Please welcome Zara who joins me for a guest post. Zara Richter is a phd candidate at GWU’s English department. Her PhD focuses in queer and disability and labor themes in 20th century American literature and media. This post will discuss Zara’s experience with video gaming and capitalism as a disabled gamer. You can find more about Zara on the following links:
About Zara
Since my early childhood, video games with a slight fantasy element have always possessed me. I am a person who is labelled with several diagnoses from Autism to ADHD to Nonverbal Learning Disorder. My skills with spatial processing and hand-eye coordination have always been lacking. At least according to the multiple occupational therapists, school psychologists and other medical and learning personnel in schools. And also people in mental health venues that my psychology-informed parents took me to as a child.
From my early childhood, I used my parents computer to play a range of video games. I eventually became a dedicated gamer of Nintendo and Sony consoles. Whenever I socialised with other children, my ability to enjoy games was hampered. I would wind up watching my other friends play most video games in front of me.
Disability exclusion from Video gaming committees
Gamers with conditions like dyspraxia, spatial processing, and poor hand-eye poor hand-eye coordination have limited settings that they are able to change. This is an issue that has been present since video gaming began. We are excluded from gaming due to the lack of setting options and adaptations for disabled people. Disabled gamers are excluded from video gaming when there is no options whatsoever for accommodation.
Celeste – hope for disabled gamers
Not all of the video gaming industry ignores disabled gamers. The recent release of Celeste offers a difference not often seen. The ability to tweak all kinds of different parts of the game difficulty in the menu. This move by the makers of Celeste foresees a new direction in the video gaming industry. That is, a menu built into all games so that disabled gamers with disabilities can change the game settings. This will ensure that it is accessible to everyone.
The injustice of disabled gamers has been a long term issue across media production and technology. Video games are not unique.
Accessibility battles have happened after the radio, movie and television all became the dominant media of their generation. The video gaming industry has slowly grown. Along with it’s growth, it has taken the freedom to experiment and change things. Something seen by the indie gaming world present on Steam. This really stimulates the building of a different type of game that builds options for accessibility right into its medium.
Capitalism exists to lose the possibilities of future higher standards for everything. Capitalism is the prelude to the completeness of social organisation via worker councils and unions that is communism.
The experimentation of game releases like Celeste from companies has been a crucial move. It leans towards opening up the possibility of accessibility options as a broader norm in gaming. Before Celeste, games were sorted into difficult or easy. There was a lack of customisation to the user and their needs while playing video games.
Without any options to call for accommodations, disabled gamers had to give up on games that are overly difficult. As such, they stick with video games marketed to children.
Accessibility does not exclude anyone
In the possibility of accessibility, we can imagine a gamer community that is much bigger than the able-bodied populace. With added flexibility and accommodations for people of all abilities, more people would be able to join in the gaming community. They would get greater play out of the games they would like to play. It wouldn’t matter whether they are a wheelchair user, have learning difficulties, vision impaired or any other conditions.
When access is expanded for just one community, the possibility of other communities becoming inspired from that grows.
Universal Design as an outcome comes as much from experiments in how accessible or malleable could a given medium become.
Capitalist World
The capitalist world, while dominated by corporate monopolies was never able to experiment. Corporate games have high budgets but a tendency toward making too many sequels to the same tired gaming properties. Capitalism’s internal tensions, between the richer corporate administration of gaming and young upper middle class try-hards, creates new gaming ideas. This is by pitting upper middle class aspirants against major game studios. Precisely because major studios can offer advanced use of a system but not always creative or unique concept. The internal class struggles of capitalism between different sections must always end in no favourite from the working class. Instead, with an appreciation of the advancements made on both sides. Alongside the hope of a future where major gaming studies produce high graphical content and uniquely inclusive titles like Celeste.
As an Autistic gamer, I will never find happiness in the most popular games released by major studios.
I do not enjoy call of duty or any football franchise. But I do enjoy Steam games ported to the switch. Steam games are different enough that some are likely to be accessible for me. For example, ones based on using turn-based mechanics. Independent games offer turn-based roleplaying strategy games that are more accessible to those with dexterity and spatial processing issues. This contrasts with major studio games.
The development of technology allows disabled people to find a new class role. That is, manipulating their surrounding technology in an unpredictable way.
Independent Game Development Companies
Disabled people taking charge of technological futures is what Karl Marx hoped for when he discussed revolution. While small game makers and corporate game makers will always battle, what resolves them is whether their products can speak to the spirit of the wide consumer. As corporate makers are less able to go in their own creative direction, it is not corporate game makers that are advancing accessibility.
It is in fact indie steam games that truly take the risks. Thus, they show a better world is possible. They illustrate this with games like Celeste that offer entire accessibility panel displays. The only hope is that the innovations of the indie game world creep into the corporate game world without the forceful attack of the gamer proletarian. But judging from history, the fight for accessible gaming may come down to open public conflict. In such case, I lay myself on the line for disabled indie gamers.