Tech Blog

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Ontario teen Jordan Verner has achieved an amazing accomplishment -- he's beat The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The feat took just over two years to complete. Seems like a long time you say? Not when you consider this -- he's blind .

The 19-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ontario, was born with a condition known as optic nerve hypoplasia -- the underdevelopment of the optic nerve -- leaving him blind since birth.

Jordan Verner was first introduced to gaming as a kid and ever since he beat his first video game -- N64's Bass Hunter -- he's been in love with gaming. Looking to take on a more complex undertaking, Verner decided to take on The Legend of Zelda using a combination of audio cues and step memorization.

Needing assistance, Verner put out a call for help among the gaming community and after several months was contacted by Drew, a Legend of Zelda speed run world record holder. Not long thereafter, South Carolina-based gamer Roy Williams also aided Verner on his quest to beat the game.

To help Verner achieve this ambitious goal, the two gamers would play the game and transcribe their every input, from each step, jump, sword swing and item use. After hundreds of thousands of recordings, the 133-page script was assembled and read aloud to Verner via a computer program that read the text as he played.

Putting himself in Verner's shoes, Williams played through the game blindfolded as he made his recordings. "When I was younger, a doctor told me I would go blind, which turned out not to be so, but it scared me and I was like I want to be able to get through his disability," said Williams of his motivation to help out his fellow gamer.

Last November, Verner finally accomplished what he set out to do -- he beat The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a move that left him feeling "on top of the world."

The complete run through of the game can be found on Verner's YouTube channel — using his gamertag genuine corruption — which spans 98 videos that range in length between six and 10 minutes each.

In the video clips you will often see Verner's character act a little unusual, walking backwards, dying during innocuous sections of the game, but it was with sheer perseverance and an iron will that enabled him to succeed.

"I'm glad everyone can see and learn from this that just because a person has a disability doesn't mean they can't do a normal thing, like play a video game," said Williams.