Blind Player Wins First Match at His First Street Fighter V Tournament

Playing video games is not something that you would think a blind person would do, especially not a competitive level. Well, humans are pretty amazing, and apparently, as if playing video games wasn't already hard enough without vision, a dutch player named "Sven" has surprised the world. "Sven" has managed to play video games at a competitive level, specifically Street Fighter V. 

You might wonder how someone could possibly a video game without vision. Well, sound design is the key. "Sven" explains that Street Fighter has detailed sound design, which enables him to tell where his opponents are attacking from and which attacks they're performing. Other games would be hard for Sven, but Street Fighter's sound design allows him to continue his love for video games regardless of his lack of vision. In an interview, Sven explained that he lost his vision due to cancer around the age five and was terrified that he would have to give up computer games. Thankfully, this was definitely not the case for Sven.

I was afraid that I was not able to play computer games anymore because I was blind, but then Capcom released Street Fighter II on the SNES and I was so happy I was able to play the game just by the sound, he said.

In the video above, during the early round of the Sonic Boom tournament in Spain, Sven playing as Ken, managed to beat Musashi (Akuma) using aggressive tactics, attempting to stay up close as much as possible. In a fighting game such as Street Fighter, proper timing and combo execution are the most important factors. Vision doesn't matter as much in games like this, and Sven is a prime example of this. It's truly amazing to watch, and it goes to show that anything is possible if you're motivated and dedicated enough. Sven says that he's played other fighting games before such as Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombat, but he prefers the Street Fighter series due to the superb sound effects. Hopefully, Sven has taught people a lesson about overcoming life's hardships.