstream games. But there was that period in the first decade of the new millennium where the games were getting better, but in the sound design department, not good enough for us as blind people to make use of. Now, every game, or most of them that are not indie will have some sort of sound work done where you have spacial representation of sound. I think developers are finally standing up and taking notice what having good audio will do. It's a supplement, but for us, its a lot more than that. It's hard to say the effect audio has on sighted people. I'd like to think it does have some effect, but I'm not sure to what the extent is. It would be cool to do a study where you take groups of people and gather data about how the audio experience of a game helps them, not just what they say, but also comparing their performance. I really don't know, I do know that sighted people use their vision so heavily that other senses almost don't even matter. I mean smell, OK it will save your life if you have a gas leak, but other than that, do sighted people even use it, other than like oh that perfume smells nice, or oh I like those flowers. Taste, OK no contest there, it is important to them, I don't know if they will use touch / tactile much outside of sex, I think that sighted people will use it in a rudimentary fashion. Hearing, I honestly don't know if sighted people even use hearing outside of conversation, or it is much more passive in them than it is in us. OK so they obviously can hear, because like someone might say, oh listen to the birds, etc. but to the degree they hear, I'm not sure, can they hear an acorn dropping out of the tree and hitting the ground, for instance.

It's curious, and I've often wondered just how much sighted people use their other senses, because from what I can gather, vision to them trumps everything else to such a degree, I mean it really does. OK, I am partially sighted, I know what colors are, I can judge distance based on sight, though I do not have depth perception. If there is snow on a deck I'm standing on, snow on the rail, snow on the grass, I would just walk off of it if I was going on vision alone, because it all looks the same height to me. Given that, if I was to suddenly wake up with 20/20 vision one day, I'd be screwed, wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to make use of it, I'd probably be stopping short of things or crashing into them, because my methodology of judging distance would be jacked up now.

I've seen sighted people have a hard time with doing basic things in the dark, like even unlocking their house. If they don't have a light, or their car headlights don't stay on for a bit after they get out like some do, they're screwed. To me, that's nothing to unlock a door in the dark, But you'd think that if someone is middle aged, this wouldn't be the first time they've gotten home after dark, so you'd think they might adapt, but they don't, and I'm guessing its because they literally don't know how to make use of their other senses.

It's curious to me, in a scientific way how much you pull from your other senses if your vision is compromised. I almost don't think it would be that way if your hearing was. Like, do deaf people use their other senses more? I wouldn't think so, aside from perhaps learning to sharpen their vision the way we sharpen our hearing, by just using it, paying attention etc. I've wondered about deafblind people too, now that is rough. Being blind or low vision doesn't bother me, I mean it has its points where I would be glad to have vision, but I'm not like depressed every day because I can't see. But I couldn't imagine keeping this level of vision and also losing my hearing as well, like holy shit that's a scary prospect. I guess if you're born that way, its all you know. And if you're deafblind, well you still do have braille, though teaching someone might prove more challenging, but certainly not impossible.

We are hard coded for vision though. One thing about it, if you've ever been on a Twitch stream where something is going on, and the stream is live but the screen is black, oh my god do people freak out about it in the chat. Even if the streamer says Give me a sec, I gotta do X, and the screen goes black, given that they just said that, you'd expect a bit of forbearance from the viewers, but no, they freak out, its like cutting vital input. So what you have to do is design a graphic with something like, "We'll be back soon" written across the center, but its got to be like a graphic, a background image, etc. If its just text on a black screen, people still spam the chat.

Well, all I know is if the Zombie Apocalypse happens and the grid goes down, Us blindies will be more useful than ever we have been previously XD

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2018-06-15 02:14:14

@7
I've learned while looking for a gaming headset for a friend that sighted people appreciate directional audio in video games when it comes to FPS's especially when stealth is involved.
Not only can they get a warning of movement around the corner, or hear gunfire up ahead, but they often even use it to help them turn to the sound of a player's footsteps.
They almost certainly aren't as accurate as us, but they use it as a boost, then they use their sight to 0 in.

2018-06-15 14:06:28

I also think that documentary was really well done. I was the guy playing Mortal Kombat on the Xbox. Whenever you participate in something that is going to be on TV, you never know how the producers are going to spin things. I was nervous when AMI asked me to do it, since I'm absolutely not a pro gamer. I don't completely suck, but I'm not nearly at the level that I know others are on this forum. I think that is completely fair though. The host of the game hadn't touched a video game since she lost her sight. Putting her up against someone who is a pro wouldn't have been realistic.
Anything we can do to raise awareness to game developers is a good thing!

2018-06-15 16:44:31

Hi,
Loved this documentary.
@jfayre,
I am an xbox gamer too. What games do you have, and would you be willing to throw down in some matches one day?
I have Killer Instinct, mkxl, Tekken 7, Rock Band 4, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series, DragonBall FighterZ, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary, Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.

2018-06-16 04:25:28

Sure! my gamer tag is jfayre. How about yours?
I have Mortal Kombat XL, Killer Instinct, Injustice, and a few other random things I'm playing with.

2018-06-16 14:24:07

My gamertag is jukesy1992. HOpe to see you around on the xbox soon, although time zones could be interesting.

2018-06-17 20:07:24

If anyone wants to add me, my gamertag is rossminor. I play fighting games, as well as Black ops 3.

2018-06-17 20:15:26

I and a few others are probably the only people who didn't like this documentary. Yes, it had a lot of information for sighted people and the accessible gaming scene. However, when it came to the blind people she picked to video gaming, I feel like she didn't do any research into blind gaming. She probably picked those specific people because they were from Canada, which is understandable, but to not even mention Carlos, Tj the blind gamer, or even that guy who won an entire Streetfighter tournament  is a little ridiculous. the people she videoed weren't awful or anything, but I feel like it gave the impression to sighted people that this is the best we can do. At least show a clip or too of the best blind MKX player, which most of us can agree is Carlos, the best black ops player TJ, etc. By no means I'm saying it was a bad documentary, or that the people featured in the documentary were bad players, but I feel like it would have made a bigger impression if some of the more influential gamers were mentioned. What do you guys think?

2018-06-17 22:34:18

I don't think its necessary to be so good you could enter e sports competitions to be a valid gamer. Just playing and enjoying is all it takes, and I like that's what the documentary portrayed. If you go through life always trying to be the best at everything, man, you never slow down and you miss a lot because of that.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
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2018-06-18 10:34:27

Hi,
I gotta agree with Ironcross here unfortunately. Too many documentaries focus on esports, and that's not what gaming is all about. If we showed those people, it might only fuel the stereotypes that blind people are very good because they have super senses. I, for one, am happy that we saw the more casual side this time.

2018-06-21 20:06:03

@14 and 15

Yeah, I guess that's a point I never really thought about. I especially agree with 16, because that would definitely further the stereotype.

2018-06-26 22:50:33

Hi Ross,
How are you playing Black Ops 3? I haven't tried that one.