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Attack of the Gaming Grannies
Craig Sender writes "BusinessWeek Online has a piece on the expansion of the gaming market into the octogenarian, market." From the article: "Though some may find it surprising, the senior gaming trend isn't hard to understand. For starters, many folks living on Social Security find they don't have a lot of money for entertainment or travel, and video gaming is a fun and affordable diversion, especially if you rent games or trade titles on the Internet."
it isn't April 1st, what's this story doing on here?
main(0)
... only old people play video games!
... isn't of social security age but she's started gaming, she's on a pretty limited income and isn't capable of high degrees of physical activity... gaming is her perfect outlet really. She started small, bejeweled, tetris, pacman, solitare... and she's been moving up since. She gets alot of enjoyment out of it... I don't think it's all that odd really. I'd like to see her get into fps's but thus far she hasn't.
Shadus
She is addicted to Pogo - Word Whomp! especially.
Recently she had knee replacement surgery and, while in the recovery room was aparrently spelling out words: "Gear. G. E. A. R. Gear. Don't forget rage - Rage. R. A. G. E. Rage."
I'm trying to imagine her on XBox Live! and it sends me into giggle fits. She used to be a school teacher and was the disciplinarian - she'd whip those l33t k1dd3z into shape!
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
old grandma hardcore aint hardcore... that is until she learns leet speek. thats what makes someone hardcore.
I for one welcome our gaming granny overlords.
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She's a terror on In The Groove and D-D-R;
It's the little old lady from Pasadena...
I play Nerd-Folk!
You think about it- retirees, with lots of free time, not a lot of mobility in some cases, and in all cases, they've seen enough to have an appreciation for where gaming comes from that the youngest gamers just don't have...
it seems pretty natural.
Maybe the answer to the game design is similar to the answer to getting games aimed at women- involve some in the design. I'm sure there are some out there who would be great at it.
"I'd say 'Have a good time,' but arson is still illegal.
video gaming is a fun and affordable diversion, especially if you rent games or trade titles on the Internet.
So...is BusinessWeekOnline advocating that seniors pirate video games?
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
such as, perhaps, "Hell's Grannies".
... video games play old people!
I play with a guy on Halo 2 that is 59 years old. He says he doesn't like all that dirty talking or cheatin' but since he's retired he just likes to sit at home and play Halo 2. I'll see him at 8 am before I go to week, 12pm when I go home for lunch and 6pm when I get home from work. Not that I play Halo 2 all those times... or do I?
If I ever figure out that that asshole who's been trash talking about me and generally being a prick is some 82 year old holed up in some retirement home... that'd be it. I'd quit. No more gaming for me.
Direct away from face when opening.
Grand Theft Walker?
FiniteQuest?
Sim Retirement Home?
Denture Kong?
RolaidsMan?
Shuffle Shuffle Revolution?
yeah!
The only reason video gaming was ever identified with youth in the first place has to do with the first systems being portrayed as toys, rather than entertainment. This is changing, of course, and in a couple decades seeing a buttoned-down senior citizen with a controller in hand will seem no stranger than seeing one in front of the TV.
In Korea, only old people...um...wait...
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
My mom calls my son for help on Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, and discusses how they beat Gauntlet Dark Legacy, and ask if I have finished with Champions of Norrath so they can play it.
I can see the grandparent gaming getting going. If they had broadband we'd both pickup Champions of Norrath and play together. They are considering picking up AntiGrav for exercise, though I can see that this may be a bit much for them.
There are issues with grandparents gaming:
1. They do not have the reaction time, so platformers and timing based areas are tough (Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance stone jumping puzzle)
2. They may not have the ability to learn complicated controls (Lord of the Rings Return of the King)
3. They can have issues with saving progress, my parents have beat both Baldur's gate games, and keep overwriting the characters with new ones, and losing their built up ones (not what they want to do).
4. Complex procedures for starting games can be frustrating, especially when trying to load previous characters. They seem to learn one way to start a game, and are unwilling or unable to try something different. (My parents have yet to figure out how to start a harder Baldur's Gate game with their old characters, Lord of the Rings Return of the King has too many steps for them to remember how to load their saved characters).
5. They are unaware of gamefaqs.com so will call you with help on games you haven't played in 2 years and expect you to know the details on the spot.
Now maybe my parents are bit more clueless than some, maybe better than others I do not know. I haven't dealt with many grandparent gamers. They do try though, other games they have tried are Myst 3, Motocross Mayhem, Dance Dance Revolution, and others.
It's funny to hear my Mom who is typically glued to a TV say "we're recording our show so we can play..."
But it is also great that my parents have another connection with my kids as they are playing the same games.
You can lose something that is loose, so tighten the loose item so you don't lose it.