Game On for the Grandparents - Why They're Playing
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The reasons that older gamers are getting into (or in some cases, getting back into) gaming are as varied as the gamers themselves. Like gamers at the other end of the age spectrum, older gamers who have retired often have a lot of time on their hands, and playing video games is a known time sink. Even so-called casual games can eat up a lot of time - as a casual gamer myself, I can tell you that playing them is like eating potato chips, you can't play just one.
Many older gamers also believe that playing video games will help sharpen their wits and reflexes, keeping them young longer. There have been no extensive studies to confirm this, though some preliminary experiments in Canada last year seemed to indicate that playing video games can help with short-term memory. Obviously, more studies are needed; somehow I don't think scientists will lack for volunteers.
And then there's the theory that video games let older people participate, at least virtually, in sports they can no longer enjoy as easily in real life. Says Norwood, "I'll tell you, at our age when you bowl for real, you wake up with aches and pains. Those balls aren't light. But with this you're getting good exercise, but you're not aching the next day."
There's the social aspect to gaming, too. It's drawn many players into MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft. And the bonus here, from the social point of view, is that it's something they can share with their grandchildren. Building that social bridge is incentive enough for older gamers to get over that fear of gaming that Spaine mentioned.
One writer for Games.net gave an interesting perspective for the reasons behind that fear when he went over a little video game history. "Think about the original video game craze, when Pong hit, and then Pac-Man took over. Back then, it was cool to play games as an adult." Then, simultaneously, games stopped being cool for adults, and game controllers got more complicated. After that came the video game crash in the early 80s. "Then along came Nintendo, and instead of a joystick with one or no buttons, you've got the cross-pad (huh? What's this new-fangled thing?), and FOUR whole buttons. This is not something easy to jump into if you haven't played games in a few years."
So -- older gamers are fearlessly picking up their controllers, getting online, and cutting loose. You'd better watch yourself the next time you're playing Halo 2 online and talking smack with other players. If you hear someone saying "My GRANDMA could frag your butt!" he might not be kidding.
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