Nintendo's Tournament Rules Is A Step Back In Accessibility!

General news News Nintendo Nintendo News 10/26/2023

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The new rules for controllers during tournaments are not a step forward, but rather a step backwards when it comes to accessibility…

Nintendo has introduced a new policy for community tournaments. This means that a maximum of 200 players can participate in tournaments that require in-person participation, product sales are prohibited, and players cannot receive compensation from third-party sponsors. These conditions alone are open to criticism (the event needs to be organized, and if there are more than a hundred players, it requires a large infrastructure to make the show run smoothly), but there is another aspect that affects a certain proportion of players. Actually, not everyone, but as long as someone is at a disadvantage because of it, you can’t just scoff that it happened, you have to take it seriously.

Arevya, one of the accessibility advocates, pointed out on Twitter that Nintendo’s policy prohibits the use of externally manufactured controllers, which essentially excludes some players who need customization or button mapping when using custom (but not advantageous) hardware to control a game (e.g. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)!

“If you’re not familiar with game accessibility, this may not seem like a big deal, but the reason it is is because many disabled gamers (like myself) use third-party accessories to be able to play games. This can be anything from controllers that you can use with your feet, to tools that make the game work with a straw that you can blow into to move your character, to 3D printed special devices that allow you to use a regular Joy-Con or Pro Controller. I can somewhat understand Nintendo’s need to protect their IP, but this goes so far as to exclude children, teens and adults who need accessibility to play games like everyone else,” Arevya wrote.

If the console, accessory or game is not licensed by Nintendo, it cannot be used in the event. And many controllers are like that if they are made by a third party. Although Sony and Microsoft have controllers designed for accessibility…

Source: VGC

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Angyal Anikó

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