Greetings again!
Well, turns out I do have something to say. The Microsoft Press Conference is now over, and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the Play Anywhere idea is a good one. Moving forward, ordering a game for Xbox One or Windows 10 gives you the game on the other platform, and saves automatically transfer. The work they’re doing with cross platform play, being able to play not just cross platform on PC and Xbox, but on mobile devices as well, is also a great idea. Those are the things I approve of, along with a few of the games that sounded neat. The Happy Few, and Scalebond were especially interesting to listen to.
However, I was right. New hardware has been announced. The Xbox One S is a slimmer Xbox One, which is fine. New players can come in and get that one. Great. My real problem is the other piece of new hardware they announced. Project Scorpio. It is a new Xbox Console, with tons more power, capable of delivering high-fidelity Virtual Reality gaming without sacrificing performance or graphical quality, and so on. Here’s the thing that I don’t think Microsoft wants you to consider.
When they made the announcement, they tried to soften the blow by assuring you that all previous games and accessories would of course work with this thing. That’s all well and good, but let’s talk about moving forward. Starting basically now, new Xbox One games will be made with this new console in mind. “But,” you say, “We’ve also been reassured that new games will continue to work on the original Xbox One as well!” Yes, I’m sure they will, but think about this. Developers want to keep moving forward. They want to provide you with the best experiences they can. So they are absolutely going to focus on harnessing the power of this new system, and games played on a regular Xbox One are going to suffer for it. No matter what they say about all games working everywhere, there will come a time, probably sooner than later, where you will simply need this new system, or be forced to deal with what appears to be a broken game.
Now, this isn’t just me ranting at Microsoft. I don’t agree with the fact that it’s rumored Sony is doing this same thing. Gaming is already an expensive hobby. We as console gamers should not be forced to buy new hardware when it is not a new system, just a hardware and power upgrade. Now, PC gaming is a more expensive hobby, and I get that they already do this. You have to if you’re going to keep up with the constantly improving PC world. I just do not agree with the idea of consoles going that way. Many console gamers buy consoles so they don’t have to keep up with PC’s. I’m not a fan, and I’m definitely not sold. This is only my opinion, but there it is.
I’ll leave this post at that. Who knows, I might be back once the Sony Press Conference is over. We shall see, folks.
E3 2016: Discussion, concerns, VR
Greetings folks!
I have been away from the blog thing for way too long. I know it, and if you’ve read my other blogs, you probably know it too. However, the 2 major E3 press conferences of 2016 are taking place today, and so I thought I would discuss my thoughts and concerns about this year. Don’t worry though, there are positives here as well.
First, VR. It’s the hip thing right now, especially with Sony’s upcoming Playstation VR device. Given the timing, though, and the fact that the Playstation VR is due out in October, I’m worried that Sony’s press conference will be utterly dominated by VR games, which on the surface doesn’t sound like something the blind community, (which I represent with this blog in case you’re a new reader), would really be able to take advantage of.
Now, though, I offer a potential positive. Sony has made a bold claim regarding the Playstation VR. Supposedly, it will incorporate 3D audio. Now, I say this is a bold statement because many individual games have claimed they used 3D audio in the past, and that hasn’t exactly been true. The original Baldur’s Gate 2 had a setting for 3D audio, and all it actually does is add additional environmental effects and such. Unreal Tournament 3 had a similar setting if i remember correctly, and it was just meant for surround systems. So the implication here is that many, if not most people, don’t actually understand what true 3D audio is. If, however, the Playstation VR does use real, true 3D audio, there may be a reason for the blind to at least try it out. I’m not saying it’ll magically make every game accessible, but it could increase accessibility, definitely. Knowing exactly where your enemies are, which real, true 3D audio would allow, would be amazing. Distance, height, everything.
Still, even if that distant hope turns out to be true, we won’t know it watching Sony’s conference. So I worry, but I also hope that Sony delivers something for both VR and standard players. I know VR is going to be a part of it, I just hope it’s not all of it.
Second, new hardware. No real positive here. I am not really pleased by the rumors of the Playstation Neo, and the Xbox 2, or the Xbox One Slim, or whatever they want to call it. I know it’s been 3 years now, but I just do not feel like purchasing all new hardware. I cannot imagine how either Microsoft or Sony would sell me on a new PS4, or Xbox One, at this current moment when I’m perfectly happy with the systems I got. Slimmer isn’t going to do it for me. Even if they say something like, “It’ll load faster and stuff!” That won’t do it for me either. That’s just not enough reason for me to spend money on essentially a new console.
Now, if they offer some kind of direct trade in program, I would accept that, but that’s extremely doubtful. And yes, I know if I don’t want it, I can just not buy it, but I’m trying to speak for the general public right now, I suppose. Is this what we really need right now? I’m just saying i don’t think it is.
That’s about it for now. There may be more posts later today, depending on what actually happens. I am going to base that on whether or not I have anything to say about it. The press conferences that have already taken place, EA and Bethesda, were interesting, but don’t have much to offer us. More Fallout, more Doom, more Quake, more Madden, a few new games we likely cannot play, and so on. So here’s hoping for the best Microsoft and Sony conferences we can possibly get. Truly, I want them to be great. So impress me, guys.
Video Game Console Accessibility for the Blind takes ONE Step Forward
Ladies and gentlemen, today, Thursday, November 12, marks another step forward in the accessibility of home video game consoles. Today, Text to Speech arrived on Xbox One! The most readily apparent fact is that now, both current generation consoles have text to speech capability of some sort, but this post is here to specifically discuss the feature on Xbox One. And so, without further adue, let’s begin.
Activating Narrator, (the name of the text to speech software on the Xbox One, and by no coincidence, the name used for Microsoft’s text to speech software within Windows), is super easy. If you have a Kinect, simply say Xbox, Turn on Narrator. Within seconds, you’ll here the words “Starting Narrator.” But hey, even if you don’t have a Kinect, activating Narrator is as easy as holding the Xbox button, then pressing the menu button. Awesome, right?
Now, those who have a Kinect do have one particularly annoying issue to look forward to, especially if their system is new. Narrator cannot be activated until the Kinect is calibrated for sound. The reason for this is that, since Narrator will be reading your Xbox for you, it will likely say the word Xbox several times. Xbox, of course, is the word that triggers Kinect voice commands, so the Kinect needs to be able to differentiate between your voice and other background noise, and the speech coming from the TV or speaker system.
Once narrator has begun, navigating the various screens is a pretty simple afair. At the top, you have several tabs, including home, community, games, apps, One Guide, movies and TV, and music. Once you’ve selected the one you want with the left and right arrow keys on the controller, you can scroll through that tab with the up and down arrow keys. If you reach an item that Narrator calls a section button, this indicates a deeper list of items that can be moved through with the left and right arrows. For example, navigate to the games tab, and scroll to New Releases. This will be a “section button.” Move left and right to hear all the games released recently, and if you like, press A to select one.
Pressing left from the first tab on the home screen brings you to the guide window, where you can read your notifications, access your friends list, read messages, and so on. All of this appears to be accessible. From here, friends can even be invited to the game you’re playing, or you can join one that they are playing.
This kind of basic navigation will get you through most menus. It will allow you to do everything from browsing your library and launching games, to purchasing new games and content from the store on the console. Yes, there is a working web store we can already use, but now, well, just imagine! At last, we can make those impulse buys just like everyone else!
There are, in fact, very few things that don’t work. Almost the entire community tab is completely inaccessible, which is too bad but not horrible. The one and only thing I really, really didn’t like is that the Achievements screen is also utterly inaccessible. Sometimes it will read enough to let you know there are things there, but you won’t know what those things are. That, certainly, is one thing that could be fixed.
Also, it should be noted that third party apps do not function with Narrator. Skype does to some extent, but then Skype is now a Microsoft app. Other apps like Netflix, Hulu, and so on, won’t work with Narrator at all, though I could see this being technically possible in the future. We’ll see.
Aside from some lag issues and the above mentioned unreadables, there aren’t many problems with the new Narrator feature. There are things that remain untested, such as whether or not the acquisition of achievements is spoken aloud, but I can confidently say that this was a very good first attempt at Xbox One accessibility from Microsoft.
I want to make clear here that I am in no way hating on the Playstation 4. The fact that both consoles are accessible to the blind is more than just good, it’s incredible. The fact that the Xbox One’s accessibility is, for the moment, quite a bit better should not be viewed as a competitive victory, it should be viewed as a step forward for all accessible video gaming. Competition breeds results. Perhaps Sony will take note, and the next time their text to speech feature is updated, perhaps it will be a massive, game changing update. Only time will tell, and right now, the future looks pretty bright for the blind.
One last thing. As long as it’s available, you can check out my audio demonstration of the Xbox One’s Narrator feature using this link. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and found it informative, but regardless, keep on gaming, and keep shouting out your desire for accessibility in both games and consoles alike!
A Weekend with PS4: My Thoughts on the PS4’s new Text to Speech Feature
It’s so easy for the sighted to completely overlook. It’s just one option, one setting, sitting there amongst the rest. Yet, for the blind, it represents the biggest change in video game console accessibility of all time. It’s something we’ve always wanted, but were never really confident we’d have. Now, at last, it’s here, and we can’t stop talking about it.
As has been pretty widely advertised at this point, the Playstation 4 has gained an accessibility menu. In amongst features for enhanced zoom, and button mapping, is the surprising inclusion into the accessibility lineup, text to speech. For the very first time, the totally blind have access to some parts of their video game console that, before, we would have simply ignored. Still, my opinion on this feature developed over time. Over a weekend, in fact. So now, I want to take you along with me on that journey. A journey of discovery, and of appreciation. Then, I want to try and express just how monumentally huge and important this is. Let’s see if I can do both.
When I first activated the Text to Speech feature, which I did with the help of my sighted fiance Misty, my initial reaction was disappointment. Immediately upon activation, there was no voice informing me that it was on, or ready, or anything of that sort. I hopped around the settings menu for a few seconds, and still nothing. “Really?” I thought. “Not even settings?”
So I backed out to the home screen of the PS4, hoping that maybe the TTS was just set up in such a way that the setting didn’t apply until you exited the settings menu, and that now it would begin speaking. Still no luck. I moved around the home screen, desperately hoping it would say that name of one of the games there. I went to the upper menu, hoping that something would be spoken as I moved over its options. Settings, friends, still nothing.
Finally, I managed to locate both the messages, and party options, and pressed X on them. At last, speech. Still, the feeling of disappointment didn’t quite go away. After all, I had heard that TTS would be included in the latest update, and I had hoped, hoped to the point of despiration, that it would cover everything. The home screen, the store, Playstation Now, all of it. It was a bit of a blow to see this was not the case.
I didn’t have too much time to experiment that night, but I still mulled it over. I realized quickly that the TTS being present at all was nothing short of incredible. So what if it doesn’t read everything? It’s there. It has never been there before. So my disappointment became a mere blip on my radar of awesomeness.
Then, over the weekend, I got a chance to experiment fully with what the TTS did support, and I was amazed. I had a fantastic time startnig a party, inviting my friends to it, chatting with them there, and even starting a Shareplay session so I could be spectated. A couple times, I even handed over the controller, (both first and second player), to play with those who were also in my party. I sent both text and voice messages back and forth, and marveled at the ease of use of the on screen keyboard. I learned the shortcuts for the keyboard, which I had no cause to do before now. I did all this using TTS. I could do none of this before TTS was added to the PS4. It was an incredible weekend, and it rekindled my love for that system.
That was my journey, and half the reason I needed to write this blog. The other half is this. I want to make it known to as many people as I can how amazing, and important a step this is in the accessibility of video games. This is a doorway, folks. It’s not the only one, but it is another one, and it’s cracked open. If Sony fills out this feature, it will crack open even wider. Blind people all over the place will purchase PS4’s if they know they can use every single aspect of it. Some are doing it now, and this is only the first iteration of TTS. Then, thinking bigger here, if Sony establishes some sort of hook into the TTS, even game developers can use it, and make their own games more accessible, perhaps even playable with the addition of spoken text.
Thinking bigger than that, if we fling the door all the way open, what about the competition? If this feature gets enough attention, then why wouldn’t Sony’s competitors, like Microsoft, jump on the opportunity to make their own version of this? And if they do, well, competition breeds quality. At least it should. The winners here are us, the gamers, specifically the blind gamers. This truly is huge, and however far that door opens, I for one cannot wait.
Guest Blog Alert!
Hi folks!
Just wanted to tell the world that I did a guest blog for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The article of course, was all about blind gaming! Its aim is more exposure. Exposure to both blind people who don’t realize video games are a possibility, and sighted people who, well, don’t realize the exact same thing. The link to the article is below! Enjoy!