Another Viewpoint on PlayStation Move's Accessibility

If ever there were a time for Sony’s “VP of well-timed jabs” to make an appearance at Sony’s E3 2011press conference, it would have been during Kobe Bryant’s “well played” live, on-stage demo of NBA 2K12.

Jokes aside, there was a glimmer of hope for those not only with mobility impairments, but also those with visual impairments that may or may not have been seen during the 2K Sports demo, and it came from a pretty unexpected place – over 25-years ago.

Duck Hunt! A game in which a lot of the AbleGamers audience might not even be aware of.

Duck Hunt is as simple as that, armed with a Nintendo Entertainment System, Zapper (light gun), cartridge, and TV, players could virtually shoot ducks from the comfort of their own home, and most importantly do it as close to the TV as necessary.

That’s not a luxury afforded to players in the year 2011. In order to play any Move enabled title in Sony’s library, players will need a Playstation 3, Move controller, Playstation Eye (camera), Move compatible game, TV, and enough space to be seen by the camera.

My, how far we’ve come in 25+ years.

So, where does this glimmer of hope come from? As mentioned by Patrick Hancock in another E3 article here on AbleGamers.com, basketball games don’t always present the most simple of control schemes in order to successfully play these type of games, but with the integration of Move controls, one-handed players might now be able to get in on the fun via the point-and-take action controls of the five (or so) buttons on the Move controller.

Exciting as the thought of that is, that’s not where this article’s setup was headed; Duck Hunt is a point-and-shoot interface that’s not unlike the way NBA 2K12’s Move-enabled controls were presented.

Given, it didn’t take a camera and more room than a legally blind gamer has to offer to play Duck Hunt, but given that NBA 2K12 was presented the way it was presented – as a point-and-take action type game, I fail to see how the Playstation Eye is an integral part of the Playstation Moves interfacing with the game.

Complete (and possibly asinine) speculation on my part, but in order to remove the visual barrier inherent to (most) Move interaction it would seem reasonable to believe that a cursor, as was present on-screen in the demo, would be able to be placed center screen for players to orient the Move controller to so it might react with the axis on which the controller can be moved. Boiled-down concept, the Move being used like this could make it work more like a wireless mouse being used on a different plane and remove the necessity of the Playstation Eye. Again, complete speculation on my part.

If it’s possible, it needs to be done NOW. If it’s possible, why hasn’t it been done sooner?  If it was done sooner, why didn’t anyone tell the AbleGamers community about it?

Here’s the big question posed to all developers, not just those making games for the Playstation Move; is it better to be seen as accessible and potentially make 20% more money than you would be by being seen in the light you’re currently seen in? Or do you stick with the “we’ll get who we can” mentality and get what you can?