While AbleGamers has led the charge, the last five years have seen a groundswell of efforts at some of the biggest video game publishers to include differently abled audiences.įor gamers with motor, visual, audio, and cognitive differences, it can often feel like walls are being thrown up in front of them, as this illustration by Laurene Boglio for Inverse shows. He’s the COO of AbleGamers, an organization that empowers disabled players to find ways to enjoy games and teaches creators how to make their content more inclusive. Spohn lives with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness. “There's no way to convey how much that sucks.” “I don’t know anybody who's in our situation who's never experienced opening up a game only to realize within 60 seconds, ‘I'm not going to play this.’ “There's nothing more heartbreaking,” he tells Inverse. I felt forever barred from using a platform that had brought joy to millions.Īs Steven Spohn knows all too well, my story is far from unique. My Cerebral Palsy, and my associated muscle weakness and lack of fine motor control, left me excluded from a library that includes Mario Galaxy, Wii Fit, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I’ve been writing and reporting on video games for more than a decade, but I’m also a lifelong member of a millions-strong community of gamers with disabilities. But the Wii made me feel like I had lost my ability to play video games. The motion-controlled gaming console remains one of the most successful video game consoles ever made, with more than 100 million units sold worldwide since 2006. I didn’t even have enough motor control to navigate the home screen. The Nintendo Wii is widely regarded as one of the only gaming devices fit for preschoolers and senior citizens alike.įor me, it’s been a symbol of frustration, limitations, and tears.
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