2010 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year

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Published on Monday, 24 January 2011 07:00

Written by The AbleGamers Foundation

{sidebar id=1}One of the most inaccessible genres to a major part of the disabled gaming community is the racing genre.  For the most part, you need to react quickly and make split-second decisions all while operating multiple buttons to play at even the most basic level. This year The AbleGamers Foundation is proud to announce the 2010 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year Award is going to a title that not only breaks that mold, it shatters it.

Forza Motorsports 3 is one of the most disabled friendly racing games to come out since the original Nintendo where you only had to deal with two buttons and a directional pad.  Forza 3 takes it one step better further by including auto braking meaning you only have to pay attention to the steering, which can be done in a multitude of ways.

The extreme flexibility of Forza 3 was very impressive, not only because of the number of options the title presents, but because this is the first console game to ever catch our attention with this much accessibility.  The numerous control scheme options for regular controls and built-in guidance systems couple with the ability to use multiple assistive technologies with as little as three switches (two active switches and one held down) to produce an amazingly adaptable game.

“Microsoft is honored and delighted to accept the Accessible Game of the Year Award from AbleGamers for Forza Motorsport 3. We believe that making technology as accessible as possible will enable people throughout the world to realize their full potential, regardless of their abilities,” said Aaron Kornblum, Director of Security Policy in Interactive Entertainment Business, which includes Xbox and Xbox Live.

The Accessibility of Forza Motorsports 3:

Extreme mobility accessibility - With the inclusion of auto breaking it is entirely possible to play the entire console game with only two switches (buttons).  By setting the gas to be continually held down with either a latching switch or taping down the acceleration button and then enabling the game to automatically apply the brakes, you only need to set switches to steer left and right to control your vehicle.

Mobility options galore – There are more than a dozen controller configurations automatically included in the game outside of the ability to set the game for even the most motor impaired gamers.

No need for subtitles - The information provided by voiceovers is relatively meaningless to the overall gameplay.  Deaf gamers have no trouble regardless of the lack of subtitles.

Colorblind gameplay - Although the suggested line mode uses red and green lines to suggest when to break, the auto braking setting can alleviate this problem. System upgrades are often also represented with numerical values.

Cognitive features – As an added bonus, the inclusion of “rewind mode” allows some forgiving for users who need course corrections.  For those who have trouble making fast decisions on which way to steer, this option is incredibly useful as opposed to the standard of restarting the race as most other racing titles have you do.

What makes this title stand out from the rest is the amount of options given for those who need it.  As we always say at AbleGamers, options are the key to including accessibility for those who need it while preserving the difficulty factor for those who don't.  Forza 3 gives disabled gamers the tools to tailor the game to their particular disability but does so in a way that if you don't need the accessibility you might never know it’s there.

The AbleGamers Foundation is proud to present Microsoft and the Forza 3 development team with the 2010 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year Award.  Congratulations for a game well made.

Editors Note: The AbleGamers Foundation looks at the Oct 2009 to Oct 2010 time frame for eligible titles. This is because many games are released for the Holiday Season.

About the Author

Author: Mark C. Barlet

The President and Co-Founder of the AbleGamers Foundation.