No Barriers to Fun!

We met our friend Giddeon at the AbleGamers Accessibility Arcade in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When he first sat down with the AbleGamers crew, Giddeon didn't want to play any games. He told us that with his disability gaming was difficult. Giddeon has a rare disease that caused the growth of his arms .. Read More
A Window to the World

Shepherd University invited the AbleGamers Foundation to come on campus and do one of our Accessibility Arcades for the students and local disabled community. The event was a roaring success with hundreds of children and adults coming out to see the technology and in some cases experience gaming the first time. Read More

About the AbleGamers Foundation

Since 2004, the AbleGamers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, has served more than 56 million members of the disabled community by advocating greater access in video games. Today, AbleGamers is a leader in the development of equipment, programs and services to those living with disabilities, hardships, and quality-of-life issues that are a result of chronic illness or trauma. It is our goal to ensure that all people, regardless of their disability, can use gaming as a tool to have enriched social experiences with friends, family, and the world at large.

Star Trek Update

Written by Steve Spohn

Published on 12 November 2009

Star Trech Accessibility Update {sidebar id=3}{sidebar id=1}Are you wondering what has been going on in the Star Trek universe lately? There are a few basic updates and one very special news item that have caught the attention of AbleGamers. Purchasing the latest in computer technology can be difficult on a disability budget but fear not, considering the interstellar graphics of the upcoming MMO, many computers should be able to run the new title.

The specs according to the official Star Trek online website are the following:

System Requirements

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz or AMD Athlon X2 3800+
Memory: 1GB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 / ATI Radeon X1800 / Intel HD Graphics
Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card
DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

Recommended System Configuration

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 5600+
Memory: 2GB RAM+
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850+
Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card
DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

The system requirements are in line with the likes of World of Warcraft and Aion. If your PC can handle those games, STO should be no problem. Make sure to purchase any upgrades you might need before February 2, 2009 when Star Trek Online beams into your home. The launch date has been officially set and you can pre-order your copy at your favorite retailer today.

While we're on the subject of Star Trek Online, in a recent interview with Ten Ton Hammer Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich answered many standard questions along with one question we are not used to seeing from mainstream interviews.

"I wanted to ask you about supporting peripherals. Champions Online makes great use of an XBox controller. A lot of games that have a flying element to them have support for head-tracking peripherals and other gadgets. Have you decided on what kind of peripherals the games going to support yet?" asked Ten Ton Hammer.

Craig answered, "We haven't announced any deals or any official support yet. But, yeah, we're definitely looking in the X360 controller, because a lot of people have those and they work really well. As well as, I mean, joysticks and other controllers like that, but I don't have any announcements right now. We'll try to get as many in as possible before we have to ship, and then keep adding them in afterwards as the community asks for support."

It is very easy to determine that the executive producer was taken off guard by this question. When developers speak to AbleGamers, they tend to expect questions like this but not from mainstream media.

We definitely want to commend the interviewer from TTH, and we see this as another example of the beginning of mainstream media picking up the needs of the disabled. Head-trackers and other peripherals is a mainstay of what it takes to play as a disabled gamer. Adaptive devices and accessible technology are at the core of what allows us to play video games.

If in fact we are beginning to weigh on the minds of other media outlets, one can only assume that it is thanks to you for supporting organizations such as ours. Together, we are making a difference.