Mar 3 2010Brings A Tear To My Eye: Three Guys Create 100,000 Keystroke Move-By-Move Script So A Blind Gamer Can Beat Ocarina Of Time

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant...

awwwwwwww, this made my day

Wow....just, wow.

'So despite the fact that this might just look a little weird, try and see things the way Jordan does'.

LMAO! Is that like some sort of pisstake line? hahahahaha. He doesn't see things! doydoydoydoydoyyy

Another reason to be the BEST GAME EVER

That's just beautiful. And I'm sure the orchestral, angelic-sung version of Alice's Restaurant was pretty awesome. Sucks I missed that one.

Nerds are so awesome and kind too!!!

one time i told a girl i was a virgin, and in an eternity of 20 minutes, she cured me of my affliction. she squeezed it right out.

The pizza is delicious

Respect dude thats the most awesome thing some1 can do to a blind-zelda fan! !!!

*wipes eye* thats awesome

no video? well fuck you too GW

Fucking awesome

I wonder if they bothered showing him how to acquire the lens of truth since...well...you know...not really necessary :|

This brings tears to my eyes.

Respect. Awesomeness

That's cool they did that, but how did they manage the reaction based stuff like dodging random attacks?

Now to help that gamer with no arms clear Super Metroid by using a pencil in his mouth to push buttons.

I'm sorry to sound callous, but I don't find this sweet or touching. It's swell that this guy finished Zelda and I'm sure it was ultra challenging, but it's no more interesting than any of the myriad of other eccentric things nerdy gamers do (I know, because I am one); like said speed runs or just playing through a game over and over till every last secret item is found, etc...

What I don't like hearing is how strong and empowered it made this blind kid feel, how it's a symbol that blindness doesn't have to hold you down or how just sheer determination can solve any problem and the sky is the limit and nothing is impossible. That's total bullshit. He still had to get THREE OTHER PEOPLE to play the game and write it down for him...it would have been more effective to just sit in the room and listen to someone play through the game...certainly would have saved him 2 years of wasted time. There is no way he could have achieved any of that by himself...because it IS impossible for him.

But there in lies the twist, geeks and nerds do wacky things sometimes, for no other reason except they just want to.

So bravo blind guy...you beat Zelda by listening to a guide. You have effectively proved you have good critical listening skills.

"but on the internet, he's just one of many..." - ah ah

@19 And you've effectively proven you're a douche! Bravo! I'm sure you're celebrating by basking in the freedom internet anonymity gives you to marginalize the achievements and good will of others.

That's beautiful man. Give that guy a freakin medal.

Everyone deserves to Zelda... and bless those guys for making it possible.

This post is garage.

There is garage on the INTERNET, so rather than bring all that garage up here....

#19 you're an idiot who tries to debase the kindness of others and the valiant efforts of others just because you think you're the coolest nerdy gamer out there or something. I bet you live in your mom's basement. Get a life.
Kudos to #21 for calling him out.
Besides, GW thinks it's a worthy video, and so it is

That is SO HARD CORE!!!

I'm sorry, but #19 is fucking right. Anyone who says differently is an idiot. He accomplished nothing. Someone said "Press A" and he pressed A. He did that a few thousand times. Two years were wasted so that this guy could press all the right buttons in the right order to eventually "beat the game" without actually experiencing any of it, and people call it "inspirational." He didn't solve the puzzles or use skill or reasoning of any kind. He just listened to the music and followed orders.

If someone blindfolded me, sat me down at a computer, opened up Word, and told me every single key to press until "The Grapes of Wrath" came out, it wouldn't make me a fucking writer. It would just be a really retarded way for someone else to write a book. Nothing against the blind guy or the people who helped him, but the reaction to this story is just groan-inducing.

it's a good thing there are people like 27 to tell us we're all idiots. blindfolding writers IS DEFINITELY a retarded way to write the Grapes of Wrath. (no wonder newspapers don't take me seriously, i'll take the blindfold off for my next job interview) helping the blind is such a waste of time. we should stop teaching blind people braille because it's just not the same as reading!! they shouldn't be allowed to enjoy what we privileged seeing folk do. thanks for enlightening me!

P.S. scoop out your eyes with a spoon dumbfuck

#28, have you ever even heard an analogy before? Okay, let me sum it up. In this analogy, the one telling the blindfolded typist what to write is the real writer, and the one wearing the blindfold is little more than a monkey who presses the buttons he's told to press. Understand? To follow up on your point, the game wasn't in fucking braille! You can't teach a blind person to see something on a TV screen the same way they can read a book. There is no way he could possibly understand what was happening other than being told by someone who could see. Had it been a text adventure game in which the adventure really is in your head, or maybe some sort of emulation hack to add narration/explanation in the same way movies are modified for the blind, then this story truly would have been inspiring, as the blind gamer could actually play the game. As it is, he's a monkey, and the only people who actually accomplished anything are the three seeing gamers, whose grand achievement was creating the most painfully in depth video game walkthrough ever written.

If you're not just trolling (and I suspect, or at least hope you are), you seriously need to take a reading comprehension class.

Sweet comments:
#3 - not wow, so Zelda....just, Zelda.(in humor of course)

To #27 (and all of meh)
If a blind person gains a sense of accomplishment for being able to experience all the sounds related to completing a game that he *MUST* enjoy the music for, then all the more power to this individual (not monkey) for his feelings being bolstered. You and I might not think this seems like much, but we aren't the benefactors of such a waste of time. So, while you (and I) are in desperate need of a "Heart", at least I'm trying to see without my eyes as to why this might be more important than you or me.

To #30
SHOES ROCK - Paying for them sucks. Now quit posting your crap in wonderfully organized flaming sessions!!!

#31, I see what you're saying, and believe it or not, this is actually a subject I've thought about a great deal. If I lost my sight, could I do something like play through a video game in its entirety via rote memory? It's interesting to think about, and impressive that it was (sort of) done. But this isn't exactly a story about memory or skill (like solving a Rubik's cube blindfolded for example), nor is it really about overcoming a disability. Any person with enough time on their hands could play through OoT with their eyes closed if someone told them what buttons to press. This is a great example of nerds doing nerdy things, akin to tool-assisted speedruns as was mentioned in the video. But the spin that was put on it, as well as the reactions from the other commenters (especially the idiotic ad hominem responses to #19 and myself), really did make me facepalm.

@32

Are you serious? You may have thought of the logic behind this a good deal but not the heart. Obviously your completly missing the point. The point was to experience playing a game. To experience a world, if only in part, that was closed of to him because of his disability; gaming. It's not about the accomplishment of winning the game. Are you that thick that you don't understand this? Really? Comparing him to a monkey? Is something missing in your brain that you don't understand this simple simple concept? No its not a story about solving memory or "skill" you idiot. It's about taking time and effort to improve this blind man's quality of life, by giving him the tools to experience something he enjoys. Please don't drone on and on about the actual accomplishment of winning the game, that's not the point.

Just goes to show you that people are inherently kind beings. I just wish the masses would adopt this approach. Kudos to these folks, they epitomize the type of altruism which should all aspire to.

Umm, ok. So what's the point? The guy spent two years playing a video (note the word "video" there) game that he'll never see. I mean ok, cool conversation starter, but where do you go from there? I don't know, if I were blind I think I'd spend my time a little more usefully, but whatever. I guess it's nice that some folks did so much to lend him a helping hand, but this story just didn't jerk my tears like it was supposed to. Now everyone call me a big a**hole.

wow....that was pretty frickin' cool of them!
fer you naysayers, i guess sending a terminally ill child to space camp is a waste of time, too, huh? seeing as they'll never grow up to be astronauts?
i don't give a flying frick if he feels any kind of accomplishment, but the fact that he go to do something he really wanted to do is worth it in my book.
and that a couple guys worked fer so long, just to make someone happy should also be enough.
i hope (cause i'm an insensative bastard) that you go blind soon....try learning braille at yer age, dipshits.
but i guess the good thing is, we'll never see you on this site again.
unless yer responses are dictated to you like some kind of "monkey."
(oooh....sick burn!)
(and then maybe you'll get hit by one of those electric cars...cause yer hearing hasn't developed enough!

@19, I think your just jealous that a blind person beat Ocarina of time before you did. Bravo blind person, you have efficiently prooved you are less of a douche than this guy

same goes for Meh

This game is wonderful. The fact that these people worked to help yet another person complete the game and feel closer to the Zelda universe should be enough for anyone to accept as kindness. Even with a computer, imagine how difficult it would be to play ANY game blind. Quite an accomplishment, indeed.

Hello world of Geekologie. I am Roy Williams the person seen in this video.

I just wanted to point out to the people who lack the brain capacity to see the point of it something. Honestly, do you think I sat down day to day determining what to do for dungeon after dungeon, navigating around Hyrule field, and determining what the best angle for something, just so I could say "yay a blind guy beat the game"?

No, myself, Drew, Mark, and Jeff sat down to do this to help a person experience some part of the game. Yes you can sit him down in a room and let him hear everything. What's the point of that though? He doesn't get the thrill of killing a monster for himself. Also, if you pay attention, he was beating game bosses alone before we even showed up. Check his youtube channel, 'Genuinescorruption'. We came along to help him complete the quests so he could get some what of a feel for what it's like to go through the entire thing. Even on my YouTube channel I mentioned it. You can find all sorts of our blind folded gameplay videos on our channels. Mine is Linkfreak12 (well it was) until I switched to StrickeN303. Drew's is Runnerguy2489 <-- holder of the fastest completion of the game ever. Just searching on YouTube, Legend of Zelda Blind, pulls up numerous of our videos.

We wanted to help Jordan Verner know what it's like to play the game. He didn't want us to do it for him. He wanted to experience it for himself. I highly disrespect anyone who lacks the compassion for another human being simply because he/she has a disability. It also angers me to think that so many people would insult our hard work. You sit down for 2 years writing down every maneuver you make to help some one to get from point A to point B without looking, then you can come to me or the rest of the team and insult it.

What we did was sort of a slap in the face to Nintendo. Who had options to put accesibility features in their games for blind people but opted not too. We did the best we could to incorporate these features into the game. We have intents on opening a company that writes similar guides for other games so that any person blind or not can enjoy the experience. To blind people, this allows them to feel like any other human being, instead of being hated upon by the rest of the world. To a sighted person, this is a challenge. It takes more skill to do this than you could ever in your life imagine. you might not see this as a truth, but try thinking with your more than just your eyes. Try memorizing 879,429 moves. Yes that's the exact count on how many moves it takes to do the entire game. Try fighting bosses by sound alone. We didn't write a single script for any boss. It's possible to beat them all with your ears alone. Which Jordan Proved to us day one. Showing us some of his videos of beating many, many bosses with sound all to itself.

If anyone here, has doubts that Jordan is a great person and that he deserves the right to play the game like anyone else, you now have my most utter disrespect.

GEEK FIGHT!!!!!!!! But yeah anyways if the kid felt good about beating it, then awesome. Props to the people who took the time to help him, I would feel accomplished beating something blind, because how many blind people can say they beat Zelda? Isn't that why we do it guys to rub it in other peoples faces? Anyways good job Roy, everyone needs to beat Zelda once in their life and for the blind kid, don't let the alpha geeks in the world get to you. Zelda isn't that hard of a game for those who can see anyone who brags about it doesn't deserve to own a 64. I mean you can speed through Ocarina and Majora in a week or less.

The people degrading a blind kid and the people that helped him are scum of the earth. There are very few times in my life when I feel like a human being deserves to spend an eternity in hell. Right now is one of those times. You people are useless and I hope the worst for you. It's clear you talk crap about a blind kid behind a computer because you'd get your a** kicked if you ran your mouth to someone in person. I think my 10 year old cousin that's a girl could kick the crap out of you tools.

Oh yeah, and the fact that you felt the need to bash a blind person(behind a computer no less) says all I need to know about you as people. Just because you feel that way(and are horrible human beings) doesn't mean you have to say it. But of course you have small weiner syndrome and never get laid so you have to find a way to feel better about yourself. It's very clear you have all the time in the world because you're so removed from reality. Try making some friends. Maybe you wouldn't be such bitter pieces of crap.

he may not be able to see the game, but he can still experience the story and the adventure. he just uses a lot more imagination. when you read a book, you use your mind to imagine the details and characters, even though you can't see them like in a movie. it is true that he can never experience the game like a normal person, but this just makes it more unique for him, not worse. to him, he accomplished a lot. i think that's the important part.

Yeah Nintendo!!! Think about the blind kids next time before you create a VIDEO game!!!!!! I am going to write a guide on how blind people can drive cars in a step by step procedure just so I can slap Ford in the face for not thinking about the blind people!!!! Look man your motives for helping the kid are great. But, what your saying about nintendo is just ignorant.

#32, when I was younger after playing Pokemon red the first time round for so long, when I picked it up like a year ago to play again I could navigate all the "dark" caves without using Flash, those were pitch black and I got from one end to the other.
I'm sure that could be expanded further but I don't know.

Paying a kindness to others is NEVER a waste of time, even if it takes years to accomplish. Bravo Roy, Drew, Mark and Jeff. A /highfive to Jordan, who's proven he is a master of the four other senses.

(Roy Williams can I blindfold you and not play video games? ;)

Thanks for making me cry, I needed that. ;_;

That was heartfelt.

Life Sucks!! Life F*nSucks! Let's Make Everyone Else's Life Suck, why don't we!

No. 19, No 27! I'll fight you with everything I have if you can prove to me that you've ever put as much effort into finishing anything in your life as much as any blind person has!

You think your the man cause you can put people down and make their efforts seem smaller than what YOU'VE done! Honestly?! Take a look inside! This person fights and Gives!

Gives to everyone that has seen this blog! I guarentee you that!! What do you
do that's worth fighting for?... or Give to anybody!!!!!

I guarentee it's not to better people... only to make yourself look like your worth something, if anything!!!

Anonyminity?! Ha! My Name Is Ryan L. Schellhas!
You can kiss my butt! And you know what? look into your heart and PROVE
me wrong! I love you too a$$holes! All you did here is belittle the people that made the game, and who it was made for!! We seriously all wish you would've never played it, so that your bullcrap life would've never been a COMMENT on anyone's mind, From now to the Next one!

For All Those Who Appreciate!!!!! Thank You!
You know what? For all the geeks out there in Geekologie, I've never even played the game but I'm defitely a GEEK! Found you guys on Google when I was drunk! But you know what?! A$$holes are @$$holes!!

It doesn't matter where they come from or what they've learned! Until they learn what's worth fighting for, they will always B aswholes!

I thank you everyone else for fighting 4 what's right! You will never find a better place than where you're at RIGHT NOW!

The one's that play and never grow, will ALWAYS show for what they NOW!

First off, sorry for the late comment. I don't browse around the internet much. If this bumps the story then I apologize. But I wanted to address a few things:

I am Drew aka Runnerguy2489. I was the first one to send a message to Jordan talking about this. The story is a bit misleading when it says 2 years. Yeah, I sent my first message to him in 07 and we didn't finish until 09, but there were many gaps of months where no communication occurred. In fact, nearly all of the game (from Jabu Jabu to the end) was finished between July 09 and November 09. Entire dungeons/temples could be completed in an online skype session of just a few hours.

The comments here do not surprise me. Since this story broke, there are always two main reactions: People who like it and think it's heart-warming, and people who don't like it and don't get why a blind person would do this. No use fighting either side here, but I did want to mention that Jordan is quite far from just simply following instructions and playing like a monkey. He beat the entire deku tree with no outside help. He did this through trial and error for every single room. It was this video mostly that got me interested in helping.

He asks a lot about the surroundings...what X room is like, how Y puzzle works, and so on. He gets very in-depth with the game. "What type of movement or action is Twinrova doing when they make this sound?" There were only a few puzzles I believe that were too complicated to comprehend, and that's probably mostly my fault for doing a poor job of explaining it. :p One was a block pushing puzzle in the water temple.

Additionally, he must react to each of his surroundings just as a sighted person would. When Link changes from a dirt path to a grassy area, he knows it and is able to take that knowledge and apply it to figure out where he's at. When he is near enemies and the music changes, he must be aware of this. Speaking of enemies, there were no scripts written for any battle in the game; he beat them all on his own using his hearing. If you would take the time to talk with him about a boss strategy, you'd know that he's tried many things and has a set plan of attack against them based on what he hears.

Anyway, this post is long enough and I know the conversation ended months ago, but I felt like adding my 2 cents to anyone else who reads through the comments.