Blind kid plays PS2

I think everybody feels sorry for this kid since his eyes don't work, so they let him win. Or he's actually loosing every game, or possibly not even playing, like maybe his controller isn't even plugged in but everyone is all like, "you won again brice, you have much to be proud of, your a good person, yes your are". Soul caliber? Anyone can be good at soul caliber, just push buttons real fast, something will happen. ha ha.. I kid!

Teen video-game whiz is... Blind
July 29, 2005

HE freaks people out by playing - and winning - video-games facing away from the screen. There's a reason why it doesn't matter which way he faces - he's blind. Brice Mellen, 17, is a whiz at video games such as Mortal Kombat. As he easily dispatched foes who took him on recently at a Lincoln, US, gaming centre, the affable and smiling Mellen remained humble.

'I can't say that I'm a superpro,' he said, working the controls like they were extensions of his body. 'I can be beaten.' Those bold enough to challenge him weren't so lucky. One by one, while playing Soul Caliber 2, their video characters were decapitated 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. He did it by memorising key joystick operations and moves in certain games, asking lots of questions and paying particular attention to audio cues. Mellen, who started playing at home when he was about 7, worked his way up from games such as Space Invaders to the modern combat games. Said his father, Mr Larry Mellen: 'He enjoyed trying to play, but he wasn't very good at first. But he just kept on trying.'

While playing Soul Caliber 2, Mellen worked his way through the introductory screens with ease, knowing exactly what to click to start the game he wanted. He rarely asked for help. But his exasperated opponent did. When Ryan O'Banion's character is frozen in place during a battle, he asked: 'How do I move?' Mellen answered before finishing him off: 'You can't. That's what happens.' After his character vanishes from the screen, O'Banion said: 'It's why I don't play him.' Mellen hangs out any chance he gets at the DogTags Gaming Center in Lincoln, which opened last month. Every now and then, someone will come in and think he can easily beat the blind kid. 'I'll challenge them,' Mellen said, displaying an infectious confidence. 'I freak people out by playing facing backwards.'

He will be a senior in high school next year. When he does go to college, Mellen wants to study - what else? - video-game design. - AP.