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DS Game Could Stave off Dementia
Gamasutra reports that a hospital in Japan has begun renting out DSes and suggesting the title Brain Training to older patients, in an effort to stave off dementia. From the article: "Sixty-seven year old retiree Isamu Shishido is quoted as saying, 'I don't want to end up some crazy old man. I want to play a little everyday before going to bed.' Neurosurgeon Dr Takeshi Kihara comments that, 'The game won't cure dementia. But it's a good form of stimulation, especially for old people living alone.'"
Nintendo knows what it's doing. Lots of rich oldies to tap into!
I, for one, welcome our better, faster, stronger elderly overlords.
...bingo because 90% of the population of Britain over 65 seems to play that and they have the intellectual capacity of a turnip. Old people in Britain are very depressing. They seem to be trained, from birth, to believe that they will be incapable by time they retire and when the time comes to retire they are capable of nothing. One of the things that amazed me when I came to the US was the zest for life of older people. Jogging along the roads, working out at the gym, hiking the trails, doing tai chi, travelling round the world, having fun eating out at restaurants, at the movies, whatever. It's fantastic if video games can keep people motivated to do something with their lives and keep stretching those neurons and I hope it catches on in Britain.
"The White House is not an intelligence-gathering agency," -- Scott McClellan, Whitehouse spokesman.
Don't purchase survival horror games. Results might be counterproductive. This is SPECIALLY true if the hospital you're in is called "Brookhaven Hospital" :P
"The goddamned Metroids won't stay still so I can hit them with my fricken ice beam! Gah! I guess I'll just cyber with your gramma instead."
Whoa, hang on a minute. I really think your statistics are baseless. I would contend that there is a very large body of older and retired people who lead very active lives in the UK, doing all the things you mention of the US inhabitants, and more. Yes, of course there are some older people who have started to find it difficult to do as much as they would like, or for whatever reason have drawn themselves into their shells and do little but watch TV and play bingo, but to extrapolate from this that 90% of the UK's older population has the intellectual capacity of a turnip is a little extreme. Am I to infer that because a large percentage of people under the age of twenty eat regularly at McBurgers and the like, hardly a sensible lifestyle choice,that 90% of all younger people have the brain capacity of a turnip as well?
"One of the things that amazed me when I came to the US was the zest for life of older people. Jogging along the roads, working out at the gym, hiking the trails, doing tai chi, travelling round the world, having fun eating out at restaurants, at the movies, whatever."
Apparently you didn't see the all the older people in the US languishing at home watching television making no effort to get out in public. In the US, you only see the active seniors out and about.
I'd be willing to bet that if you observed seniors in the US the same way you observed them in the UK, you have opinions of them just as bad, if not worse. Especially if you got out of the major metros in the US.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Hell, I live in the UK and went to play Bingo a couple of times not so long ago (long story, not interesting, let's leave it at that) and I tell you, those grannies (I don't think there was a single grandpa in the place) must be popping some serious amphetamines.
The speed they were calling out the numbers was too much for me - a young and agile 33 year old - and I was only playing four cards. Some of them were playing a dozen or more at once!
By the time she's bought the necessary drugs and paid for their bingo cards, it's no wonder grandma can't afford to eat on what little pension she gets.
in Hong Kong, and most other parts of China, most old people kill time with Mahjong, which IMO is a great brain-exercise. it's a great way for old people to socialise as well.
In one, you get a series of mathematical equations like 4 + 6 = ? And you have to fill in the answer. The trick is that immediately after revealing 4 + 6 one of the two will be covered up, and for the next problem one of the numbers (possibly the covered one) scrolls down while the next number is new (and then covered). Add in time pressure and what should be a simple task really vexes your short term recall. Another example is testing your ability to write some of the more obscure Japanese characters, which I suspect would be good brain excercize if my brain wasn't already pudding in that area.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
This has been reviewed on IGN and G4TV, among others... way back in 2005.
And it's not your average game. More like math and reading "brain teasers" (no Mario involved).
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