Visually Impaired Gamer Sues Sony

I haven't heard of many blind people demanding Samsung translating visual information into text. I suspect they realize their impairment simply doesn't allow for select forms of entertainment. This is like suing a deaf person suing a music label because they don't print brail on every CD. (Irony: Google Chrome's spell checker didn't recognize the word brail)

The judicial system is not a proper channel for venting your frustrations. This asshole is doing a disservice to his community.
 
sear said:
I... I'm not sure if you're joking. I... don't think so. You must be. ... Alright then.

What the fuck is the matter with you people? Are you so ignorant and bigoted that you dismiss attempts by the disabled to gain accessibility to entertainment media as "retarded" (itself a patently offensive word)? Do you even understand how drastic an effect any major disability has on one's integration into public life and mainstream culture? Almost every single piece of media, every single activity one can engage in, every social circumstance, assumes ability amongst those who wish to participate. Much of the time, these functions of life, who most would consider vital, are off-limits to those with various conditions. It's very easy to say "why would someone who's deaf want to play games", but I think if you lost your hearing, you'd be pretty pissed off if suddenly all your old activities were rendered totally useless to you. That so many people here have the gall to dismiss disability access as something trite and worthless is downright disgusting and offensive. I suppose we should start barring people from mundane activities based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, age, etc. next, hm?

That is not to say that I don't think suing Sony is a little bit excessive. Indeed, it's possible there are other avenues that this man may have considered. At the same time, however, I find it difficult to believe that Sony would bother to make any concessions for the disabled community, unless they made some sort of unified push with a good deal of publicity. Companies like Valve have recognised that the disabled make up a small but important part of their customer base; by keeping them happy they don't just guarantee sales and loyalty, they make the lives of those people better by providing them with something that they get almost nowhere else, which is a form of entertainment that is sensitive to their needs. However, this is far from the standard; my belief is that the only way real progress will be made is if they fight for it.
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Thank you :)
 
To all videogamers out there, we the visually impaired who ADAPT to a given situation apologize for some jackoff money grubbing piece of shit who is probably too fucking lazy to get a job and riding out life on social security disability checks.

What a worthless shitheel. You know, I have not been able to see good my whole life...but did that stop me from playing games? Nope, I just sit closer to the screen. :) Have I ever thought about demanding they make games more accessible? Nope. Why? Its called a VIDEO-GAME for a REASON, and somethings just can't be fixed for us blind folk, and that's just how it is.

Sure, I will never be a master twitch killer because of my limited vision, but I still do pretty damn good and I have fun and that is all that matters. I also must say that hardware goes a little further because AA, and anti filtering and all that fancy shit gets left OFF on my rig because I can't tell the difference on the pixel level anyways especially at higher resolutions...
 
sear said:
I... I'm not sure if you're joking. I... don't think so. You must be. ... Alright then.

What the fuck is the matter with you people? Are you so ignorant and bigoted that you dismiss attempts by the disabled to gain accessibility to entertainment media as "retarded" (itself a patently offensive word)? Do you even understand how drastic an effect any major disability has on one's integration into public life and mainstream culture? Almost every single piece of media, every single activity one can engage in, every social circumstance, assumes ability amongst those who wish to participate. Much of the time, these functions of life, who most would consider vital, are off-limits to those with various conditions. It's very easy to say "why would someone who's deaf want to play games", but I think if you lost your hearing, you'd be pretty pissed off if suddenly all your old activities were rendered totally useless to you. That so many people here have the gall to dismiss disability access as something trite and worthless is downright disgusting and offensive. I suppose we should start barring people from mundane activities based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, age, etc. next, hm?

That is not to say that I don't think suing Sony is a little bit excessive. Indeed, it's possible there are other avenues that this man may have considered. At the same time, however, I find it difficult to believe that Sony would bother to make any concessions for the disabled community, unless they made some sort of unified push with a good deal of publicity. Companies like Valve have recognised that the disabled make up a small but important part of their customer base; by keeping them happy they don't just guarantee sales and loyalty, they make the lives of those people better by providing them with something that they get almost nowhere else, which is a form of entertainment that is sensitive to their needs. However, this is far from the standard; my belief is that the only way real progress will be made is if they fight for it.
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You have to draw the line somewhere. Hey, there are kids with ADD who can't finish long games, let's make all games short then, right? Secondly, like others have already pointed out, how is it Sony's fault?
 
I don't really see anything wrong with more assessibility options in games. I'm sure not many of the rest of you do either. I think eveyone is just taking issue with the method used(lawsuit).

If he was getting blown off, couldn't he have found another players who shared his condition or circumstance and combined their concerns. Like "Its not just me, there's quite a few of your customers who would like this implemented."

Just stay away from online petitions though, they NEVER work. EVER.
 
Riftsaw said:
I don't really see anything wrong with more assessibility options in games. I'm sure not many of the rest of you do either. I think eveyone is just taking issue with the method used(lawsuit).

If he was getting blown off, couldn't he have found another players who shared his condition or circumstance and combined their concerns. Like "Its not just me, there's quite a few of your customers who would like this implemented."

Just stay away from online petitions though, they NEVER work. EVER.
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Yeah, but this lawsuit is just flat out ignorant gaming the legal system hoping for a pity payout bullshit. I see this akin to me suing all the auto manufactures because I can't drive and think that their cars should be more "accessible" so I can tear ass down the road.

You know, one of my hero's said something a long time ago that sticks with me:

"Mans got to know his limitations."
 
tubular said:
Most of you people are complete jackasses. He is asking for help for VISUALLY IMPAIRED gamers. I.E. people who are color blind and need a high contast mode, or just the opening of source code to ALLOW modding of games for people who can't see a mostly invisible character.
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You have a god given right to be able to play a video game? :rolleyes:

As I said earlier, I'm all for things like disability-friendly building codes and such to make the world more accessible, but this is ridiculous. Its an abuse of the ADA.
 
STrooperTK421 said:
Yeah, but this lawsuit is just flat out ignorant gaming the legal system hoping for a pity payout bullshit. I see this akin to me suing all the auto manufactures because I can't drive and think that their cars should be more "accessible" so I can tear ass down the road.

You know, one of my hero's said something a long time ago that sticks with me:

"Mankind has got to know his limitations."
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fixed.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
You have a god given right to be able to play a video game? :rolleyes:

As I said earlier, I'm all for things like disability-friendly building codes and such to make the world more accessible, but this is ridiculous. Its an abuse of the ADA.
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Bingo.

Screw this guy and the horse he rode in on, I'm so tired of this lawsuit bullshit over everything.
 
balthan said:
I think the crux of the case will be whether or not MMOs qualify as a "places of public accommodation." If the courts decide they do, they could potentially fall under a lot more regulation. I wouldn't be surprised to see Blizzard and other game companies throw in with Sony.
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Look up the definition of accommodation on Merriam-Webster, I don't think MMO's really fall into that category. However, the US justice system is pretty ridiculous so it wouldn't be far fetched to believe a judge could consider an MMO public accommodation.

In the interest of fairness however, the Canadian justice system is not much better (I'm from Canada). I mean look at the 12 year old kid who had his Wii held as bail.
 
While a good cause, the fact he's targeting only a single company kind of shows a lot. Plus, this clause:

The Americans with Disabilities Act states that, "No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation."
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Games aren't a place of public accommodation :/
 
I don't think this lawsuit hold much water, but I am partially colorblind and it SUCKS ASS in some games (TKs, etc)
 
SomeFknGuy said:
If i go blind i am going to sue movie production houses for not producing more movies for the visually impaired...what a crock of shit...
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Ever heard of descriptive audio? And for the heading impaied they've got subtitles up on LED screens at the back of the theatre and armrest-mounted mirrors in some cinemas. Ramps and motorized doors? The movie industry does PLENTY for the disabled.

ThisIsTheNewSound said:
So whats next, lawsuits from people without arms so they can play the game too? Or what if he was completely blind?
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Games should support devices for those without arms (some do). The completely blind obviously can't play video games, don't be an idiot. What's reasonable to expect software to accomodate is entirely different than what's impossible. The blind still can use text-based computing resources with the aid of a speech reader of course, and play any text-based games.

SamuraiInBlack said:
I remember a long time ago, either Nintendo Power or Gamepro magazine posted a device setup for the NES that would be used for people who had no use of their arms or legs. it had a straw-like tube that would operate the functions of a NES controller <snip>
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Indeed, these type of products are still made for modern computers. I work at a company that builds them. People who use them can do basically anything someone with the use of their arms can do with a computer, including playing many video games.

Conclusion: It's not too much to ask for video games to offer high-contrast video for the visually impaired, and subtitles for the hearing impaired or deaf. Not sure if the lawsuit is the way to make a point, and I am in no position to judge that. I hope this guy makes a difference in any event.
 
H4wXx said:
Look up the definition of accommodation on Merriam-Webster, I don't think MMO's really fall into that category. However, the US justice system is pretty ridiculous so it wouldn't be far fetched to believe a judge could consider an MMO public accommodation.
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I don't, either. The laws were clearly written with brick & mortar places in mind, but I wouldn't be surprised if a court decided that the handicapped should have the same protections in virtual places.
 
Azhar said:
Some of you guys are assuming the person's blind. He's visually impaired. It could mean anything from color-blindness to low-contrast blindness to just plain really bad eyesight blindness.

If it were a truly blind person being upset, then yes, I'm sorry to say it's frivolous. But not to the other visually impaired people. Some accommodations should be reachable. In the article they used an example of a difficult-to-see spirit from EQ. The guy is only asking for the ability to disable transparency so he could see them better. He's not asking to make all games braille mode.

Let's try and keep an open mind. Don't just slam blind people in general.
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You can disable translucency already. Not to mention that particular character model is rare, not exactly something you run into often. On top of that the lawsuit claims WoW offers 3rd party mods and EQ2 doesn't when in reality EQ2 always has allowed UI modifications (and was doing so before WoW was even released). Sony even lets you change the UI much more than WoW does.

If it's color blindness, or contrast blindness he can already turn on those disability aids in Windows. If he's just got bad eyesight Sony already allows for adjustable window sizes and text font size.

Basically unless he's out and out blind there are already things to help him. If he is out and out blind I don't see any way Sony could make their videogame work without needing some vision.
 
Hard and Confused said:
You sir need to learn to read before you post. The lawsuit is aimed to force Sony to include accessibility features, not to make him rich you twit.
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That's false. Sony already includes the ability to modifiy your UI as you please. They already include the ability to alter the way the game looks in multiple ways, including but not limited to adjustable text size and game windows. Game NPC's not only send text to the game window but they also talk as well so you can listen to them (not many MMOs do that). If he has contrast problems he can already work around them, if he has poor eyesight he can already work around it; the only thing there is no work around for is complete blindness.

Either he didn't bother to ask first if there were accessibility features and he actually decided to sue without even trying it first, or he's just out for what he thinks will be some 'easy money'.
 
The media makes such a big fuss about these things. Do you guys know what's going to happen to this case?

Sony files a 12(b)(6) motion (failure to state a legally sufficient claim)
Sony wins.

Worst case scenario they win in summary judgment.
Done & done. Truly frivolous lawsuits don't make it into court- they are just thrown out.
 
tubular said:
Most of you people are complete jackasses. He is asking for help for VISUALLY IMPAIRED gamers. I.E. people who are color blind and need a high contast mode, or just the opening of source code to ALLOW modding of games for people who can't see a mostly invisible character.

I thought this was ridiculous at first until I read the damn article and realized he was just fighting for the OPTION of helping. Oh ya, I'm also legally blind without heavily corrective lenses.
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I've had gamers who couldn't see a color in a game. For example, in WoW I've had players who can't see a color when the raid leader says don't stand on the red circle.

It's somewhat understandable, but a game is mostly an art. If I was told to make a game without a certain color because some people can't see it, I'd be pretty pissed.

Hey Capcom stop using red for Zero in Megaman games. People with protanopia can't see it. There's a color blindness for many colors. Hell, there's even people who can't see color at all, called Monochromacy.

It's extremely hard to please everyone without offending someone. It's impossible to make a video game for people who are blind, color or otherwise. Not for everyone.
 
tubular said:
Most of you people are complete jackasses. He is asking for help for VISUALLY IMPAIRED gamers. I.E. people who are color blind and need a high contast mode, or just the opening of source code to ALLOW modding of games for people who can't see a mostly invisible character.

I thought this was ridiculous at first until I read the damn article and realized he was just fighting for the OPTION of helping. Oh ya, I'm also legally blind without heavily corrective lenses.
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They cannot accomidate everybody and they have to draw the line somewhere. There are many disabilities out there that do not let people play games. Companies cannot cater to everybody. Also as another person said, playing video games is "not a god given right."
 
Another wonderful abuse of "The Americans with Disabilities Act".. its one thing to require businesses to be handicap accessible .. its a whole other beast to require video games a medium that requires good sight to somehow produce games for the visually impaired :rolleyes:

They need to revise the disablilities act to reflect its intent to help americans gain more accessiablity required to live there everyday lives .. the entire point of the act was to teach tolerance to society and instead its being abused by just about anyone willing.
 
What I don't get is that it's similar to a blind person buying a television to watch his favorite silent movie. Or a deaf person buying an MP3 player. Or a quadraplegic buying a car (stock, of course). Sure, they can do it, but they won't get the full experience. DUH! NO SHIT?!

Why can't I go buy a g-spot stimulator and it doesn't work (duh, no vag!) and then sue the maker? Or my wife buy a cock ring and she has no cock? She can't sue?! WTF?!

Some people have no common sense. He's not visually impaired, he's fucking dumb.

I'd just throw it out of court, and tell him to quit wasting the public's time and money... Charge him for the lawyer fee's for all parties.
 
so whats next, blind people suing EA because they keep driving their Need For Speed cars into walls?
 
This country has lost all common sense. There is more lawsuits then laws.
 
They are called "video games," not aural games or braille games... I hope he gets counter-sued...

If he wins, every deaf person should sue every record label for not making their product more accessible to those who are aurally impaired...
 
If he wins I'll pick one record label (randomly) and sue them because as I grew older, I couldn't hear higher frequencies as well as I used to and I demand they make all their music in lower frequencies so my level of enjoyment becomes equal to that of those who can hear a wider spectrum than me.
 
Thund3rb1rd said:
we need a stupid law

if you fail in a lawsuit deemed 'frivolous' by a selection of your 'peers' (aka jury), you get prison time.
felony criminal offense

and the lawyer who represented you / your party gets disbarred

by now I'm even sick of seeing headlines of this sort of crap
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Tort reform FTW!
 
Christ on a crutch I fucking hate the ADA regulations.... city can't fund any sort of street repair... but hey we can sure as fuck put those annoying yellow bumps on every corner just so blind people know where the sidewalk ends, don't have shit for money at my workplace to do anything, yet oh hey better fucking have that wheelchair ramp installed for the, I've never seen anyone use it, rollers who come though.... hell at the new 200,000g aquarium, it was all bad ass where you literally could walk down to the 20 foot tall pane and just walk across it... but WHOOPS mother fucking ADA requires that someone who is in a wheelchair be allowed access to the front window... (oh yah it's like 4 feet further away otherwise *sigh*)...

anywas /end rant
 
Nice bunch of subscribers we have here, eh Steve?
 
I agree... you can't accommodate everyone. They shouldn't have to. I'm all for it but it shouldn't be a requirement. I know I sound like an ass for saying so, but really, you can't accommodate everyone.
 
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