Tech N' Tactile

Press Any Button: How Modern Gaming is Breaking Down Disability Barriers

• Tech N' Tactile • Episode 1

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Gaming accessibility has undergone a remarkable transformation. Where developers once laughed at the concept during the PS2 era, today's studios place accessibility features at the forefront of their design philosophy.

As brothers navigating games from different disability perspectives—one with visual impairment and one with cerebral palsy—we've witnessed this evolution firsthand. The gaming landscape has dramatically shifted to become more welcoming through thoughtful design choices that don't compromise core gameplay experiences.

We explore how companies approach accessibility differently: Microsoft's pioneering work with adaptive controllers and interface options; Capcom's evolution from tying aim assist to easier difficulty levels to offering it independently; and Nintendo's ingenious use of motion controls that transform potential limitations into alternative gameplay mechanics. Games like Street Fighter 6 demonstrate how modern control schemes can open doors for players with motor functionality challenges without sacrificing depth.

The podcast dives into specific features that have made gaming more inclusive—from aim assist systems in Resident Evil and Red Dead Redemption to the haptic feedback of PlayStation's DualSense controller. We challenge the misconception that accessibility options exist merely to "make games easier," emphasizing instead how they ensure everyone can participate in this incredible medium regardless of physical ability.

This conversation only scratches the surface of gaming accessibility. We invite listeners with disabilities to share their own gaming triumphs and challenges. What accessibility features have made the biggest difference in your gaming experience? What innovations would you like to see in future titles? Join the conversation and help us build a more inclusive gaming community where everyone can stay accessible.

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Cody:

Hello everyone and welcome to the Tech and Tactile podcast, where we talk about tech, accessibility and video games and any other nerdy thing that I can honestly think of in my mind Today. My name is Cody and I am joined here with my little brother, michael.

Michael:

Hello, hello,

Cody:

yes, hello. Indeed Kind of a first thing, first draft. Try this out, see how it works. And today I wanted to just talk about video games as a whole. It's an easy topic. Everyone does it, especially after 2020, you know we got more and more people playing games these days. Oh yeah, I wanted to talk about growing up playing video games as somebody with a disability and have the troubles and the triumphs of going through that kind of stuff. I was born visually impaired. One eye is not as good as the other, and how about you?

Michael:

Well, in my case I'm a little different. As you know, I was born with a condition called cerebral palsy. It mainly affects all of my muscles in my body with my skeletal structure. I do have onset scoliosis due to the contractions that come with it. It mainly affects my entire lower half and the majority of my right side, because my left is my dominant as my dominant, so I have a lot of fine motor control issues and I don't have the ability to use all of my limbs, as I'm technically classified as a quadriplegic with my cerebral palsy just due to its severity, with my onset of the years as it went on.

Cody:

All right. Yes, yes, and to my knowledge, one side is weaker than the other. Is that correct?

Michael:

Yes, my left side is my dominant.

Cody:

Yes, and to my knowledge, one side is weaker than the other.

Cody:

Is that correct?

Michael:

Yes, my left side is my dominant.

Cody:

Yes, Okay, Kind of like me Left side, my left eye is not as good as my right eye, but you know you make it work all the same. So, Since its a nerdy Tech-themed podcast and all that. I thought I would talk video games and the troubles and the triumphs of going through them. Honestly, I think that video games have come a long way in terms of accessibility compared to the olden days. In the olden days you would hear interviews about people asking about accessibility. Developers would just kind of laugh about it.

Michael:

They would look at you and be like what? Say that again?

Cody:

I don't remember what. I remember watching an interview and somebody asked that question about accessibility and they just kind of laughed and this was like back in, I think, PS2 days.

Michael:

Oh yeah, they'll definitely just shrug you off.

Cody:

So it's definitely gotten a lot better. I think a lot of games could be better, specifically games in the asian market. Uh, definitely a lot of games you see here in the west really, uh, go for that extra accessibility, uh kind of thing in mind. Like you know, they've got that heavy aim assist. They've got, you know, motor control, like you know they have some of them have like a one-handed mode. Like there's a lot, and I plan on talking a lot about these games in the future and giving them a highlight for people who may be interested.

Michael:

But go ahead, at least with my case, that I've noticed, like you were saying, with different markets and different regions. I've noticed that as you go through those regions, depending on what company that you're specifically having your um game media made from is, they tend to lean towards more specific aspects of things when it comes to accessibility, because they tend to think more of their home country audience prior to them to theming out if that makes sense, depending on kind of like where your source is coming from, because they don't. It's a lot of companies don't have a good general kind of umbrella of stuff. They tend to lean toward one specific point. If they try to go for something accessible with their titles and that's one thing you'll see with a lot of different places is it's sprinkled differently depending on which area of the world you're looking at yeah, yeah, definitely for sure.

Cody:

Um, I mean recently. I, like you know, I'm a big capcom fan and a lot of, uh, capcom games.

Cody:

Uh, nowadays, at least a lot of them in the re engine era of capcom that they're using, have really embraced a lot of accessibility. You, you didn't see it at first, and then, as the games like, as they kept releasing different titles, they, uh, they had implemented some stuff, like I. I noticed in devil may cry 5, for example, they had an auto feature. Uh, they may have had it in four or whatnot, but some people just can't switch between the different fighting styles and everything. And you know, it might not be, as you know, you might not be getting as much damage, output or anything with the auto setting, but it helps people with motor controls. And, yes, uh, I've especially noticed it in resident evil because, uh, you know, resident evil 4, when it dropped, it released with a complete yes. It has been the only way that I've been able to play it, because I specifically have trouble tracking enemies with my eyes.

Michael:

My problem as you brought up Capcom with different fighting styles in mind when you brought up DMC. I will have to say one of my favorite titles that I've loved to see shine with what they've done with it in the recent couple of months to a year that it's been out now um is Street Fighter 6. Street Fighter 6, oh um, the the new style changes and what they have for accessibility in that game has been glorious yeah, never mind if your friends find out.

Cody:

They'll, uh, they'll, have some words for you if they're hardcore Street Fighter fans. But you know what I mean. I mean I would say that who's going to know? But it kind of tells you, I think, who's using modern controls.

Michael:

Yes, it does.

Cody:

So, yeah, there might be some shit-talking going and it comes with the territory, but you know what I got to say it is very good for accessibility.

Michael:

For people that just want to have fun.

Cody:

You know very good for accessibility For people that just want to have fun, you know. Well, yeah, not just for people who are maybe people who aren't into the fighting meta, but people who have issues with their hands or anything like that. Like, for me it's not a big deal, I can do modern controls or classic, I could take it or leave it, but for people who have some motor functionality or some motor issues, it's a godsend and I wish a lot more fighting games would embrace that, although a lot of other fighting games aren't too terrible, like I don't remember.

Michael:

It's becoming more of a trend in modern times. Now, as the years go on, they're starting to have these modes a lot more prevalent than they did in years past.

Cody:

Yeah, and it's really nice to see that. It's really nice to see how accessibility has been at the forefront of a lot of gaming companies. One in particular that is really embracing it is Microsoft.

Michael:

Oh yes store.

Cody:

Yes, that revolutionary device. Whenever you go to uh a game on the xbox store, it will tell you how many accessibility options there are and give you a general outline of what they are.

Cody:

Sometimes it's not marketed, uh, on the store, and sometimes it is a lot of their games, like I remember specifically, like I'm not a big racing fan, but ports of horizon, like one of the the new ones that came out, had a accessibility option that would literally slow down time for people who had low vision. It was like a low vision assist in the form of a time slow that would help you make turns and stuff like that.

Cody:

I'm like I'm not a racing game and everything and I'm not really into that kind of stuff, but the fact that they have that is just like really amazing. And they also like have screen readers built in um it's. It's really nice to see that kind of thing and I wish that more companies would embrace it and hopefully we'll continue to see that go on throughout the years.

Michael:

I would love to see companies just have more of an opportunity to open the windows to more accessibility options, because a lot of different companies again depending on what they're working around and what they're working with sometimes can be limited by their engines they're using, or sometimes by hardware, or sometimes the project that they've built to begin with project that they've built to begin with they would have to completely rework to implement stuff like that. I would wish that a lot more companies need to put you know accessibility as the first thought before laying the roadmaps and the the foundation, so to speak, so that they can have a more um, more longevity with their game roadmap and their um, their ability to branch out to do these things as they're making the game, instead of kind of hitting a wall later once it's kind of already almost done.

Cody:

Right, I would like them to build a game with accessibility in mind. Now I get it. Not everyone has the same kind of mindsets and everything like that. And by accessibility I don't mean, like you know, like making a game easier to be more accessible if your game is designed to be hard. It's then. That's fine, but it's like. I would appreciate the options being there, but it wouldn't make me feel like lesser of a player for using them if I had to like have them on the table instead of forcing them on people yeah, like.

Cody:

so, like a good example, I'll bring up resident evil. It's one of my most favorite game series growing up. Uh, for a lot of reasons I'll get into later, uh, and accessibility is one of them, um, but resident evil 2's remake when it came out I had trouble aiming uh in that game and the there is an aim assist in that game. However, it's tied to playing on casual and I don't need the game to be like easy just because I can't aim. I just need a little bit of help aiming right so that way I can get in that shot.

Cody:

Like you know, the older games, the survival horror games, are all about putting in a bullet, choosing when to spend your ammo and everything, and I understand missing can be part of the game and all that. But I shouldn't be penalized for needing an aim assist for playing on it. I'd have to play on an easier difficulty just to have an aim assist. And then Resident Evil four's remake comes along and I can crank that bitch up to the highest difficulty imaginable and I can still get that aim assist. It does not matter that I have that aim assist. I'm getting my ass kicked either way and it doesn't make me feel like lesser of a player, like just because it helps me aim, doesn't mean that I still have to, you know, choose when to shoot and everything it's nice.

Michael:

It's really nice.

Cody:

Red Dead Redemption 2 is amazing. It has some issues for me, like it doesn't. It has that snap aiming and a lot of rockstar games have that snap aiming. Uh, at least uh they they started with. Uh, actually there's a funny thing about rockstar games they've been pretty accessible when it comes to aiming as far back as they can.

Cody:

There's in the ps2 era, and this is what I like about older games and I'd love to talk about it. But even though older games didn't have a lot of accessibility in mind, they kind of did in a way, because back in those days you couldn't aim uh like aim they were still getting like aiming and shooting down right.

Michael:

So a lot of the times characters would just auto aim to things and shoot for you right, at least the ps2 days, ps1 and ps2 days, and that all that's actually why I ended up really liking resident evil another really good um point for red dead that I always like like to see anyway, whenever I would play it on my own um is they have their visual cues and their hearing cues and how the visual cues can tie to the hearing cues and the hearing cues can tie to the visual cues.

Cody:

They go hand in hand yeah, it's really nice, along with the snap aiming and especially on horseback and everything like how the it'll just magnetize towards an enemy. You can choose how like much magnetism you want. It made the game really good to play, although my only gripe is it doesn't do that with the snipers. I wish it did it with the snipers, but it doesn't. But it's a minor gripe and it's not like you have to use them all the time, just in key moments, like a little bit of moment from the story where you have enough breathing room, yeah yeah, red dead, uh, was a game that I loved going through.

Cody:

It felt very accessible to me and I loved it, um, and it was honestly a treat. A lot of rockstar games are a treat, specifically like I remember going through max pain 3 and it had the same aiming as red dead. I love max pain. Um, even though the first two would I wouldn't call them very accessible games for me, uh, I still I was. I was able to truck through them and then the third one came out and I loved it. People had some issues with it. I, I loved it.

Michael:

That was awesome another um, really good um option for a few people, um, people that may need it um, from a collection from a few years ago would be the halo master chief Collection, because I know, if I remember correctly, that if you had either like a I forget what the, because that came out on Xbox One originally, if I remember correctly. I forget what the cam was called for, that, but like the Kinect, but I remember specifically back when I had it that you could yell at that thing and you could verbally give commands to your ai teammates if you didn't have the hand capacity to hit the um combinations to direct for each individual ai at the time um, I don't think you control.

Cody:

I think it was like you could yell at it to throw grenades and uh like that kind of thing. I don't remember remember choosing AI. Although I have not played the Master Chief Collection on console in a while, when it came out it was a pretty bad buggy mess. Everyone who played it kind of knows.

Michael:

I believe Skyrim also had something similar as well.

Cody:

I think I don't know too much about Skyrims although to me a lot of Bethesda games for me aren't that accessible Like they try. They have colorblind and everything like that and this is but I was able to get away with Skyrim because a lot of it's melee based. Sure, people shoot magic and arrows at you, but you can still run up to them and hit them with a hammer or whatever like a sword but, it.

Cody:

It doesn't have the kind of accessibility that I'd need to play it personally. Like you know, if I want to shoot, there's no aim assisting for me. At least that I've noticed especially in those games.

Michael:

It's very text heavy and I don't remember, to my knowledge, of there ever being a um, any type of screen reader or a um alert system for all of those windows that you would always have to go through as well no, no, I don't remember that.

Cody:

Obviously, the whole game is voice acted, so, like you know, reading dialogue and everything is fine, but yeah, that's the text itself, to like go through the menus and your dialogue options. No, there was no screen reader, at least to my knowledge. I know that they've recently received a lot of updates and, uh, you know, they got that new fancy smashy edition on the ps5 and xbox series now and and everything. I don't know if they put a screen reader in there, but uh, that's something that's uh, that's research that I would do later but for sure, For me.

Cody:

I'm not really the biggest fan of a lot of Bethesda games, simply because a lot of them aren't that accessible. For me, Fallout is probably the most accessible because of the VAT system, where you can auto-target enemies.

Michael:

But you know something that I can particularly do right, um, kind of switching gears just a tiny bit away from like visual stuff and all that. Another, really, um, pioneer of the modern day that I would like to speak on, at least with our first episode today, is astro's playroom, and it's wonderful haptic feedback and it's different ways that you can use what the game gives you.

Cody:

Oh yeah, I really like what PlayStation does with their haptic feedback. A lot of games don't take as much advantage of that controller as they should, and it's it's a crime like. I think that the haptic feedback on the dual sense is amazing.

Michael:

Yes, it's it's a shame how so many different companies have that technology at their fingertips, but unfortunately, all they use it for is opening big doors

Cody:

final fantasy, fantasy 16.

Michael:

Yep Case in point.

Cody:

No shame to that game. It has some good accessibility that I enjoy.

Michael:

You're right.

Cody:

It only uses that controller. The only thing that that controller is good for is opening big doors.

Michael:

Yep, astro's Playroom and the new Astro's as well are the only ones that have pushed that controller to its limits. No other game or no other company that we both have had the pleasure of trying out has come close to what Astro uses with that bits of technology.

Cody:

I platinumed Playroom too. We both did matter of fact. Yes, we did. The playroom too, we bet. We both did matter of fact. Yes, we did. Um, I think 3d platformers are pretty accessible for a lot of people, just because you don't really. They're not you can take your shooter heavy. You can take your time.

Michael:

You can just go around and collect shit, uh kind of go on your own roadmap, kind of kind of thing.

Cody:

Definitely my age is definitely going to show, because when I grew up, 3d platformers were the rage. Every platform had a form of a 3d platformer and they were in spades and I I kind of miss that era of gaming. I mean, you know, with everyone making these high budget games and everything like that, where everything has to be super realistic and look like a movie and everything like that, yeah, I kind of just missed the good old days where you'd see some kind of weird anthropomorphic like mascot running around collecting a bunch of bullshit that they don't need and unfortunately.

Michael:

Unfortunately, so many companies these days are trying to push the hardware to its absolute limit that they're forgetting about what's most important at the start. Instead of like making it where they have more down the road, they're using it all up to begin with instead of being able to use it when it's most needed later on, to where they can flourish later. For different companies that have either a live service title or have roadmaps in mind, they hit that wall because they always try to push everything to the visual or sound limit, whatever it may be for the case, and they run out of resources, quite literally.

Cody:

I think that the one company who's always had their ducks in a row has honestly been Nintendo. They might put out games that people would consider to be not as good, but the one philosophy that Nintendo has always had whenever they release their games is fun. First, yes, the game has to be fun, it has to be good in terms of gameplay, and then you know, they go from there and, honest to God, like that's what we need more of in gaming these days, and I think that's the most accessible thing of all days and I think that's the most accessible thing of all. Like you know, everyone everyone can play.

Michael:

Like everyone can play some form of a mario game or a zelda game I'm glad you brought that up for nintendo because that segues into another point that I was going to make. With a bunch of different adaptability with controllers is their use of the joy cons and what the joy cons bring to different audiences for those who need it right, uh, like recently, like I was, like you know, we we uh played near automata for the nintendo switch and even though the the obviously the switch, can't handle as, like you know what the other consoles can visually.

Cody:

What it makes up for is the controls and I noticed a good hand control thing is the dodging. Like if you're playing with the uh joy cons, you can just flick your left joy con to dodge instead of having to hammer a button if you don't like it. It's, it's wonderful, like no, no one really takes, no one really, you know, thinks about it. But for somebody who may not have as good a control over their their joints, like their fingers or their hands, like they can't press all the buttons as quickly sometimes, just you know, flailing or, like you know, flicking your wrists, is just a good alternative. It might be seen as a gimmick, but you can turn that gimmick into a form of accessibility for somebody who can't push buttons that well.

Michael:

I love that. I loved it. People that necessarily not, might not have the, um, the, uh, like the I forget what the exact term is but like the, the tactile use of their um individual digits. But for those that have, like, a good overall range of motion for like and like an entire arm or your elbow or your shoulder, whatever it may be, if you don't have your, that's what it is fine motor, fine motor control for your digits. Um, nintendo is really good at taking what could be a button and making it a motion, if that makes sense yeah, there's a lot of games that do it um like um.

Cody:

People like skyward sword is a really good example, like it's a gimmicky game.

Michael:

I won't deny that it's a gimmicky game, but uh, it's good for people like just using your hand as a sword instead of having to mash a button another really good example, aside from um, skyward sword, especially like it takes the motion control aspect and that what the accessibility that brings for a lot of people, directly tying it to the gameplay. Another really good example of what skyward sword does that's applied to um.

Michael:

Another famous franchise that they're known for is mario odyssey, with the use of capi as well yeah, it's like, specifically, you use it for homing in on enemies, like you, can, you know, flick your wrist and then you flick it again, and then the cap will go towards the nearest enemy and attack it, and it's wonderful when you think about it because, like, not only does that enhance the gameplay, not only does that give new players from different backgrounds with different skill sets another use and another way to approach different situations and different puzzle situations or any, any type of any situation really, when it comes to the games is there's so many people that like to take games beyond, for like people that do speed runs or like challenges or anything like that. Just having that accessibility used for things to further the enjoyment, not outside of accessibility, is also another really good thing that you see commonly with a lot of nintendo titles as well uh yeah, a lot of what accessibility boils down to.

Cody:

I guess what I've seen some corners of the internet kind of label accessibility as is a way to make a game easier. Like you know, a lot of games, journalism gets brought up and how much they suck at video games and they have to use the accessibility options to like, get through a game and everything I don't.

Cody:

Accessibility, I don't think should be viewed as like you use these features and you're just bad at the game, like right, it's exactly what it means accessibility should not be used as a crutch, as a use as a way to it's.

Michael:

It's not used as a way to escape. It's meant to be a way to take something that is amazing and only enhance it further, to just to milk the enjoyment. That way you open your doors to so many more different audiences and so many more different people with different backgrounds and different skill sets. That way, your market grows, your profits grow and everyone's joy that you make from your product gets shown twice as much. Because so many people take accessibility and they're like oh, you're just wanting to make the game easier, you're wanting to make the game quicker or you're wanting to take our game and change it completely. No, that is not the point of accessibility. It's meant for enjoyment and enhancement right maybe.

Cody:

Maybe you know I I always get off on a tangent whenever it comes to accessibility and me and you both. It's something that I'm very passionate about because gaming is all that I'm really like. It's one of my outlets that I am happy that I'm able to partake in, and a lot of times it's not easy to do, like you know, anything that involves following a mini-map around like a lot of open world games.

Cody:

I have trouble with because, like you know, if I have to look at the mini-map for an objective, I can't I can't physically pay attention to what goes on in the game, right? So something that would assist with that. Or, like you know, just more the more ideas people come up with, the the more it makes someone like me, or somebody who has motor skills, or somebody who can't even use their arms or legs, just the ability to partake in these games.

Michael:

Just to have that inclusion. Some people just want to be included.

Cody:

Right exactly, you know, some people just want to be included, right exactly. Uh, one day I really, really would love to do a review of those accessibility controllers that you can get for, like, xbox or playstation or anything like that.

Cody:

Um well, I don't know, I don't know map definitely yeah, uh, if there is ever a chance that I would ever get to try out those controllers and because as far as I know they're kind of expensive and they're a little bit out of my price range on my budget currently at the moment. But I would love to review them and figure out, like their use and everything. I'm sure plenty of other people have done it, but the way that I view these podcasts and what I do here is it's like going on a journey right now I only talk about what I know, which truly is not that much when it comes to accessibility and everything.

Cody:

And hopefully, going down the line, I get to talk to other people who could possibly put their spin on what they feel about accessibility.

Michael:

and you know, talk about everything and learn something new uh, that's we definitely do have a couple guests planned for later down the road oh yeah, for sure.

Cody:

Uh, learning something new is the goal of me doing these podcasts and furthering my knowledge about accessibility, about not only video games, but just technology as a whole. This is a tech-themed podcast. Video games are just my passion, but tech is also in there as well, and one day I would like to expand that and further broaden how I view things and learn things along the way, like, and I cannot wait for that, oh yeah, it's, it's going to be fantastic going through that.

Michael:

This'll be quite the journey that we're both embarking on together, and we both frequently have. We we've only scratched the surface.

Cody:

That being said, uh, we're just two random dudes who really don't know that much about a lot of things that are going on in terms of, you know, accessibility and everything. We only know the broadest like outline, like we're just kind of new at all this, and so my thing that I'd like to put out there is whoever hears this, uh, with a disability, you know, reach out. I'd love to hear your story. I'd love to hear your like you know how you play games, your triumphs, like you know. You know something that you accomplished that you're really proud of.

Michael:

Oh, yeah, for sure to all of our um to all of our listeners out there. Please feel free at any time to leave us a comment down below. We will always look at everything that you post and we will try our best, depending on the volume, to always reply to each and every one of you you know people and and their, their triumphs and what they go through, and you know how they play their games or what they have, they use their technology.

Cody:

It's going to be an experience that I cannot wait to, cannot wait to learn about who knows, we may feature your story on our podcast episode one day absolutely, and with that, I think that'll do it for today. I think I've rambled on a good bit. I could keep going, I could keep rambling but I might save some of my other topics, for another one. Absolutely. So, I guess, for the time being, have a good day and stay accessible

Michael:

indeed stay accessible everyone.

Michael:

Thank you.