Jan 10
25

Episode 34: Gamers with Disabilities

6 Comments

Sinan and Joe make their triumphant return into 2010, this week accompanied by the equally triumphant Mark Barlet of AbleGamers.com and the AbleGamers Foundation. In more of an interview format than what normally features in regular shows, the pod panel talk about gamers with disabilities, including how Mark’s site caters for said gamers, how informed and involved the industry and press are about accessibility – and where the responsibility for improving involvement may lie – before finally touching on how motion control may change the landscape, for better or worse. All this and plenty of jibes at Sinan’s Britishness in this week’s Big Red Potion.

Right click here and press Save Target As to download

 

The Regulars

Big Red Potion: http://bigredpotion.com
TheGameReviews: http://thegamereviews.com
Unified Gamers Network: http://unifiedgamersnetwork.com
Sinan’s blog, You Have Lost!: http://shoinan.com
Joe’s blog, Pixelated-Glee: http://pixelatedglee.wordpress.com

Guest Links

AbleGamers: http://ablegamers.com
AbleGamers Foundation: http://ablegamers.org
GameAccessibility.org: http://www.gameaccessibility.org

Show Links

Interview with Mark Barlet: http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=1026
Batman: Arkham Asylum review: http://www.ablegamers.com/pc/batman-arkham-asylum.html
The AbleGamers One Question Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z7-pd5gWBY
AbleGamers speaks to Randy “N0M4D’ Fitzgerald: http://www.ablegamers.com/game-news/ablegamers-speaks-to-randy-qn0m4dq-fitzgerald.html
Gaming with Disabilities @ GameCritics: http://www.gamecritics.com/gaming-with-disabilities
Truly Innovative Controllers for Disabled Gamers: http://www.thegamereviews.com/articlenav-1018-page-1.html
Motion Control and Disability: http://www.thegamereviews.com/article-1470-Motion-Control-and-Disability-.html

This entry was posted on January 25, 2010 at 10:12 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Main Shows by Sinan Kubba 6 Comments

6 Responses to "Episode 34: Gamers with Disabilities"

  • Benjo321 says:
    January 26, 2010 at 7:55 pm

    A really great show guys, it’s nice to have interesting and thought provoking topics covered.
    I think a lot of us gamers are guilty of not considering how disabled people play games. The real sad thing is that a lot of the solutions sound so easy on paper so why can’t they be implemented?! Being able to change colour schemes, font sizes, fully customisable controls, mandatory subtitles seem like easy things to put in.

    Being colour blind I come across quite a few issues, particularly with colour based puzzle games. Games like Puzzle Quest Galactrix was completely unplayable for me because of the colour palette used. Compared to a lot of disabilities it feels like I’ve got off lightly! At least I’m able to play the majority of games without a problem, some people aren’t that lucky.

  • Sinan Kubba says:
    January 27, 2010 at 12:06 pm

    Thenks Benjo, very glad you enjoyed it.

    I think that’s the major thing, that really the solutions are so simple and yet so often they’re not considered. So many puzzle games feature colour as an important element to differentiate, you’d think that the developer would think to put this in, but I guess it’s something that will hopefully come with time.

  • nunami says:
    February 3, 2010 at 2:54 am

    Another great show. It’s really interesting to hearing about how accessibility can (and should) be introduced in videogames.

    As interesting as your guest was, he came across as douche. In the end I stopped listening because of his snide comments.

    Keep up the good work!

  • Sinan Kubba says:
    February 3, 2010 at 8:28 am

    Hey nunami – welcome to the site and thanks for the kind comments about the show. Sorry to hear that you thought Mark came across that way. Each to their own, of course, but Joe and I did find him to be really enjoyable to talk to, and he was extremely generous with his time. But you cannot please everyone, I guess – and radio/podcasting can be a cruel mistress in that regard!

  • Mitch Krpata says:
    February 3, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    Very illuminating show, guys. I didn’t realize that it was posted during my recent, hopefully temporary disablity, but I’m sad to admit it’s something I’d never thought about before, either. And Mark is right, you never know when something like this might affect you. Thanks for raising awareness of an important issue.

  • Sinan Kubba says:
    February 4, 2010 at 10:49 am

    Hey, Mitch – thanks for stopping by :) First off, like I said on the blog, hoping that you do recover soon of course, best wishes from both of us here. But thanks for the kind words – the response to this episode has been very gratifying.

Leave a Comment