They Don`t Have to See It to Frag It - A Different Kind of Gaming Rig
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Computers optimized for blind gamers tend to cost less than high-end gaming rigs for sighted players. This should come as no surprise, given that a high-end graphics card can add several hundred dollars to the price of a PC. The fact that most games aimed at a blind audience are keyboard or joystick-controlled also helps to keep the price down.
Players will need a set of headphones to help them get the most out of audio games, however. With no visual files, sound becomes that much more important for conveying information. Computer rigs for blind gamers feature something that should also be familiar to sighted players: an eight-speaker surround sound system.
WidowPC sells high-performance custom-designed gaming machines; while their usual customer is sighted, they do also make some for the blind. The models for blind gamers start at around $1200 and go up to $3000 depending on the options chosen. Joshua McClure, founder of WidowPC, who was asked by Daubenmire to design gaming computers for the blind, notes that they are a little cheaper than the corresponding models for sighted players. McClure estimated that, as of February 2005, his company had sold about three to four dozen rigs for blind gamers.
Audio games still have some ways to go before they can catch up with their visually-oriented counterparts. And Electronic Arts won’t feel threatened by the likes of BSC Games anytime soon. But Shades of Doom, released in 1998, was a watershed for the blind gaming market. Audio games have continued to mature since then. Audyssey founder Michael Feir is delighted to see this. “Games now don’t make us feel like we are playing a dumbed-down game for blind people, but real exciting quality games.” So stay on your toes; the next gamer who frags you might not even need to see you go down.
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