Ownage video gamer with a twist... he's blind!

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Banned
Mar 17, 2004
3,018
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England
cnn.com said:
LINCOLN, Nebraska (AP) -- Brice Mellen is a whiz at video games such as "Mortal Kombat."

In that regard, the 17-year-old isn't much different from so many others his age.

Except for one thing: He's blind.

And as he easily dispatched foes who took him on recently at a Lincoln gaming center, the affable and smiling Mellen remained humble.

"I can't say that I'm a superpro," he said, working the controller like an extension of his body. "I can be beat."

Those bold enough to challenge him weren't so lucky. One by one, while playing "Soul Calibur 2," their video characters were killed without mercy by Mellen's on-screen alter ego.

"I'm getting bored," Mellen said in jest as he won game after game.

Blind since birth when his optic nerve didn't connect because of Leber's disease, Mellen honed his video game skills over the years through patient and not-so-patient playing, memorizing key joystick operations and moves in certain games, asking lots of questions and paying particular attention to audio cues. He worked his way up from games such as "Space Invaders" and "Asteroid," onto the modern combat games.

"I guess I don't know how I do it, really," Mellen said, as he continued playing while facing away from the screen. "It's beyond me."

Mellen knows this much: He started playing at home when he was about 7.

"He enjoyed trying to play, but he wasn't very good at first," said his father, Larry Mellen. "But he just kept on trying. ... He's broken a lot of controllers."

When the question of broken controllers comes up, Mellen flashes a smile and just shrugs.

"I used to have quite a temper," he said. "Me and controllers didn't get along very well."

Now they get along just fine.

While playing "Soul Caliber 2," Mellen worked his way through the introductory screens with ease, knowing exactly what to click to start the game he wanted.

He rarely asked for help. Once the game started he didn't need any help.

"How do I move?" an exasperated opponent, Ryan O'Banion, asked during a battle in which his character is frozen in place.

"You can't," Mellen answered before finishing him off.

"That's what happens. It's why I don't play him," O'Banion said after his blood-spattered character's corpse vanishes from the screen.

How Mellen became so good is a mystery to his father.

"He just sat there and he tried and tried until he got it right," Larry Mellen said. "He didn't ever complain to me or anyone about how hard it was."

Mellen hangs out any chance he gets at the DogTags Gaming Center in Lincoln, which opened last month. Every now and then someone will come in and think he can easily beat the blind kid.

That attitude doesn't faze Mellen.

"I'll challenge them, maybe. If I feel like a challenge," he said, displaying an infectious confidence. "I freak people out by playing facing backwards."

There's nothing he likes better than playing video games, Mellen said.

He will be a senior in high school next year. After graduation, he plans to take a year off because he wants a break from school.

When he does go to college, Mellen wants to study video game design.


Amazing, simply amazing. Makes you realise determination can overcome any handicap.



Souce: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/07/28/blind.gamer.ap/index.html
 
My mate never actually looks at the screen when he's playing Soul Calibur. He just stares at his pad and bashes away the buttons :lol:

He sucks tho :P
 
Well, thats awesome in some way..

Altough such is the nature of many games, if you play them enough you get good at them, and can beat anyone with ease. The challange comes when you face someone who has had asmuch playtime as yourself.

I think some normal gamer that have used roughly the same amount of time playing that particular game would win aginst him most of the times. Altough, if the game truly gives audio clues to what your opponent is doing before its shown, maybe not.
 
Its great that hes doing it - but i think its limited to certain games.

If you put him in a game like UT or Halo, it would be too difficult as the surroundings always change and enemies can be in the distance e.t.c.

But great to see hes overcome the handicap :)
 
yer, Soul Calibur is a button basher but i was wondering what if somene just jumped over his head and then started beating him up :P
 
i have beaten people by just smashing the gamepad and you can make finish moves by throwing it against a wall.... these games rely on constant key-pushing that's all you got to do :rolleyes:
 
I remeber som of them games you could proberly chain hit the opponent to death.. just figure out some instance squence of buttones and movements...
 
Old streefighter 2, Ryu , Hajoekit hajoekit hajoekit hajoekit hajoekit.

Anyway I'll play that dude in 1v1 deck
 
lol its good to hear he likes to play videogames.. but i mean.. is it usefull?
good that he can play games tho :D