How Important Accessibility is in Gaming
When everyone is stuck at home, some game companies are forced to change their game mechanics.
If you’ve been lacking community for the past few weeks like a lot of people have, then this week’s Load Save is for you. We focus a lot on community-centric stories, including modded accessibility settings and Pokemon: GO being forced to incorporate accessibility features even though they said they couldn’t.
Enjoy the read!
INDUSTRY
Despite Huge Sales, Borderlands 3 Developers Are Getting Stiffed On Bonuses
Jason Schreier is back at it again to expose the garbage going on within the games industry. This time, Randy Pitchford (who is no stranger to negative stories and legal trouble), has told Gearbox employees that promised bonuses from the success of Borderlands 3 are no longer happening. Read the article to learn more, but this is just ridiculous.
COMMUNITY
The modders creating accessibility modes for notoriously difficult games
The first time I heard about this modder’s work, it was a small article about the Assisted mode he made for Cuphead. I originally reposted it on Reddit to see people’s reaction, and the majority of it was upset reactions about this mod ruining the whole point of the game. Reading the perspective of the modder is really interesting in light of people’s thoughts about the mod.
This article goes beyond that modder and interviews a few other modders who have created mods that help with the accessibility of different games, like Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. I hope we see more accessibility modes built into games as they launch. maybe next-gen can be the generation of accessibility!
It took a pandemic to make Pokemon: GO more accessible
Here’s a first (as far as I can remember): a link to a Twitter thread.
The company behind Pokemon: GO, Niantic, has been rolling out updates to the popular app that encourages people to Social Distance and play from home. This has been so successful that their revenue has spiked and given them their best week in 2020 so far.
That’s all great, but this Twitter thread puts it all in a new light. Steven Spohn is the COO of AbleGamers, a Charity built to help disabled gamers game. This thread is the story of Spohn’s 2016 appeal to Niantic to integrate some sort of feature to let disabled gamers enjoy Pokemon: GO. Unfortunately, they said GO was meant to be played outside with friends. Nothing they could do about it.
But now it seems like there is something they could have done about it. It really sucks that it took a pandemic to make a game more accessible. Implementing a feature to make the game more accessible would have only made more people enjoy the game, it wouldn’t have hurt anyone else’s experience of it.
While you’re here, go show Steven Spohn some love. He’s an incredibly motivating person who consistently tweets uplifting messages. He’s one of my favorites.
The Ethics Of Time Travel In Animal Crossing — Video
“Live and let live.”
The discourse regarding Animal Crossing: New Horizons is super interesting to me. Everything from the anxiety it causes some players (which I talked about last week), to the issue of Time Traveling in the game perks my ear and I’m immediately interested in someone’s take on it. This is probably because I have the same thoughts while playing this game.
I’ve visited a few of my friend’s islands, and they were all way better than mine. So I immediately thought they Time Traveled. Maybe they didn’t, and maybe I’m bad at the game (i.e. I haven’t played it as much as them, which is 100% true). But does any of that matter? Doesn’t it boil down to each person having a good time in their own game? This excellent video discusses that. Let me know what you think about it!
Image credit: Animal Crossing
Next big thing or next big bubble?
If you know me or Load Save, you know that I love to look back every now and then on what the industry used to look like. Luckily, GamesIndustry has a great monthly article series that highlights what was happening in the industry a decade ago.
Don’t miss the “The Next Big Thing” theme throughout this retrospective. What is happening right now in the industry that we consider The Next Big Thing that could fizzle out within the decade? I think it could be streaming games, like Stadia and Game Pass. While I think that these services will stay around for a few years, I don’t think they will be a big mainstay. What about you?
Also, I got a little chuckle out of the bit about 2K Marin: “a studio established in 2007 to develop original intellectual property that was shut down in 2013 having never even announced an original IP.”
DEVELOPMENT
A Super Mario Christmas is the ideal counter to PS5 and Xbox Series X
This week, there have been a ton of reports of a bunch of Mario games being Remastered and released on the Switch. There haven’t been any rumors on the planned release date of these games, but this year marks the plumber’s 35th anniversary, so it would make sense to release it this year. Mix this with the release of PS5 and Series X this Holiday, and it seems likely that Nintendo is going to release these games around Christmas to carve out their piece of the Holiday market.
This seems like a no-brainer, but Nintendo has a way of going against the grain. At this point, I’m excited to see what they do. Will they follow the (what I think is) smart business plan or will they shock all of us with a “released today!” announcement during the Summer? All we can do is wait and see.
Image credit: Nintendo
JUST FOR LAUGHS
Animal Crossing: New Horizons: A story of guilt, betrayal, and making mistakes
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is really only as great as you make it. There’s not underlying story that’s pushing you through the game, it’s really just there for you to have fun. People like the author of this article are the ones that really have fun with this game.
REVIEWS
Fallout 76: Should You Return For Wastelanders?
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Fallout 76. Last time I left it in anticipation of the Wastelanders update, which is adding much-needed NPCs to the game. This review leaves me in a bad spot: not convincing enough to feel good about jumping back into 76, but still tempting enough to make me want to.
I still haven’t decided, but I’ll try my best to by the time that Wastelanders launches April 14th. Let me know if you’re diving back in, maybe having a group to return to Appalachia will make the experience even better.
Please don’t disappoint again, Bethesda.
BEFORE YOU GO
Thanks for taking the time to read this week’s Load Save. This list o’ links was originally sent out in the Load Save newsletter, a curated collection of discussions about the gaming industry, development, and community. Subscribe today to get a new issue in your inbox every Saturday!
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I hope you’re staying safe and healthy during this craziness. I’ll see you next time!
