The Last Games You'd Play?

Rigor Morty asks: "I am an older man (44), an avid fan of video games, and I am faced with a problem; my hands are becoming arthritic as I get older. I fear I will soon have to completely give up the console games I have loved over the years. To that end, let me ask the Slashdot Nation — if you were going to give it up, what games would you insist on playing before you had to quit? I'm willing to make some effort to do this, and spend some cash; I will buy the new consoles if I need to, or try to find obscure titles."

Comments

zelda

[joe 155]

I always say that occarina of time and majora's mask were really two parts of the same game, play both right through. Best games ever. I personally think that Majora's mask is a little better out of the two... still they are both fantastic.

I've got happy memories which will last me a life time from these games, I feel happy recomending them.

Re:Think outside the xbox.

[Tablizer]

Learn how to play chess. :)

Or "Go". Easy to learn, difficult to master.

Arthiritic? At 44?

[Colin Smith]

Typing wear and tear? Take glucosamine, chondroitin (they often come together) and cod liver oil. They're food supplements. Your body uses them to build and maintain joint tissues.

Mouse replacements

[PIPBoy3000]

There's starting to be a number of replacements for traditional controls. There's eye tracking products, software solutions, and a variety of hardware replacements like a Wacom tablet.

Consider a flight sim

[pbjones]

I'm an X-plane user, I can build, fly, go on-line. It uses my brain and teaches me something new. I have to look at many real-world (tm) things like geography weather etc. I can play hard flying through canyons or relax with a long flight across the pacific. Re-enact historic flights on-line with other flyers, dog fight, whatever. Move into building your own scenery, model aircraft etc.

Dance Dance Revolution

[Salvance]

If you can't use your hands, why not do something that doesn't require your fingers much? Dance Dance Revolution is fun and gives you a good workout, some of the Nintendo Wii games don't require fine motor control, etc. Just because you can't hit the buttons like a madman anymore doesn't mean you have to stop gaming.

Re:Dance Dance Revolution

[MBGMorden]

Depends on the type of arthritis. Exercise is terrible for Gout in particular. It only flares up occasionally, but the pain from gouty arthritis comes from having excess ulric acid deposits create crystals in the joints, which then tear at the tissue inbetween the joint as it moves (believe me, it's one painful mutha #@#!#. Been dealing with it since I was 19). Excess movement during a flareup just causes more tearing of the joint tissue and this can cause problems in the long run. Since it only affects one foot or the other at a time, I usually will take a day or two off from work and resort to crutches around the house when it flares up.

Re:Think outside the xbox.

[EinZweiDrei]

A famous counter-example occurred at the 1925 Baden-Baden Tournament when Aaron Nimzowitsch swept all the pieces off the chessboard, jumped up on the table and screamed "How can I lose to this idiot?".

Chess can be just as aggravating.

Re:Me..?

[Gilmoure]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC/X). I've been playing this game for about 5 years now. Great variety.