#BrolyLegs

[livthemagician]

A little Chun-Li portrait to honor the memory of a fellow Chun player and friend who sadly passed away last week.

Rest in peace, Mike. I miss you. 💙

[mariotennispowertour]

Michael "BrolyLegs" Begum (April 26, 1988 – March 19, 2024)

Begum was born with arthrogryposis, which hindered his muscle and joint growth and rendered him immobile. Begum's condition led him to develop a technique for playing video games on controllers not designed for gamers with disabilities. He played video games using his face and mouth. To access the analog stick for movement, he placed his cheek on the left side of the controller, while accessing the buttons via pressing his tongue on his lower lip inside his right cheek.

Begum was noted for his competitive nature and skill when playing Street Fighter, often being able to place highly in tournaments. Begum often competed with other professional gamers as esports typically lack the separation of disabled gamers into their own bracket.

"No legs, no hands, no excuses. Always been my motto. No matter what obstacle comes my way I FACE it head on."

(additional sources: wikipedia, vice)

[talk-time-live]

SELECT/START: CONTRA O.G. REVIEW

THIS WEEK:

The Fighting Game Community has lost an icon. BANDAI NAMCO gives us a deeper look into DRAGON BALL SPARKING ZERO

I check out the SAND LAND Demo. Then, in our FINAL STAGE, I review CONTRA Operation Galuga. All this and more in this edition of A.C.M.G. presents TALK TIME LIVE EXTRA: SELECT/START

[baeddel]

i've never seen someone with a disability that majorly affects how they play games who does play either DMC or Dark Souls. i used to watch videos by this guy who would play games with his feet for example, using a playstation controller, and he praised FFXIV for being a mostly accessible game since you could remap everything to a controller or whatever you wanted and it was a feature they put a lot of thought into. and theres lots of people who play fighting games who also can't use their hands in an expected way, one famous guy called BrolyLegs plays competitive Street Fighter with his face, again with a regular controller. but MMOs and Fighting games are kind of different, right? they don't control quite like an action game where you run around and jump and hit guys. while those games have remappable controls and you can play them with anyone in principle (people have beaten them with DDR pads, Donkey Konga bongos, etc.), i haven't encountered someone who actually played them with a disability setup. and i wondered if there's an aspect of those games where the tactility is important—most people for example are horrified by the idea of playing them on keyboard & mouse, even though on the PC port it is the default option—and i can easily imagine that if someone played it on the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which is made for people with disabilities and has a bunch of little buttons you can stick anywhere you want, it would be totally possible but would also feel like playing QWOP and wouldn't be fun at all.

[jeyaar]

Damn rip brolylegs what a legend

[snakespeare]

BROLYLEGS NOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭😭

[gamer-of-the-day]

Today’s Gamer of the Day is: Brolylegs aka Mike Begum

[ghostdives]

10:18 am wishing my body wasn't so useless so that I could get better at video games

Your body is fine as it is, it's all mental

[300iqprower]

Soulslikes deserve easy modes. Fuck you ableist gatekeeping shitheads. Especially if you say “well it’s just not for you”, aka “well I got to enjoy it regardless of anyone else’s struggles, so i dont really care” or “well THIS disabled person did it so clearly its not a problem!” Because as we all know the existence of BrolyLegs means we dont need accessibility controls, i mean HE can compete in FGC with just a fightstick, same logic so it checks out! Bonus points too if they simultaneously claim “you’re using disabled people as an excuse!”

…But not so much Dark Souls or Bloodborne type games need these things (they still do) as Sekiro type ones. Because a game like Dark Souls, with its build diversity and myriad of options for approach, gives you the tools to overcome challenges in all sorts of ways. Bloodborne’s focus on aggression over precisely makes it surprisingly forgiving on a moment to moment basis as super easy to learn through experience. Sekiro meanwhile is entirely built around one play style: fast reactionary gameplay with microscopic amounts of forgiveness. It is inherently designed in a way that focuses on hand-eye coordination leaving many people with certain disabilities or other external factors SoL because there is no sorcery cheese. There is no alternative weapon style. And to top it off Sekiro actively punishes you on a NARRATIVE front for dying often as well, punishing a player for learning the game, something anyone can tell you is a pace unique to an individual. And yet people have the gall to say a lack of that would “taint” the experience by making it different for different people.

And regardless all three kinds deserve them because it hurts no one, contrary to bullshit arguments like “resource drain” “balancing issues” and my personal favorite “it ruins the experience”. Okay. Then dont use that mode. Problem solved. And the other ‘problems’ are only problems if they are done badly. A normal mode should be exactly that: Normal. The default. The Intended Experience. The one you design the game around, and retroactively change a bit for an easy mode. As for for resources, does it use resources? Of course. Is it a resource drain? Of course not. Putting a wheelchair ramp isnt a resource drain. Depending on the complexity of the structure, it could require a degree of planning and construction, but to call it a resource drain only makes sense if you’re trying to falsify a tax write off.

[belovednaki]

“Oh hey who’s this kayopolice person from EVO 2011?” *comment section is full of transphobic remarks* “Wow she’s really pretty and cute and really good at SFIV!!!” *numerous comments that try to “correct” anyone who uses she when addressing kayo to he* “wow the FGC community was so inclusive back in 2011 and the commentators didn’t even make a big deal about her being trans and used the correct pronouns!!!” *“ur gay if u think kayopolice is pretty” “only bisexuals would be able to have sex with her”* “i JUST LOVE HOW RESPECTFUL PEOPLE WERE”

[1-800-ghost-dance]

went to pax south this afternoon destroyed this dad in front of his kid in windjammers 2 and saw brolylegs in line for streets of rage 4 !

[maskcftlalli]

wait wait hold up did lowtiergod seriously insult brolylegs, a handicapped sf player

[asweetmagicalgirl]

My 2 cents on game journalists being bad at games wanting to skip things.

"Should there be a Skip Boss Fight or Skip Gameplay button?"

Some Journalists want to argue that we NEED one cause they fear people get excluded from enjoying games such as Dark Souls, Devil May Cry what have you.

Now what do I think? No there shouldn't be a skip gameplay or Skip Boss Fight button. And here is why.

Gameplay is the most important part of a game it's what makes a game a game and not a Movie or a Book or even a Music Album there is a difference between these 4 forms of media. Journos want to argue that you should be able to skip parts of a game cause you can do it with movies and books But it is like ordering a Big Mac but removing the Burger and the sauce giving you just the lettuce and bread.

Journos want to spin it like that other people get excluded but I honestly don't think Challenge and Gameplay are inherently exclusionary to begin with since it is up to you to learn how to play a game get good and use the mechanics and tools given to you. And not what some Journalist or Wannabe Activists wants.

Now let's put it in perspective what if a Skip Button was a thing for gameplay and boss battles. Would it feel rewarding or even satisfying? Well....No No it wouldn't cause you essentially skip out 90% of the experience leaving you with barely anything to have fun with aside from watching a whole host of cutscenes.

Imagine you are playing Persona 5 but you skip out on all the palaces and Mementos Visits aswell as Day to Day life and go right to the ending it would not be satisfying and you should be watching the anime next year.

Now ofcourse you can be like "But what about those people who have disabilities?!" I am still gonna say no. Cause there are far better alternatives such as button remapping or ways to simplify the gameplay but not take away the challenge. Cause you have to take into account that these people may most likely want to PLAY the game and not skip these sections to watch a 6 to 10 hour movie. A Skip Gameplay and Boss fight button just undermines the experience altogether no matter the circumstances.

And some journalists want to say that people are entitled to see everything of a game. I am sorry but NO you gotta earn your way to the ending of a game instead of being able to go to it. Cause you will lack context aswell as have zero satisfaction from it cause the game has played itself for you essentially. You are NOT entitled to this stuff at all you gotta earn it. I had to fight my way to folks like Vergil or Senator Armstrong which were two of my best boss battles cause there was a lot of hype moments and stuff that I played through myself that feeling you won't get by skipping around.

Ultimately Journos exclude themselves by coming up with these dumb ideas cause they don't want to rise up to the challenge they do not want to get good. Worse off they want to bring up groups of people as a way to validate their ideas even though you don't even know what the people in said groups have in their minds or know their skills with games to begin with.

Cause to be honest you have disabled gamers that got amazing skills at the games they play such as Halfcoordinated who speedruns Platinum Games or BrolyLegs that plays Street Fighter for example both types of games that are very challenging and execution heavy in some ways. But they got skilled at the games they rose up to the challenge and they made use of the tools and mechanics provided.

And to me that's amazing to see and I would hate to see such things undermined by the existence of a Skip Game button.

That's about it from me about this topic.

[instapicsil1]

Using his mouth and cheek, Brolylegs competes as one of the best Street Fighter players in the world. (via @espne60) https://ift.tt/2YSzrEb

[jeyaar]

man i'll say it again fuckin rip brolylegs bro that guy had such a fucking good attitude never let his situation get the best of him