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Uh, what company does make video games for the blind. Why pick on Sony? | |
Excuse me while I get my laser pointer. I'm off to go sue books, driving, tennis, and my computer screen. | |
How would a blind person play games at all? Yes, an audio compass and text-to-voice are both good ideas but I can't imagine the situation being very enjoyable. Then again, that may just be because I'm so used to being able to see. | |
This will fail. They dont have to Cater for anyone. they are providing a luxury service not a persons right. they have no obligation at all to provide games for anyone, let alone a visually impaired person. | |
If he's blind, how the heck did he even find the game to bitch about it? And how did he write e-mails for that matter? | |
Its not as easy to mod games on a console as compared to a pc, yeah they could offer something on ps store but then you would probably have to make a download for ever different game. This is were sony is saying to itself shit why couldn't he have been a microsoft fanboy. | |
Lawl.
Bingo. Art forms can't fall under the jurisdiction of discrimination legislation. Should painters be obliged to make paintings accessible? | |
The Music industry is discriminating against the deaf. | |
Wait...People still play Everquest?! | |
Like someone else said videogames is a freakin luxury you cant claim to have personal rights over it. | |
I don't know if you are being sarcastic, but I have a visually impaired friend who works as a programmer. Some games could be made more accessible, like having some big notes with big contrast in guitar hero for example. But I really think he is just trying to make easy money... | |
I know that a lot of companies are getting into making games more accessible to the handicapped, but making a game accessible to the visually impaired is incredibly difficult. | |
He might as well go and sue Honda, or Toyota, or any other car manufacturer as cars aren't able to be driven by the blind. | |
Wait, wait, wait... Sony encourages RMT now!? Guess I know my fall-back plan for finding a job. | |
As some would know, my favorite games are the kind that you can play with a blindfold on (they're so calm and peaceful, plus the music is brilliant), the shame there is that they're very, very rare. Seriously though, while I'm sure it would be possible to make some games accessable to the visually impaired it would a) be difficult to impliment without making it ostentaious or comedic (who can honestly say that the audio descriptions that some films have aren't funny?) and b) would only be used by a small percentage of players (making it more effort than it's worth). Sadly, when you become blind your gaming days are clearly over (it's one of those past-times that just so happens to be centred around seeing things). | |
I just need to point out that visually impaired does not automatically mean blind. But... I am sure the people with visual problems understand that there are going to be certain things they can not do, simply because they lack the full spectrum of sight. Computer games would rate quite high on those list of things a person lacking full sight would find less enjoyable. Honestly, if your struggling enough to see the screen that you need audio keys to know when your facing 'north' then you do have to consider that, maybe, you are too far gone to truely enjoy this medium. It sucks, seeing the world as a blur or not at all, but one can't really blame a game designer for your misfortune. This sounds to me that one said person realized Sony has a online store. Because they are trading for real money an argument against them could, more easily, be made. Now they can make a case where they where financially 'harmed' by not being able access to trade, and because real money is involved it is discrimination. Caccchiiing. | |
I'm not quite sure but doesn't visually impaired cover a wide spectrum of visual disablilties not just complete blindness, i mean it also covers people who as parshally blind, extreme colour blindness etc etc. | |
It seems that the stupidest of persons get to sue sony. | |
That guy is a dick. I hate the sue happy morons that somehow, despite their incredible stupidity, long enough to be able to sue people. | |
why are they picking on sony specifically? the only reason WoW or nintendo ever do anything for people like the blind is because their big money-whores! | |
It is not right to sue anyone for a reason such as this. Maybe his ways of making himself heard are limited, but this is just juvenile. Sony shouldn't have to be FORCED to do this, it would be better if this was a boycott of some sort (although that almost always seems to fail for some reason) but a lawsuit? I don't care if he's blind, deaf or doesn't have any arms, suing people because they don't make things that satisfy your needs is wrong! | |
'Blind' is used to cover all sorts of sight impairments, lots of people can be registered as blind but can still see to some degree, just not as well as the majority of people. I imagine that the person who is fighting against Sony will have some vision, obviously enough to see the characters on the screen just not all of the text or finer details of the graphics. It sounds like a stupid idea but I think it would be looked at differently if it was 'Sony sued for discrimination against the partially sighted'. It is reasonable to put large text in games, but I wouldn't say that it's going to be taken all that seriously in court. | |
You are right. But it would seem far too many people (as shown by the first half of this thread) are too damn ignorant to use their heads. Visually impaired does not automatically mean blind.
Except its been done before...so this isn't groudbreaking stuff.
No effort is necessary on Sony's part. They don't have to go out of their way like Valve has decided to do on their own. There are plenty of third-party modifications that can be added if Sony allowed its MMO's to do so. | |
Well another reason to lose faith in humanity. Self-entitlement much? Suddenly a privilege becomes a right to these people <.< also WTH does a third party Application have to do with the Publisher/Developer? | |
Why doesn't he just switch to WoW since they apparently do have aids for the impaired. | |
Alright, go sue Nintendo and Microsoft for the same actions. | |
Should have just filed a class action lawsuit on the Gaming industry as a whole for not being Blind Friendly to begin with <.< | |
Indeed, and as it is a luxury item, and not a necessary one, I fail to see how it is discrimination. Like someone else said, are musicians discriminating against the deaf because they can't hear it? | |
Dictation. EDIT: | |
Discrimination would be the act of specifically forcing blind people out of the game. Catering to blind people is adding aids to blind people. Sony DOES NOT have to cater to blind people, and that is not discrimination not to do so. It's like when that dating site was sued by gays because their system didn't match gay couples. Not providing a service is not the same thing as actively discriminating and disallowing specific groups from using it. He can still play the game, but just because it isn't tailored to his specific needs DOESN'T MEAN IT IS DISCRIMINATING AGAINST HIM. | |
Did they check to make sure he's not mentally impaired too? | |
I first heard about this on ED, but Im relieved its real and not just someones idea of a joke, now I can make new jokes about peoples eyesight while playing games. not, the reason WoW allows for third party mods is simply because they have nearly 12 million players, EQ and EQ2: Moar Quests, has nearly 300 thousand, if that. so........really he should be suing the mod makers for not making visual aids.......sorry, I just had the thought of a person with AIDS in the eye, where was I, oh yea........ for the game he's trying to play. But even if the court throws out his case, Im fairly certain that SOE knows of his plight, if there are more visually impaired players for EQ, I suggest they jump in and make their voices heard. | |
Yup it includes those. Title says blind but the text says visually impaired so im wondering if hes blind or visually impaired. To be honest if you CANT play a game then don't play it, dont end up suing developers. Personally i have extreme colorblindness. I have problems differentiating colors when they are together. I had a little whine when i couldn't play bejeweled but i wouldn't SUE them because i couldn't play a game based on matching colored gems. However a few months down the line the released a new and improved version that sorted it all out. Also had similar problems with Left 4 Dead health bars until i found the colorblind option. Even color matching games are now adding colorblind options such as Puzzle Quest. However apart from that i was fine. Games are getting better with disability's but to be honest if you have problems consolation is better than complaining. Its not like im going to sue a book publisher because their books are not dyslexia friendly and printed on yellow paper..... | |
Just blind people who keep getting sold the same game over and over. I dunno suing seems to be taking it too far. I fully support a letter writing e mail campaign and I could see the usefulness of a petition in this matter but to sue? That is a wee bit extreme and could potentially open a huge can of worms that the industry is not prepared for. If he sues and wins then they might as well close thier doors and move on to books or something. Games will have to be absolutely perfect and be made accessible and appeal to all. One flaw, a graphic stutter, could cause a lawsuit. | |
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Sony Sued For Discrimination Against the Blind
According to one gamer, Sony is not doing enough to make its games playable by the visually impaired.
Visually impaired gamer Alexander Stern believes that Sony is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against the blind, and has filed a lawsuit to get the company to comply with his demands. Before you get all up in a huff, the suit does not claim that the PlayStation 3 is in violation because it displays graphics on a television. Rather, Stern's lawsuit was filed over Sony Online Entertainment's failure to make its online games as accessible as possible.
Though no specific videogame has been named in the suit, the one most likely involved here would be SOE's Everquest. Stern claims that he has been sending both emails and snail mail to Sony for a while, requesting simple ways that Sony can make its games easier to play, though these requests have been ignored. Other games, such as World of Warcraft, already allow for third-party modifications that have been aiding visually impaired gamers. Two examples include an audio compass and a text-to-voice inventory system; these are what Stern hopes to get Sony to implement, or to at least allow for the possibility.
Stern also wants Sony to make its online auction system, through which players auction off in-game items for real money, to be accessible to the visually impaired. Because Stern can't access this feature, Sony is costing Stern money, says the suit. If it is not easily possible for Stern to use the marketplace to sell his items, I can see his point.
Strangely enough, this is one of the first lawsuits in recent memory that doesn't strike me as unreasonable. Stern only wants to be able to access the same features as everyone else, and for Sony to allow for the same modifications to be added to its games that plenty of other games already have. If I was Stern, I'd be royally pissed that I couldn't get the same dose of Evercrack as everyone else too.
Source: Gamespot
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