Gaming accessibility | Video gaming for everyone! | MotionInput (touchless) breakthrough

Last edited by jawa_ on Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:15 am, edited 4 times in total.

In recent years it feels that gaming accessibility is getting a little more focus. Microsoft developed an accessible controller system and more games have included accessibility options so that players can tune audio, visual and control settings according to their individual needs. Of course, a few companies/charities such as SpecialEffect have been doing sterling work in this area for some time now.

Sony has announced Project Leonardo which is focused on allowing more folk to play videogames. A controller that can be setup to suit people's needs has been shown:

twitter.com/PlayStation/status/1610810788817821696

Further information has been posted on the PlayStation Blog.

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I thought it'd be interesting to discover some of the needs and challenges with gaming that GRcadins may have. Obviously a few folk here have shared some detail over the years, but I've setup a voting system (above) to allow us to take a snapshot of this situation.

Please feel free to vote and then post about any challenges - and solutions! - that may affect you or someone you know.

No accessibility issues myself (does being gooseberry fool at some games count? :shifty:

), but it's great to see that big companies are putting some money behind custom controllers so that hopefully everyone gets to enjoy playing videogames, regardless of their situation :toot:

I have colour blindness (not certain which type, but I can mix up reds/brown/dark colours and yellow/green colours).

I usually get by in games but "match three" type gameplay is nearly always a no-go.

Good on Sony joining the party tbf.

I hope it's fully compatible with PC's like the Xbox Adaptive controller.

EDIT: Seems its only for PS5.

SpecialEffect have had a couple of mentions in GRcade before and today Eurogamer has published an article about them. It's an amazingly uplifting read; with terrific work being done to help people who need a hand.

jawa_ wrote:SpecialEffect have had a couple of mentions in GRcade before and today Eurogamer has published an article about them. It's an amazingly uplifting read; with terrific work being done to help people who need a hand.

They definitely do fantastic work Jawa, they were really helpful to me several years ago when I was pretty much on the verge of giving up gaming entirely.

Their whole ethos of focussing on what you can do rather than what you can't do really made me change my mindset in regards to the kind of games I play, I can't play most of my favorite genres anymore but there's still loads of games that I can play so I don't get as frustrated as I used to.

Ironhide wrote:...(SpecialEffect) were really helpful to me several years ago when I was pretty much on the verge of giving up gaming entirely.

Their whole ethos of focussing on what you can do rather than what you can't do really made me change my mindset in regards to the kind of games I play, I can't play most of my favorite genres anymore but there's still loads of games that I can play so I don't get as frustrated as I used to.

This is genuinely fantastic to hear, Ironhide! I don't know too much about this kind of situation but I imagine that looking at the challenges from different angles is a key part of managing the issue. It's great that are lots of games that you can enjoy

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Nintendo Life have published a great article about colour-blindness in gaming. I can relate to many of the challenges the writer mentions; match three games (especially if speed is essential) are not really playable and sports games can be difficult (due to kit clashes)!

I was interested in the part about the new Metroid Prime remaster as as apparently the original had a battle(s) that rely upon matching coloured attacks and there are now some colour options in the settings menu of the Switch version. Great stuff!

Can't be arsed to read the article but would like to try a colour-blindness test? Click here.

jawa_ wrote:Nintendo Life have published a great article about colour-blindness in gaming. I can relate to many of the challenges the writer mentions; match three games (especially if speed is essential) are not really playable and sports games can be difficult (due to kit clashes)!

I was interested in the part about the new Metroid Prime remaster as as apparently the original had a battle(s) that rely upon matching coloured attacks and there are now some colour options in the settings menu of the Switch version. Great stuff!

Can't be arsed to read the article but would like to try a colour-blindness test? Click here.

I watched a lot of USA 94 on a black and white telly so I feel your pain! It's why I'm generally in favour of third choice football shirts when a lot of people think they're a cynical cash grab. A simple way to improve the experience in football games would be to have multiple grass colour options. I can't imagine how hard it must be to follow a red team playing on grass if you have RG colour blindness. It would look janky as to non-colourblind people but would be a godsend to colourblind people!

Dowbocop wrote:...A simple way to improve the experience in football games would be to have multiple grass colour options...

Funnily enough, Dowb, in recent times it has become tougher as "realistic" lighting is used to cast shadows across the pitch and players. In PES a couple of years ago there was one pitch that I just couldn't use 'cos of the lighting. A good thing in PES was that - even in online matches - you can choose the kits yourself for both teams (with the other player having their choice of kits on their screen). A nice feature!

In real life football kits sometimes frustrate. A few years ago I saw that - IIRC - Sheff United and Sheff Wednesday were playing each other in their standard home kits. To me, it just looked like all the players were wearing the same dark shorts and dark striped shirts :lol:

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It’s still not good enough until every title has completely remappable keybinds at a software level as a licensing requirement by platform holders.

There is no good reason from any developer why this cannot be done. Doing it at a hardware level doesn’t solve much as there will be different buttons you prefer to do different things on a per-game basis.

I want Fortnite or Forbidden West levels of accessibility in every game I play.

Sony are rolling out accessibility tags for games in the PlayStation Store; these will allow people to see what accessibility features a game has before they choose to purchase it.

Excellent stuff! Right now a fairly limited number of games support the feature but the plan is that it becomes pretty much standard.

Sony has advised that Project Leonardo has resulted in the Access Controller for PS5.

Push Square wrote:As part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, the hardware manufacturer reveals the PS5 Access Controller will "include a wide array of swappable button and stick caps so players can freely create different layouts that work for their unique strength, range of motion, and physical needs". Each package offers three types of analog stick caps, button caps in various shapes and sizes (pillow, flat, wide flat, overhang, and curve), swappable button caps, and the option to attach the pad to AMPS mounts and tripods. You can also lay it flat or orient it 360 degrees. Custom switches, buttons, and analog sticks can then be attached through four 3.5mm AUX ports.

Sony also released this video detailing the work they are undertaking to bring greater accessibility to PS5.

As part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Microsoft is also focusing on accessibility and they have updated their advice pages to include more information on this area across all Xbox platforms.

Nintendo Life has published an excellent article in which the author - who has some additional needs when playing video games - explains why he feels the lack of accessibility options in Nintendo's Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - and in many other of their titles - is a real shame.

A good, challenging article. I made the mistake of looking over the comments and most people are pretty positive about it whilst, of course, a few bell-ends have chimed in. Like this one:

Funny how people will find the littlest things that Nintendo does (or doesn't do) and completely slam them for it. Buy a different controller or just deal with it.

Oh dear

. There really are people like this around.

"It is disabled people's responsibility to change their environment, their lives and themselves to accommodate my ability to defend Nintendo on the Internet" is about the most ass backwards form of able dick-waving possible this century.

Nintendo seem to have this mistaken belief that accessibility options (and a configurable experience in general) would worsen their games. It's not just ableist, it's incorrect.

Well yes, more generally in Japanese society it is understood that society should not stoop to the level of only what it is accessible to the less able (which can only be understood to relative ability of an able person at particular tasks - disabled people are not always less able than able people). It's a conservative mindset that still permeates most of developed society. Disabled people are squeezed in, often reluctantly and requiring enormous pressure. You are doing many times the work of a typical able person, just to exist doing every day things. When you then face obstacles just trying to have fun and relax, that is horrible (possibly worse, as this is respite).

However, it's not all bad and there are some good accommodations for example for the blind in Japan based on my experience. But that is mostly due, from what little I know, to the ageing population becoming the normal demographic, and thus necessary for society in general to function.

We shouldn't be thinking about "accommodations" for disabled people though. There are accommodations for the human race in its variety. They are not special provisions, they are just needs. Needs are needs. Humans vary and thus have varying needs. The assumption there is some kind of normal human being and we need to accommodate the other human beings is simply nonsense.

OrangeRKN wrote:Nintendo seem to have this mistaken belief that accessibility options (and a configurable experience in general) would worsen their games. It's not just ableist, it's incorrect.

Absolutely.

They don't get enough criticism for this.

OrangeRKN wrote:Nintendo seem to have this mistaken belief that accessibility options (and a configurable experience in general) would worsen their games. It's not just ableist, it's incorrect.

Although I'm sure I remember a leaked patent for a Zelda game (maybe what would become Skyward Sword) that would have allowed people to skip bits of the game they found too difficult. What happened to all that?

Gaming accessibility | Video gaming for everyone! | MotionInput (touchless) breakthrough

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