PS4 Games Named Most Accessible for People with Disabilities

Good stuff

by Sammy Barker Fri 22nd Jan 2016

MLB 15 The Show PS4 PlayStation 4 Accessible Games

Gaming is a pastime that anyone can enjoy, but not every release takes into account players with disabilities. While the PlayStation 4 does now allow users to reassign buttons at an operating system level – thus making titles more accessible to everyone – the Able Gamers charity is still eager to recognise those releases that are designed with as many people as possible in mind.

And headlining its awards for most accessible games of the year this time are PS4 favourites Rocket League and MLB 15: The Show. Of the former, it commended Psyonix for allowing players to reassign all of the game's controls, while also employing colour blind-friendly colours and plenty of visual indicators. It also pointed to the PC version's mouse controls, which allow the game to be played with one hand.

As for Sony San Diego's uber-popular baseball sim, it was commended for its visual accessibility, as well as its dynamic difficulty setting, which adapts based upon performance. Sadly, it concluded that while strides had been made to make many games more accessible, some mainstream releases "failed in every regard". It's an area that major publishers should be committing more resources to, then.

[source ablegamers.com]

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

1
BAMozzy
Fri 22nd Jan 2016

I know its difficult to cover all forms of disability - or at least the majority that could affect those capable of 'gaming'. VR (at least the motion control aspect) could help one handed gamers taking away the need to use one of the thumbsticks. Voice control could be implemented more too - like saying keywords to replace button actions like reload, open, grenade etc.
I do think though, that the controllers are not always ideal for some disabilities and health issues. I do find the DS controllers a little small - although not physically disabled as far as my hands are concerned, I do have Arthritis and 'funny' joints and prolonged gaming gets very uncomfortable. I mist admit the DS4 is more comfortable for me because of the chunkier grips and trigger position but would be more comfortable if it was a bit bigger.
I appreciate that as games have become more complex, it has had a knock on effect to disabled gamers. I remember when games could easily be played with 1 hand - a Joystick with a trigger and thumb button (like a fighter aeroplane's control stick) where the trigger is button 'A' and the thumb button 'B' but nowadays we have 4 buttons, two thumb sticks with buttons, two shoulder buttons, two triggers, a d-pad, options, share (start/back - effectively) and even a touch pad and button here too. Admittedly not every game uses every function but a lot do these days. I certainly can't see a gamer with 'hand' issues playing any of the top 10 selling games of the year - regardless of button mapping options.

2
sinalefa
Fri 22nd Jan 2016

I am still amazed on seeing how many games (even Tetris clones were colour is crucial) seem to disregard colour blind people. I agree that Rocket League never posed an issue for me regarding that. Splatoon also has an option to adjust the ink colours used and I loved that.

3
Tasuki
Fri 22nd Jan 2016

@sinalefa I have noticed alot of games now have a colorblind option built in usually it's under options. I never really knew that being colorblind could make playing a game much more difficult. It's nice to see companies striving to make games more accessible and enjoyable for all.

4
themcnoisy
Fri 22nd Jan 2016

In individuals with Northern European ancestry, as many as 8 percent of men and 0.4 percent of women experience congenital color deficiency. (wikipedia lol) That's 1 in 14 men. A pretty big amount of game players - its good to see colour blind options and I tend to alter them.

I have color perception 4 (whatever that is) diagnosed pre service. That's mild - but struggle with red hugely and slight variations in any colour a little, this has affected me so much with some games I don't play them. Usually multiplayer shooters as I struggle to differentiate the person with the background.