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Revolution Offers Hope For Disabled Gamers?
Via Joystiq, an article on Mercury News discussing the possible benefits to disabled gamers via use of Nintendo's unique Revolution control scheme. From the article: "Like many people with spinal-cord injuries that affect all four limbs, Taft retains some use of his arms and hands. But it's not enough for effectively operating the typical two-hand game device. He's confident his relatively strong right hand will be able to manipulate the new controller, which is part of the Revolution game system that's still under development by Nintendo."
Check out these nifty one-switch games. Not just one hand, but one button. These games are controlled entirely through skillful use of the space bar.
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
The new controller helps disabled gamers AND it helps obese couchpotatoes lose some arm-flab! score!!!
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I wish this controller was out a few years ago.
I remember sitting in the park with Christopher Reeve in mid-2002 when he said "Of all the things I miss from when I was able-bodied, I miss playing games the most." He was quite down about it. I gave him a slap on the back, which was silly in hindsight as he couldn't feel it, and said "Cheer up, you'll be putting the 'Super' back in 'Superman' one day."
I'll never forget the way he took a big, machine assisted breath and said "Thanks, G."
Trolling is a art,
The vast majority of material I've read about this thing has been negative. Can't say I've been terribly impressed by the neutral information, myself. A one-handed control seems counterintuitive and cumbersome for fast-paced games where a controller designed for two hands is far better suited. But, I've never had occasion to try one out...maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised by it when it finally hits the shelves.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
Well, this sounds great if it works like that, which I doubt it will. I would think it would make it harder, not easier. The Revolution is interesting, but I think this is a bit of a long shot, before the console is even out.
-- Lattyware (www.lattyware.co.uk)
New controller, can be operated with one hand. Photo
I imagine there's a much larger existing userbase for input devices for the disabled in the PC world. What prevents someone from using one of these devices for gaming? I'm not too familiar with this kind of stuff but I'm sure there's a sort of trackball . keyboard combo that could be used. You might not innately be as quick as you used to be (or as other players), but you'd be surprised...
When I went to college a fellow student at the end of the hall was very big into games. I believe his console of choice was the Saturn and he played it with an arcade-style joystick. What's surprising about him is that he had a pretty serious congenital disorder: he was born without arms, and just small, working hands at the end of his shoulders. I believe he moved the joystick with his mouth. He was a pretty good player too.
Worthy of mention too, is Pin Interactive's Terraforma, which is a game designed both for sighted and unsighted gamers. Even for sighted gamers, the game offers a high-contrast mode. A playable demo is available.
One of the lead developers of Terraforma mentions in this article that there are other games for the disabled - he specifically mentions MUDs as well as some really neat off-the-wall concepts like games that use a "breating interface".
I'm glad that attention is being paid to this. I don't think it will mean increased business for Nintendo in any measurable term, but then everything isn't about revenue.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
sounds like a lot of gamer-geeks ...
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This highlights exactly my concern regarding the new controller. If someone with only the use of one hand can effectively use the controller, that means (obviously) that most or all potential for input from the other hand will be ignored. This strikes me as a strange, and possibly deal-breaking decision to make for a video game console.
The trend to date in video games has been towards more, rather than less, complexity. Bucking that trend will be, in my estimation, extraordinarily difficult. Improving games by adding complexity has proven to be comparatively easy - witness the endless parade of sequels, sports franchises, and ever-increasing button counts on controllers. If you can't add complexity, however, you're forced to add to gameplay in another way.
Now, improving gameplay in ways more fundamental than just adding new things is a fantastic thing to do. Innovation is always better than revision. The problem Nintendo will have is that they've foreclosed the option to add complexity, which means all they can do is add innovation...and innovation is hard.
If they can pull it off, and release a non-stop series of games that are innovative, then I'll be a happy camper. But I don't know if they can. It's going to be hard to improve on the GC's Metroid games while providing fewer control inputs. Ditto Zelda, Mario, Smash Bro.'s, and Mario Kart, which means they're potentially hurting themselves when it comes to staple games that, to date, have sold systems.
Possibly even worse, having a radically different controller than the other two consoles will be a disincentive to 3rd-party developers to try and port games to the Revolution. Perhaps the Revo's hardware is going to be far enough behind the others' that this won't matter; they wouldn't have ported anyway. But whatever the reason, that slows uptake of the new console, too.
Now, if anyone can pull it off, it's probably Nintendo. And I really hope they do, since it would be fantastic if there was a dramatic change in what kind of new games got released in favor of innovation vs. revision. But I harbor deep-seated doubts as to whether even the big N can succeed solely on innovative games, and ignoring wheelhouse franchises.
(As a sidebar, I'm also leery of how comfortable I might be using just one hand to play a game. I look at it this way: the NES controller could easily be redesigned to be used one-handed, as a pistol-grip with a thumbstick on top and a button per finger on the underside. Would I want to play any game with that controller as opposed to the original? I really don't think so. It's just easier to do two things at once when you've got one hand per task...and most genres of games require at least executing movement along with at least one-button action simultaneously)
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
Where have you been reading negative impressions of this? From what I've been reading, developers who have actually had a hands-on experience with it are extremely excited by it. It seems those who haven't touched it (3DRealms CEO) are the ones who have given negative impressions.
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
I can't honestly point at any negative reviews right now. It's been a long time, and those may have been engineering models that still had some bugs. As for guerilla advertising, notice that I made a point to say that I haven't used it myself and might be surprised by how well it works.
I like Nintendo. I thought the N64 controller was brilliant, by far the best console controller of its time. I don't own or know anyone who owns a Gamecube, so I've not had enough exposure to it to comment. I simply have my reservations about how effectively *any* one-handed controller will handle a game like Halo of KOTOR.
Innovation is always a good thing. That doesn't mean that everything innovative is always good, nor that what is great for one person won't be terrible for the next. I'm genuinely looking forward to trying out a revolution just to see if it lives up to its name...I just have my doubts and am expressing them. I'm sorry if that troubles you so.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
Why couldn't it be done such that one controller in one hand could get you through the game, (making certain features automatic or supplemented by the console/game) but still configurable such that you could take over the automatic functions by using a second controller in your other hand? Speaking of the Metroid series, one controller could easily be assigned movement and fire, with automatic aiming turned on...or two controllers could be used with one assigned to weapons control and the other to movement.
It seems to me those new controllers are designed (waiting and ready) for games to take advantage of one player using one controller in each hand.
Ok, I'll save you some grief: the controller isn't one-handed at all. The one-handed base unit has the motion sensors (others are attached to the tv) and a few buttons, that's right. But you can attach an analog stick to the base unit, which you hold with the other hand. Aim right hand/arm, movement left thumb. Nintenod has said they haven't shown all they have, so I expect additional extensions.
See the TGS 2005 teaser video
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
Teaching/TA'ing/Subbing in a few Middle school programs, I had a chance to work with a lot of disabled kids. Bright kids who enjoyed the same activities as their classmates. Some of them tried ridiculously hard to play video games, even though the conventional controller designs were prohibitive. If any game company were to embrace adaptive technology, I certain feel like Nintendo would. And I would applaud it.
Bury me in mashed potatoes.
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Ascii came up with one a while ago for the Playstation called the Ascii Grip (google images has many pictures of it). I got it because it was a cheap "we gotta get rid of this" deal from Electronics Botique. Not great for practical use by your typical gamer due to only being able to press a couple buttons at once, but useful if you want to play your RPG with one hand and eat pizza with the other hand.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
http://media.cube.ign.com/articles/651/651334/vid
And they should be. There are a lot of us, ranging from car accident victims to war veterans to crazy old men with perceptual disorders like me. If a game company stepped up to the plate and spent the small amount they would need to make a game accessible (integrate it with MS's text-to-speech and other accessibility features; permit simplified game control layouts, even if they allow less of the game to be fully explored, as long as it's finishable with the reduced control set; there's a million ways), I'm certain disabled gamers would respond. I'm not talking about targetting games solely at that section of the market, just removing the artificial and unnecessary barriers that exists as it is, adding features to normal game releases.
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
You're absolutely right. If a company would make such a product (i.e. probably millions of dollars in R&D, with little hope of making that back in profit), it would be nintendo.
No wait, check that... it is nintendo. Check out this awesome product they made back in the 80s for kids with no/little use of their upper extemities.
I remember reading about this in the old Nintendo Fun Club magazine. They didn't try to whore it out for publicity (not that that's a bad thing: I fully support companies getting good publicity for good things), but this was so low-key and classy. Nintendo - What an awesome company.
No offense intended, but disabled actually means you are incapable of doing certain things.
C17H21NO4
I have lost most of the use in my left hand. I am able to move my fingers, but I cannot obtain a strong grip. I have pretty good use of my thumb, but I am unable to feel anything with the top of my thumb. Therefore, I am able to use a gamepad directional controller, but not effectively. This is why I am so thoroughly happy that the analog stick became the norm in future controllers.
This is also why I purchsed a Nintendo DS. I only buy games that make complete use of the stylus - Trauma Center, Bust-a-Move, and WarioWare, to name a few. This is also why I will buy a Revolution. Where some will look at this controller as a gimmick, I look at it as a boon. I couldn't have been happier to finally see a controller I could use.
I know losing the ability to play alot of video games may not be the end of the world, but it really blows.
I'm surprised that noone has metioned that while using two controllers in a FPS it would be possible to aim in two different directions at once. (although movement control might be a bit problematic)
Considering how many different variations of customizable keyboards, mice and joysticks exist, wouldn't PC games be more appropriate for someone with a disability?
...but probably only for certain gamers, in certain games. To add my normal disclaimer, I'm a games programmer working for Sony (not their opinions in here, just mine, etc etc), but I have relatives and friends with various medical conditions which would have hampered playing games (ranging from colour blindness and deafness through to cerebral palsy and other more serious problems), so I've thought a little about this. None of them are (or were) games players. so this is mostly just guesswork and supposition on my part, but hopefully worthwhile. Anyway!
To take the most extreme example, someone without at least partial use of both legs is unlikely to fully enjoy Dance Dance Revolution or similar using a dance mat as an input device. That's not to say someone nimble couldn't manage, though, but generally. Playing bemani with an alternate controller isn't as much fun, for me anyway, but alternate controllers do at least give the option of participation. Which is a good thing - purely from a developer point of view, the more people you can include in your gaming experience, the better. Genres like this, as well as others where the physical interaction isn't the core of the gameplay, are easiest to make inclusive in this way (with subtitles for deaf players, bright or high-contrast graphics and enlarged text for people with impaired vision, etc). These are, of course, the games where the Revolution controller would probably have the least impact, as they're the least directly interactive in the sense of swinging a bat or shooting a gun.
To jump genres, twitch games like shoot em ups or first person action games almost always require a combination of multiple inputs, exercised with speed and precision. These are things which require much more radical efforts to make inclusive - things like auto aiming and reduced enemy reaction time could help, but would these maybe seem condescending to the player? "Here, let's make things easier for you since you can't manage..." I don't really know, it would be worth asking gamers that. The problem is that unless the Nintendo and game developers consider things like this, Revolution's controller could actually make these games worse for disabled players. For example, the addon controllers already shown could easily mean that some games require two hands to play, but with careful design (or possibly different optional addons designed for different disabilities), it could improve things dramatically for disabled gamers.
Of course, it'll all come down to money in the end - is the disabled gaming market big enough to justify the expense of research and development time for these things to be adequately looked at? Sadly, I'm pretty pessimistic.At least the possibility is there, and people can start to ask the questions. If enough of a market can be found, maybe something good will happen!
Game dev and music blog
I think you're main problem with the Rev controller is that the design disallows for games from "normal" controllers to be easily ported. It's one of the lesser known things, but Nintendo is creating a "shell" for the controller- one that will look and act a lot like today's Gamecube controller, and will actually be an attachment for the Remote Controller.
And, as far as I can remember, it's going to be a regular option, meaning that designers won't have to worry if a consumer has the shell or not, because a shell will come with every controller, or something.
So, Nintendo is doing both. They are bringing the ability to greatly innovate and renovate video games, while still being able to play the multi-ports or old school stuff (how else were we supposed to play our downloaded games?)
Obviously, whether it will succeed will depend on it's execution, not its potential. But right now, there are no reviews on execution, for obvious reasons. I've seen a lot of criticism of the controller, but not from people who actually tried it. It's actually expected to be the best FPS controller since the keyboard/mouse. As a huge fan of KotOR, I can say that the Rev controller would be much more ideal for that game than the XBox controller.
I'm confused. Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG, not an FPS. I'm not sure how the Revolution controller could be beneficial for RPGs, especially those that aren't in a first-person view. (KotOR, like many recent RPGs, use a 3rd-person "behind the back" view). If the left controller is used for movement, what would the motion-stick be used for? Using it to select menu options doesn't seem intuitive to me. RPGs are actually one genre that seems to make the least sense for the Revolution controller, unless someone can convince me otherwise. (I believe Nintendo already has plans on having a traditional-style controller anyway as a backup)
I do agree that the controller sounds great for FPS games. I'm a staunch mouse/keyboard user, so I find it difficult being limited to the two analog sticks with current consoles. I'm a little worried about sensitivity, but overall, the Revolution design just makes a lot of sense. I'm sure I'll have to try it in person before I can adamantly say it rocks or sucks though.
-- jchenx
Yeah, it's too bad you can't use it two handed.
"I've never seen so many people let their imaginations spin so wildly out of control about a toy."
You must've missed the build up (and eventual letdown) of everything the PS2 was supposed to do before launch. Anyone remember the Emotion Processor? At one point I'm pretty sure Sony was claiming they'd cure cancer with that one.
No offense intended, but disabled actually means you are incapable of doing certain things.
Agreed. I don't really see how say, Ninja Gaiden could include support for the disabled... There should definitely be games that are specifically created with this in mind, but come on, it's as if you were complaining that books can't be read by blind people.
Duck Hunt, with the NES Zapper. Seriously, you can be deaf, colorblind and have only one arm, and still master it easily
RPG's do not require quick button mashing of many buttons, all they need is the ability to choose stuff off of menus. Practically ANY control system can easily support rpgs. Saying they are the "least suited" genre is a bit on the edge. Being more benecifical than a standard controller, who knows, but it certainly won't hamper the experience much.
Pointing to menu items will make it more like Kotor on the pc than the xbox; and the pc version definately was easier to control than the xbox version. Maybe not intuitive, from a game standpoint, as nothing using the remote will be like anything that's come before. It's only a question of how quickly players are able to adopt the new control styles and how easy it is to control AFTER the acclimitization period.
No offense intended, but disabled actually means you are incapable of doing certain things.
You are so fucking lucky there is no God.
the revolution controller has a D pad as well as A B a b start select and home buttons on it, that is more than enough inputs to control and RPG or, for that matter, almost anything that isn't real time.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
That is amazing. This time around nintendo should make a similar peripheral more readily available.
Bury me in mashed potatoes.
My hands shake like hell, so using a single hand instead of holding the controller tightly with two hands is going to be quite the cockblock. Still, I'd rather other people be enabled by this controller than me not worry about my damn hands shaking :)
I've always wondered why seriously disabled people can't use a mouse controlled by the tongue? Google returns a couple of prototypes, but nothing commercial. I'd think something like this would be ideal- IIRC most quads have use of their facial/mouth muscles and coupled with a speech recognition program would allow virtually full use of a computer. (Assuming you could work with both at the same time.)
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
...when it comes to modern video game systems - at least, emotionally. That's the problem Nintendo strives to correct. Most people, outside of a core group of gamers, won't even pick up a controller. And who can blame them? A DualShock 2 has 17 buttons! Seventeen! The Revolution controller is much more akin to a computer mouse, or even a simple pointer, offering direct manipulation of the game.
Non-gamers love direct manipulation... it's the reason my girlfriend plays her Nintendo DS so much. She won't touch my PlayStation 2. With the DS, in many games you don't use the controller to tell a representative character what to do, you just do it.
The fact that it allows adaptation for physically handicapped individuals is gravy, and a very tasty gravy indeed. Country gravy, even. Imagine that... so much is possible when a company innovates.
I was born missing three fingers on my left hand and two on my right. What fingers I do have are mishapen and deformed. However I'm a huge gamer and I've struggled along through various controllers and I've found weird and awkward ways to use all of them. However I fear that I simply won't be able to play the revolution as I don't think I'll have the grip required to hold the controller up nor will the buttons fall into my grasp easily like they do on the current generations controllers. Already the DS's touchscreen is causing me much suffering. As I simply cannot reach the centre without having to totally repostion my hand. And then I can't reach the buttons. Sometimes innovation isn't a good thing.
You must've missed the build up (and eventual letdown) of everything the PS2 was supposed to do before launch. Anyone remember the Emotion Processor? At one point I'm pretty sure Sony was claiming they'd cure cancer with that one.
Pretty much all consoles are hyped beyond belief. This is different in my mind because it's not even a complete console that people are claiming will turn one loaf of bread into many - it's just the controller. There isn't even a Killzone 2 video to argue about over whether it's pre-rendered or not. Nintendo has given its fans absolutely NOTHING substantial in terms of what games on the Revolution will be like, but all of them are assuming they'll be exactly the neatest things they would personally design.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
My wife lost around half of her thumb on her right hand in an accident last year. This being her dominant hand, she has been unable to use most of the consoles that we have in the house as effectively as she used to.
She's looking REALLY forward to the revolution.
I know a quadrapalegic who has extremely limited arm movement, but enough so he could enjoy Lifeline on PS2.
Hell, it would be better than mouse and keyboard for KOTOR. Remember, in that game, you spend most of your time using a lightsaber...
* has a mental vision of spending Christmas '06 in front of the TV with a Revolution controller in hand, going 'whummm... whmmm... KHSSSSKKK! whmmm... Surrender to the Dark Side!'
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
To be fair, they have at least shown us a controller and give us a general idea of how it's supposed to work. That's at least "something" even if it's not as much as a prerendered video. I do see your point however. We do have little to base judgements off of. I just wanted to point out that it's not a new phenomenon. It's a shame the Nintendo fanboys modded you troll. You did have a valid non-trollish point.
This struck me particularly with the last Myst installment, which for the first time introduced a couple of time-limited puzzles - a truly dumb idea in an otherwise disabled friendly series (excluding the failed attempt at a multi-player online game, with its clunky Tomb Raider style 3D navigation).
need a free COBOL editor for Windows?
(Score:-1, Flamebait)
Guys, you're just reinforcing my opinion that you can't accept honest criticism of your brand of choice.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
"relatively strong right hand" Hmm.
That's a really cool controller, all you need is a Darth Vader helmet + black cape, and the transformation is complete!
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.