Greetings, all. First, I think it's important to understand who I am. I'm pretty far outside of the gaming demographic, I'm 72, and I am NOT a 'gamer', though there's a few things I can play. Minecraft, Hot Shots Golf (we have PS2, PSW3, and PS4), and the wife IS a gamer, all the way back to P/S and Atari, and she just got the Hogwarts game.
Here's my deal, I know I can't be the only one. When you get old, all sorts of things happen. Getting out of a comfy chair can be tough. The brain and reaction times slow down. Forget about crazy flipper fingers, arthritis takes care of that.
So what does that mean? IMHO there are probably a good amount of folks like me, seniors who like to dink around for fun but have nowhere near the skill set needed to play some high action game. I'd say there's market that's not being tapped.
But what should happen? I got the idea from Minecraft, 'creative mode'. I'd like to see games have 'Geriatric Mode' for lack of a better term. It might be able to be done easily, a simple switch in settings that allows a game specific 'God Mode', no monsters, you can't be killed, unlimited whatever, and online tournament play disabled, maybe even a slider if something like Mario Karts could be slowed down a little, sliders for sensitivity, I'm sure you get the picture.
I'd love to hear what real gamers think about the idea.
that basically already exists with game difficulty selections & accessibility options. games have plenty of options to make the experience easy for you.
Certain developers have really been pushing bigger and better accessibility options over the last few years. Santa Monica and Naughty Dog have been really hot on this recently, to the point where I think The Last of Us 2 could be played by someone completely blind.
So it’s something that is getting better but far from being the norm. It’s probably easiest to do on games like these which are completely single player.
I think it's a really good idea... as the previous two posters have said, there is progress in this area with games having more difficulty and accessibility options. I guess what would really help is being able to set some of these settings at a system/console level, so the game automatically knows what you are after... but I do feel like it's slowly getting there. We could do a 'best games for older gamers' list here on Push Square but I imagine people would take it the wrong way!
@antdickens 😅 I'm sure it would be fine. Maybe could swap "older" for "distinguished" or "classy". Then again, that would probably be more confusing haha.
After all, if we aren't already old, most of us will get there some day and I'm sure I will still be playing Crash Bandicoot in my golden years, just like my grandad used to still watch the news and old films!
I personally love the idea, and I'm all for adding as many options as possible to make games more playable for people of all ages, skill levels, etc. There's been some big strides in accessibility recently, and games that would once have been unplayable for many can finally be tackled just by tweaking a few options. The Last of Us Part II for example has options that mean if you lay down in the game the enemies can't see you even if they're practically stepping on you, and other options for making important items glow in a different colour for people having trouble seeing what they're meant to pick up.
You could also try some games that don't require fast reactions or complex controls. Turn based games, for example, are perfect for this sort of thing. A lot of old style RPGs like Baldur's Gate and newer ones inspired by it like Divinity Original Sin are either turn based or have the option to make the game turn based meaning you'd have as long as you like to make decisions in combat.
A lot of Japanese role playing games like many Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games can be played entirely turn based and with timers turned off so you can peruse the menus at your leisure, but you can still get meaty gaming experience from them with a story, good characters, etc.
I think an article on this would be really cool, highlighting games that have more options or just by design can be enjoyed by practically anyone. It's of interest to me actually since I often have down time in the office and will play games using the remote play on my phone. There's a little lag and the controls aren't very good so I couldn't play Uncharted or Elden Ring, but it's surprisingly suitable for visual novels, turn based strategy games, and things like that.
First, I REALLY like the idea of a list or article, probably both, the article could inform about the concept, and a list that could be updated when needed.
I know that maybe I sound like I know what I'm talking about, but my knowledge is very limited. I know virtually nothing about the gaming world, some of the above mentioned games I've never heard of. I only know certain games because the wife knows about them.
We do have Animal Crossing, but for me, the 'procedures' of the game, the operational knowledge base, is a bit large. I wish I could slow down Mario Karts. I just tried Hello Neighbor, and I wish I could back off the grabbing of the bad guy and make the game easier overall. I do like Call of Cthulhu, but again, for me it's too easy to die when things go wrong. Hot Shots Golf has several good games, HSG Fore for PS/2, World Invitational (don't remember if it's P/S 3 or 4), HSG Out Of Bounds. All of those I can deal with. We had one decades ago that was my favorite, and for the life of me I couldn't remember which on it is. I looked and looked and looked, and I think it's HSG 3 for P/S2, with Hubert as a player, and loud cicadas on the sound tract. The crowd can throw insults too. Pretty much, my favorite overall is Minecraft for P/S 3. Creative mode only. I really like building things, I've done a whole village, and like to build hidden complexes in hillsides.
Also, Gran Turismo 7 features a lot of options to make the game more playable for people not used to racing games like that, or to just make the game much easier generally. The steering and breaking assist options mean that you mainly only have to worry about the acceleration and a little steering and it can see you through a lot of the game. It's a much more leisurely experience.
@jamesgpobog
Hello, sir.
I heard you like building games.
Well, you will like The Sims 4 on PS4, Portal Knights, Dragon Quest Builders 1 & 2 for home builder games.
For additional experiences, you can try The Sims Bustin' Out PS2 for retro home builder games.
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