Getting Old people into gaming

[Dio]

I sometimes visit care homes to treat the patients there and many of them still have their minds intact but it seems like such a boring existence to have to live out the rest of their days the way they do.

Many of them sit in chairs watching crappy TV all day and I often think to myself how much their lives would be enriched if they were gaming instead.

Competitive games with each other and story driven solo adventures for when they want to be alone. That sounds like a much more fun way to go.

I expect our generations will still game in later life but there are many that don't who perhaps just haven't gotten the opportunity.

Do you think it is a good idea to introduce the elderly to video games. Have you done this? Or do you know any gamer grannies or grandpa's who got into it on their own?

 

[Dizzi]

Yea i think some older people would be brilliant at games...theres some famous ones tht i cant remember atm...

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Our very own Ernestine williamsflah is one such grannie gamer

 

[VikzeLink]

I had my grandma play some golf in Wii Sports with me once. She was okay with that, but I'm pretty sure she has no interest in games. It all depends on the person really. Some would probably love it and benefit greatly from it, while others just wouldn't care

 

[Jimmu]

I think that older people can certainly become interested in games but it largely depends on their personality (willingness to try new things and technologies) and the content which they are provided with. Making sure that you give them a game that they can enjoy (while considering both their physical limitations/conditions, and their interests) will surely increase the likelihood that they'll enjoy the experience enough to reach out for more. Even showing them traditional games in a digital format (where they already understand the rules) can act as something of a window to get them started.

 

[A Link In Time]

I tried to get my grandma into gaming, but she never saw the appeal. She's always called games wastes of time. My dad watched my brothers and I play Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time growing up, but he never got into gaming himself. I think the social stigma around gaming has largely faded in recent years, so I imagine more elderly people are playing games, but it's still a rather small subset. But if you think about it, if someone was 10 when the NES came out, they're close to 50 now, so a lot of old school gamers in 15-20 years will be the first generation of elderly gamers where gaming is commonplace and accepted.

 

[Princess Niki]

My best friend's mom went from being against gaming to getting into the Sims 2 cuz she saw us playing it, to liking FFX and now she plays several PS4 games; Diablo III, Horizon Zero Dawn, Skyrim and Overwatch.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

folks like her don't come around too often

 

[Shrimpdragon]

I’m an older player, 70 yesterday!
Im not a grandma and I consider myself quite active walking the dog, I’m not a grandma type grandma.
I enjoy my Switch and I have a Nintendo DSi and quite a few games on my phone and iPad, I spend quite a bit of time playing.
I think it would be excellent to get older people into gaming but you have to remember that a lot of that age worked every minute of their lives and never had access to games! It’s one of those things-tech things-if you keep up with tech, even slightly, it’s easier to learn the new stuff.

 

[Vanessa28]

I tried to get the hubby i to gaming. Mario Odyssey would be great. Collecting moons is all he has to do now I took care of Bowser. But nope. Candycrush is the limit with his gaming abilities
It depends if the order person is willing to play and mr Vee doesn't want to because he already said he's going to suck at games