Disability and Video Games: Practices of En-/Disabling Modes of Digital Gaming (Palgrave Games in Context)

Hardcover, xix + 357 pages, NOT ex-library. Book is clean and bright throughout with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Issued without a dust jacket. -- This interdisciplinary book explores the relationship between digital gaming, accessibility, and disability studies. It shifts away from medical models that view disability as a "deficit" and instead examines how gaming infrastructures - human and technological - can either enable or disable players. The volume's central premise is that disability is not an essential characteristic of a person, but a result of complex infrastructures of play. The authors argue against the traditional view that users are either "normal" or "unable to play" due to physical limitations. The book analyzes how the interplay between hardware, software, and human practices creates situations of access or exclusion. Individual chapters provide historical, technical, and critical perspectives on the gaming landscape. They trace the development of accessible gaming back to the 1970s, covering amateur "DIY" practices, voice-enabled gaming, and the history of eye-tracking as an alternative interaction method. The book also explores how commercial games often reinforce ableist power structures through mechanics that prioritize mastery, autonomy, and precision - traits that align with "toxic meritocracy". A roundtable discussion addresses why gaming with disabilities is often categorized as "serious" or "therapeutic" rather than purely for pleasure or entertainment. The volume features interviews with leaders in the field, including Mark Barlet, co-founder of AbleGamers, regarding the development of inclusive hardware like the Microsoft Adaptive Controller. Contributors review current game accessibility guidelines and how they intersect with broader socio-political trends toward inclusion.…