Hacks Allowing Disabled Gamers To Play Guitar Hero

angrymilkman writes "Here are two interesting new approaches where researchers modified the popular Guitar Hero game so it can be played by gamers with disabilities. Air Guitar Hero modifies the Guitar Hero controller so someone without limbs can play it by using electrodes attached to the user's residual arm. Blind Hero is a mod for Frets on Fire that uses a haptic glove that can turn visual feedback into haptic feedback, allowing blind gamers to play Guitar Hero songs." There have been a variety of Guitar Hero hacks in the past, including a custom drum pad for playing the guitar part, using the plastic guitar as a real instrument, and rocking out with your bike, but it's nice to see some more serious modifications showing up.

Brainless

What about people like me, with no brains, you insensitive clod!

Re:Brainless

What about people like me, that can actually play guitar!! Do you realize how hard it is to ignore the music I know how to play and instead play Simon Says?

Re:Brainless

+1

I tried guitar hero and there were notes to play that weren't even in the song, and notes in the song that you weren't required to play. That's was very strange for someone who actually plays guitar. I even chose the 2 songs I knew how to play on a guitar, and failed miserably on both of them in guitar hero.

Oh, and that new Best Buy commercial I saw tonight was pretty funny too. The chick says something about "I've always wanted to be a musician". I was thinking, "well gee maybe you should ya know..learn to play an instrument, instead of playing videogames".

Re:

Video games can provide the illusion of guitar proficiency much more quickly and easily than learning to play properly.

I'd love to play an instrument well but I have all the innate musical talent of a tom cat undergoing castration. I'd spend hours working and at the end of it might just about be able to pluck out "twinkle twinkle little star".

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That's the point. Many people don't want to learn and/or are self conscious while trying to learn. A video game or simulation that makes it feel easy, while still emulating the motions and producing more pleasing results.

Guitar Hero really is the next step in air guitaring... with a score.

Re:Brainless

Whoa...

Didn't realize Vorgon's came to Slashdot.

Re:

Guitar Hero is already designed with brainless people in mind.

Check the EULA for Guitar Hero 3

Last time I checked, the EULA on the loading screen explicitly states that you are only licensed to use the software with an official Guitar Hero controller.

I really like cool hacks like this, but I wonder how long it will be before someone starts to enforce it..?

Re:Check the EULA for Guitar Hero 3

Maybe the EULA explicitly states that because Activision wants to stop 3rd companies from creating controllers for the game without getting a licence. 3rd companies can create unlicensed controllers but if users are not allowed to use them they are not going to buy them (at least that's the legal way). Anyway Activision may license controllers which are designed for impaired players free of charge or for very low fee.

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Last time I checked, the EULA on the loading screen explicitly states that you are only licensed to use the software with an official Guitar Hero controller.

Good luck to them enforcing that. The right that the publisher has that I do not is 'copyright' - the right to copy, plus associated rights regarding public performance and so forth. The idea behind an EULA is that in installing THE SOFTWARE You are creating a copy, and to do that You need a licence from Us. But here, when I use THE SOFTWARE I don't c

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Last time I checked, the EULA on the loading screen explicitly states that you are only licensed to use the software with an official Guitar Hero controller.

Good luck to them enforcing that. The right that the publisher has that I do not is 'copyright' - the right to copy, plus associated rights regarding public performance and so forth. The idea behind an EULA is that in installing THE SOFTWARE You are creating a copy, and to do that You need a licence from Us. But here, when I use THE SOFTWARE I don't create a copy at all, I run direct from the disc (YMMV, dependent on your system).

So I don't need a licence, because I'm doing nothing that would otherwise infringe the copyright holder's rights. I can do as I please with THE SOFTWARE as long as that's true: I can shove it up my arse if I like and they can't stop me. I only need a licence if my use of THE SOFTWARE would otherwise be a breach of copyright.

You have a rather odd view of copyright and license agreements. The EULA is a contract between you and the software vendor; separate from copyright. While the enforceability of EULA terms is open to debate, vendors can define conditions on the use of their software; you can agree and buy it or not agree and not buy it.

Now, if Nintendo tried to enforce the EULA to stop disabled gamers from playing GH3, Nintendo would have a PR nightmare to contend with and is better off either ignoring the mod or working w

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It's scheduled to happen right before the suit brought on over one of the various persons with disabilities laws.

Hmm... non-blind might benifit from haptic too

I ponder if the haptic glove would help dyspraxic people like me play Guitar Hero. My hand-eye co-ordination leaves something to be desired; thusly Guitar Hero is impossible for me to play.

What if there's any other such devices to replace dual-stick console controlers. Things like the 360 or Playstation 2 & 3 controler cause no end of problems to me (movement being one stick, looking being the other, but since they're the same motor action I often mix them up).

Anyone else out there stuck with the same problems?

Here's a great video of one of the hacks

It really seems super-impractical, but I'm sure certain people will enjoy it if that's their only option. Check it out [youtube.com]

The one true glove

I'm still waiting for the Nintendo Power Glove interface to the game

So when can we expect...

... a video game for blind people?

Though an audio game might be pretty cool - something like wearing headphones while playing Battlezone with really loud tanks.

Or maybe an audio only version of Leisure Suit Larry. Giggety.

I can hear the commercial now...

"That deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean guitar..." as Pinball Wizard plays in Guitar Hero.

what about pinball?

Why are these people playing Guitar Hero? I thought they were supposed to be good at pinball.

more hype for "Bike Hero", the viral marketing ad.

more hype for "Bike Hero", the viral marketing ad...
http://kotaku.com/5095091/yes-bike-hero-was-viral-marketing?gh [kotaku.com]

Re:

Confirmed fake clip, indeed. Why would a bike not turn left and right when the handlebars are turned, for one? Also, if the guy on the bike is playing a guitar hero mod, then the section where he's turning his head right to look at his own reflection in a storefront is highly suspicious. It just screams of "hey look, I'm really really riding a bike and not just playing make-believe!"

Air Guitar Hero?

So people can now pretend to play a fake guitar?

I know I should be snarky, but this is strangely appealing to me.

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yeah, Frets on Fire is free, BUT the vast majority of the songs that people put into it... are pirated... so, it's much like Stepmania, only really useful with pirating.

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Vast abount of the "pirated songs" are also incredibly half arsed and sound like utter crap.

I wish that a band in europe or asia would do some cover songs for FoF and make them sound decent and sell the packs. I'd pay $5.00 via paypal to a guy doing "shock the monkey" but with a very thick asian accent.

Hell I'll pay for a bad garage band version, because most of the illegal FoF songs are incredibly crappy rips.

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The pool of talentless do-nothing "hehe look at me I can pound on a piece of plastic" dim wits is being expanded. Repeat after me: Guitar Hero is for Morons. You wanna see what Guitar Hero should have been? Check out synthesiagame.com --- a game for real musicians.

I assume you made the same complaint about Call of Duty 4, and recommended something else as 'a game for real soldiers'?

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Thanks to the damn preview button what started off as a hateful rant was turned into a constructive comment and posted AC.

I guess that's what you get.