Here’s a report of a cross-border dream conversation by blind gamers.
We welcomed BlindWarriorSven from the Netherlands, a blind game player who took a remarkable win at EVO 2023, to talk about Street Fighter 6 and game accessibility. Four fighting game players from ePARA joined the discussion—three among them being blind (NAOYA, Misato and Mashiro) and one having muscular dystrophy (Jeni).
Japanese version of this article is available here / 本記事の日本語版はこちら:
未来と世界をつなぐ全盲ゲーマーたちの絆が作られた瞬間～ePARA×BlindWarriorSven座談会
Meet BlindWarriorSven
BlindWarriorSven (Sven) is a blind gamer from the Netherlands. Losing sight at the age of 6, he later dominated his Street Fighter 6 match at EVO 2023 and is now ranked as Master with E.Honda, Marisa and A.K.I. Another great news is that Sven was promoted to a Twitch Partner a few weeks after having this meeting.
Besides the fighting games, he also enjoys card games such as Hearthstone, as well as various RPGs, with his family.
Blind gamers and Street Fighter 6
How can blind players get stronger in Street Fighter 6?
Mashiro: Thank you very much for joining us today, Sven. Let us dive right in as some of us may have questions to ask you.
NAOYA: Let me start. As blind gamers, we sometimes need to seek support from sighted people to know how to fight better in games. What kind of resources or information do you use to get stronger in Street Fighter 6?
Sven: One of the first things that I always do is choosing a character that I feel good to play with. Once I find a character to do combo trials, I learn step-by-step how each trial is going. I also go to training mode. I would say that combos in Street Fighter 6 and other fighting games are very important for blind people. When the opponent is caught in your combo, you control the match, and they cannot do anything. It’ll be a very strong tool.
I also use some websites where you can find the frame data of game characters. In addition, I have some sighted friends who help me when, for example, I have questions about certain moves or want to know what is happening during some specific sound. And last but not least, I think it’s important to play a lot to get to know about your character.
Misato: Many blind or low-visioned people might think it’s difficult for them to get started with playing video games because they cannot see the screen and thus it’s hard to win or just enjoy. What made you start playing video games? Have you had any barriers or difficulties that you had to overcome?
Sven: When I got blind, I was 6 years old, and could not play video games at first. But I discovered that the fighting game is a very good category to play with sounds. So I played hours and hours of fighting games, such as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. Practicing and training for a longer time makes you able to know what’s on the screen from the sound effect.
And since I was sighted, I can automatically create images of what I think is happening on the screen. Like when someone shoots a Hadoken towards me, for example. All those things help me to get better. When Street Fighter 6 just came out, I struggled to know when to use drive rush or drive impact. But then, the more I played it and the more I understood when to use those mechanics, the game became more fun for me.
Thoughts on choosing characters
NAOYA: I also play as E.Honda in Street Fighter 6. And since he is strong, I sometimes hear people saying, “it’s a cheating character” or “I know that you’re using Honda anyway”. Do you have such experiences?
Sven: I understand what you mean. When I was playing Honda on a stream, people were like “he is an easy character, he’s strong.” But if Honda is such a great character, everybody should be able to reach a higher rank with him, which is not true of course. I would say the same about Zangief. There’s always a debate in fighting games like “this character is super powerful, and this one is not.” But… I don’t care. You should always play the character that you think is fun and don’t care if it’s in the top tier or lower tier. Playing a game because it’s fun, that’s the first thing.
Jeni: NAOYA was using Luke before, but as he told me that he wanted to be stronger, I altered him into a Honda user in fact…
NAOYA: People say such kind of “easy character” thing to me only after I’ve come to be able to win. So perhaps it’s the fate of winning gamers…
Misato: My favorite character in Street Fighter 6 is Jamie. I like his cool voice and stunning close-range attacks. Sven, you just said that we should use the characters that we like or feel fun to use. What made you choose E. Honda?
Sven: Voice is very important for me as well. I played Ken and Sakura in Street Fighter V because I liked their voices. In Street Fighter 6, I started with Ken. But since the voice was changed, I started to look for another character that I think is cool and found Honda. I tried him and felt good in the first one or two matches, so I stayed with him.
On the other hand, I don’t like a character like Dhalsim because he’s so slow. And Honda is fast, powerful and fun. It’s a personal thing. Some people may like a character for its voice and some may like another because they are cool. For example, my girlfriend likes Juri. She sometimes wants to be like Juri in real life.
Ways to use sound effects
NAOYA: Street Fighter 6 has the new sound accessibility features and other sound effects. What kind of features do you use?
Sven: I set the sound effect of footsteps lower than others. People use different sound effects in different ways. What I think, for me, is a very useful accessibility option is that you’re now able to turn off the environment sound effects that you don’t want during the match.
I also think it’s very good that you can use the default costumes because the sounds also change depending on the costumes.
Prospects for the future
Jeni: Do you plan to participate in some tournaments or competitions this year?
Sven: I would like to, but it also depends on how the financial situation is, because it costs a lot of money to participate in tournaments, especially outside the country.
Mashiro: Let me also ask some questions. In the future, which professional gamers would you like to match with? And what kind of events do you want to participate in?
Sven: Good question. I’ve been playing against a lot of pro players from Europe or the United States. But for example, I’ve never played with Daigo or Tokido. It would be great to play with them one day.
With regards to events, I’ve already visited a lot of events in the past, but I’ve never been to events in Japan for example. I think it would be awesome to visit a tournament in Japan.
Questions and messages from Sven
Misato: We’ve asked you many things so far. Do you have any questions or messages to us from your side?
Sven: I’ve understood that all of you are very much interested in playing video games like me. My girlfriend and I have been playing video games for more than 20 years as blind people, so we can create a list of video games that are accessible to play for blind players, if it helps you.
Jeni: Really interesting.
Mashiro: We’d love to have that list.
Sven: Sure. And I was also curious about… my impression is that many Japanese people that I met in the past had difficulties in speaking English. I highly recommend that you try to learn a bit of English because many accessible games are not translated to Japanese.
Mashiro: I agree. I personally like an audio game called “The Vale: Shadow of the Crown”. It’s really nice and accessible, but the Japanese version is not available.
Sven: That’s what I tried to say. Since many of those accessible games are only in English, blind people in Japan who don’t speak English are not able to play them. Please don’t get me wrong, if some game was in Japanese, then I couldn’t understand it either. But it’s true that English is the language that is used in many games, so do yourself a favor and educate yourself.
What are each one’s goals and ambitions?
Misato: Why don’t we take this opportunity to talk about each one’s goals or ambitions for the future? My personal aim is to be stronger in Street Fighter 6. And with a broader perspective, I hope that more people experience the sound accessibility features built in the Street Fighter 6, so that they go beyond a fixed notion of “features for handicapped people” and become something that lowers the hurdle in gaming for everyone. To achieve this, I want to continue organizing events where participants play Street Fighter 6 with eye masks as ePARA is already doing.
Jeni: I want to continue planning events where people with diverse disabilities can demonstrate their full potential through esports. Additionally, as a Street Fighter 6 player, I wish to take part in EVO this summer if possible. And Sven, I ‘d love to meet you in person someday!
NAOYA: Many people hesitate to start playing video games due to being blind. That’s why I want to connect with more game fans who are totally blind like me and better convey our wants and needs together to game developers so that more accessible features will be added to their titles.
Mashiro: Expanding our community is also one of my aims. And additionally, I’d like to create an environment where we can share information with each other with more global perspectives.
Sven: Great. While all of you are living in Japan, I know some blind Street Fighter players in the United States and here in the Netherlands, too. Maybe we could organize an international tournament of blind players one day to promote the fact that there are many blind players in the world who want to join the fighting games. I think that blind gamers should not play only in their own communities but also try to go outside. And I think it’s also good to have tournaments for blind people only because you can learn from that.
Jeni: Sounds really nice.
Mashiro: Do you have any resolutions for this year, Sven?
Sven: I want to inspire more people to join the community for their goals or to do what they like to do.
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It was such a valuable opportunity to talk with a blind gamer from another country.
Please stay updated with our global connection growing going forward! But in order to make that growth happen… we need to, you know, study English hard!
Read also:
Street Fighter 6 with improved sound accessibility designed with ePARA Inc. to launch June 2
