Games Accessibility Workshop - Games for Health 2008

May 8, 2008 What if? No Comments

What if video games were accessible to whoever wanted to play them? That was the message coming out loud and clear from yesterday’s Games Accessibility Workshop at the Games for Health Conference 2008 in Baltimore, US.

I have been rather busy from the middle of last week making final preparations for my trip to the US and Canada. I have finally made it, although Tuesday was a long… day traveling. So yesterday’s workshop was a great pick me up and there were some very inspiring speakers. I am aware that there are many accessibility issues in terms of educational provision, but in the realm of video games, I had no idea that there were so many issues and problems.

Wii Fit - Where’s the Training Schedule?

April 28, 2008 News, What if? 1 Comment

Having been enthusiastically working my was through the various Wii Fit activities, I suddenly wondered “Where’s the training schedule?” Whilst the guidance given when performing the various activities is very helpful and readily picks up where you are going wrong - there does not appear to be a specific “Programme”/”Program”! Has personal interest replaced the personal trainer or am I missing something? Perhaps this is a subtle (or not so subtle) to place the player very much in control?

Virtual ExerGaming in Second Life

April 24, 2008 What if? No Comments

Whilst waiting for an imminent new product launch, I managed to take a brief fly through a virtual island in Second Life that has been developed by students taking a multi-media design course at my institution. I had already seen a live demo of some of features, one of which was a virtual gaming centre. Another was a dance zone which helpfully applies some dancing animation to any avatar willing to accept it. However, I had a bit of difficulty stopping it and continued my travels round the island to a certain dance beat. I managed to email myself a couple of virtual postcards (screen shots) back from Second Life and they are shown below.

It got me thinking. What if rather than simply been able to zoom effortlessly through the Second Life terrain, some physical effort on the part of the real world user could be incorporated?