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In this episode of the Retro Rebel podcast, we have put together an accessibility in Gaming Gift Guide. As Christmas looms near, I wanted to reach out to one of my fav guest hosts, Holly, to talk about how parents, friends, and loved ones can support their gamer friends with devices, tools, games, and other products that enhance accessibility in gaming.
Retro Rebel Podcast is hosted by Amanda Fox and Stacy Bishop. Each week they take a deep dive into the gaming industry and discuss news stories, and the current games they are playing as well as the topic of the week. Do you like this episode? Wanna complain about something we got wrong? Let us know what you think by dropping a comment below or emailing us at info@templeofgeek.com. We really want to hear your opinions!
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Intro Music – Final Impasse By Ground is Lava
Accessibility in Gaming Gift Guide Podcast Episode
I’m joined in the discussion today by disabled game advocate Holly to discuss accessibility in gaming and what game companies are doing right and what they can do better to accommodate all kinds of gamers.
Holly is a disabled enby who has spent the majority of their life playing games. Growing up in hospital due to childhood cancer, classic console gaming brought escape and joy to a hard situation. Always a Sega lover at heart, as shown by their classic console collection, the jewel of which is the Dreamcast they bought with their first-ever paycheck. Still a console gamer (PS4), they are a lover of J-RPG’s and obsessed with Kojima’s games, especially the Metal Gear saga to the point of getting a Foxhound tattoo. For Holly, Ludens is their life. Holly’s socials are Twitter: @HollyDspoonieme and PSN: Tiny_Caska.
Accessibility in Gaming Gift Guide
Peripherals
- Xbox Adaptive Controller – making gaming controls easier for those with limited mobility, can be connected to PlayStation & Nintendo Switch with some workarounds. Check out Brad & Dan’s review from All Access Life: https://www.allaccesslife.org/featured-items/xbox-adaptive-controller
Shop on Amazon https://amzn.to/3hurcbU
- Gamer Advantage Bluelight Glasses – flexes with your headset, is available in prescription, and lets you block blue light without altering game colors.
Shop on Amazon https://amzn.to/3Wqjbnp
- SUBPAC X1 – allows the deaf to experience game sounds with physical thumps and vibrations, also enabling the playing of rhythm games like Patapon.
Games
- God of War Ragnarok – From audio-described trailers to over 60 accessibility features on launch, Ragnarok is gold star accessible. For players with issues with fine motor control or fatigue, options such as mini-game assists & auto pick-up can go a long way in saving precious energy and extending the amount of time you can play.
The subtitles are so inclusive now that not only does it capture all speech & musical cues but even sounds such as Kratos sighing are available on screen, with italics used to convey the tone of speech. Text size can be altered so no more having to contend with tiny writing.
You can remap all of the buttons, there are press-and-hold toggle options for aiming & blocking and assistance options are available for combat & targeting.
Cinematic immersion is incredible in the game but camera sway and shake can be disorienting – but Sony Santa Monica has thought of that too, with sliding scale options to reduce the amount shown.
Where Ragnarok really shines are the low vision & sightless play options. They have obviously learned a lot from the low vision support that Last of Us 2 implemented & have built on that to provide a much more accessible experience for the visually impaired community.
For low vision, there is a high contrast mode with many customizable elements.
Sightless play includes an inbuilt screen reader and implements a huge glossary of audio cues that is accessible before the game begins so you can familiarise yourself with each cue. Everything has been thought of, from each sound an enemy will make to cues for when cinematics begin and end.
There is so much to customize for accessibility that the menu system for it is huge.
I cannot wait to get stuck into playing Ragnarok with my visually impaired-friend because it is rare that games offer such a full-on range of customization. This is the game to buy this Christmas if you have a disability or are buying for someone with a disability.
- Return to Monkey Island – Guybrush is back! With a simple control system that is easy to use on any platform, it’s not a very taxing game to play if you have fatigue or fine motor issues. The game has been made more accessible for those with things like brain fog by giving the player the option to cut out a lot of the extra waffle dialogue and by having easier puzzles so fewer things are needed to complete the objectives. There’s a book of hints available in the game at any time that will give a selection of hints for each part of the game. If you forget what you were doing or are confused about what your next move should be, the hints will help you step by step but won’t outright give you the solution to the puzzles.
For those who are deaf or hard of hearing there are subtitles that also include environmental sounds & sound FX so nothing is missed. On the switch, I like that I can press the back button on the D-pad to re-read all the dialogue. that has gone before, that really helps. There are options to change the size of the subtitles and any text in the game and also make the text more legible.
For those with low vision, in the game, you can highlight all items on the screen that can be interacted with so you don’t miss a thing.
Since Monkey Island isn’t too taxing for those with physical or fatigue-related illnesses I would highly recommend it.
Honorable Mentions
What we’re playing
Amanda- I’ve streamed As Dusk Falls on Twitch this week and recorded a review of Bad Neighbour 2.
Holly- Since the recent announcement of Death Stranding 2 got me so hyped up. I started playing Death Stranding again but this time with the goal to 5-star every location.
Recent Episodes
Part 2 of The 25 Best FPS Games of All Time– Retro Rebel Podcast
The 25 Best FPS Games of All Time Part One
How To Stay Safe with Free To Play Gaming – Retro Rebel Podcast
Accessibility in Gaming I Retro Rebel Podcast
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