Limbo (12A)
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 - Playdead
The people at
Apple Industrial Design are a clever bunch. Through the thin,
shiny, clean-lined design of their devices, year on year they
have people clamouring to buy, at a premium, an incremental
improvement over what they released just a few short months
before. What’s even more remarkable is how they convince the
masses to buy what is essentially a larger version of an iPod,
instead of more practical and powerful laptops or
notebooks. [editor:
read on... all will become clear]
Need For Speed: The Run - Re-Mapping/Controller In-Game Options
By Bill (R&D, SpecialEffect)
Title: Need For Speed: The Run (EA)
Tested On: XBox 360.
Full Re-mapping: Buttons can be mapped to other buttons.
Button Layout Options:
Default layout:
Left Stick (Left & Right) = Steer
Right Stick (All Directions) = Look Around Car
Accelerate = RT
Brake = LT
Handbrake = X
Nitrous = A
Gear Up = Y
Gear Down = B
Change View = RB
Look Back = LB
Checkpoint Reset = Back
Button functions can be swapped with each other as well as the d-pad buttons. Buttons cannot be mapped to either thumbstick. The left tumbstick functions can be swapped with those on the right thumbstick.
...
Mario with Muscles
By One Switch"Advancer Technologies' USB Biofeedback Game Controller harnesses the power of electromyography to allow players to directly control video games with their muscles."
Fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn
By One Switch
"Drivey" (free
PC demo and screen saver) from Mark PurseyDrivey is a proof of concept demo, but it is gorgeous and a pleasure. It reflects a stylised version of driving, and aims to replicate the ease of driving when you get into a comfortable head-space and environment.
It achieves this with auto-steering and cruise-control, which I think is a unique and brilliant accessibility design feature. If you let go of your controls, the car will drive itself. You can choose when to overtake, speed up or slow down or go off-road. You can switch off the traffic if you wish and even the colision detection. You can drive using two switches alone for LEFT and RIGHT.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary - Re-Mapping/Controller In-Game Options
By Bill (R&D, SpecialEffect)
Title: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
Tested On: XBox 360.
Full Re-mapping: No.
Button Layout Options: 9 options available (layouts shown in video below).
Stick Layout Options: 4 options available: Default (left stick = aim/look and right stick = move), Southpaw, Legacy and Southpaw Legacy (layouts shown in video below).
Stick Sensitivity Options: Combined horizontal and vertical sensitivity with 10 different levels of sensitivity to choose from.
Look type: Normal and inverted are available.
Alt Controller v0.6 - Demonstrating custom windows
By Still Shakey
Hi everyone,
Here's a quick review to demonstrate the new version (v0.6) of Alt Controller, a free Open Source program for adapting computer inputs, such as mouse movements and key presses, in order to make computer programs more accessible. And play games!
The main new features
are:
- Ability to draw screen regions on top of game windows
- Ability to design custom windows with mappable buttons, "stay
on top" and translucency
- Three new profiles to demonstrate custom
windows
Groove Coaster
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
iPod, iPad, iPhone- TAITO Corporation
The relative ease and lack of expense of creating an application for Apple’s handheld devices has opened up the world of programming and self-publication to the masses, creating a thriving indie scene and some would say keeping the handheld gaming market alive. How many times have you seen a business man/lady on the train, the type that wouldn’t dream of owning a Nintendo DS, happily playing Angry Birds for the entire journey?
Greedy Bankers (iOS)
By One Switch
Eurogamer Indie Games Arcade finalist Greedy Bankers vs The World (iPad) has just received its first update, which aims to make the game more accessible to colour-blind players.
The update adds symbols that can be optionally added to the coloured gems in the game to make them visually distinguishable without the need for colour vision. "Because the gameplay of Greedy Bankers is largely based on colour, there were some obvious difficulties for colour-blind players. I thought it was unfair that people should be unable to enjoy the game properly, especially over an issue that was so easy to fix," said the developer Alistair Aitcheson.
Alistair also cited the charity Special Effect [us!] as an inspiration for the change, having met them at the Eurogamer Expo and approached them for advice. "I'm still looking for feedback on the updates, so that I can improve these accessibility elements. Hopefully with each update I'll be able to improve them based on players' experiences."
Alternative Christmas
By One Switch
I don't know quite what to make of Specialbites's collection of eight switch accessible Christmas activities. They're a little bit odd. One is of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer getting scared by a possessed Christmas tree, then poo-ing in a toilet. Another is of a magic tree firing cannon balls at a cloud of brussel sprouts. Another is Rudolph starting a fire, melting a snowman whilst staring and grinning. Often there's a mad echoing laugh, or funeral march version of Away in a Manger.
Badlands
By One Switch
After playing it for the first time at Replay Expo 2011 I decided to have another go at getting Konami's one-switch laser-disk game Badlands working on my laptop. Using the latest version of the Daphne emulator (v1.0), it worked!
So, what's the game like?
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