Aaron Rasmussen and Michael T. Astolfi have a project going called BlindSide, for which there's a Kickstarter, to create "a video game with no graphics, played entirely using audio." The idea is to create an interactive audio adventure, set in a fully three-dimensional world that you perceive only with sound.
The idea to build a sound-only game hit them when Aaron temporarily lost his sight in high school following a serious chemistry accident.
As long time gamers we were searching for a new gaming experience. Think of the most amazing gaming experiences you may have had: the first time you played a fighting game like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. The first time you played an FPS like Wolfenstein 3D. The first time you played an online multiplayer game with your friends like CounterStrike or StarCraft.
This is not a social game, this is not an MMO, this is not a game designed to make money. This is a game designed to be fun, to be hard, and to push the boundaries of what players expect video games to be. This is a game designed to challenge us the way Zork and Super Mario Brothers have. This is a game designed to reward those who persist and overcome it, the way you might have felt after completing The Dig or Half-Life. But most of all, this is a game designed to thrill its players in brand new ways.
Wait, is this game for blind people?
The answer is no – this is a game for everyone. The game will be fully accessible to the visually impaired, however, the primary objective of the game is to create a fun gaming experience for all gamers. When complete, the game will be able to be experienced identically by sighted and visually impaired players alike.
Cory has previously blogged on Boing Boing about other binaural audio gaming projects.
Below, video for a cool talk Michael gave at TEDxGallatin on games as "Supernormal stimuli."
