- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
- Biden official urges talks as US port strike enters second day
- Huge protests in Argentina over public university cuts
- Rally in oil prices loses steam on mixed day for global stocks
- South America treated to rare 'ring of fire' eclipse
- Biden official says port strike deal not as far as parties think
- Mexico's new president offers apology for 1968 student massacre
- Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion
- Mixed US car sales in Q3 as industry hopes for post-election bounce
- Thunderstorms are a 'boiling pot' of gamma rays, scientists find
- Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
BCC | -0.9% | 138.29 | $ | |
SCS | -1.98% | 12.62 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 58.93 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.16% | 24.74 | $ | |
AZN | -2.12% | 77.93 | $ | |
RIO | -1.42% | 69.83 | $ | |
GSK | -2.81% | 38.37 | $ | |
BCE | -1.77% | 33.84 | $ | |
NGG | -2.7% | 66.97 | $ | |
JRI | -0.6% | 13.3 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.15% | 6.98 | $ | |
VOD | -0.52% | 9.69 | $ | |
RELX | -1.46% | 46.61 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 24.89 | $ | |
BTI | -2.45% | 35.11 | $ | |
BP | 0.28% | 32.46 | $ |
Japan eSports players with disabilities shoot down stereotypes
Street Fighter player Shunya Hatakeyama has muscular dystrophy, so he uses his chin to launch devastating combos. He is not the only Japanese gamer proving that disability is no barrier in eSports.
Naoya Kitamura, who is blind and relies on sound to play beat 'em up game Tekken 7, also hopes that his skills in a billion-dollar industry will help make society more open-minded.
"I'll block a move and the sound it makes will tell me what kind of move it was," Kitamura said.
"Then I'll react and make my move," he told AFP, demonstrating a dizzying attack with Tekken character Lucky Chloe.
Competitive gaming is booming worldwide, with global eSports revenues estimated at more than $1 billion, and many think it could one day be at the Olympics.
The sector is not as big in Japan as in eSports-crazy China and South Korea, but it is gradually starting to take root.
Keen to offer Japanese gamers with disabilities a chance to be part of the action, social welfare worker Daiki Kato founded a company called ePara in 2016.
Kato's firm employs players such as Hatakeyama and Kitamura, who are both 28, and gives them time to practise around their other duties, which include working on the company's website and helping organise gaming events.
Hatakeyama mostly enters Street Fighter V tournaments that are open to anyone -- disabled or non-disabled -- and says the beauty of fighting games is that "you can overcome handicaps and compete against different people".
"When I play in a tournament I don't want my disability to be an issue," he said.
"I want to move people with the way I play."
- Custom controller -
Hatakeyama was born with degenerative muscular dystrophy and has used a wheelchair since he was about six years old.
He has always loved fighting games, but over the years his muscles weakened so much that he could not hold a controller.
Depressed, he quit playing for six years until he and a friend decided last year to design and make a custom controller that he could operate with his chin.
Using his fingers to press buttons on his computer keyboard, Hatakeyama says he quickly got back into the groove.
Now he also coaches other players with disabilities, talking them through complicated combos and offering tips on different characters.
"If I had never played fighting games, I don't think I would try to find solutions whenever I encountered something difficult," he said.
Many of ePara's gamers are new to eSports and do not have much experience of competing in tournaments.
Company chief Kato believes there is a growing market for gamers with disabilities and he thinks manufacturers will start to sit up and take notice.
"If you have more people with hearing impairments or visual impairments playing games, game manufacturers will react by making more games that they can play," he said.
- 'Same rules, same competitions' -
Kato wants to use eSports to showcase the talents of people with disabilities, saying many people in Japan "don't have much chance to interact" with them.
Kitamura, who has microphthalmos and has been blind since birth, says eSports can help change the perception that people with disabilities "just need assistance".
"I'm really good with computers and I can do a lot more than some people who can see can do," he said.
"It's not just about being helped -- depending on the circumstances, we can help people out too. It's about cooperation."
Kitamura thinks the term eSports itself also helps, projecting the image of serious competition rather than "just people playing games".
The Southeast Asian Games have featured eSports medal events and they will also appear at next year's pandemic-delayed Asian Games.
Many believe that the Olympics and Paralympics will follow suit but Kato says there is "no need to distinguish between people with or without disabilities in eSports".
"That's one interesting thing about it," he said.
"Whether you're in a wheelchair or not, it's the same rules and the same competitions."
J.Bondarev--CPN