The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I'll own up right away and admit that this isn't something that I used to pay the slightest bit of attention to but since going onto mono hearing 6 months ago I've had to take more of an interest. I am finding myself quite surprised by the number of games which don't cater for the hard of hearing or don't cater properly for them.
I have hearing issues and I also live in a house with paper thin walls and have a young daughter who doesn't want woken up by the noise from my games. And a wife that will not be slow in telling me to put the volume down! I used to use earphones until getting my hearing issues diagnosed and discovering my good ear is showing signs of noise damage. I now exercise caution over earphone usage and instead opt to have the volume of the TV down and put on subtitles within games but it is surprising how inadequate the subtitles options can be in some games.
Take Bioshock 2, the best of my 3 examples of failings. It has lots of subtitles which is pleasing but there is still plenty of dioalogue which is not story driven which is not subtitled, dialogue such as the abuse from the splinters and some of the comments from Ms Lamb. Minor points you might think but when you can hear there are voices but not hear what is being said it can be frustrating regardless of the importance of the dialogue, afterall how do I know it is not important if I can't hear it?
Example 2 is The Godfather 2. I picked this up on the cheap for some mindless carnage. The story is a trivial part of the game but I found that the whole opening scene kicks off before you reach the options screen therefore I didn't hear a lot of what was being said in the scene which is setting the foundation of the game.
My last example of failing is X-Men Origins and this one wins easily. I'll get straight to the point, there is no option for subtitles which is simply not good enough.
It could be said I'm choosing not to hear properly. I could put the volume up or I could put headphones on although I have good reason not to do so but what if my unexplained hearing loss happens in my good ear, what do I do then?
Options vary from game to game but surely there has to be a standard for those with sight and hearing deficiencies? A lot of games offer plenty of options to tinker with the display and whilst the level of tinkering that can be done seems to vary I still think you will be hard pushed to find a game which doesn't offer some options. People with sight defficiencies are best placed to comment on how suitable these options are but I'd certainly like to see the same level of consistency with subtitles and a bit more effort put in, after all, someone has to script all the dialogue and it all has to be recorded so why can't it all be displayed in text?
I have hearing issues and I also live in a house with paper thin walls and have a young daughter who doesn't want woken up by the noise from my games. And a wife that will not be slow in telling me to put the volume down! I used to use earphones until getting my hearing issues diagnosed and discovering my good ear is showing signs of noise damage. I now exercise caution over earphone usage and instead opt to have the volume of the TV down and put on subtitles within games but it is surprising how inadequate the subtitles options can be in some games.
Take Bioshock 2, the best of my 3 examples of failings. It has lots of subtitles which is pleasing but there is still plenty of dioalogue which is not story driven which is not subtitled, dialogue such as the abuse from the splinters and some of the comments from Ms Lamb. Minor points you might think but when you can hear there are voices but not hear what is being said it can be frustrating regardless of the importance of the dialogue, afterall how do I know it is not important if I can't hear it?
Example 2 is The Godfather 2. I picked this up on the cheap for some mindless carnage. The story is a trivial part of the game but I found that the whole opening scene kicks off before you reach the options screen therefore I didn't hear a lot of what was being said in the scene which is setting the foundation of the game.
My last example of failing is X-Men Origins and this one wins easily. I'll get straight to the point, there is no option for subtitles which is simply not good enough.
It could be said I'm choosing not to hear properly. I could put the volume up or I could put headphones on although I have good reason not to do so but what if my unexplained hearing loss happens in my good ear, what do I do then?
Options vary from game to game but surely there has to be a standard for those with sight and hearing deficiencies? A lot of games offer plenty of options to tinker with the display and whilst the level of tinkering that can be done seems to vary I still think you will be hard pushed to find a game which doesn't offer some options. People with sight defficiencies are best placed to comment on how suitable these options are but I'd certainly like to see the same level of consistency with subtitles and a bit more effort put in, after all, someone has to script all the dialogue and it all has to be recorded so why can't it all be displayed in text?
To be honest, I usually have Metal on full blast while I'm playing, it gives me a kick, especially in the football games.
Sorry to hear you guys are experiencing problems of this kind.
I have been at my Great Aunt's house all afternoon installing,then showing her how to use her new Panasonic DVD/HDD recorder.She bought it as it can record programs with subtitles.I read about it and when I mentioned it to her she jumped at the chance of getting one.She admits she can't watch TV programs without them so had been missing out on a lot of stuff she wanted to see.DVD's/Blu Ray's all have selectable subtitles,don't see why games shouldn't have them as well TBH.
I have been at my Great Aunt's house all afternoon installing,then showing her how to use her new Panasonic DVD/HDD recorder.She bought it as it can record programs with subtitles.I read about it and when I mentioned it to her she jumped at the chance of getting one.She admits she can't watch TV programs without them so had been missing out on a lot of stuff she wanted to see.DVD's/Blu Ray's all have selectable subtitles,don't see why games shouldn't have them as well TBH.
I have alot of hearing problems too, some games at times go from being loud enough for me to hear to speaking quietly for unknown reasons so I can't hear it. I think that all games should have subtitles
I'll own up right away and admit that this isn't something that I used to pay the slightest bit of attention to but since going onto mono hearing 6 months ago I've had to take more of an interest. I am finding myself quite surprised by the number of games which don't cater for the hard of hearing or don't cater properly for them.
I have hearing issues and I also live in a house with paper thin walls and have a young daughter who doesn't want woken up by the noise from my games. And a wife that will not be slow in telling me to put the volume down! I used to use earphones until getting my hearing issues diagnosed and discovering my good ear is showing signs of noise damage. I now exercise caution over earphone usage and instead opt to have the volume of the TV down and put on subtitles within games but it is surprising how inadequate the subtitles options can be in some games.
Take Bioshock 2, the best of my 3 examples of failings. It has lots of subtitles which is pleasing but there is still plenty of dioalogue which is not story driven which is not subtitled, dialogue such as the abuse from the splinters and some of the comments from Ms Lamb. Minor points you might think but when you can hear there are voices but not hear what is being said it can be frustrating regardless of the importance of the dialogue, afterall how do I know it is not important if I can't hear it?
Example 2 is The Godfather 2. I picked this up on the cheap for some mindless carnage. The story is a trivial part of the game but I found that the whole opening scene kicks off before you reach the options screen therefore I didn't hear a lot of what was being said in the scene which is setting the foundation of the game.
My last example of failing is X-Men Origins and this one wins easily. I'll get straight to the point, there is no option for subtitles which is simply not good enough.
It could be said I'm choosing not to hear properly. I could put the volume up or I could put headphones on although I have good reason not to do so but what if my unexplained hearing loss happens in my good ear, what do I do then?
Options vary from game to game but surely there has to be a standard for those with sight and hearing deficiencies? A lot of games offer plenty of options to tinker with the display and whilst the level of tinkering that can be done seems to vary I still think you will be hard pushed to find a game which doesn't offer some options. People with sight defficiencies are best placed to comment on how suitable these options are but I'd certainly like to see the same level of consistency with subtitles and a bit more effort put in, after all, someone has to script all the dialogue and it all has to be recorded so why can't it all be displayed in text?
I have hearing issues and I also live in a house with paper thin walls and have a young daughter who doesn't want woken up by the noise from my games. And a wife that will not be slow in telling me to put the volume down! I used to use earphones until getting my hearing issues diagnosed and discovering my good ear is showing signs of noise damage. I now exercise caution over earphone usage and instead opt to have the volume of the TV down and put on subtitles within games but it is surprising how inadequate the subtitles options can be in some games.
Take Bioshock 2, the best of my 3 examples of failings. It has lots of subtitles which is pleasing but there is still plenty of dioalogue which is not story driven which is not subtitled, dialogue such as the abuse from the splinters and some of the comments from Ms Lamb. Minor points you might think but when you can hear there are voices but not hear what is being said it can be frustrating regardless of the importance of the dialogue, afterall how do I know it is not important if I can't hear it?
Example 2 is The Godfather 2. I picked this up on the cheap for some mindless carnage. The story is a trivial part of the game but I found that the whole opening scene kicks off before you reach the options screen therefore I didn't hear a lot of what was being said in the scene which is setting the foundation of the game.
My last example of failing is X-Men Origins and this one wins easily. I'll get straight to the point, there is no option for subtitles which is simply not good enough.
It could be said I'm choosing not to hear properly. I could put the volume up or I could put headphones on although I have good reason not to do so but what if my unexplained hearing loss happens in my good ear, what do I do then?
Options vary from game to game but surely there has to be a standard for those with sight and hearing deficiencies? A lot of games offer plenty of options to tinker with the display and whilst the level of tinkering that can be done seems to vary I still think you will be hard pushed to find a game which doesn't offer some options. People with sight defficiencies are best placed to comment on how suitable these options are but I'd certainly like to see the same level of consistency with subtitles and a bit more effort put in, after all, someone has to script all the dialogue and it all has to be recorded so why can't it all be displayed in text?