Pokémon NO

 

 

Pokémon NO…

Gotta catch them… well… none of them. I have mostly not mentioned Niantic’s Pokémon GO for a pretty good reason. I can’t play. The game itself may be the biggest thing in my social media feed, but it’s not for everyone. Many Ability Powered gamers haven’t caught many, if any Pokémon. Why? Lack of accessibility options.

 

Pokémon NO Go

The accessibility problems aren’t hard to find. The Daily Dot and Geeky Gimp have both covered Pokémon GO‘s issues perfectly. Social media has also been hopping with people who are outraged that there isn’t accessibility in the game. I say rage on! Let developers know you want accessibility in the game, but please keep in mind this isn’t an issue that is new. This is one game of many that need your rage, your voice. Don’t jump on the Pokémon GO bandwagon, jump on the game accessibility bandwagon. We have plenty of room!

 

What Help Can I Offer You?

I said I can’t play earlier, and I should clarify a bit. I could play. But I refuse to. My whole thing here at Ability Powered has always been trying to find any way I can to get you playing the games you want to play. Sometimes through tips or tricks and sometimes through addons or accessibility hardware. In Pokémon GO there is something that will help some Ability Powered gamers play the game at a very, very limited level. In the game it’s called “incense”.

 

Pokémon GO Incense

For gamers who can’t get out, incense can be used to bring Pokémon to you. There is a problem with this. Incense isn’t free. They start you out with one or two from what I am told and you have a chance at getting more when you hit certain levels. Hitting those levels would require extremely good luck with the incense supplied. And don’t get me started on Pokéballs. You need these things to play from your house. And this is where I am against encouraging people to do this.

 

Using this method you will have to pay for incense and eventually Pokéballs. They don’t refresh after a time period or have other methods of earning them from your home. At the end of the day, you are rewarding a company for excluding players. You are paying for a free game. You are paying them money for being bad. I refuse to do this or promote doing this.

 

Don’t Get Discouraged

I know this may be the first game that many are feeling excluded from, but this isn’t my first rodeo. Before starting Ability Powered I sat here watching friends post pictures of their amazing Minecraft creations and I wanted to play so bad. I Tweeted Notch begging for PC to add a move pad like the mobile version had. I looked for addons. Basiclly I tried everything. I understand how it feels to be the only person you know not playing a game. It takes me back to being in Junior High. One time while at the fair, a girl told me to go to the exhibits while her and my friend went to ride the rides since “I couldn’t ride any way”.

 

Why No Pokémon GO!

Exclusion sucks and that’s why I refuse to pay a company who has ignored an outpouring of requests for accessibility. I will enjoy seeing other peoples’ catches and turf wars… errrr gym control. Personally. I am not angry that people are playing, I want everyone to play and have fun. I also hope that this ends up being the game that brings so many voices saying “Game accessibility isn’t optional!” That it will be a roar in game developers’ ears. So dear Ability Powered gamers, don’t open your wallets to Pokémon GO… raise your voice for game accessibility!

 

Find more of my thoughts and opinions here!