C1 part 2: pro gamer

In the competitive world of professional gaming, one gifted player goes by the username Rattlehead.

At the tournaments he attends in the US, his opponents quickly spot that he, real name Carlos Vasquez, is, by 1_____ own description, “completely blind”.

They then let their guard 2_____, wrongly thinking that they are set for an easy game of popular fighting series Mortal Kombat. And he often beats them.

Instead of being able to see the game, Carlos instead relies 3_____ hearing it to make his attacking and defensive moves. “I’m able to pick up on the specific sounds of the characters,” he says.

From Houston, Texas, Carlos started playing video games at the age of six in 1992. But 4_____ he was 11 he was diagnosed with a type of glaucoma, an eye condition that slowly took away his sight.

“It wasn’t an overnight situation,” says Carlos, now 37. ” 5_____ the first few years I was still able to see rough outlines of objects, but not fully detailed anymore. But over time my vision became worse and worse, to the point where I was around 24-years-old and completely blind.”

At the time he found that most mainstream games were almost impossible to play. Features that help people with a sight impairment to play, known as gaming accessibility, were not around. 6_____ features include screen readers, where the game verbally describes what is happening.

Back in his 20s, Carlos was able to play some fighting games, and in particular Mortal Kombat.

“It wasn’t because Mortal Kombat had accessibility features at the time,” he says. “It was just because players like myself were able to pick 7_____ on the distinct sounds. It allowed us to play the game as much 8_____ possible.”