GAMING LEGACY - A DISABLED GAMERS RETROSPECTIVE (PART 1 - THE 80S)
My name is Ismail (izzy) and I’m a gamer. No I’m not an addict but I do love playing games. I am currently 29 years old and I was born with a physical disability called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which severely weakens the muscles in my body as time progresses. Now that you know who I am, let me tell you why I’m here. I’m here to tell you, my dear reader, the story of where and how my love of gaming started. You will learn where this amazing journey began and where it has brought me today. I will also explain all of the different methods and tools that I have used to help me play games over the years.
So put down your controllers, shutdown your computers and let me take you on a gaming adventure...
It all began in 1987. I was only 5 years old then. I had just started attending Yooralla Special School in Glenroy. I was really clever for my age so the school decided to buy me a computer, not only so I could do my school work, but also for me to further develop my problem solving and logic skills as well. The computer was an Apple IIe and because the keyboard was not suitable for me, I had to use the computer with a special mini keyboard. It was the first computer I ever really used and the thing that appealed to me as soon as I started using it was the fact that I could command the computer to do what I wanted and it would follow the commands straight away.
There was no such thing as usb back then and using a mouse or joystick was a hit and miss affair. Nope. The only worthwhile way we could use our computers and play our games was with the keyboard but boy did I have fun playing those games. Games like Pick-A-Dilly Pairs, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and Karateka would keep me entertained for hours on end. The challenge of beating my high score and trying to reach the end drove me to improve my skills even further however my love of gaming didn’t really begin until one fateful day...
My mum had met a turkish family who lived close to our home and we went to their house for the first time. As soon as my mum sat me down on their living room couch, my eyes immediately focused on a small white box sitting under their tv set. I asked our family friends son what that box was and he said “It’s a Nintendo!”. I was like “A Nintendo? What’s that?”. When he told me it plays games I politely asked if he could show me. (He was much older than me.) When he started playing I was awestruck. It was a game called Super Mario Bros and it was like nothing I had seen before. The graphics were amazing. The colors were bright and everything had attitude. The gameplay was so simple yet so fun and addictive. Not only did the game look fun but the control pad used to play the games was so easy to use and small enough to fit into my hands.
I asked if i could play and he put the control pad in my hands. Once I started playing, I couldn’t stop. When we went home that night, the only thing I could think about was when I could go back there and play again. I would cry all the time just so my mum would keep taking me back to their house. My poor mum, not wanting to bother the people all the time, still took me to their house regardless. Our family friends are very kind people though. They would happily accept me into their home whenever my mum would take me and would let me play for as long as I wanted. Their son would even let me borrow the Nintendo sometimes over the weekend. He would happily bring the Nintendo over, connect it to our tv and made sure it worked while I’d be shouting from pure joy. After weeks and weeks of using someone elses Nintendo, my mum and I decided it was time I got my own.
There’s one thing I always remember about the day I got my Nintendo. The weather was so HOT!!! We jumped into a taxi and went down Sydney Road. None of the shops there had it so the only place we could buy one was from Northlands Shopping Center. As the taxi was driving there, I remember looking at the huge Myers building in the distance and thinking to myself “My Nintendo is in there somewhere!”. We went up to the toy department and asked one of the sales people if they had a Nintendo. The man immediately went and brought the huge box to me. The man asked me what game I wanted but I wasn’t sure so he went and brought some games to show me. I chose a game called Kung Fu because I’m really into anything to do with action.
We came home and my mum put the box on my lap while I was sitting on the couch. I rang my best friend from the neighbourhood and told him “COME QUICK!!! I GOT A NINTENDO!!!”. He was at my house in less than a minute. My mum, my friend and I opened the box together. There it was!!! My very own Nintendo Entertainment System!!! I was overjoyed. My mum and my friend connected it to the tv and we both started playing.
I haven’t stopped since...
Stay tuned till next time when we leap forward to the 1990s. Mario gets a facelift and fighting games get controversial. Until then... NEVER STOP PLAYING!!!
ESSENTIAL LINKS:
ENABLED GAMING - http://enabledgaming.blogspot.com/
My personal blog which I have just started. Your one stop for all the latest news, reviews and guides on the latest games and the hottest hardware. The blog is still new however more content will be added in the future.
TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS - http://www.tecsol.com.au/
Technical Solutions is the leading provider of computer access hardware and software to people with disabilities in Australia.
ONESWITCH - http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/
OneSwitch is run in the UK and provides switch adapted devices for computers and various game consoles.
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