video games Archives - The Geeky Gimp

Super Sick Blog Tour: Cloud Strife & Depression

Welcome to the blog tour for the book Super Sick: Making Peace with Chronic Illness! I’m excited to host Allison here at The Geeky Gimp. Each stop in the tour features a fictional character who experiences chronic pain or illness. Check out the rest of the tour dates below!

By Allison Alexander

Often, when a book or movie represents a disability or illness, the entire thing is about that illness; think Forrest Gump or The Fault in Our Stars. These characters’ identities are entirely swallowed up by their disabilities. In other shows, characters with illnesses are only there on the sidelines to “inspire” the protagonist, in the way that Tiny Tim’s only purpose in A Christmas Carol is to be pitied by Scrooge.

How HyperDot Got it Right, and the Importance of Accessibility in Gaming

Erin next to text that reads this game is so accessible

My latest vlog is all about an amazing game called HyperDot, developed by GLITCH! It was created with accessibility from its early planning stages, and the developers had many disabled play-testers; they listened to our feedback and reworked different aspects of HyperDot to make it playable for even more disabled gamers.

My Accessible Gaming Setup

Erin, a visibility disabled woman, uses an xbox adaptive controller

In this video, I show off three different ways I play games and how my disability affects how I have to play. Captions are available and the transcript is also below! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

Accessing VR: Don’t Leave Disabled People Behind

Neon outline of a person's head with disability symbols inside. There is a VR beam

by Erin Hawley

After watching a Polygon video titled “VR is Good Now,” I commented that VR games are not accessible for many disabled users, and I worry that this trend toward VR will, like modern console gaming, leave many disabled people behind. While game accessibility is starting to be a topic picked up by major news outlets, there was a long period of time where that conversation was mostly silent. Disabled people talked about it, and expensive or complex solutions were available (expense is part of accessibility, especially for many disabled people living on Social Security Income), but mainstream media was not interested in our needs.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller (XAC) is a fantastic move toward making consoles more accessible and creating mainstream dialog; while its invention opens Xbox gaming to more people, it hasn’t solved everything. PlayStation and Nintendo need to catch up. We still need game design that works better for D/deaf, blind, and/or developmentally disabled people. Games with complex control mapping and button sequences are still an access barrier, even with the XAC. This is why we need to start talking about VR accessibility now, while the technology is still in its infancy. The conversation must be one for today rather than one for ten or twenty years in the future when a major company finally decides to listen to us.

Accessibility in Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Image of Lara Croft on a tree, a temple behind her, and a sun outlining her face

Shadow of the Tomb Raider was my most anticipated game of 2018; when I read about the accessibility features, that excitement then morphed into a mixture of relief, curiosity, and hope. As games and controllers become more complex, especially with the popularity of VR, I worry that the hobby I take part in right now will soon become a hobby I can no longer enjoy – and Tomb Raider isn’t exactly known for its simple controls or combat. But with aim assist and other features I will explain below, I am proud to share that I am able to play Shadow. And it was easier than any other game of this genre in recent years.

Symmetra Needs to Stay Accessible for Disabled Gamers

by Erin Hawley

Overwatch is my favorite video game – I play it every day. What initially drew me to the game was its accessibility, and how every skill level is considered – from people who have trouble aiming, to expert first-person shooters. Overwatch originally prided itself as having a hero for everyone, but the development team is slowly deviating from that mission statement. When I first started playing, I was a D.Va main, a tank hero who can shoot and dive into people. There wasn’t a lot to think about or mechanics to manage with her; aiming was involved, but she was more about mobility and blocking with her defense matrix.

Game Developers Conference: A Wheelchair User’s Experience

Cherry in their wheelchair in front of a map display for a game

Guest blogger: Cherry Rae

I recently attended my first Game Developers Conference, which was as intense as everyone who went to GDC promised me. It was also a successful and positive experience for me! However, I encountered some physical accessibility barriers.

I have fierce impostor syndrome and didn’t think I would be half as busy as I ended up being, but I experienced much more of the conference than I thought I would. I was invited to attend as a speaker on a panel discussing the current state of accessibility in games and where we see it going in the future. They also afforded me the opportunity to give the final presentation of the day-long Games Accessibility Conference that runs on the Monday of GDC.

The moment I said yes, I tried to figure out how accessible things would be. Aside from travel being difficult, as an autistic wheelchair user with very limited energy, it’s important that I plan and know what to expect in a busy and intimidating environment.

Disabled Gamers Need A Way Out of Button Mashing

Two main characters from the A Way Out game, white men in prison clothes

by Erin Hawley

Button mashing simulates physically difficult situations, making the gamer press a button quickly until a task is complete – which, admittedly, is kind of fun as a disabled person who can’t even lift a phone off the table. It has the potential to be exciting if implemented in an accessible way, but it’s rare to come across button mashing that I can complete myself. Due to Muscular Dystrophy, I don’t have the strength or stamina needed for this mechanic, and I often rely on someone else to do those parts of a game for me. It can completely ruin an otherwise fantastic gaming experience, like when you’re constantly fighting off zombies in Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Michonne, for example.

Night in the Woods: Where It’s Okay Not to Be Okay

Night in the Woods: Where it's OK to not be OK. A cartoon cat image with big, yellow eyes

Guest blogger: Deborah J. Brannon (codename: Geek Dame) spends her days in the Southeastern United States, scribbling furiously as a freelancer and speculative fiction writer. In her free time that may or may not exist – it’s in a box somewhere with a cat, she really doesn’t like opening it – she plays video games and reads books and talks about both incessantly. Find out more at www.geekdame.com or follow her on Twitter at @geekdame.

“The point remains that this is the setup for some great stories.”

“Or terrible, horrifying, traumatic experiences.”

“Great clearly means different things for us.”

Gregg and Bea, Night in the Woods

Welcome to Night in the Woods. There is death here and disappointment and decay. There is also connection and catharsis and care. It’s okay not to be okay, and it’s okay to change your mind. You may face a cosmic horror, or meet the truest heart – all in a playfully illustrated, easy-to-navigate video game.

Facing Anxiety: Streaming Games While Disabled

Through most of my life, I’ve been afraid of public speaking. I always found more comfort in the written word; there’s a relief in the solace of the craft, and it gives me time to construct the perfect sentence. Getting my job at Easterseals forced me into public speaking, mostly over the phone. I facilitate conferences between our organization and potential influencers, report my progress during our department meetings, and hold one-on-one chats with my boss every Friday. All of these things would have seemed impossible to me a few years ago. Now, I still feel that twist in my stomach as my voice shakes, and my mind goes blank when asked questions. But with over two years of working there, I learned to find that confidence to speak, and to (mostly) not care if someone misunderstands me or notices how nervous I am.

Building that energy to speak publicly also affected my work here at The Geeky Gimp. I’ve branched off and made a podcast, hosted live events on Google, and now stream regularly on Twitch. I even appear on Geek Girl Riot, a show on Idobi Radio with over 20,000 listeners. Being forced to approach my fears led to other opportunities that I enjoy, and different ways to express myself. I’m able to reach out to more audiences about disability inclusion and accessibility. And more importantly, I’ve made some amazing friends through these projects where I would otherwise feel isolated.