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Infinity Ward Tosses Disabled Gamers Under the Bus... Or Tank
When I interviewed Randy "N0M4D" Fitzgerald back in late October, he told me about the N0M4D patch and where it came from. Randy had troubles trying to play Call of Duty, and he contacted Infinity Ward about his issues. "In 2007, the Call of Duty 4 beta was released on Xbox360. I had a difficult time playing that game because there was no toggle aim feature. I wrote my good friends over at Activision and right after the game released they put out a patch that added a new control setting and they named it N0M4D," he told AbleGamers last October. The N0M4D layout is identical to the Tactical layout, it just added toggle aim. This solved Randy's problems, and allowed him to play and compete. The patch was of course named after him, which was fitting and an honor as he was one of their biggest fans. It was expected that the N0M4D control setting would be built straight into Modern Warfare 2, especially since Infinity Ward had said that it would be.
Last week, I was chatting with Sebastian "One Handed Terror" Jennings as he was describing games he was currently playing. One of them was CoD: MW 2. "I'm playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and it has been an un-fun learning experience. Reason being is that you need to press and hold the Left Trigger in order to aim and then press Right Trigger to fire," Sebastian explained to me. This should have raised a red flag. He shouldn't have need to press and hold the trigger, he should have been able to use the toggle aim feature Infinity Ward said would be in the game. I found out why he didn't soon after- it wasn't there.
In dismay of Infinity Ward's broken promise, I sat down with both Randy and Sebastian to discuss their thoughts on the matter and what it means for them.
Tara: Thanks for taking the time to chat with AbleGamers again, guys. You both have been awesome about doing interviews and we really appreciate it. I guess the best question to start off with is how do you guys play CoD with out the N0M4D feature being present?
Randy: just run around no scoping everyone, haha. But without zoom I could never compete professionally.
Sebastian: Randy and I have the same problem with the "fine aim". To be able to aim properly in CoD games you need to hold down the Left Trigger to look down the sights, otherwise you shoot from the hip and greatly reduce your accuracy. So the situation in the game is usually this: you spot someone, hold down Left Trigger to aim, use the Right Analog Stick to adjust your aim while holding the Left Trigger, and then press the Right Trigger to fire. Obviously by this, the Left Trigger is a very important function for accurate aiming and my disability (missing left hand) does not allow me to hold down the Left Trigger to aim down the sights. What I've done to overcome this is I balance the controller on my thigh while playing, poised on the Left Trigger. When I see an opportunity to shoot, I press down hard on my leg with the controller to pin down the Left Trigger with my thigh. From there, I adjust my aim normally and fire. This is the only real way I've found to play this game at a semi-decent level but with my method, several problems arise:
1) Sometimes the Left Trigger does not stay pinned down from my thigh and I lose the function of the sights.
2) The Left Trigger doesn't activate at all due to bad positioning or slippage from my leg.
3) The slam down on my leg to pin down the Left Trigger screws up my aim and I cannot get off a shot before getting killed.
4) I sometimes do an accidental knife attack (pressing down on Right Analog Stick) due to the abrupt action of using my leg to pin down the Trigger.
5) Severe bruises on my leg from using it to pin down the trigger.
6) The trigger sometimes pinches and cuts my leg when pinning it down. (Wearing shorts is out of the question while playing. I learned that lesson early.)
Tara: Wow. That's harsh. Randy can't compete and you actually injure your leg trying to play. Now how many tournaments with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will you be missing since you can't compete? I know that you don't normally compete in Call of Duty Sebastian, but please feel free to add in anything.
Sebastian: This is true. I am not on an elite level in this game to feel confident to compete on the tournament circuit. But I can tell you that it is highly discouraging to not be able to aim properly; so much in fact that I wouldn't even consider an attempt to climb the ranks without an alternate or custom button mapping template.
Randy: me, I will miss all of them. If I can't get this sorted out by April I told my team I would just coach instead.
Tara: And what does not being able to compete mean for you? I mean are you upset that you won't be winning prize money and disappoint fans?
Randy: tournaments aren't all about the money for me. It's really about getting in touch with my fans and making new friends. When I don't show up to events I let quite a few of my fans down.
Tara: That has to be hard. Now, ihas been suggested that maybe there was some conflict with the N0M4D feature and security measures used to prevent certain type of modded controllers and rapid fire cheats and that's why it was left out. Do you think this is could be the issue, or a guess that is way off target?
Randy: you know, my sponsor is Evil Controllers, and I have many friends who have rapid fire controllers, and they work perfectly in MW2. So whoever suggested that, way off target. I find it ironic that IW is trying to stop the very company that is building me a one of a kind controller that will enable me to play their game with or without the N0M4D layout. And IW calls Evil Controllers evil? Give me a break.
Sebastian: Way off, in my opinion. That sounds absurd. I honestly think that if that were the case, that would've been shared with N0M4D as to why they couldn't implement his configuration since it is a legitimate reason. As far as I know, he was expecting it to be in the game and it wasn't, without notice. Something else happened here.
Tara: I didn't think it sounded very valid either, but since people are suggesting it I thought it needed addressed. you guys think that Infinity Ward understands how many people it left out by excluding the N0M4D feature? As we can tell from just you two, there are a wide range of people with different reasons for having issues with the game. Like you guys, Randy has Arthrogryposis and Sebastian has an under developed hand... completely different, but both having issues. What do you think needs to be done to get Infinity Ward's attention on this issue?
Sebastian: I don't think that IW, let alone any gaming company, realizes that there are a lot of disabled gamers out there. I do understand that we are a small percent of the gaming community but a small percent of a large number (such as the population of people who play games) will still be a very large number. I think this article will be a good start to get Infinity Ward's attention. The problem is that they do not know how many of us there are. The best way to show that is to contact them individually or as a powerful group to show how great our numbers are, and that in turn will show them how many players they are neglecting. From there, it will be up to them to decide whether-or-not we are important enough to accommodate for. Unite! Fight the power! All that good stuff.
Randy: I think what needs to be done is more media attention until they release a statement. They did use my name to help promote the game, so I'm not sure what other actions are possible.
Tara: We're really trying to push for awareness of the issue, so we really do help this interview helps to draw attention over what's happening. Now, for as two guys who work in the video game industry, is it hard for you guys to see this sort of thing happen?
Randy: It is hard, because in this case, I was expecting the feature to be in the game only because they announced it to be. And like Super Mario on the Wii, I was extremely let down that it didn't offer classic controller support. It's a shame because I had money saved up to purchase that.
Sebastian: These kinds of things used to really irk me when I first started in the gaming industry over eight years ago. But now, I just see it so often that I just come to accept it as ‘the way it is'. I dunno...it just could be my age talking here as a jaded old man. Everyone has their set of problems to deal with, and as disabled gamers this is the problem we are now facing. I am very thankful and glad that there are people like N0M4D and places like Ablegamers.com that fight the good fight to get our voices heard.
Tara: It takes people like you guys will to speak up and stand with us. AbleGamers can't do it alone, so don't forget to thank yourself, too. Now, I have a couple questions for you Randy. As the person the feature has been named after, how many people have already contacted you looking for answers?
Randy: 'm not sure on exact numbers, but over 100 at least.
Tara: For you personally, what is the worst part about them not putting in the feature named after you?
Randy: I could care less if they named it after me as long as the toggle aim feature is there. The worst thing is, being told it's in there, then bringing home to find out it's nowhere to be found. And knowing they used me as a marketing tool.
Tara: Yeah, that has to be hard. When we talked last October, you mentioned you would love to work for Infinity Ward. Does this still hold true?
Randy: At this point, I really don't know. I really thought these guys had it together, but with this installment of the franchise, it has been disappointment after disappointment. First with the PC version not having dedicated servers or a map editor. I was really looking forward to making some maps. And then this... it saddens me and sickens me all at the same time. I don't know what happened over the past few years, but whatever happened, we all deserve answers.
Tara: That has to hurt. Now Sebastian, y've mentioned FPSs posing a problem for you before, how does it make you feel toward FPS developers when another title that is hard for you to play to your full potential is released?
Sebastian: It's not a big deal to me. I do realize that I am a rare, one-in-a-million type gamer and they cannot support everybody under the sun. I just try my best to play the games that I like and if it is too difficult to play, I can just chalk it up and move on. I try to not let stuff like this bring me down anymore.
Tara: That's understandable. If you let everything get to you like that life would be pretty depressing. As someone who really was attracted to the competitiveness around CoD:MW2, how is it knowing that Infinity Ward originally promised a feature that would have allowed you to play and didn't pull through?
Sebastian: Tricky, tricky Ms. Tara. Good question. The fact that they accommodated once before and decided against it for the second one does kind of leave a bad taste in my mouth. It was very nice of them to add the N0M4D configuration for the first CoD:MW. If they didn't do that though, the dilemma of adding it for MW2 wouldn't exist. That is kind of like being given an inch and taking a yard. Seriously though, something as simple as a button customization option would resolve this whole issue. I'm torn.
Tara: Do you plan to continue playing as is, or are you going to be looking for another method to play that doesn't involve bruising your leg?
Sebastian: Sadly, I will be continuing to bruise, pinch and cut my leg to play, and I will continue to look like a Thai fighter after his first day of training. Ugh. The things we do for games...
Tara: Well guys, it's about time to start wrapping this all up so I just have two more questions. you guys could get a message to Infinity Ward, what would it be?
Sebastian: , first off, I would thank them whole-heartedly for the many hours they've worked on this game/series. It truly is a digital masterpiece and I'm sure that everyone is very appreciative to play such a quality game. As for our problem at hand (pun intended); I would suggest to Infinity Ward to add a custom button mapping option to the controller screen to allow ALL players to set up the buttons to their liking. They've been doing custom buttons since SNES Street Fighter, why not here? I'm fairly certain that adding this is not a difficult task but maybe there is a downside that I do not see. A secondary suggestion is to add a fourth controller template that uses Right Bumper to aim, Right Trigger to fire, Left Bumper for specialty grenades and Left Trigger for main grenades (The "Right Hand Man" would be my name for that). Gun controls on the right side, grenade controls on the left...seems like that would be a good configuration. You could also try to Halo configuration where pressing down on the Right Analog Stick would bring up the sights and pressing it again would take them down. That sounds very N0M4Dish.
Randy: message to Infinity Ward is that I am extremely hurt and disappointed that you all lost your good morals that us fans are accustomed to. I have been your company's number one fan even back before you changed your name to Infinity Ward.
Tara : And a message to those being affected by the N0M4D patch not being implemented?
Sebastian: . That's a tough one. In all seriousness, I guess I would just say to play it at your best and try not to get frustrated. If the game is not giving you the satisfaction that you want while playing, you just got to pick it up and move on to the next. It is not worth it to get worked up about it. There are plenty of games out there to play.
Randy: For those that are being affected, just hang in there and let your media outlets know about the situation. I really don't think letting Infinity Ward and Activision get away with this will be a good thing for the industry. They have personally used my name to help sell their product, and I have moral issues with that, and you should too.
Tara: Thanks for spending time to chat with a guys, it's really meant a lot and we hope that you talking with us draws attention to this issue.
No one is really sure why the N0M4D toggle aim feature was left out of Modern Warfare 2. Sadly, Infinity Ward has not responded to any one on this issue. This includes other media outlets and Randy himself. We're hoping that we will soon receive answers on why IW broke their promise and let one of their biggest fans out in the cold. Please, spread the word and let others know what is happening. We would like Infinity Ward to be responsible for their actions.
I truly don't know what's going wrong with the (mostly American-based) games developers.
This issue is disgraceful enough in itself, but to be aware of certain disabled issues (by dealing with NOM4D), and then using him as a marketing tool, to then kick us all in the face is ... well, I can't think of a harsh enough word for it.
I've had several issues (not disability-related, just game-breaking due to outrageously bad programming) with Forza 3. I've contacted several organisations in the UK about this, and many other users have contacted me with similar issues. Despite each of us contacting Turn10 (either on a personal or professional) is met with absolute silence.
It's an utter disgrace, and when you include that idiot CE at Activision's recent comments, it's apparent there's a considerable disregard for their customers.
I really hope this is not a growing trend. We can't allow this to continue.
This is pretty sad. I'm not going to totally throw IW under the bus for not implementing this feature, because maybe there is a valid reason they ran into to not put it in MW2.
However, based on my utter disappointment with the PC version of MW2, for the same reasons Randy mentioned above, I wouldn't put it past them to just simply take it out because it was more work for them. They are obviously focusing on the majority of players for all aspects of the game. Since IW has stated in the past that the PC modding community "simply isn't there", it makes sense that they got rid of mods and dedicated servers in this version...less work for them and makes the PC version essentially a port of the console version.
I didn't buy MW2 for many reasons, but this one is the most disappointing and disrespectful of all. I wonder if there is any legal action that Randy could take because of their use of his name to promote the game and then not include the feature?
They haven't even bothered to include alternative friend-foe colours for colourblind gamers (e.g. orange/blue rather than red/green) - something CoD:WaW included - so it doesn't suprise me they are ignoring even more challenged gamers.
You can add it to the list of things they are ignoring, such as disadvantaging international players through their incredibly poor matchmaking system.
Good luck to Randy and Sabastian, I hope IW listens.
Activision and IW should be ashamed of themselves denying Randy the right for him to be able to play a game he and a lot other disabled gamers to enjoy. I can understand his frustration because I have Becker MD and I have problems with the button configuration also. I believe adding toggle aiming for MW2 should be included for all platforms and as I am playing MW2 on PS3.
I would to like the patch be available for PS3. I have been a fan of the COD series from the start. So, I say to Activision and IW do the right thing and add the patch to the game because this needs to be accessible to everyone that wants to play the game even people with disabilities.
GamerOnWheelz
PSN: OWheelzO
I really hope that a multi-platform patch can be released for MW2 to include fixes for the N0M4D and the map icon issue. Considering it's the biggest selling franchise in the world right now, how crazy is it to exclude potential customers who are willing and ready to shell out their £'s and $'s right now? Would it really kill them to write a small patch to fix these issues? Would it hell.
There definitely needs to be more support from videogame companies for disabled players. Colourblindness isn't uncommon. Take that into consideration from the offset. A lot of players might have missing limbs. Take that into consideration. Now, that's not necessarily an issue on PC or Mac where you can remap buttons, but it's damn near impossible on Xbox, PS3 or Wii. Sony and Microsoft could include support for remappable buttons at a firmware level. Hell - even my PSP lets me remap buttons when I'm playing a PSOne game - so build it in. Or offer support for BenHeck's one handed controller. C'mon - is that so hard? The machines have been out for a few years, but you could make them so much more accessible for millions with a simple patch.
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