New PC game accessible to blind players, uses Wiimote
by Chris Greenhough 
{ Jun 4th 2008 at 6:00PM }
AudiOdyssey is the work of the folks at MIT's GAMBIT Game Lab, and is designed to be playable for both visually-impaired and sighted users. It's not alone in this respect -- in 2006, Nintendo released Soundvoyager for the GBA in Japan, a title that featured exclusively sound-based gameplay -- but AudiOdyssey is the first Wiimote-compatible title to be designed with both groups in mind.The aim is straightforward enough: as questionably coiffured DJ Vinyl Scorcher, your task is to keep a nightclub dancing by swinging the Wii Remote to the beat. Keep up well, and you'll be allowed to freestyle, but getting the crowd overly excited isn't advised, as patrons are likely to bump into your wheels of steel, messing up your tracks.
Needless to say, it's heartening to see any game catering to visually-impaired gamers -- if AudiOdyssey enjoys some success, it may not be the last of its kind. Make the jump for footage of the game in action.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nytestalker @ Jun 4th 2008 6:44PM
good idea, but i imagine the target audience is quite small. Most visually impaired persons would not purchase a console, so really, the only way they would get a chance to play it would be if a family member / friend bought it for them. (well like maybe your grandma cant see good, so you buy it to play with her)
I dunno, gonna wait and see how this one turns out.
JayFight @ Jun 4th 2008 6:50PM
ok the trailer sucks the game has an interesting concept but the screen needs to be jazzed up a tad for those of us who can see although the trailer sucks i think even with out something to watch on the screen the it could have been made better with the help of at least showing what the player was doing so that we're not just standing here watching a lame screen with horrid graphics and poor quality animation i give the concept an A and the trailer a D my enthusiasm is nill
killermonkey915 @ Jun 5th 2008 10:57AM
so how do you get this game and is it free or do you have to pay and how much?
Geoffrey Long @ Jun 5th 2008 12:18PM
The game is free (although please keep in mind it is primarily still a prototype) and can be downloaded at http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/audiodyssey.php.