So, at the VGA's, Stevie Wonder came on stage to present an award, but also decided to bring up that game developers should start developing video games that are more accessable to the blind. In my apartment, this was met with a lot of WTF's. I, personally, think that blind people need to accept that there are certain things they cannot do. It's one of the downsides to any disability. Demanding (Yes, demanding, there has already been a lawsuit regarding this before Stevie Wonder brought it up). Video games are visual, and without that input, theres really not much you can do.
So whats the GOG take on this? Am I just a cruel, unsympathetic being who has listened to too much Denis Leary and George Carlin to be sympathetic to their plight? Or is their argument valid?
Discuss.

Old Speccy games. Blindness would be an advantage when playing those. At least in so much as the graphics wouldn't hurt their eyes. I doubt blindness would reduce their chances of completing those games either.

Note that this is not just for developing games specifically for them, but for making games released for the main stream market accessible as well.
Examples include MMO's, action games, etc.

Primarily a visual medium, but 'blind' can also includes those with impaired vision. Demanding that certain things are done may be a bit much, but accessibility? Yes, could be improved.
I think many games could do better on the audio assist side. Also, while subtitles we now see a lot of, but adjustable font size? A rare beast. While it may not be appropriate for some fast paced or online games, the ability to pause whenever and gain contextual feedback from the whole scene would be nice.
I'd also be interested in playing a game that is totally (or near total) based on sound.

That's ... Not really possible, so I wasn't really thinking about that :D Still, even that would require some imaginative and clever thinking, which would be pretty... Irregular. That can mean only change. As far as I'm concerned, change wouldn't hurt mainstream market :D
But yeah, you're right it should NOT be a requirement for video games, because... Well that's just stupid, all sensitivity aside

A wonderfully compassionate thought that makes absolutely no business sense (except from a PR standpoint, it'd be PR gold so I expect activision are working on visual imparment hero or something).
Sure gameplay>graphics but how does the game display things? A special and doubtlessly fucking expensive braille pad? How are the developers going to ensure that the player actually gets the information they need for the game?
Fuck, we live in an age where the former kings of gaming, namely graphic adventures, flight sims and turn based strategy are all ultra niche genres to the major publishers and you're lucky to see 2 games a year (yes telltale release lots of graphic adventures but each of their series are really only one multi-chapter game) and if you're REALLY lucky one of them is half decent. This is all because they're not economically viable anymore because the market is saturated with Music/FPS games because thats all that people buy because the market is saturated with Music/FPS games... In a market like that, I'm afraid that blind people are utterly fucked.
The best they can probably hope for is some sort of small scale indie game, possibly on the wii where the remote thingy controls something that makes sound. I mean you could make a pretty sweet (if short lived) star wars game about a blind jedi, use the remote as a lightsaber and you need 5.1 sound to hear where the blaster shots are coming from and block them. It could be fun if they managed to make it something other than a single gimmick game. Also, a blind jedi would have the Force

Id buy that, hell even if that was crazy expensive I'd buy it.
As to catering, well, I guess someone could ask the blind what they would like since the visuals are well.... not going to matter......... (wow, I really wasnt trying to make that sound as heartles as it did......whoops)

I'd sure be tempted by it but I can see from the concept that it'd probably get old fast.
A fully narrated dialogue driven adventure style game would be a nice easy sort to whip up, kind of a full audio choose your own adventure

Yeah, but even that wouldnt need a system really. Just a headset, and 4-6 buttons for your options.
*wow I am totally going to hell, but, what about those both blind and deaf?

The moment a video game is made for the blind, it stops being a "video" game. Games should be made for the blind but they can't expect them to be Halo, Call of Duty or any of the sort. I figure tactile or voice oriented games, like an audio 'choose your own story' type of adventure game, is perfectly possible, but they can forget about shooting pixels online.
Game: It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Player: Oh. My. GAAAAAAAWD!
In fact, games to help them improve their senses would be wonderful because they'd at least get something valuable from the gaming experience instead of wasting hours away collecting scores that'll do them no good in the long run.
Edit: Well, hey, that's what happens when you don't read the whole thread but sometimes I don't have the time at work to do that.

I'm amazed that no one even bothered to research this subject before replying.
I did volunteer work at the Canadian centre for the blind for many years, and I had a blind co-worker for about half that time. He would often talk about the computer games he was currently hooked on. No, he wasn't playing Fallout 3 or Call of Duty, but he was playing many of the audio-only games that are made specifically for the blind. Yes, they do exist. I tried playing a couple of them, briefly, but the crappy speakers on my computer at the time made it a bit hard to get into them. Still, I was impressed with the resourcefulness of these games' designers. It was so inspiring I considered developing a couple of game ideas of my own that I thought would work well. Unfortunately, I was a bit discouraged by the amount of audio I'd need to record to make them work.
If anyone wants to try some of these games for the blind, here's a website:
[url=]http://www.bscgames.com/[/url]

A while back, some news-type show did a segment on blind people who had learned how to echolocate (!).
One of the guys they interviewed likes playing Mortal Kombat. By sound.
Not what one would normally consider "accessible."

To be fair, fighting games are actually VERY accessible. If you actually watch one of the many blind people who play those, they essentially do something along the lines of the following
Punch the air (maybe advancing a few steps) until you hear a hit sound. Then just pop up a crapload of combos that involve juggling.
Obviously this goes out the window for any fighting games with 3d arenas (since you can flank) and hinges upon combos allowing for juggling.

I guess then the wouldn't be "video". But i'm sure audio games must exist.
I wonder if Orbital (GBA game) would work for blind people. I remember that when i used to play it I used to close my eyes half the time. Games like Rythmn heaven could probably work, or be easily adapted to work... maybe even Rock Band.