The Escapist Bulletin: Why accessibility in games is good for everyone
Even the able-bodied
Visually-impaired gamer Alexander Stern brought a lawsuit against Sony in October, saying that the company wasn't doing enough to help the visually-impaired enjoy its products.
The case was dismissed by the US District Court for the Central District of California this week, with the court ruling that Stern's demands - his suit stated that he wanted to be able to 'fully enjoy' the game - were unreasonable and would set a precedent that no game maker would be able to meet.
Successful or not, Stern joins a growing list of stories that is bringing accessibility in gaming out into the open. Back in August Valve asked a group of deaf gamers for their opinions on how it could make its games easier to play, and colour-blindness recently became a talking point, first with Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer and more recently with the hacking in BioShock 2. In fact, only a few months ago Dragon Age won an award for being the most accessible game of 2009.
One of the most surprising and tragic things to arise from this new awareness, however, is the hostility to the idea of making concessions to these groups from able-bodied gamers.
A previous Bulletin spoke about the negative reaction from some gamers to Helen Hodsy’s campaign to put a colour-blindness option in MW2 and some gamers have been quick to scoff at Alexander Stern’s efforts in court, reasoning that, as gaming is a visual medium, to try and make it accessible to the visually impaired is a fool’s errand. But while ‘full enjoyment’ will probably never be on the cards, there’s no reason why developers and publishers shouldn’t be interested in disabled gamers.
Most gamers will never have to deal with a physical or cognitive impairment, so it can be hard to empathise. This in turn makes the effort to include disabled gamers seem wasted to someone will never make use of the features, but excluding gamers with disabilities is harmful to the hobby as a whole.
Not just in terms of sales - although bit sounds like a fairly untapped market - but also in terms of the quality of games we’ll enjoy in the future. Every new voice we add to the discussion we have about games makes gaming richer, and so by shunning those voices we’re ultimately hurting the pastime that we purport to love.
By engaging with people who have different perspectives and experiences from our own we can improve the games that we play. Returning to the example of Valve inviting deaf gamers to its offices: the other reason, aside from making its games more accessible, was that Valve wanted to include sign language in Half-Life 2: Episode 3, and make it read correctly. Though it may seem like unnecessary effort, verisimilitude in a setting is something you can appreciate whether you realise it’s there or not.
Just like any work of fiction, a video game is best when its elements are as truthful as possible.