Gaming is a visual medium, and it's amazing to think how much information we have to take in almost instantly to play games. Especially in action games, we need to be able to quickly take notice of subtle movements and the state of numerous dials and displays that show us how well or poorly we're doing in the game. To do that, we have to be able to absorb a large amount of color information. What does that soldier's uniform look like? Is that a red or green mark above an alien's head? Is he on my side, or is he an enemy? Now imagine that much of this crucial information was removed from a game; the challenge of dealing with situational awareness would increase very quickly.

That challenge is precisely the one faced by people who are colorblind, which is a rather common genetic problem. A reader named Tim McDaniel contacted us about this matter, and his examples were thought-provoking. "One specific gaming example that always frustrates me is Battlefield 2142. I love the game, but the flags of the two teams are not distinct enough on the HUD, at least to me. I honestly can't tell you what color they are. Red, green, yellow, brown?" he told Ars. "I usually end up trying to distinguish them by brightness because one looks slightly brighter to me, but that is so slight it's still tough."