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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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AbleGamers - Now's Your Chance to be Heard

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Many people profess that they wish to could have a say in the making and designing of video games.  Yet rarely is the game industry interested in hearing from folks with disabilities.  Instead, games are created by people who are not disabled and have no idea what the true needs of disabled gamers are.  How would you like to be one of the people who actually have a say in how games are developed?

Sounds pretty exciting doesn't it?

Enter Blue Marble Game Co., a small independent video game company whose mission is to build accessible gaming titles for the disabled.  This highly unique team is comprised of individuals who are physical therapists, neuroscientists, psychologists, programmers, engineers, game designers, and gamers.  Many of the folks on the team have disabilities too!

The two leads in this company are Dr. Sheryl Flynn and Dr. Belinda Lange; both women are connected to some of the most powerful groups in the gaming sector.  They are committed to helping those with disabilities with the advantages of playing video games.  Drs. Flynn and Lange have backgrounds in physical therapy and neuroscience, which is a strange leap into videogame developing, right?

Not at all! Who can make better games for the disabled then those who have dedicated their lives to understanding the human body and how it works?

This unique team is interested in building games for both physical and mental rehabilitation and leisure games just for fun!  They hope the games that they build will encourage folks to challenge themselves both mentally and physically in a way that is distracting, motivating and most of all fun.

This year at the Games for Health event, Drs. Flynn and Lange will be speaking to the masses about their upcoming games in development and about game design for individuals with disabilities and rehabilitation.  Their company will not only be producing videogame titles specifically aimed at the disabled but titles that were designed in part by you!

Here is your chance.  Have you ever wanted to get in the face of the game industry and tell them how you feel?  All you have to do is fill out this survey, which will be read directly by Sheryl, Belinda and their team.

  • Do you like to play video games?
  • Would you play video games if you could? Do you have a disability and still play?
  • Do you find that some of your game play is limited by your disability?
  • Would you like to give some advice to game designers and game developers regarding ways to improve games and game interfaces for folks with disabilities?
  • And more...

The purpose of this survey is to understand better the vast diversity of the gaming community so that game developers can build better games, more accessible games and game interfaces.  The results will be compiled, analyzed, synthesized and published.

So, if you ever wanted to have your voice heard by videogame developers, this is your time to take action.  Opportunities like this come around only once in a great while.  Do not miss your chance to influence the gaming industry in ways only producers usually can! Click here to take this great survey!

AbleGamers has had a long relationship with this group, they even consulted with us as they were creating the survey. I know that the info you give will only be used for good. They will not sell it or anything like that. You have my word!
Comments (1)Add Comment
Sheryl Flynn
Sheryl Flynn
June 08, 2009
Votes: +0
...

Thank YOU to everyone who has filled out the survey. With the help of Mark and Steve, this survey is going to change the way video games are made for folks with disabilities and for rehabilitation.

Thanks again!

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