"During the 60's and early 70's, as the war in Vietnam threatened its borders, a new music scene emerged in Cambodia that took Western rock and roll and stood it on its head - creating a sound like no other.
Cambodian musicians crafted this sound from the various rock music styles sweeping across America and England, adding the unique melodies and hypnotic rhythms of their traditional music. The beautiful singing of the renowned female vocalists became the final touch that made this mix so enticing.
As the peasant Khmer Rouge army closed in on the capital city of Phnom Penh, Cambodian rock and rollers played at rooftop parties while bombs ignited the evening sky.
After taking over the country on April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge began one of the most brutal genocides in history, killing 2 million people - 1/4 of the Cambodian population. Intellectuals, artists and musicians were murdered simply for their status. Only a few miraculously survived to tell their story.
This documentary film, DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN, provides a new perspective on a country usually associated with war and genocide. By celebrating this powerful music, and the people who created it, Cambodia's musical heyday emerges from the shadows of tragedy into the light of history."
Taken from CambodianRock.com. I've found this music fascinating since first hearing it in City of Ghosts. Thought I'd share it with you.
The Enabling Devices love-in continues, after I discovered their switch accessible Guitar Hero rig (via Dave Banes Access newsletter). There's a good YouTube video here, showing off how it can be used.
Alternatives to this come from RJ Cooper or going the D.I.Y. route as followed by the kit used at AbleGames 2009. Rock Band is also a possible alternative for D.I.Y. hacks, although as of yet, it's not so good for one-switch players, lacking Guitar Hero's one-button playable mode.UPDATE: Enabling Devices have uploaded another short video, where a user named Ben, is interviewed about his experience using the adapted Guitar Hero set-up.
What's really rubbish about both Guitar Hero and Rock Band is that they force you to use their dedicated lumpy controllers. Why not allow people to use the Joypad if they want to? Especially as this flexibility opens up a massive range of alternative access controllers that people might already have paid out for.
Added to the Accessible Gaming Shop section on Console Switch Interfaces.
Wish for something long enough, and sometimes you'll be pleasantly surprised. Switch In Time software have newly released "Switch Lanes", a 1950's themed switch accessible bowling game. They've kindly agreed to send me a copy, so expect to see a review with video up at the Accessible GameBase soon. I'm hoping for gutter-bumpers, but I don't actually know if they even have this facility in America. If not, they're missing out on bounce and strike fun. What the game does definitely offer though is the facility to shorten the length of the alley, which is a great idea. Watch this space...
At last! Enabling Devices have a switch accessible bowling ball kicker on sale, that looks like it will connect to most ramps at bowling alleys. It runs off 8xAA batteries (not rechargable) and, from what I can tell, pushes the ball from underneath on the press of an accessibility switch. You'll obviously need someone to assist the player to line the ramp up as they want it (or use video-game mode, where the helper steadily adjust the aim left to right, stopping the second the player hits their switch or indicates 'Stop!').
If $449.95 is too much, or if they won't send to your country, you could always build your own. I've built one for about £10 before using a Golf-Putting toy, wood, metal and a lot of time. For more bowling ideas, take a look through the other bowling blog posts here.
Enabling Devices have an adapted V-Tech Kidizoom camera with a large control panel and motorised tripod for $399.99. It doesn't look like you can connect your own switches unfortunately, but I can see this being a really excellent solution for some.
If you fancy creating your own switch accessible camera, take a jump over to this OneSwitch D.I.Y. page.
