“Gaming is for everyone.” So the saying goes. I love Eurogamer, in part because they are fierce allies and advocates for minorities. Aoife and Zoe are both bisexual–and women. Zoe is neurodivergent, too (autistic and ADHD). They are very openly against all kinds of isms an celebrate PRIDE with, well, pride. They do a stream every PRIDE asking for donations–and the proceeds always go to an LGBTQ+-related cause. They also have done streams for BLM, autisic people, and various other causes.
I appreciate them so much for this, but it irks me every time they say that gaming is for everyone . I do’nt deny in general with one tweak. Gaming should be for everyone. But, I would go on to say that not every game is for every person. And this is ok.
This is where it gets more complicated. Where is that line drawn? I honestly don’t think every games needs to be able to be played by every person. In part it’s because it’s art. I want artists to be able to put out their vision as they would with a movie or a book. I know it’s different because video games are interactive is a way other pop culture isn’t, but I don’t think this should mean that every game has to be made with every person in mind.
For one thing, that’s impossible. Nothing can be for everyone. Do I think there should be accessibility options in all games? Yes. Devs should be aware and try to include FOV sliders, alternative ways to button mash (*cough* Stray devs, *cough cough*), font sizes and colors, and more. I will say that I was playing Cook, Serve, Forever by David Galindo (Vertigo Gaming), and I was unhappy because the text was done in different colors for different shifts. The darker colors were horrible. I could not parse them as I was trying to press buttons. The next day, the text was all in a clear color (singular) that I could read. I had a hunch that people complained in the Discord and he quickly changed the code.
That’s really cool and responsive. I appreciated it because I really could not read the former text. Now, it’s easy-peasy; it doesn’t take away from the aesthetics, either. It still looks colorful and fun. I can’t pretend to guess how much time or effort it took to change the color of the font, but it literally was overnight.
So, yeah. Put in the aim assists. Put in the gradient difficults in platforming. I’m all about making the game as easy as possible for people within reason. I say thoe last part because I think some of the suggestions that people have are not realistic. In addition, I hold AAA studios to a different standard than indie devs. I expect much more from the former than the latter.
Here’s the thing, though. I’m bitter because even in this, my issues are ones that are never talked about. When people mention disabilities and gaming, it’s usually about modes and physical disabilities. Or, in the case of Zoe, she talks about her ASD and ADHD, and how they make certain aspects of games difficult.