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God of War: Ragnarok ‘accessibility needed to be better’

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2 years ago

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SIE
By Steffan Powell
Gaming reporter

Making a sequel to a title considered by many to be one of the best games of its generation must be daunting.

It was praised for its slick combat, emotional storytelling and immersive setting but 2018’s God of War, which saw the return of iconic gaming character Kratos, did have a significant weakness according to one of the team making its successor.

“It was apparent that the accessibility features needed to be better, 100%,” says Mila Pavlin of Santa Monica Studios.

Mila and her team have been responsible for trying to make God of War: Ragnarok an experience that players can access more easily if they have a visual or hearing impairment or are unable to use a controller in a conventional way.

“It was the biggest thing that we looked out for at the beginning of the process of making the game – how to make it more accessible to more people.

“There were many gamers who wanted to play in 2018, but were unable to because of things like low vision, motor issues, cognitive or hearing disabilities. We wanted to make sure that everyone was included,” Mila explains.

This approach hasn’t been commonplace in the gaming sector. Mila’s team were already working away on their plans when The Last of Us: Part 2 was released in 2020. It was widely praised for its approach to accessibility and opened up the conversation about the issue within the games industry.

Increasing the number of players able to engage with titles like this is a significant step for disabled gamers but also makes financial sense for big companies.

There are concerns that the games market, which was worth £7bn to the British economy in 2021, may stagnate in the coming months due to the cost of living crisis. Having a broader potential audience for your game is one way of encouraging growth.

 

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Visual cues

Now Mila is hopeful that God of War: Ragnarok will set an example for the wider industry to follow.

Story-driven games like this often require intricate button combinations to progress and rely on sound or subtle visual cues to expose danger and opportunity to the player. It can make playing especially difficult for disabled people.

But small tweaks can make gaming more accessible, such as changing how captions read on the screen, giving players visual cues for sound and the option to fundamentally change how the controls work, allowing you to remove the need to press certain buttons and make movements, such as climbing, automatic.

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“We want to show that blockbuster games can open up their worlds to brand new players, making sure that players of all walks of life are able to play. The learning we have implemented, we want to spread across the industry to create more accessible games everywhere,” says Mila.

“Accessibility is not about diminishing the the original experience – we want to keep that experience together and intact. But ultimately, 10 years from now, I would love to see every triple A game have this level of accessibility options.”

‘Room for improvement’

Video game accessibility critic and consultant Laura Dale says it’s “really heart-warming to see big companies in the industry finally starting to see disabled people as people who deserve to be able to play video games”.

Laura is autistic and dyspraxic, and as the presenter of the Access-Ability programme on YouTube, she reviews the accessibility options games offer people with a variety of disabilities – both visible and non-visible.

Having a big suite of options to help different players access games, she explains “really is a new space and it’s still a very positive surprise when you see a game go as far out of the way as God of War: Ragnarok does.

“When I started making YouTube videos about accessibility and video games, there were basically no examples you could point to that were broadly accessible for most kinds of disabled gamers. The sheer difference between what came out four years ago and today, honestly it is night and day. I am really excited by the direction the industry is going in, and how quickly.

“I think there is always room for improvement, I don’t think we yet have a game that I can point to and say this one is perfect and does absolutely everything you could possibly do to make a video game accessible to every disabled player, but I think that we are getting closer.”

‘Nit-picking’

The God of War series dates back to 2005 and follows the story of Greek god Kratos and the triumphs, tragedies and treachery he experiences. The 2018 release re-imagined the action-adventure series with a more mature Kratos struggling to cope with parenthood. It was a success, going on to win many prestigious awards.

Despite concerns that Ragnarok pushes older generation PlayStations to their limits in order to play, with some comparing the noise a PlayStation 4 makes while running the game like that of a jet engine taking off, its reviews scores suggest the sequel has more than lived up to expectations.

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Simon Cardy is a senior editorial producer at IGN and reviewed God of War: Ragnarok for the site.

“Some people might prefer the more focused nature of the 2018 release, as opposed to the broader more epic scale of this one,” he explains.

“Maybe there are a couple of little bits you could tighten here or there, but I think it’s really nit-picking.”

Simon gave the game 10 out of 10 and describes it as “a masterpiece”.

“It’s like when Francis Ford Coppola was making the Godfather Part II. How do you follow up on the Godfather? Well he managed to do it by arguably, making an even better film, which is what I think Sony Santa Monica games studio have done here.”

 

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Wandering around a frozen landscape with a tempestuous teenager and a sarcastic severed head (it’s based on Norse mythology after all) while battling monsters and gods may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, for fans of crafted single-player story experiences God of War: Ragnarok seems to have lived up to the high bar set by its predecessor.

Bigger doesn’t automatically mean better in gaming and as Simon says, “if anything it means more things can go wrong” but he believes the studio “have managed that balance between scope and the intimacy of the story elegantly”.

He goes on to argue that “there’s no other games studio that gets performances out of their actors like Sony Santa Monica at the moment in my opinion, it’s a different level to almost every other game out there in terms of writing and acting”.

If you’re a PS4 owner however, Simon recommends playing with your headphones on – just to hide the noise your machine will undoubtedly make.

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Slack researcher discusses the fear, loathing and excitement surrounding AI in the workplace

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16 hours ago

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October 21, 2024

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Artificial intelligence‘s recent rise to the forefront of business has left most office workers wondering how often they should use the technology and whether a computer will eventually replace them.

Those were among the highlights of a recent study conducted by the workplace communications platform Slack. After conducting in-depth interviews with 5,000 desktop workers, Slack concluded there are five types of AI personalities in the workplace: “The Maximalist” who regularly uses AI on their jobs; “The Underground” who covertly uses AI; “The Rebel,” who abhors AI; “The Superfan” who is excited about AI but still hasn’t used it; and “The Observer” who is taking a wait-and-see approach.

Only 50% of the respondents fell under the Maximalist or Underground categories, posing a challenge for businesses that want their workers to embrace AI technology. The Associated Press recently discussed the excitement and tension surrounding AI at work with Christina Janzer, Slack’s senior vice president of research and analytics.

Q: What do you make about the wide range of perceptions about AI at work?

A: It shows people are experiencing AI in very different ways, so they have very different emotions about it. Understanding those emotions will help understand what is going to drive usage of AI. If people are feeling guilty or nervous about it, they are not going to use it. So we have to understand where people are, then point them toward learning to value this new technology.

Q: The Maximalist and The Underground both seem to be early adopters of AI at work, but what is different about their attitudes?

A: Maximalists are all in on AI. They are getting value out of it, they are excited about it, and they are actively sharing that they are using it, which is a really big driver for usage among others.

The Underground is the one that is really interesting to me because they are using it, but they are hiding it. There are different reasons for that. They are worried they are going to be seen as incompetent. They are worried that AI is going to be seen as cheating. And so with them, we have an opportunity to provide clear guidelines to help them know that AI usage is celebrated and encouraged. But right now they don’t have guidelines from their companies and they don’t feel particularly encouraged to use it.

Overall, there is more excitement about AI than not, so I think that’s great We just need to figure out how to harness that.

Q: What about the 19% of workers who fell under the Rebel description in Slack’s study?

A: Rebels tend to be women, which is really interesting. Three out of five rebels are women, which I obviously don’t like to see. Also, rebels tend to be older. At a high level, men are adopting the technology at higher rates than women.

Q: Why do you think more women than men are resisting AI?

A: Women are more likely to see AI as a threat, more likely to worry that AI is going to take over their jobs. To me, that points to women not feeling as trusted in the workplace as men do. If you feel trusted by your manager, you are more likely to experiment with AI. Women are reluctant to adopt a technology that might be seen as a replacement for them whereas men may have more confidence that isn’t going to happen because they feel more trusted.

Q: What are some of the things employers should be doing if they want their workers to embrace AI on the job?

A: We are seeing three out of five desk workers don’t even have clear guidelines with AI, because their companies just aren’t telling them anything, so that’s a huge opportunity.

Another opportunity to encourage AI usage in the open. If we can create a culture where it’s celebrated, where people can see the way people are using it, then they can know that it’s accepted and celebrated. Then they can be inspired.

The third thing is we have to create a culture of experimentation where people feel comfortable trying it out, testing it, getting comfortable with it because a lot of people just don’t know where to start. The reality is you can start small, you don’t have to completely change your job. Having AI write an email or summarize content is a great place to start so you can start to understand what this technology can do.

Q: Do you think the fears about people losing their jobs because of AI are warranted?

A: People with AI are going to replace people without AI.

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Biden administration to provide $325 million for new Michigan semiconductor factory

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16 hours ago

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October 21, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that it would provide up to $325 million to Hemlock Semiconductor for a new factory, a move that could help give Democrats a political edge in the swing state of Michigan ahead of election day.

The funding would support 180 manufacturing jobs in Saginaw County, where Republicans and Democrats were neck-in-neck for the past two presidential elections. There would also be construction jobs tied to the factory that would produce hyper-pure polysilicon, a building block for electronics and solar panels, among other technologies.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters that the funding came from the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. It’s part of a broader industrial strategy that the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, supports, while Republican nominee Donald Trump, the former president, sees tariff hikes and income tax cuts as better to support manufacturing.

“What we’ve been able to do with the CHIPS Act is not just build a few new factories, but fundamentally revitalize the semiconductor ecosystem in our country with American workers,” Raimondo said. “All of this is because of the vision of the Biden-Harris administration.”

A senior administration official said the timing of the announcement reflected the negotiating process for reaching terms on the grant, rather than any political considerations. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss the process.

After site work, Hemlock Semiconductor plans to begin construction in 2026 and then start production in 2028, the official said.

Running in 2016, Trump narrowly won Saginaw County and Michigan as a whole. But in 2020 against Biden, both Saginaw County and Michigan flipped to the Democrats.

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The Internet is Littered in ‘Educated Guesses’ Without the ‘Education’

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2 weeks ago

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October 8, 2024

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Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.

The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.

Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.

The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.

Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.

On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.

The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.

More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.

Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:

  • You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
  • This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
  • In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!

Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.

Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.

There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.

Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.

Successful people tend to be secretive.

Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.

Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.

Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.

______________________________________________________________

 

Nick Kossovan, a self-described connoisseur of human psychology, writes about what’s

on his mind from Toronto. You can follow Nick on Twitter and Instagram @NKossovan.

 

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