\u201cTo put it simply, I kind of have extra strength in my feet, and then I\u2019ve also kind of adapted to use my feet as well,\u201d said AJ. \u201cSo while I lost a lot, I gained a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even without the use of his hands, AJ has no problem playing video games. While he enjoys games like Super Metroid and space combat simulators, fighting games like Street Fighter 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are titles he\u2019s especially proficient in.<\/p>\n
Confidence is a theme with AJ, who graduated this year from Northern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Informatics, with a focus on game design. However, it wasn\u2019t until late in high school that he decided to take up coding.<\/p>\n AJ\u2019s original plan was to become a video game journalist. Concerns with the position, one of them being the travel requirements, led him to rethink what he wanted to do. Intent on pursuing something in the game industry, it wasn\u2019t until he met an accomplished programmer did he decide game design was the path he wanted to follow.<\/p>\n \u201cIn high school, I met a programmer that made a lot of games I liked as a kid,\u201d AJ said. \u201cI\u2019m like \u2018you know what, I can do this,\u2019 and he really inspired me to learn how to code and learn how to make games.\u201d<\/p>\n That programmer was Jay Moon, best known for Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and NBA Jam for the Super Nintendo, the latter of which he\u2019s featured as a secret character, along with the likes of former NBA All-Stars Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Juwan Howard.<\/p>\n While AJ did go to school for game design, most of his knowledge of coding was learned during his own time. During college, he worked as a mobile developer at the Center of Applied Informatics at his University, taking part in the development of games such as Foster Jump and Slam Flash. According to AJ, most of his practice and methodologies came from his time with the program.<\/p>\n AJ relied on his passion for retro gaming and accessibility, combined with his experience developing mobile games, to take on his next project. Earlier this year, SEGA announced that it will officially support mods for SEGA Genesis on Steam. Being one of his favorite consoles, AJ decided to test his skills by creating accessibility mods for classic games he loved as a child.<\/p>\n What AJ did was create \u201cChill Edition\u201d mods for games such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe. These mods included infinite lives, extra time and tweaked elements of the games to make them easier, with the goal of allowing gamers to experience them at their own pace without fear of failure, a mode of play he also refers to as \u201cGod Mode.\u201d While accessibility was at the forefront of his decision to publish these mods, the response he got was overwhelming.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I\u2019d put a few out there and they\u2019d get 10 downloads a piece and that would be the end of it,\u201d said AJ. \u201cI did a count and all of my mods have like, 10,000 downloads on them in total, and that was a few weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Interestingly enough, while the disability community embraced AJ\u2019s \u201cChill Mods,\u201d many other people took advantage of the eased difficulty to experience these games in full for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing is, they\u2019re not only for people with disabilities I found out,\u201d said AJ. \u201cA lot of the comments I get are like \u2018Hey I can play with my son\u2019 or \u2018Golden Axe is way too difficult for me, even now as an adult.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n AJ has his own ideas when it comes to accessibility, which he hopes to one day bring to a large development team to further accessibility in the industry. Among his ideas, AJ sees the success of his SEGA \u201cChill Mods\u201d as a demand the industry isn\u2019t capitalizing on.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I found surprising is that God mode isn\u2019t in more games, because you can disable achievements and then just add God mode,\u201d AJ said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a really hard thing to add in, and I\u2019m really surprised that it\u2019s not in more games.\u201d<\/p>\n While AJ admits Nintendo and their console UI designs feature too little accessibility, he pointed out the newly released Star Fox Zero as a game that includes a form of God Mode\u00a0and is better for it.<\/p>\n Accessibility, AJ states, was one of the reasons he wanted to learn to code in the first place. He believes that while console accessibility has improved since options like controller remapping have been added to the Xbox One and Playstation 4, accessibility has taken a step backwards when it comes to the games themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cReally it\u2019s not that hard, it can help out a lot of people, and I want to prove that to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Now that he graduated college, AJ is focused on continuing work on his \u201cChill Mods,\u201d taking on other small projects and padding his portfolio in hopes of landing a job with a big development studio in the industry. While he enjoys working at his own game studio, the accessibility focused Inclusive Games, he always has his eyes set on bigger things.<\/p>\n AJ was \u201cecstatic\u201d when he found out he won the AbleGamers Fellowship award, which is funded by the AbleGamers Charity and aimed towards increasing diversity in the field of game design. AJ hopes the Fellowship will help him stand out to potential employers, doubling down on his desire to be unique among game designers.<\/p>\n \u201cIn what way can I make myself unique?\u201d AJ asked himself. \u201cAccessibility is what I picked, and I stuck with it. It turns out that a lot of people appreciate accessibility like I do.”<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things other than the money that the Fellowship comes with. I\u2019m really excited to meet all these great people and work with them on cool stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Champions of accessibility are few and far between in the game industry. AJ is unique because he sees accessibility as more than optional, but as an essential, positive force that helps millions across the globe enjoy video games. Alongside AbleGamers and their supporters across the industry, AJ is striving to change the conversation around accessibility and help make gaming a more inclusive hobby for all.<\/p>\n \u201cThey help so many people enjoy games who otherwise could not,\u201d AJ said, speaking of AbleGamers. \u201cTheir work and reach definitely inspire me to make my games accessible to make AbleGamers\u2019 job as easy as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n One thing is for certain: not only are the things AJ works on \u201ccool,\u201d they also have a profound impact on thousands of people and their enjoyment of video games, from both the disability community and otherwise. With the AbleGamers Fellowship in hand, AJ is primed to enter the game industry as a champion of accessibility and the AbleGamers mission, helping to change lives and serving as a positive force from within.<\/p>\n We wish AJ the best of luck with all his future endeavors\u00a0and heartfelt congratulations for winning the AbleGamers Fellowship. We look forward to seeing how he shapes the future of the industry in the years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alex James Ryan (AJ) has always been unique. He grew up playing video games, watching Cartoon Network and Pok\u00e9mon, normal interests for a boy growing up in the late 1990\u2019s and early 2000\u2019s. Unlike most children, he grew up relying on his feet to do the things a person\u2019s hands normally would. Disabled from birth, AJ had to overcome this adversity and learn to live his life differently than most.<\/p>\n![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deeplyheld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/5qX8G-CV-165x300-165x300.jpg?resize=165%2C300\")
<\/strong>\u201cActually, I don\u2019t have any friends that can keep up with me in fighting games,\u201d AJ said with a laugh, exuding confidence.<\/p>\n![\"Close](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deeplyheld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/n-nJ5fff-169x300-169x300.jpg?resize=169%2C300\")
\u201cI wanted to make sure that when I talked about accessibility in gaming, I could do it too,\u201d said AJ. \u201cA lot of these large companies think accessibility costs millions of dollars, nobody is going to use these features, all of these things.<\/p>\n