Microsoft is taking its Gaming for Everyone Xbox One slogan seriously, recently adding wheelchair avatars as an option for players. This comes as part of Microsoft’s attempt to implement new features to the console that embrace diversity and inclusion.
Recently Xbox chief Phil Spencer was asked on Twitter about the idea of having disabled avatars using wheelchairs and he responded that it was actually something Microsoft had been mulling over. Not long after that Mike Ybarra, head of Windows and Xbox program, posted pictures of the new avatars: a man and woman straddled in what looks like Xbox One sponsored wheelchairs.
The tweets that followed Ybarra’s post were mostly positive, complementing Microsoft on its move towards diversity, although many commenters had one thing to say: the wheelchairs were old-fashioned looking and ugly. “That’s like an old person hospital chair,” tweeted Xbox Addict, while another person asked Microsoft, “Please don’t make us use ugly chairs.”
Microsoft was accused of being “out of touch” with its users in the comments that followed, with Xbox One fans sending pictures of themselves in their wheelchairs to demonstrate what a modern-looking unit looks like.
Microsoft may have blundered a little on wheelchair design, but the company has been doing much to make gaming more accessible to more diverse groups of users. At a recent event called Social Gaming Sprint for Team Xbox the focus was on “inclusive design” or as Microsoft stated in a blog post, “enabling all types of gamers to play as they want, in the way they want. We need to challenge all of our perceptions.”
This included Microsoft coming up with solutions for users who cannot communicate with each other while playing, giving the example of non-verbal players and players with hearing loss. Disabled avatars, such as ones with hearing loss or using a wheelchair, was also discussed.
Microsoft is not alone is this move towards what is considered gaming modernity. Earlier this year Facebook became more diverse in terms of Messenger emojis, adding to the list of emojis different skin tones, red-haired folks, and women doing things they may not have been expected to do 100 years ago.
Photo credit: Mike Ybarra via Twitter
Source: xbox one – Google News
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