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"Deaf Gamers..."

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Tue 16/11/04 at 23:46
Regular
Posts: 1
Everyone kool?
Im a 'newbie'i only joined this site last week. Anyway i rarely ever complain, even when my mum brought home fifa O4 instead of pro evo last year (grrrr). However on this occasion i felt compelled to do so.

About two months ago a friend came round with his cousin, we proceeded to my room to attempt to complete the last stage in Halo ( 'the escape' or whateva) on legendary. Ben* (friends cousin)was watching the screen when my master chief was killed in a spectacular fashion. I asked Ben if he would like to play, but he continued to staring at the screen. I repeated my question assuming a reply was imminent however his eyes stayed locked to the screen. At this point my friend (Carl) told me ben was deaf. I wasnt shocked or in awe as a cousin of mine is also deaf. I offered Ben the controller and showed him the book which displayed the controls. He was greally getting into the game after about 2 kills and he got into that tunnel; his warthog flipped, he flipped it back over again and continued the run. Unfortunatly he was driving in the wrong direction, and obviously he couldnt hear Cortana (woman robot thingy) instructing him to turn around. When my Carl tapped ben and explained his mistake he was blatantly embarrased. I then realsied NONE of the whole game is subtitled imagine what a (insert swear words here!)this is for deaf gamers. Imagine being deaf and not having the slightest on what is going on in the game. Imagine playing through Halo in japanese! Most likely you would still like it, however the plot of the game attracted gamers. Infact the plot is the main selling point of the new game. At this point i was unhappy with a big developer like Bungie for forgetting to include a small element like subtitles, which could make a major difference in the enjoyment of a fair few gamers.

This got me thinking about deaf gamers and how ignorant it was of some developers to exclude subtitles as this is a neccessity in nearly any game (tetris and pong exempt people!).We then decided to play career mode in toca racing 2 and once again Ben encountered problems as the career mode cutscenes are not subtitled and the tips and information received whilst driving are not subtitled. At this point i felt considerably agitated. After about 3 hours relaxing Carl and Ben left.

I thought about the predicament Ben was in as a gamer and felt frustated. its not many games that lack subtitles but some games stil contain little or no subtitles- eg Cutscenes in Splinter Cell 1.

Anyway, im not Geof hoon i dont want to bore u people to deah, but i think this issue needs to be addressed...
Take it easy people...
Dcell
*Fictional names- real people
Wed 17/11/04 at 14:22
Regular
"Sure.Fine.Whatever."
Posts: 9,629
I dont play games that much anymore because of the fact a lot of ones have instructions given for missions etc through talking, and I havent a clue what Im meant to be doing, its really offputting.

It would be excellent if more developers took into account not everyone can hear perfectly and added subtitles.
Wed 17/11/04 at 00:18
Regular
"Bow to me!"
Posts: 1,080
A saddening thought really. Its purely ignorance from games developers not to have subtitles as an option. It wouldnt take long at all and it would broaden the audience for many games. Im sure games without subtitles is the least of their worries. Coping in the real world must be a right pain, not being able to properly talk to anyone, listen to music etc. But every little helps
Tue 16/11/04 at 23:56
Regular
"Jackpot!"
Posts: 2,527
Yea that must make gaming rather boring for deaf people unfortunately. Half life 2 has subtitles though.
Tue 16/11/04 at 23:54
Regular
"Going nowhere fast"
Posts: 6,574
Bumblebees to people who post while I'm still trying to find my keyboard :)
Tue 16/11/04 at 23:54
Regular
"Going nowhere fast"
Posts: 6,574
It is a good point. Why can't they put subtitles on games like they do on DVD's. That way you could chose to have them turned on or off.

And they do make games for blind people. They call them Final Fantasy*. At least I can play them with my eyes closed :)

* just kidding, I think
Tue 16/11/04 at 23:52
Regular
"+34 Intellect"
Posts: 21,334
I agree there, though a i find PC games usually let you enable subtitles.
Tue 16/11/04 at 23:49
"I love yo... lamp."
Posts: 19,577
It's a good point really. Catering for deaf gamers wouldn't take that much work. It would be a case of adding subtitles. The only issue is that with lots of text it could lead to a rather crowded screen, which I guess is one of the reasons why some developers don't put them in.

Of course the big challenge is to find a way for blind gamers to be able to play games as well.
Tue 16/11/04 at 23:46
Regular
Posts: 1
Everyone kool?
Im a 'newbie'i only joined this site last week. Anyway i rarely ever complain, even when my mum brought home fifa O4 instead of pro evo last year (grrrr). However on this occasion i felt compelled to do so.

About two months ago a friend came round with his cousin, we proceeded to my room to attempt to complete the last stage in Halo ( 'the escape' or whateva) on legendary. Ben* (friends cousin)was watching the screen when my master chief was killed in a spectacular fashion. I asked Ben if he would like to play, but he continued to staring at the screen. I repeated my question assuming a reply was imminent however his eyes stayed locked to the screen. At this point my friend (Carl) told me ben was deaf. I wasnt shocked or in awe as a cousin of mine is also deaf. I offered Ben the controller and showed him the book which displayed the controls. He was greally getting into the game after about 2 kills and he got into that tunnel; his warthog flipped, he flipped it back over again and continued the run. Unfortunatly he was driving in the wrong direction, and obviously he couldnt hear Cortana (woman robot thingy) instructing him to turn around. When my Carl tapped ben and explained his mistake he was blatantly embarrased. I then realsied NONE of the whole game is subtitled imagine what a (insert swear words here!)this is for deaf gamers. Imagine being deaf and not having the slightest on what is going on in the game. Imagine playing through Halo in japanese! Most likely you would still like it, however the plot of the game attracted gamers. Infact the plot is the main selling point of the new game. At this point i was unhappy with a big developer like Bungie for forgetting to include a small element like subtitles, which could make a major difference in the enjoyment of a fair few gamers.

This got me thinking about deaf gamers and how ignorant it was of some developers to exclude subtitles as this is a neccessity in nearly any game (tetris and pong exempt people!).We then decided to play career mode in toca racing 2 and once again Ben encountered problems as the career mode cutscenes are not subtitled and the tips and information received whilst driving are not subtitled. At this point i felt considerably agitated. After about 3 hours relaxing Carl and Ben left.

I thought about the predicament Ben was in as a gamer and felt frustated. its not many games that lack subtitles but some games stil contain little or no subtitles- eg Cutscenes in Splinter Cell 1.

Anyway, im not Geof hoon i dont want to bore u people to deah, but i think this issue needs to be addressed...
Take it easy people...
Dcell
*Fictional names- real people

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