Attention All Pinball Manufacturers!

Cary Hardy·video·3m 28s·analyzed·Nov 8, 2023

Analysis

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TL;DR

Hardy urges pinball manufacturers to adopt accessibility standards with Inclusive Gameworks.

Summary

Cary Hardy advocates for pinball manufacturers to partner with Inclusive Gameworks to make pinball accessible to players with disabilities. He highlights Stern Pinball as the only major manufacturer currently working with Inclusive Gameworks through Project Pinball at a Chicago children's hospital, and requests other manufacturers implement standardized connection hardware (like ethernet ports) to accommodate adaptive controllers.

Key Claims

Stern Pinball is the only pinball manufacturer that has done anything meaningful with Inclusive Gameworks so far
high confidence · Hardy states this directly as observation from Pinball Expo conversations and notes Stern provided a game via Project Pinball to a Chicago children's hospital
Inclusive Gameworks has developed controller devices that enable people with various disabilities to play pinball (including those unable to use hands/arms or only able to use cheek controls)
high confidence · Hardy directly observed these devices at Pinball Expo and describes the range of disability accommodations being worked on
Most pinball manufacturers have not provided easy hardware connectivity standards for Inclusive Gameworks devices
medium confidence · Hardy states 'it's like they can make a device and it can work but it's not like anybody could do this type of thing' implying lack of standardization
An ethernet port or quick-connect/disconnect hardware on machines would make accessibility integration significantly easier
medium confidence · Hardy proposes this as a practical solution, speaking to feasibility but not confirmed as technically necessary by Inclusive Gameworks

Notable Quotes

“Stern Pinball is the only one so far that has basically done anything with the Inclusive Gameworks. They provided the game via Project Pinball to this children's hospital in Chicago, and you can see them playing it utilizing the Inclusive Gameworks controller.”
Cary Hardy @ ~1:00-1:20 — Establishes Stern as the industry leader on accessibility and serves as the call-to-action benchmark for other manufacturers
“Don't let Stern be the only one.”
Cary Hardy @ ~4:50 — Direct appeal to competitive motivation; frames accessibility as a shared industry responsibility
“They're also completely okay with you coming up with your own hardware to connect to your game. To give those out there the ability to play pinball that are currently unable to.”
Cary Hardy @ ~0:40-0:50 — Clarifies that Inclusive Gameworks is flexible and collaborative, not prescriptive; reduces barrier to manufacturer participation
“I think it would be really nice to have like let's just say an ethernet port somewhere on the machine and you just basically you can connect it like you're connecting a controller to a console”
Cary Hardy @ ~3:40-3:50 — Proposes concrete technical implementation pathway that could be adopted industry-wide

Entities

Inclusive GameworksorganizationStern PinballcompanyCary Hardyperson Project Pinballproduct Pinball Expoevent

Signals

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business_signal: Accessibility and inclusive design emerging as potential market differentiation and corporate social responsibility opportunity for pinball manufacturers
medium · Hardy frames Stern's accessibility work as leadership position and appeals to other manufacturers' competitive motivation ('Don't let Stern be the only one')
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community_signal: Stern Pinball demonstrating commitment to accessibility through Project Pinball partnership with Inclusive Gameworks and children's hospital involvement
high · Hardy directly observed Stern's game at Chicago children's hospital being used with Inclusive Gameworks controllers; this is confirmed partnership
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market_signal: Inclusive gaming and disability accessibility becoming a visible community priority within pinball industry
medium · Hardy uses Pinball Expo as platform to advocate for industry-wide standards; suggests this is gaining grassroots momentum despite limited manufacturer adoption

Topics

Accessibility and inclusive design in pinballprimaryHardware standardization and manufacturer coordinationprimaryStern Pinball's leadership on accessibility initiativesprimaryAdaptive controller technology for people with disabilitiessecondaryIndustry best practices and competitive differentiationsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Hardy is encouraging and collaborative in tone, praising Stern's efforts while making a respectful call-to-action to other manufacturers. No negativity toward manufacturers, only constructive criticism and gentle pressure to join the accessibility effort. The underlying message is hopeful about industry-wide potential.

Transcript

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We're just going to wing this, so we'll just see how this goes. Attention all pinball manufacturers, I know you're watching. At Pinball Expo, I had the luxury of meeting a few gentlemen at Inclusive Gameworks, and they were showing me the different devices, controller devices, that give a lot of people out there that can't play pinball the ability to do so. And this is something that we were going back and forth about, and all I merely want to do is just kind of put the information out there, kindly request that all manufacturers reach out to Inclusive Gameworks and working together on something on this. And all they're really asking is that you just make it a little easier or accessible for them to connect these devices that they are working on. And they're also completely okay with you coming up with your own hardware to connect to your game. To give those out there the ability to play pinball that are currently unable to. Stern Pinball is the only one so far that has basically done anything with the Inclusive Gameworks. They provided the game via Project Pinball to this children's hospital in Chicago, and you can see them playing it utilizing the Inclusive Gameworks controller. They were showing me all types of projects that they currently working on to go across the entire spectrum of different types of disabilities that individuals may have The ability to not use your hands or your arms or only be able to use your cheek. These are just things that they're working on to try to make pinball more inclusive. and all i'm saying to you other manufacturers out there is to try to reach out to this market whether it be you come up with your own hardware or reach out to inclusive game works and talk to them figure out what it is that you guys can do on your end to make it more accessible because as of right now with a lot of manufacturers and machines it's like they can make a device and it can work but it's not like anybody could do this type of thing so i guess in my mind i think it would be really nice to have like let's just say an ethernet port somewhere on the machine and you just basically you can connect it like you're connecting a controller to a console and then you have your flipper buttons and your start button your launch button all right here or if you're using another one of the other devices basically just a really quick connect or disconnect for a lot of people out there i think that would be nice so if you are an individual that would like one of these devices or better yet if you are one of the manufacturers and you would like to make your games a little more inclusive i will put the inclusive gameworks email address in the video description down below. Come on, guys. Don't let Stern be the only one.