Blind Teen Amazes With Video-Game Skills

[Champ]

LINCOLN, Neb. - 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 Caliber 2," their video characters were decapitated, eviscerated and gutted 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&e=4&u=/ap/20050727/ap_on_hi_te/games_blind_gamer

[iconoclastic cat]

1. Perhaps he will start a cult following.

[Richardo]

2. "Sure plays a mean pin-ball...."

...was the first thing that came to mind when I read the subject line.

[flakey_foont]

3. same here

where's the Acid Queen? that girl will set him right

[Ready4Change]

4. A lot of video game sound designers are glad to hear that I bet.

A lot of elements go into video games. Good sound is overlooked by some. But hear are some games whose sound is so good a blind guy can play, and win, by using them as cues.

Pretty cool.