AbleGamers have uploaded my first article for them: A Brief History of Video Game Accessibility: The 1970’s. Starting with 1971’s Computer Space this article is a trek through the very origins of game accessibility. “Can you dig it?“.
Category: Historical
Muscle Marble Madness
This photo shows an adapted SEGA Megadrive/Genesis controller rigged up to be played with muscle sensors for rehabilitation (and fun) in the mid 1990’s. Marble Madness is a brilliant old Atari game originally designed to be played with a track-ball…
1981: The Year Zero of Accessible Gaming
Some interesting information has turned up in TheGameReviews.com’s “Truly Innovative Controllers For Disabled Gamers” article. Does it really cost $500,000 to “just to talk to about creating a controller for their XBox platforms”? Frightening if so. There’s some historical…
1975: The First Commercial One Switch Game
The first ever commercial one switch playable game is Atari’s Steeplechase from 1975. Up to six players could crowd around the machine, using their single button to make their horse jump on coming hurdles. There’s a short video-clip up on…
Atari Mindlink
In 1984 Atari were working on perhaps the first ever attempt at a commercial video game head-controller: The Mindlink. Left and Right movements could be controlled (to a degree) using left and right eye-brow muscles, with three games being linked…
Last Atari Arcade Game – Hidden Accessibility Feature
“I found this out by reading the manual for SF Rush 2049 one slow day at the arcade I managed. There is a section there where it states that the game has an option where players that don’t have…
Accessible Gaming in 1981
I’ve just received a scan of “Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners” by Karen Hughes – dated November 1981. Fascinating reading for me – and there’s an interesting parallel with the photo above with some recent work I’ve been undertaking.…
No School Like The Old School?
It’s not something that any mainstream publisher does now, but in 1981 and 1982, Atari did. What, you may ask? Simply, they included a “special feature” option in their top-flight games. Not only this, but they marked the fact…
1979 “Air Attack”
I’ve just received a copy of the first ever commercially released true one switch home computer game (to my knowledge). By true, I mean that no other controls are needed at all. The game is “Air Attack” and was released…
OZNAKI Project
The OZNAKI Project was an educational robotics project inspired by the MIT LOGO Project. The project, which ran from 1975-84, used the very earliest micromputers, including the Australian Poly-88 (in 1976+), TRS-80 (1977+) and Apple II (1978 +). The Educational…