Disabled and Hardcore

By Tristan Donovan Published 13 July, 2011

The story of the man behind Call of Duty's N0M4D controls.

"Is this a joke?"

The first day of the 2007 Major League Gaming tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina, was mere minutes away from starting but for the team asking the referee if they were the butt of an elaborate prank, excitement had given way to surprise.

As they looked on slack-jawed, their rivals from the H2O gaming clan were preparing to do battle in Rainbow Six: Las Vegas. Or, more exactly, they were getting team member Randy Fitzgerald, aka N0M4D, ready.

Fitzgerald was born in 1979 with arthrogryposis, a rare condition where underdeveloped muscles cause the joints in the arms and legs to become frozen in position. Put simply, Fitzgerald cannot move his arms, hands, feet or legs.

To get around this, Fitzgerald plays games with his face by using a customised controller held to its right-hand side by a stand that screws into his wheelchair. As his H2O team mates set up Fitzgerald's controller, the referee confirmed to the other team that yes, the guy in the wheelchair would be playing. Sensing an early victory, H2O's rivals smirked and teased.

The opening match was just moments away now and as the start time approached, Fitzgerald turned to his team and said: "Let's kill these guys."

And kill them they did. "We ended up just destroying them," recalls Fitzgerald.

It was no one off. Team after team fell at the hands of team H2O. Soon a buzzing crowd of spectators had gathered around them, all trying to get a glimpse of the man who played with his face as he wiped out challenger after challenger. "There were so many people taking pictures that the flash was starting to hurt and it was hard to focus on the screen," says Fitzgerald. "We ended up winning for the whole day, and if you make it to the second day you're considered pro."

1

N0M4D's customised Xbox 360 controller.

H2O may have been knocked out in the first round of the second day, woozy after a night celebrating their earlier victories with a crate of beer, but N0M4D's performance had become the talk of the tournament.

Fitzgerald, now 32, started gaming early. "I was about three. My dad used to go to the bowling alley with his friends and take me along. The alley had an arcade and my dad would pull a pinball machine in front of the Pac-Man machine, take me out of the wheelchair, put me on my stomach on the pinball machine and put a quarter into Pac-Man and I would move the joystick with my chin."

Soon those quarters were lasting for hours. “One year my dad entered me in a local Pac-Man tournament and I came second or third," he says. It didn't take long before Fitzgerald was supplementing his arcade conquests at home with an Atari 2600 and miniature tabletop arcade machines produced by the likes of Coleco.

"My parents realised there's not a lot of activities I can do with my disability, so they really supported the whole gaming thing right off the bat," says Fitzgerald. "They bought me a lot of video games and every new system that came out. So I had a lot of practice."

2

Gaming legend Randy hangs out with wrestling legend Hulk Hogan at E3 2011.

Not that the transition between consoles was always smooth. "When I went from the one-button joysticks of the Atari to the NES with a d-pad and two buttons I remember feeling very frustrated and thinking how am I ever going to play that?"

Fitzgerald's solution was to rotate the controller 45 degrees clockwise so he could manipulate the directional pad with his top lip and use his chin to work the A and B buttons. That approach worked, with only minor adjustments, all the way until the late 1990s when the Sega Saturn forced another rethink. "I learned to flip the controller the other way so that I would be using my chin to flip the d-pad and my top lip to hit the other buttons. That's how I've been playing ever since."

Fitzgerald feels his abilities as a player are as much due to many years of practice as any innate talent. In fact he seems a little uneasy about his reputation as a 'pro gamer'. "I never used the term until Major League Gaming started putting articles on its website talking about how I was pro. After that everybody else started calling me pro," he says. "I don't know. I think I'm... alright. I see other people who are better than me."

Regardless, his playing prowess has certainly inspired others. "There's quite a few disabled gamers that play tournaments now, but I was the first. I get a lot of emails from other disabled individuals that say 'thank you so much, you gave me the courage to go to this tournament'. I feel good about that.

"But it's a hobby - I don't plan on making it a career. Some of these 15-year-old kids crack me up. They send me messages asking how to become a pro gamer and I'm like: 'Kid, you can't go into this thinking it's a career'."

Career-wise, Fitzgerald's real plan is to open his own game development studio. "I went to college to study game design and development. That's my real passion: I like making video games."

While a period of serious illness has meant he had to delay completing his course, he has already registered the name Nomadic Games and is close to finishing his first game design documents. "I know a lot of people in the industry, including the people at Infinity Ward, and they're waiting to look at these documents and are going to help me shop around for a publisher that will hopefully give me the money to hire a team to make these games," he says.

Fitzgerald's links with Infinity Ward are close, not least because he has had a direct influence on the last five Call of Duty titles.

Back in 2006 when Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was still in development, Fitzgerald and Infinity Ward's creative strategist Robert Bowling got to know each other while writing E3 blogs for Microsoft.

3

Randy catches up with members of Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, including Robert Bowling (far right).

So the following year Bowling invited Fitzgerald to try out the beta of the game that would turn Call of Duty into the commercial juggernaut it is today. Fitzgerald loved it: "It was really fresh at that time with things like killstreaks."

But there was a problem. The toggle aim option included in Treyarch's Call of Duty 3 was nowhere to be seen. "That option made the game easier for me as instead of having to hold the left trigger, you just tap it to raise or lower your gun," Fitzgerald explains.

Figuring he should see if others felt the same about its loss before raising the matter with Infinity Ward, he asked members of Call of Duty's CharlieOmegaDelta forum for their views. "I thought maybe a couple of people would go 'oh yeah, me too', but I got 25,000 replies within a couple of days," he says. "Every second somebody was posting something new. I don't think I slept for two days as I was reading all the messages and trying to reply to everybody. It was crazy."

Within days Infinity Ward had taken note and promised to reintroduce toggle aim in a patch that would add a new control option named N0M4D in Fitzgerald's honour. Since then every Call of Duty has included the N0M4D control scheme, except Modern Warfare 2, where a bug forced its last-minute removal and the subsequent sackings and walkouts at the studio meant a patch never happened. Infinity Ward has, however, confirmed the N0M4D controls will be included in Modern Warfare 3.

Having already left his footprint on pro gaming and Call of Duty, Fitzgerald is now more focused on his future as a maker of games. It's a journey that reflects the meaning behind the Minnesota resident's gamer tag. "People think I chose N0M4D because a nomad walks around and it's ironic because I'm in a wheelchair, but no. My reason is more philosophical. My version of a nomad is someone who travels the Earth searching for their purpose in life and along the way stops in villages and towns and shares their experiences before moving on. I think that's me. I'm a person still searching for their purpose in life and whatever I learn I share with people. So I figured the name suited me."

And others clearly agree: now when Fitzgerald goes to competitive events, he's met with respect in place of the bemusement that met him back in 2007. "A lot of people don't even know my real name," he says, "I'll go to a tournament and it won't be 'hey Randy how you doing it?' it’s 'hey N0M4D, what's up?'"

Picture of Tristan.

About Tristan Donovan

Tristan is the author of Replay: The History of Video Games. As well as writing for Eurogamer he writes about games for Stuff, The Times and Gamasutra.

Read more articles from Tristan by visiting the Tristan Donovan archive page.

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Comments (80) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Genji #1 11 months ago

    WTF

    I've never played CoD before, but he looks pretty bloody good! Amazing.

  • barchetta #2 11 months ago

    Wouldn't it make a nice change if the mainstream press were to pick up on a positive story like this for a change?
    Edited by barchetta at 13/07/11 @ 08:19

  • NeoKenzi #3 11 months ago

    Nice... I'm really happy for that.

  • Timotei #4 11 months ago

    Touching.

    Good article.

  • O11Y #5 11 months ago

    Thanks for this, good read

  • Galathorn #6 11 months ago

    Amazing story.

  • dpb135 #7 11 months ago

    Why does it say epic MW2 trailer as thats MW1 ...... so lucky he didnt get in a hacked lobby!!!

    But well done, quite amazing that
    Edited by dpb135 at 13/07/11 @ 08:50

  • Hulle #8 11 months ago

    Very impressive playing, Fitzgerald. Hope the game development works out for you too.
    That was a very nice "feel good" article. Thanks.

  • AcidSnake #9 11 months ago

    One of the reasons I read Eurogamer, excellent stuff!

    And what spirit that Randy shows, something to remember whenever panic reaction "won't someone think of the children" detractors generally dismiss all video games influences as negative...

  • dfunked #10 11 months ago

    Heart-warming stuff... Fair play to the guy :)

  • bad09 #11 11 months ago

    I'm amazed he can not only play like that but be good enough for tournaments!

    Truly inspirational story I hope he realises his dream of making games. Nice one EG.

  • Boom #12 11 months ago

    Awesome article! Well done to Randy!

  • StolenGlory #13 11 months ago

    Brilliant article.

    With all of the snobbery and arrogant twattery in our industry, it's good to see folks like this shine through and embrace gaming with as much aplomb as any one of us.

  • schnide #14 11 months ago

    I a lot of us should be a little embarrassed at some of the sh*t we moan about on these threads, compared to how big this guy's balls are.

  • Floppy #15 11 months ago

    What an inspiring read. Thanks EG.

  • Utopolitan #16 11 months ago

    Astonishing. Never heard of this before.

  • TonyCB #17 11 months ago

    Excellent thought provoking stuff.....more please!

  • Tonne #18 11 months ago

    @barchetta Well we can't have that now can we,
    i mean gaming as something positive thats unheard of, gaming leads to highschool and mall shootings.


    ot: that really is a amazing story

  • Mkwone #19 11 months ago

    The problem with this feel good story if that it makes me feel bad for being no where near as good as he is.

  • X201 #20 11 months ago

    @barchetta
    You'll have a long wait.
    I remember reading stories in the old Atari 2600 magazine about people with disabilities who had modified the controller. The mainstream press didn't pick up those stories, unfortunately they won't bother with this one either. :(



  • Geordiemp #21 11 months ago

    Read somewhere there is a campaign to make every game have selectable buttons for every action - that way whatever the disability anyone can play .....

    For us average gamers it would make all games so much better as I cannot stand some button choices of some games...Halo I think is my biggest grind...

  • airjoca #22 11 months ago

    Check this guy out, he plays Street Fighter way better than most, and without his hands...

    "Interview w/ Broly, Disabled Super Street Fighter 4 Chun-Li Player"

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83nSodg-HTU
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83nSodg-HTU
    [/link]

    Simply amazing.

  • nuanimal #23 11 months ago

    *salute*

  • Seoh #24 11 months ago

    Nice article and good to see a major games developer like infinity ward actually paying attention to the needs of disabled gamers.

  • SandyMcD #25 11 months ago

    "Fitzgerald turned to his team and said: "Let's kill these guys." "

    How the hell did he do that if he's frozen?

  • jaegermc #26 11 months ago

    This is the first really good article I've read on Eurogamer for a long time. It's an editorial the likes of Edge magazine would be proud of. Give us more of this stuff, and less of the advertisements dressed up as "previews".

  • jaegermc #27 11 months ago

    This is the first really good article I've read on Eurogamer for a long time. It's an editorial the likes of Edge magazine would be proud of. Give us more of this stuff, and less of the advertisements dressed up as "previews".

  • geeza2020 #28 11 months ago

    I like the guys attitude, very inspiring. As others have said above, its a shame this side of gaming is never reported in the mainstream media. Not just from the point of view of improving the image of gaming, but just to try and inspire as many people as possible (disabled or not) into trying new things and new ways of enjoying yourself, even finding a career. We need to encourage more of this.

    But that doesnt sell newspapers though does it Rebeka Brooks? ya bitch. sorry, bit off topic.

  • weebl #29 11 months ago

    This has single handedly made my day.

  • Zomeguy #30 11 months ago

    "A lot of people don't even know my real name,"
    Oh really?

  • Reaver_v1 #31 11 months ago

    Utterly brilliant.

    Shame then that Activision chose to tear Infinity Ward apart from the inside and piece them back together claiming reconciled differences.

  • Dogzilla #32 11 months ago

    'Disabled and Hardcore'

    I'm sure I've watched that movie.

  • the_exile #33 11 months ago

    Now if the many within the eurogamer readership could just master similar levels of understanding and good will for people with learning disabilities rather than liberally using the word "retard" on almost every thread, eurogamer comment sections might appear a little less like those you'd expect to see on Stormfront.

  • Reaver_v1 #34 11 months ago

    @Lukey_B

    Yeah that whole Steven Hawkings comparison doesn't really work. Shows how truly stupid you really are.

  • Lukey__b #35 11 months ago

    @Geeza

    No, not at all. I think you misunderstood my post.

  • Phantom_Dynamite #36 11 months ago

    Excellent read to start the day.

  • Lukey__b #37 11 months ago

    @Reaver

    Doesn't it work? It seems that some people in the thread think that a disabled guy playing computer games offers an argument against the detractors of computer gamers. I don't really see how it does.

    I'm sure the guy could make some sort of contraption to smoke crack. Does that make crack good?

  • DDevil #38 11 months ago

    Good story. Rich and compelling.

  • geeza2020 #39 11 months ago

    Lukey_B - so you dont understand how playing videogames for a man who's physically disabled to the point where he cant do very much at all, might enrich his life with entertainment for one, and then as he's said, possibly a career for himself as a designer? You really fail to see how this could improve gamings image? I wonder about the human race sometimes. And then your line about "going outside to kick a ball around" about a man who is clearly in a wheelchair is just downright cuntish. You're either a moron, or an absolute cunt, or maybe both.
    Edited by geeza2020 at 13/07/11 @ 11:07

  • Lukey__b #40 11 months ago

    They aren't mutually exclusive.

    I was just throwing out the old rehtoric other people throw out about computer games. 'Go read a book or play in the park'.

    I just think that it's a shame that in this day and age of technological advancement, the best we can offer severely disabled people is the chance to play COD with their face. Now, if playing computer games somehow increased the functionality of his limbs in the real world then that would be great and be something of a merit for computer games. How great would it be to say that computer games truly help people, instead of saying 'you can play games with your face'.

  • Meho #41 11 months ago

    Inspiring

  • jjolley #42 11 months ago

    I enjoyed this article. There are many things that need to be improved within games specific to my disability, blindness, though i'm sure that companies won't take note because i'm not famous enough but here's my list:

    1. Spoken Menus
    2. Menus that put the cursor at the top so you can count.
    3. Menus that don't rap around.
    4. Vibration alerts for specific in game happenings - About to be shot, near a wall - that sort of thing.
    5. Surround sound audio that can be toggled to use either your location or the environment as a whole. For instance, having the audio reflect where "you" are within the space by moving the environmental sounds around to match. Think of it as "right stick audio camera".
    6. Audio cues for visual actions - out of ammo, lost an object, that sort of thing
    7. Some method of doing updates blind. I'm sick of having my partner have to update the rosters on games because I don't understand why "start, X, team select, X, X, down, Right, X" doesn't begin the game - taken from MLB 11 the show to begin a night time game being just an example.
    8 The ability to at least have some sort of spoken interface or stats. Many sports games do this within commentary but I am imagining the possibility of navigating around a league table or stats table, hearing what's under the cursor as I move. Think of it as a talking spreadsheet.
    9. Accessible UI for saving and retrieving seasons, games, checkpoints. Never been done. The closest thing to this is autosave in games but that's not really what I am thinking of.
    10. Some method of automatically sensing when the computer is doing something. There are very often no audio cues for loading, just music.

    That's enough to be going on with.

  • barchetta #43 11 months ago

    @Lukey_b

    Sure, a gamer is a gamer is a gamer but I was thinking more along the lines that a dev adding some inclusivity into the game design by offering options for alternate play methods on the back of requests from a disabled audience is a positive move.. Was it IW that are adding some support for colour blindness in MW3 too? No longer a player of COD so skimmed that news but surely that creates a better press for IW and the industry. Unless you want to take the 'corrupting an even wider demographic' argument :)!

  • jamhead #44 11 months ago

    What a total legend.

  • ZizouFC #45 11 months ago

    It's only CoD.

  • welshben23 #46 11 months ago

    As a disabled gamer myself I think this article is brilliant. I've got full use of my arms and I'm still complete shite at CoD and Rainbow Six.

  • geeza2020 #47 11 months ago

    Lukey_B - So you want games to now be a medium for people to be miraculously healed of disablities? wtf? Blame the shortcomings of modern medicine then, not videogames. As far as games are concerned this is very positive.

  • KimboDice #48 11 months ago

    He's the Steven Hawkings of video games. Bless bro!

  • Merdalor #49 11 months ago

    @jjolley: to make myself perfectly clear, I am absolutely not mocking you. I think blindness is terrible and I'm glad to read that you can enjoy games.
    However, I just cannot see this ever working decently for you. I admit not having given this much thought (since I'm not blind), but video games for the blind, isn't that like music for the deaf?
    I'm really curious about this. Are there any games that are really playable at the moment?

  • tomkuryakin #50 11 months ago

    The man is a hero.

    Keith Vaz MP needs to read this article.

  • jjolley #51 11 months ago

    At Merdalor:
    That is a fair question and one i'll at least attempt to answer. I play games by using there sounds. Many games have different sounds for different situations. Listen to a sports game with your eyes shut and you'll see how this idea works. The commentary is an assistant, an audio guide to things happening.

    My own interest is baseball and American sports, just because I have always enjoyed the style of commentary the yanks put in to there sporting events. Blind gaming is unusual in that I am probably losing 90 per cent of the experience by not seeing, but gaining 90 per cent more excitement because I can't see.

    I can successfully hit in MLB 11 the show for instance, because I time things in my head, count to anticipate the pitch as a real player might. It's hard to explain.

    P.S., I am off out but will be back later. I only say this because I don't want people thinking i'm ignoring any comments thrown my way. I'll be back to this thread later on to check in.

  • Lukey__b #52 11 months ago

    Now, jjolley's experience actually interests me. Playing with your face doesn't.

    I'd be really interested in hearing how you play, jjolley. If you have the time and inclination to write about it that is.

  • Bartacus #53 11 months ago

    I was Playing against a disabled player on xboxlive the other day, it really made me consider the joy it must bring these guys to be performing actions in game that they cant achieve in real life.

    It made gaming to me seem like much less a waste of time & more like form of therapy, as an able bodied person it sometimes feels silly controlling an avatar with sticks & buttons but for Randy Fitzgerald, aka N0M4D he is able to take part.

    Nice article Thanks.

  • dragulagb #54 11 months ago

    just waiting now for the media to talk about how all people that play violent games are more likely to go shoot people for real and such now.

  • Toothball #55 11 months ago

    I'm not that good at FPS games even with the use of my hands.

  • Shotofen #56 11 months ago

    Damn. This guy is badass. 'Nuff said.

  • Corben_Dallas #57 11 months ago

    Outstanding! nice skillz NoM4d :)

  • persus-9 #58 11 months ago

    I think this raises really interesting issues about control schemes. I know there are people who advocate control aids for disabled gamers to the extent that you should be able to play any game with a single button. As you can Bayonetta for instance. I think that idea definitely has a lot of merit to it in terms of opening gaming up to a group of people who could definitely benefit from it very greatly. I had a chance to play the two pressure pad controlled version of Forza (3?) at the Eurogamer Expo last year and had a ton of fun and I can only image how much I'd love that game and controller setup if that was the extent of my physical abilities. So I'm prepared to nail my flag to the mast and say that correctly done simplified control schemes are a very good thing!

    On the other hand there were times when the normal control schemes seemingly became too complex for N0M4D as he is quoted in the article: -

    "When I went from the one-button joysticks of the Atari to the NES with a d-pad and two buttons I remember feeling very frustrated and thinking how am I ever going to play that?"

    I wonder if he had access to simplified control such options at those point would he have stuck to joystick and one button to continue having fun rather than go onto master whatever developers threw at him? If he hadn't then we wouldn't be reading this article and N0M4D would be a nobody who would no doubt enjoy games but would not be able to play competitively with players using the hardcore control schemes because using a different control scheme would have raised questions as to whether that was offering him an unfair advantage (as there have been concerning Oscar Pistorius' false legs). I think that would undoubtedly be worse for him. So while simplified controls are good it seems they risk lessening the lives of those people can master the full controls but who at times might very reasonably doubt their ability to do so.

  • Gearskin #59 11 months ago

    That's dedication

  • djed #60 11 months ago

    Insipid tabloid wet-farticle. The moist embrace offered by the feel-good committee in the comments sections lends credence to Fahey's much discussed one-word summarization.

  • geeza2020 #61 11 months ago

    djed - enjoy being lonely and miserable your entire life.

  • KTroopA #62 11 months ago

    RESPECT

  • mcreddie #63 11 months ago

    Fucking hell, he's really good. I think if I ever tried doing this, I'd never ever be anywhere near as good as that!

  • geeza2020 #64 11 months ago

    Errrr no, its a SEVERELY disabled person overcoming a completely debilitating condition to play games. If it was just someone with a gammy leg playing games then I wouldnt give a fuck, but this guy cant use ANY of his limbs and hes still better at fps games than me and you. Thats inspiring, end fucking of. Try reading the article next time.

  • coomber #65 11 months ago

    What a brilliant, uplifting article. A cracking read.

  • Ranger101 #66 11 months ago

    Aw, I think people mistook FluffyTucker's comment as an insult - if anything it's a great compliment - PC Gamers are always harping on about Mouse & Keyboard beating able-bodied pad players - the fact that FluffyTucker believes he has to revert to M&K to beat this dude pays tribute to NOM4Ds skill. In fact he's treating him as equally as he'd treat any console gamer.

    That's the way I chose to see it anyway.

  • jjolley #67 11 months ago

    At Lukey__b:

    Let me say that the adaptations the disabled gamer in the article has made are worthy and certainly interesting enough. My own experience seems to point towards something else though - i'd like designers to consider a different form of interactivity based on sensory responses. Let me brainstorm again folks - you know you like it:

    1. Consider a tactical simulation game in witch the user pilots a spacecraft. Why have we not yet leveraged the power of sound and design to improve the accessibility. We don't yet, at least to my knowledge, have a viable way of representing physical paths for navigation without the need for visual mapping. Many experiments have been done to bring audio based gaming mainstream, consider "the nightjar" for iPhones being one such example. My own personal ideal situation would be a combined approach using surround-sound, perhaps coupled with glasses with mounted cameras. This would offer the blind user the ability to turn there head, look for objects via the audio cues generated and navigate by facing. I've never quite understood why surround isn't used this way, coupled with IR glasses.

    After all, imagine this as a scene. Player finds a note within the spacecraft giving him the controls. As a sighted user you look down. This in tern generates an audio response for blind users.

    2. Much has been written about the inclusiveness of games within a subset of the disabled community. We don't know, as of yet anyway, the viability of multiplayer games outside of MUDS and such that would be viable. The accessibility of the UI to actually get on line notwithstanding, it would be a useful study to perform. Take blind and sighted subjects and contrast playing styles for better matchmaking. As an added bonus, use the results taken to improve accessibility. I'm curious to find out if those who play the same game on and off line, work differently when on the internet. Has anyone ever looked at the stress levels for instance, pressure based situations relative to the less stressful online play. This is getting a bit psychological, but psychology in gaming is very important as we need to figure out what makes a game accessible yet enjoyable.

    3. The motion control technology we are seeing today is a significant step back for blind people, simply because all these systems require some sort of line of site to work properly. The move, for instance, offers very little in terms of substantive feedback when actions are undertaken, so you end up feeling like you are swinging something for nothing. Designers need to consider that motion gaming has to include some element of tactile response.

    Finally, let me say that I always enjoy these discussions with the disability related articles. I've certainly contributed to them before, but each time I get wilder ideas - though i'm sure they will be a reality.

  • beatwolf #68 11 months ago

    very nice article, wish him good luck with his game development!

  • SlumpJunk #69 11 months ago

    Not only skilled, but he seems like a nice guy too.

  • OU7C4ST #70 11 months ago

    This is such an awesome article! N0M4D has released a new video of an exclusive interview with Infinity Ward's Creative Strategist Robert Bowling (a.k.a. "fourzerotwo";), about the upcoming game, Modern Warfare 3! Check it out:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrcPmgEjnd4

  • OneHandBand1t #71 11 months ago

    I envy anybody with a disability who plays games, I am disabled myself and play games with one hand. I am not professional but would deem myself Hardcore. I was born a gamer, always a gamer. Check my Vid out [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOt7eGXLA8M
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOt7eGXLA8M
    [/link]
    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zki_GsuGp-Q
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zki_GsuGp-Q
    [/link]

    Respect

  • redcrayon #72 11 months ago

    @General Ironfist

    You might not find an article about a disabled gamer winning a games tournament, prompting more support for alternate control schemes from a huge games company, on a games news site, to be of interest, but I did.

    As for you finding the general respect and empathy shown here for the guy to be 'quite sickening', no-one is patting the guy on the head for playing games while being severely disabled. I't's more that he's clearly a great player despite playing the game with his face, an example to other people in the same boat if what can be done with years of practice, and ended up as the figurehead of a campaign for alternate schemes.

    Is your response to watching anyone who's any good at anything 'yeah, sure, nothing special, I could do that if I was in the same situation and spent as much time trying?' Even as a child faced with severe disadvantages? Rubbish.

  • ToAks #73 11 months ago

    NOM4D, you sir, a legend!

    i have known about him for quite sometime and i have seen him at E3's etc but this whole story was new to me and i really loved the part with pacman and the pinball machine.

    Now, i wish console manufactors would do something about the entire design of the controllers they make and take it to the next level so that we who have no msucle problems etc would not end up beeing disabled after playing for 40 years of our lives due to their designs not beeing very ergonomic.
    what the next step really is i don't know but theese guys pay people to figure it out and no, the xbox360 controller ain't any better on your muscles/hands etc over longer time than the dual shock's etc.

    what i really would like to know is how long sessions NOM4D can play for at a time, i have friends who play COD for maybe 7 hours in one stretch and the only reason they stop is because of the stress level and body ache, they claim its gone after a few hours of sleep but i worry about whats gonna happen to them in the long run.

  • sourc0r #74 11 months ago

    amazing how people are able to come up with solutions even for the most difficult problems. playing with your feet is...one thing, but playing with your FACE? pull that one of, must take ages of practice to get this working for a shooter!

  • filipo #75 10 months ago

    Just awesome.

    Also, Ironfist... that's some mighty cockery there.

    Not only is it uplifting to see the appeal of gaming is so great that some people will push through barriers to entry, it's also inspirational that guys in the industry take note and work to develop their games to help remove those barriers.
    Edited by filipo at 14/07/11 @ 21:32

  • redcrayon #76 10 months ago

    @General Ironfist

    In your first post you said-

    I don't see whats so "touching" or "inspiring" about this in anyway, shape or form.

    In your second post you said-

    I never said that what NOM4D did wasn't a great achievment...I merely that in my mind I feel that its not worthy of the extremely high levels of adulationor something along those lines.

    Big difference in tone there.Which is it? A great achievement or not? As far as I can work out, you seem to be saying that it might be a great achievement but isn't worthy of praise. Is that correct? It just sounds like you are going out of your way to belittle the guy's tenacity. If it is a great achievement, then surely it's worthy of a few seconds of appreciation, 70-odd posts of anonymous commenters saying 'well done mate' isn't exactly a political correctness overload. It'll be forgotten by the end of the week, and we can go back to the usual negative cynicism that stands in for reporting.

  • riseer #77 10 months ago

    This is what gaming is all about forget the fanboy bs,i am a Ps3 gamer yet i tip my hat off to all 360 communty truely great stuff.EG it's about time yall posted something worthy of my time ..great stuff. Ps That guy kicks ass!!

  • Sgt_Petter #78 10 months ago

    Great article, more like this please :)

  • Minotauro #79 10 months ago

    Inspiring stuff. Made my day when I read this the other day.

  • doragonpawwa #80 10 months ago

    brilliant, very inspiring