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.

Metal Gear Solid Touch : AbleGamers Was There

Written by Steve Spohn

Published on 04 April 2009

Metal gear solid touch (MGST) was released for the iPhone from Kojima Productions in March 2009. AbleGamers met with Hideo Kojima's staff members at GDC 2009. Mr. Kojima was nice enough to sign an autographed copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 for one of our staff members.

MGS is a third person shooter based on Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. In fact, several of the levels in MGST are based on levels in Metal Gear Solid 4. Players assume the role of Solid Snake, a mercenary/operative fighting on the side of the weak and innocent. Snake must make his way past the hostile enemy troopers while avoiding shooting innocent bystanders and friendly targets.

Kojima has described MGST as "Simple MGS," going on in interviews to say that the game MGST involves the full content of MGS4. The creators of Metal Gear Solid Touch went to great lengths to create a masterpiece that would fit the series nicely and accommodate the platform of the iPhone.

There are limitations to the ability to control a game on the iPhone. Games cannot be as in-depth as they can be on a typical gaming platform. That being said, AbleGamers was allowed to test out the control system.

Our findings are that the game is not very friendly to most types of disabilities. In order to control the character's movement, you must slide your finger around the screen and tap in order to fire your weapon.

The sniper rifle is controlled by pinching your fingers together or spreading them apart in order to zoom in and out, while tapping to fire. In order to duck behind cover, you simply remove your finger from the screen.

Although, this is typical for iPhone games, the dexterity needed to be able to control the precision movements of the character will prove cumbersome for some. Those with muscle related issues would have problems navigating the character and quickly firing without finite muscle control. Not to mention, the inability to leave your hand on the controls at all times.

There are no accessibility options for those with vision problems. The only positive is that it is not imperative to be able to hear the game, which makes MGST accessible to the hearing impaired.

Metal Gear Solid Touch looks to be a fascinating video game for those on the go. The problem is that this type of game is created to be used on a platform that is not meant for gaming. MGST retails for eight dollars and is available today.

AbleGamers rating system is currently under redevelopment. Thus, we do not have a numerical score. However, we would strongly caution you against purchasing this game without first trying the controls on a demo or friends iPhone. The accessibility in MGST is very poor.