Kotaku weekend editor Owen Good has a terrific and thought-provoking article worthy of discussion: he’s currently acting as a live-in caregiver for his 86-year old grandfather, a WWII vet and Harvard MBA who’s been asking him recently about video games in general. Owen asks the Kotaku crowd how best to introduce a man who’s never once experienced one – but is genuinely interested – to the medium we all love.
So what’s the answer? The comments on Kotaku’s site are all over the place, ranging from the absurd to the thoughtful, but I find myself wondering if there’s a more sensitive and valuable way to do this. Good is, after all, staying with his grandpa because the gent needs some additional attention and care, and many studies have shown that video games are a terrific mechanism for engaging the elderly on a variety of levels.
Seriously: games require physical precision that, while frustrating to newcomers, have been shown to increase dexterity and even reduce the pain of arthritis and other debilitating diseases.
Many games are mentally challenging, requiring careful consideration of many facts and contemplation of solutions, a great way to keep the brain engaged and nice variety from the usual choice, that being crossword puzzles.
Games can also offer rich and immersive stories, which people of all ages seek out. Anyone who loves a great novel or complex movie could easily get lost in a terrific narrative video game, and would love discussing the story and experience with someone else who’s played it.
Finally, games offer an escape from what I personally consider a fairly crappy existence regardless of age. The opportunity to live a life of adventure in a strange and wonderful new land filled with danger and intrigue would appeal to anybody, not just the elderly. But it might be of special value to mature players, who’ve experienced so much of this life and may be genuinely transported by the opportunity to experience another so close up.
You guys are smart, what’s your vote? How should Owen introduce his grandpa to this medium? It’s a sensitive and complex topic that bears some discussion. Personally? My vote is Something Bethesda – Morrowind, Oblivion, or Fallout 3. Grandpa Good seems like he’s a pretty sharp old guy, easily able to handle the complexities of such games, while the decidedly out-of-this-world worlds that they offer should be very intriguing to him. Discuss!
I’m what some might call elderly but I game. My husband is both elderly and cannot in any stretched sense be called a gamer. He’s played Animal Crossing (DS), Peggle and…..(wipe that grin off your faces!)…WoW.
Yup, that’s what I’d start with. WoW has it all: safe starter zones with gentle learning curves and a great variety of characters to play. Different environments, unique classes, plus quests are fun! An added bonus is all the other players running around…even if he never speaks to them. Wow’s world is alive and dynamic – with new fantastical skills that few 86 year olds will get to try out in a lifetime. Even better, it’s possible to spend months and months playing no further than level 10. Each race, class and both factions opens new content to be discovered. Not to mention crafting, the AH, and forget what else as I stopped playing last Fall so my memory is already wiped clean (we elderly can only focus on a few things at a time. π )
I didn’t read beyond the first page of suggestions of Kotaku, but I know my husband (working full time on nontrivial tasks) wouldn’t have the patience or the will to learn all that stuff (rules, keys, menus, buttons, etc) required to play those titles. On the other hand, he’s has been casually playing WoW for 2.5 years and only reached lvl 70 last month. Among his 10 alts are at least six hunters, none higher than lvl 30. For him, enjoyment is replaying what is familiar and what he feels comfortable doing.
What I’m trying to illustrate is that one will never know what Grandpa might like till he tries it out so why not offer him a game that has so much of everything. And hey, Grandpa and grandson can play along side each other *inside* the game – doesn’t get a much better fun-factor than that.
Bethesda games are pretty “easy” to get, they are, I’ll give them that, exceedingly fun to get into (after a while, they bore – but the beginning is fun!).
I’d say Fallout 3 over Oblivion – technological dystopia might appeal more then fantasy to a non-gamer, science fiction makes a lot more sense then fantasy (basically – needing to know that there are different races to humans needlessly complicates things. Backstory is against you here).
Then again, yeah, as Yapette says – a variety of games would help. Who knows what people like (do they do the Soduku, the Crosswords, or just read the comics in newspapers? or all 3? π ). An MMO might be nice because people can be helpful – although I personally don’t enjoy playing them because they are full of repetitive grind (not something you want to encourage in a new gamer), and I personally don’t have anyone who plays them often π
I am not going to read the Kotaku thread – on pain of my own sanity – but it is an interesting topic, one I’ve not had an opportunity to see myself.
There will be a lot of good recommendations on here for a starter game so I’ll just add that just as important as the particular game is that Owen play with his grandpa. A lot of the ravage of old age is loneliness and isolation and the accompanying bewilderment at one’s lot. Any game that will bring them together and cause the grandpa feel a little more connected will help a lot.
I would show him the first game I played which got me started on games. Myst. It is a great place to start. Kay
I think simplicity of controls is important for any beginner to video games, let alone an older person.
I would suggest Syberia. Point and click, lovely graphics, and a story.
Nice topic Steerpike.
Fallout 3? Seems overwhelming–too many stats and storylines and menus, and the real-time combat system used whenever the player runs out of action points will give most inexperienced gamers trouble. On the other hand, Grandpa might appreciate the 50s-esque retro-future of Fallout in a truly nostalgic sense.
Myst is a solid choice–it’s forgiving and allows the player to move at his or her own pace and it challenges the mind. True, it’s pretty much a pretty screen saver (though not as pretty now), but I doubt Grandpa is much of a “graphics whore.”
There’s a host of indie games like Braid, Defense Grid, or The Path that offer simply and rewarding gameplay. Hell, Portal might be worth a shot, but the three-dimensional puzzle solving might give him motion sickness since he’s not used to the medium.
I think it would also be fun to play a game like Heroes of Might and Magic V (or any one, really) with Grandpa. The turn-based format is more forgiving than any RTS and it contains so many elements of solid games like role-playing, strategy, tactics, and finding of loot. It’s definitely not something one could just give to Grandpa and say, “have fun,” he’d definitely need to spend some QT with him and show him the ropes.
I definitely agree that Fallout 3 could be rather overwhelming to start someone out on. I also think that Braid and The Path are probably too dependent on referencing/subverting traditional game design to be particularly relevant to anyone not very familiar with the medium. And let’s be honest, there are a lot of people that would have no patience or interest in The Path.
Though I’ve never played Myst (I had always been sort of resentful towards it), I think it could certainly be a good entry point, especially because it is a good example of a “game changer” especially on the business end. That being said, I think point and click third person adventure games might be a good introduction, but it would depend on his interest in narratives outside of adventure games. Does he like fantasy (King’s Quest 6, The Longest Journey), science fiction (The Longest Journey), police procedurals (Police Quest?), more humorous affairs (Monkey Island 1-3). At any rate, that’s where I got my start and I think adventure games offer a fairly easy analogy to more traditional narratives (especially King’s Quest).
Sometimes watching someone play a game can be a mind-numbingly static experience. I agree with Scout that it would ne important to start with something simple that the grandfather and Owen could play together. Maybe something just a little competitive with easy controls and an emphasis on fun gameplay. The first game that came to mind for me was Rampart, which I played on the SNES. Rampart is, in my opinion, a brilliant exercise in gamplay simplicity. Two players face off with their own castles. They have a minute to assemble sections of pre-built walls around the castle. Then they lob cannon balls at each other’s walls and try to destroy each other’s defenses and castles. Simple. Fun. Addictive. I’m sure there are other games out there that could fit the bill. Another one that comes to mind is Shipwreckers, a PSOne game in which you controlled a pirate ship in an ocean arena and faced off against other pirate ships. The ship maneuvering was awesome (although quite unrealistic) because the ships could turn on a dime. Up to four people could play competitively. The gameplay was simple: sink all the other ships before they sink you. The graphics were cartoony and colorful and served as a perfect platform for the appeal of electronic gaming. Unfortunatly, both of these games are pretty obscure at this point. I guess an FPS game of capture the flag follows the same idea, but players in Rampart and Shipwreckers played on the same “board,” so to speak. There was no running through complicated mazes to complete your objective. Everything you needed to see was on the screen at the same time.
After an introduction with something simple, I’d move on to a more contemporary selection. Even though I don’t care for it, I agree that Myst is a good choice. It has great graphics, an interesting story and loads of mystery. It also brought a lot of people into video gaming.
After Myst, the grandfather might enjoy experiencing a strategy game with an emphasis on resource management or growing an economy (he’s a Harvard MBA after all). I know a lot of people will think of Civilization, but that seems a bit complex for an introduction to gaming. There is Civilization: Revolutions on the XBox 360/PS3, which is a nicely stripped down version of the more complex PC version. Hereos of Might and Magic (mentioned above) is a nice recommendation.
Actually I’d recommend Myst 3: Exile over just plain old Myst if you’re going that direction. It’s more up to date graphically and audio-wise and just plain more fun. The original Myst is pretty dated at this point. Riven is probably too hard and the last two a bit tedious if memory serves me. Also Discworld 2 is pretty balanced and accessible if a bit obscure and hard to find. Also, also Telltale’s Sam and Max series of downloadable games.
I don’t think anyone mentioned an RTS, like Age of Empires or Starcraft… If they’re looking for strategy, and an easier learning curve than most 3d based games.
I’ve been a gamer my whole life (I’m 31) and I sometimes forget how difficult games can be for someone who is not experienced at them. Some gameplay mechanic which is second nature to me, is completely foreign to a non-gamer.
The other day I tried to play some Halo 3 co-op (split screen) with my friend who is not a gamer (he’s 28) and he could barely move. The dual-analog controls were very difficult for him grasp. Since Fallout 3 uses this control scheme, I really think this is a bad choice to bombard grampa with, given his lack of gaming experience, as well as his age.
I would suggest simple control schemes above all else to introduce him to games. Point and click adventures, as have been mentioned, seem like very good choices. After that, I suggest old school 2D games with simple controls.
Another cool option would be flOw from the PS Store. Very relaxing game in which you can’t really “lose” and the six-axis controls are accurate and easy to pick up.