Rockstar’s Table Tennis Troublesome with the Colorblind

If you’ve ever seen a sports movie that has a character trying to hit, catch, or shoot a flying ball, you’ve probably heard that saying, “You’ve gotta BE the ball!” Well, there’s one thing they haven’t thought of in the movies. How can you be the ball if you can’t see it?

That’s a problem one colorblind gamer has with Rockstar’s Table Tennis, and in his case, it makes playing the game an exhausting task.

Conrad Quilty-Harper, a gamer who has had trouble distinguishing different shades of colors since birth, hasn’t had much of a problem with his colorblindness affecting his gaming. This all changed, however, with Rockstar‘s newest release. One aspect of the game involves reacting to the spin of the ball that the opponent places on it when hitting. The ball’s color changes according to the type of spin, and the player responds to this by pressing the appropriate button to counteract it.

While this isn’t so much of a problem with the usual game levels, the training levels that teach you how to add spin and counter it become utter hell. Skill gives way to guesswork, making the game harder than it ought to be, and more frustrating than it was intended.

We can all probably sympathize with the idea of the “impossible” level. Most gamers have had to deal with a superboss in one form or another in their games, requiring a lot of practice or a well-planned strategy.

When the impossibility of a game, however, comes as a result of a design problem rather than an intentional addition to the game, it does bear mentioning. People with disablities also want to play games, and it’s both good business sense and good PR to make sure that you don’t alienate a section of your consumer base.

Via Joystiq

If you’ve ever seen a sports movie that has a character trying to hit, catch, or shoot a flying ball, you’ve probably heard that saying, “You’ve gotta BE the ball!” Well, there’s one thing they haven’t thought of in the movies. How can you be the ball if you can’t see it?

That’s a problem one colorblind gamer has with Rockstar’s Table Tennis, and in his case, it makes playing the game an exhausting task.

Conrad Quilty-Harper, a gamer who has had trouble distinguishing different shades of colors since birth, hasn’t had much of a problem with his colorblindness affecting his gaming. This all changed, however, with Rockstar‘s newest release. One aspect of the game involves reacting to the spin of the ball that the opponent places on it when hitting. The ball’s color changes according to the type of spin, and the player responds to this by pressing the appropriate button to counteract it.

While this isn’t so much of a problem with the usual game levels, the training levels that teach you how to add spin and counter it become utter hell. Skill gives way to guesswork, making the game harder than it ought to be, and more frustrating than it was intended.

We can all probably sympathize with the idea of the “impossible” level. Most gamers have had to deal with a superboss in one form or another in their games, requiring a lot of practice or a well-planned strategy.

When the impossibility of a game, however, comes as a result of a design problem rather than an intentional addition to the game, it does bear mentioning. People with disablities also want to play games, and it’s both good business sense and good PR to make sure that you don’t alienate a section of your consumer base.

Via Joystiq