Hi Darren.
The wind thing in entombed actually came up after a discussion on the
audiogames.net forum of how to show passages in four directions, it was
actually a nice example of community in put I think.
i'm afraid I'm even more scheptical about whether a mainstream company would
include audio elements in games just at the request of people who lack site.
Remember that companies like Capcom, Nintendo etc are motivated by one thing
and one thing only, making money!
Many companies who make even standard products like tinned food don't
include any sort of considderation for visually impared people, simply
because there just aren't enough visually impared people to make cash off
such things, ---- this is also why once you add the word "accessible" to
something you can slam a few more zeroes on the price because fewer people
are going to buy ite.
Only 0.6 percent of the entire world's population are classed as blind, that
is roughly speaking one in every 250 people.
Out of that 0.6 percent, 50 percent will be over the age of 70, and thus
very unlikely to play computer games, meaning only about 0.3 percent of
people, or about 1 in every 400 have the potential (and that's not counting
people of a younger age who are simply not gamers).
This makes for a very small group of people overall.
If a company won't even include accessible lables on cans of food, ----
something which almost everyone is guaranteed to buy at some point, why
would a company include accessible features in something that a very very
very! low percentage of people would buy?
Heck, games companies regularly show litle regard even for their fans in
trying to generate prophit, jacking up prices, making limited additions to
increase demand, refusing releases in some regions, mucking up story lines
just to bring out another game.
This is why a lot of indi developers tend to think that the gaming industry
has cheapened and commercialized the hole experience, and so try to write
their own games.
I freely admit, my experiences dealing with Capcom and nintendo, as well as
what I've read and found out and my underlying misstrust of motives in the
capitalist system anyway may make me more scheptical, ---- though I must
confess the research i've done into disability generally for my thesis also
supports this sort of conclusion.
All I can say is, thank the powers for Indi devs who are prepared to go the
extra mile!
Anyway, getting away from the gloom and doom, your comment about "up there"
rather confuses me.
If developers check audiogmaes.net, they can see the genre of games
involved, ---- or are you suggesting some sort of showcase list be drawn up
specifically to show people the potential of what is possible in audio?
That might be a good idea in itself.
Beware the Grue!
Dark.
---
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