PS2 joypad usability and accessibility: some thoughts_ (part II)

The gamer-pad-videogame issue

The interaction that occurs between the player and the videogame is mediated by two different interfaces, a hardware one (the pad) and a software one (the videogame GUI). Both of them concur in a different way to let communicate the videogamer with the game, giving information (the videogame GUI) to the user, those informations have been created with the same gamer input via the hardware interface (the joypad). [img. 1]

When a videogamer operate with her pad, there are always changes in the videogame, even if not always those changes are shown to the videogamer. The basic assumption in this kind of scenario is the videogamers are all equals, not in terms of gaming performance, but as response to input (and then their ability to produce an input).

As you may easily guess, this is not always true. People are diiferent in terms of response ability, for different reasons, varying from, but not limited to, different psychomotor attitudes, cultural backgrounds, familiarity with the medium, and so on. What you may consider obvious, or easy to operate, someone else may find it difficult, or even impossible to do.

'Big easy' mode

Let's take a look at following image [img. 2]

D-Pad

Consider a very basic menu where all you have to do is just press start (the Start Button on your joypad). Just easy like that, for you and me, but your user may not have ever seen a PS2 and its joypad, the start label on her second-hand joypad may have faded away beacuse of its previous owner sweat (trust me, it happened before) and she doesn't know where to find the Start button.

Maybe your videogamer has some kind of reading problem, maybe she is not english speaking (and yes, not everybody in the world has to know what start does it mean), maybe she is dyslexic.

Why not have a menu on video with the shape of the button together with its label? Even better, you may show at pre-defined intervals, an animation with the joypad wireframe showing where the actual button is.

Highlighted buttons on joypad

An easy way to recognze the buttons, without having to look at the pad every few seconds (or again if the simbols on the button have faded ou), is to have a small circular colored led around them, with the color matching the button it goes with. Every time you use it, it lights up or, looking from a different point of view, every time you have to use it it lights up. [img. 3]

As an additional help, you may see on screen icons representing the button you have to use. As in the following example [img. 4] where we use a Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time.

We have to note that Price of Persia: the Sands of Time, is one of those game that present a on screen help feature that show the button description for a particular move, complete with the button visual representatio, but this kind of help is thoght more to explain to the average use the use of the character during the firsts steps in the game, and their are not available during the whole game. The usually show up just on the first appearance of a particular move.

Highlighted direction arrows for D-Pad

The same principle may be used to highlighted the chosen dirction in the D-Pad (in digital mode). A light led will light up when a direction has been selected. [img .5]

More different commands features

More commands features will be discussed in part III of this essay. Coming soon