A blind boy really likes Rhythm Heaven
While Nintendo does some confoundingly weird things like alienate hundreds of thousands of fans with archaic YouTube practices and the like, they’re also known to break corporate character in ways that many other publishers don’t.
One such gesture was done recently, as evidenced by a tweet from Twitter user @kentarock1020, who sent in a letter from his blind son telling Nintendo of Japan how much he loved the Rhythm Heaven series (known as Rhythm Tengoku in the east). His son, Hibiki, has been blind since the age of two as a result of life-saving surgery, and actually got a response back from the company.
Here’s his letter:
Dear Nintendo,
Hello. My name is Hibiki Sakai and I am in fifth grade. I am blind, but I’ve always wanted to play video games like everyone else. But there aren’t many games I can play at all. The one game I can really play is Rhythm Tengoku. It’s the only game I can enjoy together with others, and I never lose at it. I’ve gotten perfect scores on all the versions on the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, and 3DS too.
So I really, really want you to make more Rhythm Tengoku games. And it’s perfectly fine if you make them a little harder too!
I think that there are a lot of other kids with visual impairments who want to play video games but can’t. So I’d love for you to develop more games for people with handicaps to enjoy playing with others.
I will always support you, Nintendo.
From Hibiki Sakai
And here’s the response from Nintendo:
Thank you so much for sending us here at Nintendo your heartwarming letter.
We are so happy to hear that you’ve perfected and enjoyed Rhythm Tengoku, Rhythm Tengoku Gold, Minna no Rhythm Tengoku, and Rhythm Tengoku The Best.
We have passed on your letter to Nintendo’s development department. We want to keep making games that everyone can have fun playing, so thank you for your support.
My favorite part is that Hibiki was able to find a game he could identify with because Nintendo takes risks with weird series like Rhythm Heaven. Hopefully they continue to be weird.
Kentarock1020 [Twitter via Rocket News]
