Sainsbury’s Blind Football Launched

Sainsbury’s have created an online browser game for blind people to help promote the Paralympic games. Developed in conjunction with Channel 4, it simulates the experience of real-world Blind Football but without all the risk of falling over or running headfirst into the goalposts.

You can play through a series of skills challenges – passing, dribbling, shooting and tackling – as well as playing “Go For Goal”, which combines all four challenges to make up a match. In a rather misguided bit of design, the game feedback sometimes talks over the instructions but those of us with sight can read the instructions that follow anyway.

To play the passing challenge, you use stereo speakers or a headset to locate the shouting player, turn to face towards him and signal or pass with the space bar. Here’s my first attempt at it. The top left picture is what I was shown and at the bottom right I’ve synced up the instant replay so you can see what I was actually doing.

I got better…

You can play the Blind Football game here. No, I don’t know what that thing is on David Beckham’s face. Be afraid.