SPECIAL REPORT | SpecialEffect
Changing the game 1 SpecialEffect was one of the groups that helped consult on the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which is designed for gamers with limited mobility. 2 A spinal injury left Will only able to move his head and shoulders. He’s now able to enjoy Rocket League and FIFA with a custom controller. 3 A custom setup enables Ceyda to socialise with friends and play with her dad.
2 3 1
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Meet the game makers helping SpecialEffect
joystick so that Arlo could play the game. “He was only using one hand at the time,” says Bill, “so he was switching between the joystick and these buttons. Since we’ve worked with him, he’s improved his coordination, so the games he’s wanted to play have got more complex. Now he’s got two analogue joysticks and six, seven, or eight buttons.” In 2015, SpecialEffect were one of the
groups that Microsoft asked for help in designing the Xbox Adaptive Controller. “What they’ve made is essentially a hub that allows us to plug in different joysticks and buttons,” explains Bill. “It’s designed to work with the platform and hardware, so we don’t need to trick the console into accepting it as an input.” Mick hopes for more of this kind of thing
in the future: “It would be fantastic if other console developers follow suit with similarly accessible devices.”
Back in control Many of the devices that SpecialEffect
loan out can be very expensive, mainly because such bespoke devices are often made as one-offs or in small batches by specialist companies. But despite these high production costs, SpecialEffect do not charge anything for their services, surviving solely on donations. Bill says they’re happy to help anyone who asks, and plenty of developers do come to them. “People are very, very willing to make their products more accessible,” he says. “It’s more about knowing where to start and how to do it.”
HOW TO DONATE Help people with disabilities to enjoy videogames by contributing to SpecialEffect today
1 Head on over to SpecialEffect’s donation page at www.specialeffect.
org.uk/get-involved/donate
2 Decide how much you can afford to contribute. Every donation, big or small, really does count.
Find out more… Read more about the work SpecialEffect do at:
www.specialeffect.org.uk/what-we-do
3 Feel good about the fact that you’ve helped level the playing field for disabled gamers.
Tim Schafer Founder of Double Fine Productions I first heard about SpecialEffect when I saw their video of two girls with disabilities named Chloe and Ella playing Once Upon a Monster. I was so touched by the expressions on those girls’ faces. Their laughter and joy at the simple pleasure of playing a videogame – something most of us take for granted – was very inspiring to me. I wanted to help out the organisation however I could.
David Braben CEO of Frontier Developments Seeing some of the stories of the young people that SpecialEffect have helped and are continuing to help over the years is often heart-wrenching, but to see the joy on those same people’s faces shows the difference SpecialEffect have made to their lives. It is great to think that we can all help facilitate that by supporting SpecialEffect.
GAME.CO.UK
Winter 2018 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
