By Rob Bricken in
Nerdery, Video Games
Thursday, Mar. 4 2010 @ 10:35AM
Jordan Verner recently beat The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. You might not be initially impressed by this feat, since it's 2010 and all, but surely this becomes more impressive when you learn that Jordan Verner is also blind, and the way he beat it is by four dedicated nerds writing down every single move a player would need to make in the game, a task that took them over two year and resulting in a (100,000 character) document which Verner's computer read aloud to him as he played. The CNN report is pretty oblivious, but the actual feat these people have accomplished is simply amazing, and so kind that it actually restores my faith in humanity to a degree. Well done, guys. Thank you for doing something wonderful for a fellow nerd -- and Mr. Verner, you have my utmost congratulations. Thanks to Snoodle for the tip.
32 comments
Comments
Tyler said:
Wow, I was happy when I beat it under 10 hours, but now that just seems trivial.
do4m said:
That's cool... Helping out others and spreading Zelda love...
biggs33 said:
Damn, now they're going to make the next one even harder.
Still, that's pretty awesome, I don't think I could beat it squinting let alone blind.
DoctorSmashy said:
This is pretty heartwarming, but did you hear about that blind boy who could play video games just by clicking his tongue and sensing the sounds and the movements around him? And he was good at the games, too. He could do other impressive things as well as that; rollerskating and describing the shape of an object in front of him, for example, but this was the only remotely nerdy thing.... look him up.
MattK replied to DoctorSmashy:
Plays video games by clicking his tongue and sensing the sounds and movements around him? How is that even possible? I can see him skateboarding and doing anything in the physical world, but how can clicking his tongue help him see an non-physical electronic world on a flat TV screen?
Kaoy replied to DoctorSmashy:
I think you are confused. I know of a story of a guy kid that was blind, and was about him having an almost super-human level of ability to use echo location, and also played some games pretty well(Soul Caliber II, I think it was, and by sound). Those were two separate things though. The gaming part was just a odd and quirky addition to the main feature being his ability.
Lithroe said:
Full respect for them here.
Rattrap007 said:
bet he plays a mean pinball too.
JoeTheNerd replied to Rattrap007:
LOL The Who are awesome.
Geoff said:
Geez.
I remember a guy writing in to Nintendo Power saying that he beat SMB using his feet when he lost the use of his hands. This is up there with that.
CallMeEhon said:
(speechless with respect).....Epic.
Tanath said:
could the reporter sound more disinterested?
congrats to the kid though, talk about devotion...even with the computer telling him what to do, one mistake and he's off track...impressive
nick said:
First: epic. these just are heroes
Second: I see a potential market for videogames designed especially for the blind and visually impared.
micdog2001 said:
that is crazy awesome. this doesn't seem like the type of game where it would be possible to do this. good job guys.
Strangeman said:
That deaf, mute, blind kid sure plays a mean pinball! Erh... I mean the blind kid plays a mean Zelda.
Nyx Valentine said:
That's incredibly sweet :) There are still good people out there!
JoeTheNerd said:
My hope in humanity has been restored by this if only we could all be like this.
Haz said:
Wow. He beat it before I did.
Whoever said:
I'm getting a bit misty-eyed, I'll admit.
Jeff said:
how is he a blind nerd? or even a gamer?
The Gerudo Guy said:
This is awesome beyond believe. Kudos for Jordan and for those who helped him. They´re heroes in their own right.
klinteastwood said:
i just shed a nerd tear
tvtastegood said:
There simply are not enough nice things that can be said about these guys and mass respect to the blind guy I mean I remember thinking I was awesome cuz I beat that game before most of.my friends but to do it blind according to what a recording says not to mention the fact that you have to aim the bow slingshot or boomerang a number of times to complete puzzles. How did he find rupees or ammo or any of that? Must have been an exhilerating feeling! My faith in humanity is once again restored, until tommorow when you post FFF
Volcanic said:
This was amazing! They should all be REALLY proud
Matt said:
He's using a guide, so not cool.
Jason Thorn replied to Matt:
Shove it, Matt. You use a guide when you play video games, it's called YOUR EYES. He didn't have those.
To paraphrase an old gospel tune, God bless the nerd who's got his own (those four guys, if you need to figure that out, Matt).
Loweherz replied to Jason Thorn:
Well said Jason. Matt you suck
RenGeek said:
You know, the first thing I thought after I got over how amazing this achievement was was I wonder how much of the game he played? Was it a straight runthrough or did he get the Skulltulas and the Biggoron Sword?
There are certain spots in the game that rely solely on visuals, so the challenge of working around that is just simply astonishing.
kingNothing said:
EPIC WIN!!!
Triforce said:
Wow, that's impressive. It's really cool to see that people spent a lot of time helping the guy with this.
Michy said:
That's off the hook!
SO COOL!
Loweherz said:
Definitely feelin some nerd tears. I can't imagine taking the time to write out every single move to even beat Pokemon or something. Go nerds.
