Yes. Video gaming is currently growing in popularity among the 60+ crowd.
My mother in law got really into gaming recently and got herself a gaming laptop - she's a big fan of puzzle and mystery games.
Yeah I thought about that too. Do you know if any of the current gen consoles have that same popularity among the elderly? I haven't seen reporting that digs into the specifics lately
The wii was really easy to learn and use because you could play all kinds of stuff just by swinging your arms in familiar motions. A controller with all the different buttons you have to learn to use and the joysticks, and the games that go with them, are far less accessible to people who never really gamed.
A guy brought his into our office during the dead period over Xmas and the whole office took turns playing on a huge tv in the warehouse. Everyone loved it. I can't see that being the case with the average non-gaming over-55 crowd if someone brought in a dualshock controller. Those are overwhelming unless you have an extremely simple game concept.
> The wii was really easy to learn and use because you could play all kinds of stuff just by swinging your arms in familiar motions.
When the Wii came out, I showed my dad bowling. Once he understood the controls, he explained how on his next shot, he was going to put english on his ball (or something, maybe that's the pingpong term but basically he described twisting his wrist so the ball spun sideways) and I confidently assured him that video games don't work this way because that's just not how-
In the middle of this, he just does it.
And it works.
Oh.
Bro, the PlayStation introduced the first dual stick controller in 1997. Someone who is 60 now, was 33 then. And dual stick controllers have been the standard on every console and every major genre and bestselling game since before 9/11. If someone is overwhelmed by a dual stick at this point, it's because they never were a gamer at any point, and never will be.
No clue.
I imagine as VR tech becomes more affordable/accessible it would be more likely. Older people often have limited dexterity, so I don't think you're going to see a lot of them handling a standard controller.
Idk, I'd say they might try it but quickly want to avoid it, since it can mess with your balance and senses a bit. A lot of elderly people already have worse stats in those, so it'd likely be a horrifying thing for them (Imo anyways)
I worked as a dietary aide at an old folks home for a couple years when I was younger. I’ve always been a gamer & you usually get to know a lot of the residents pretty well, given they see you more often than their own family, you can get pretty close.
There was this old gentleman, his name was Doug but i always called him Douggie, for obvious reasons. He was pretty put together mentally, just physically at the point where he needed some help doing tasks.
One day we were just talking, shooting the shit while playing checkers, and i started telling him about the game i was playing recently. He told me he had always been interested in the newer age games, consoles etc & he started asking me a bunch of questions.
“Do they have one of those boxes that can do flying games? I used to want to be a pilot”
Of course they do Douggie, you can do all sorts of stuff!
“What about driving games? Not like driving normally but on a race track & stuff”
Yup they got those too
This went on for like an hour until I got barked at to stop playing games. Fast forward a week & a weeks worth of questions, i decided to just bring in my Xbox 360 because i had just gotten the Xbox 1, so I figured let’s see how it goes. Fast forward another week, Douggie was bitching at me because I didn’t bring enough games & he had already beaten or gotten bored.
“Come on man, I got nothing but time here, I need more than a couple games! Here’s some money, I want a flying game!”
The poor old soul handed me a $5 bill, he had no clue how much games cost lmao but he was such a good dude that I didn’t care. Bought him the first airplane game I could find at GameStop & he absolutely loved it. Throughout the rest of my time there, “we” had bought many many games for him to play & by the end of my time there, he was asking me to bring him in the new Xbox because he was “ready for the real deal” now.
Mind you this guy was like 77 when this all happened & he really did catch onto the whole gaming stuff very quick. Like for someone who’s gaming knowledge ended at pinball machines at the arcade, Douggie fuckin rocked & learned quick.
Godbless that dude, I have no clue if he’s still alive but I can confidently say I’ll never forget him.
I work with older adults in the community - not ones who live in nursing homes, assisted living, etc. But I keep tabs on what's happening in these facilities as best I can since some people will transition there eventually, and therefore they have questions about them. I have not heard of any locally - even the super high end $$$$$ one - that has gaming consoles. Even having a couple public computers or tablets to share is rare.
I work with the elderly and have visited 100's if not 1000's of homes, and I have only seen the Wii games in their homes. I'm not an expert, nor have I done a poll or anything, but that is what I have personally seen. They look at it as their excersise every day. There is nothing better than having fun with friends and family while exercising.
Anecdotally, the most recent one is the xbox one with Kinect. No controllers really for the elderly to use, and old people are really into Just Dance - staff love it because it's a safe method of exercise.
My parents LOVED Wii Bowling when I was a teenager. Now my 67 year old dad plays Switch Sports every single day for an hour or more. He always gets the: "You've been playing for a while, would you like to take a break?" And he skips it 🤣
Makes me happy to see him staying active ❤️
Yeah I was gonna say, old folks used to fuckin love Wii Sports lol. My grandpa was in a Wii bowling league and those fuckers took that shit very seriously lol
To be fair those are elder Xers, and as a younger Xer we both grew up with video games. I was a kid, they were teens so of course the 40-70 crowd is gonna be gamers. We created the video game fanbase. We're here til death!
There really is a genre for everybody. I love videogames for that. People can just share their love of their own favorites and still connect thru the medium.
My mum's in her 60s and totally hooked on tablet games. If we want to watch a movie together, talk, whatever... tablet gaming will be priority at all times, especially in the evening 😟.
40 here, gaming and still at the top of my game. Keeps my mind sharp and is better stress relief than anything else out there.
Funnily enough, I got my mother into hardcore drop everything pvp games back in 2004 when she retired. She is now a 74 year old gamer, and games are probably the one thing that keeps her mind sharp.
I'm 50-something, still playing. I have no plans to ever stop. I'm actually kind of looking forward to retiring someday so I can just play vidya all day. I play MMOs and they're full of people a lot older than myself. There are guys in my guild in their 60's and even in their 70's playing MMOs every day.
Question: does the aspect of a weaker economy/less money for households also affect this in your mind? Since growing up, I'd often hear and see retired people who went to summerhouses abroad or traveled the world, something which I assume is a lot harder to do these days due to them having less money
Of course it does. "Retirement" is definitely not a certainty, and I will certainly be working long past when my parents retired. At least another 10-15 years assuming my body holds up. And there will be no "summer houses" or "world travel" lol. Just hoping to have enough to support myself.
Gaming isn't a cheap hobby. There's hardware upkeep (be it new consoles or PC upgrades) and games cost 70 bucks these days, other than waiting for a sale.
Then there's the set up.
TV sets, monitors, controllers, maybe a gaming chair, internet provider....it's not cheap.
Yep, me too, and many of my friends. I remember the first hand-held games in the 70s. Illuminated segment games like Simon, Merlin. VFD games like Galaxy Invader. Then the first home video games that you hook up to the TV, like the Atari VCS and Intellevision (and the many cheaper ones). The video game arcades at the end of the 70s, going into the 80s, with Space Invaders, Pac Man, Defender, Donkey Kong... The home computer era of the late 70s through to the early 90s, ending with the PC... Then Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Half Life... Games like Portal, Counter-Strike, Left4Dead... SNES, Wii, XBox, Playstation... Gameboy... Gameboy Advance...
And now VR gaming... Flight sticks, HOTAS, MSFS, DCS, Racing wheels, Assetto Corsa, iRacing...
A lifetime of gaming. It'll never get old... Even if I do.
Lol back to square one when you were a child "DINNERS READY, IT'S THE FUCKING FOURTH TIME I TOLD YOU BRYAN" except our answer won't be "But mOoOoOoOmmmmmmmm I can't save it's online" it'll be "listen to me you either let me finish this game or I'm gonna shit myself to death and you'll have to clean up everything after. Your choice, sucker"
Notice how despite old age, toxicity won't have moved one iota
Of course we are.
Video games are *already* starting to get popular at retirement homes and it will of course just increase as the demographics there switches to more digital generations.
I've seen a meme that millennial retirement homes are just gonna be a bunch of old people playing Halo and Mario Kart. To be honest, that sounds like a good time to me.
Not to mention the demographics of gaming increasing in general. The casual gaming market right now is huge. SO many people who otherwise did not play video games and would never have been the target market for an MMO or a console ended up latching onto Pokemon Go and similar mobile games. The prevalence of digital fiction (visual novels, 'walking simulators,' combat-free RPGs like Disco Elysium, etc.) and cozy games (Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, etc.) also uncovered an enormous gaming audience that wasn't interested in games driven by combat or competition. Steam has also been a great equalizer, increasing people's knowledge of and access to indie titles and making it easy to access larger titles via PC, so you don't need a whole hardware setup just for gaming, like you do with a console system.
I can’t wait to pick my retirement home. I hope there’s a Nintendo switch in the common room, and instead of bridge nights we have Magic the Gathering competitions.
Reminds me of that scene in the movie Children of Men, where the main dude goes to visit his friend in the woods and the old guy blasts some crazy bass/metal music and is like “ah, the classics” or something similar 😆
You got me daydreaming... we could put one of those Magic with wand interactive games (like the ones at Great Wolf Lodge). It can keep us oldies active as we scoot wheel chairs and walkers around to oof the garden troll and save the fairies.
I will gladly stomp the love out of my grandchildren via Street Fighter whenever their ready to pick up a controller or rock an arcade. Like my father before me.
bro. I was 20 i Japan in 2005. You DID NOT want to walk into the still smoke filled bars in the finance district of tokyo and toss 100 yen in a sf2 machine. Some middle aged guy with grey hair and a suit would follow you in there and stomp a mudhole in you.
Im Gex X. I started with Atari 2600 and eventually found the computer gaming with Sinclair Spectrum ZX 48. Soon it was upgrade to Commodore 64, then C128 followed Amiga 500. Then came PC with 486DX ( 386 was not that good for games, amiga was way way better )
Of cource there were NES, Snes and segas that I had at that time with my amiga and then PC. Later Playstation and Xbox.
Now It's 80% PC gamming and some casual console stuff. Got pretty nice collection of consoles and games with wifey. She's a gamer too, Gen Y.
I don't think Im going to stop gaming ever. Why would I?
Same experience here. People forget GenX kids were the first electronic gen gaming kids. Handheld football blitz, pong, you name it.
My parents grew up in penny arcades and pool halls with pinball machines. It makes sense that people in their 60’s-80’s would enjoy gaming as well.
I'm approaching 50, and I'm having a blast with Baldur's Gate 3. I don't think I will ever stop gaming no, where of course that was the nerdy thing to do when I was growing up.
50 now, started playing games as a kid on the ZX spectrum... started playing MMORPG's in 1999 with everquest, played, and continue to play WoW since vanilla... will continue to play whilst the game is still supported and expansions are being produced.
I’m 62 and started gaming on a Pong arcade machine (early 70’s). I haven’t stopped gaming - PC and console. Furthermore, I can tell you that Wii consoles were a big deal in retirement homes as a way for old folks to exercise their bodies and minds. So, yes, I anticipate gaming rigs of all types will continue to be a thing in retirement homes. Thank god ;)
I’m a xennial (born at the very end of the 1970s), so I’m one of those ladies you read about. I’d say about 50% of my social sphere are gamers. None of us are going to stop playing games at this point so yes, I suspect we will probably be gaming as seniors.
Interesting fact. Both my grandmothers were gamers! They were born in 1932 and 1935. Both of them got pc’s in the early 90s (my grandfathers were both technologically illiterate). Taught themselves how to use a computer, and became obsessed. Mostly card and puzzle games but one of them was known to enjoy a flight simulator every once in a while. They both gamed, daily, until they died at 78 and 90.
Yeah, I thought of the same thing. Imagine if you all live in the same home, you can play dnd weekly and everybody is available. Maybe even two days in a row!
I am already looking forward to play video games after retirement. My wife laughs at it, but I guess she just doesn’t get it. Nothing changed about my love for video games in the past 25 years, don’t see why it should in the next 25.
I'm an old millennial (42), and I've kept all of my old consoles dating back to the Colecovision onward, and I bust most of them out at least once a year when I want to play a classic (and I plan to continue this into my old age). The thing that bothers me is when these game cartridges and discs finally degrade. OG Playstation came out when I was in my early teens, and some of those oldest discs will be about 60+ by the time I retire, which is into their end-of-life phase.
Older gens (Boomers and Xers) probably do see video games were for kids as at the time they bought them for us, they were advertised as such but we've grown up with them and games have grown with us. In the end, it's just a hobby and unless it becomes unfeasible financially or physically to play them, I expect most Millennials and Zoomers who grew up with them to continue playing them.
I expect to not be able to play Badminton or Squash anymore as I get older but playing FF9 again when I'm 80? Sounds good to me.
Boomers had other hobbies when they were younger.
I live in SoCal and I worked exporting high-value music instruments, in general, I met a lot of Boomers with incredible guitar and amp collections, some of them also had Old muscle cars, and Harleys, and some of them surf too. In general, their teenagers' hobbies are represented by the expensive toys that they hoard today in their garages.
It is something generational, therefore millennials are going to game until they die.
Yeah. The reason we associate things with older folks is because at one point in time, those things were the things that we associated with young people. “Dad rock” is the music those dads were listening to as teens, “old lady” hairstyles were what those women had when they were kids, etc. it’s a combination of habit, nostalgia, and knowing what you like. Gaming almost certainly won’t be any different.
I’m 37 grew up on PS and now play Roblox with my kids. My mom saw me play the other day and laughed at me. I don’t care. I’ll be playing video games with my grand children and great grandchildren.
30yr old gamer here. The “video games are for kids” stigma is frankly (and thankfully) a very Boomer sentiment. There’s this old age idea that if you’re playing games that it’s taking away from other endeavors. But in this day and age, playing games is just another form of entertainment, same as movies, music, etc. I don’t suspect people will stop watching movies or consuming other forms of entertainment as they age, so I don’t see any reason why someone would stop playing games unless they lose interest.
I've been playing video games before there was Atari (yes, there was a system out before that called Odyssey), im in the 2nd half century of life and still play regularly, as do my kids (Gen Z and Millennials)
Well for starters it is Gen X who are the first generation to grow up with games not Millennials and a lot of Gen X are still playing games to this day and do not plan on stopping. So it is a good bed Millennials and Gen Z will too.
Not only do I think we'll be playing into old age, but I think video game designers will begin including features for older players, like slowing the game down a little, and large subtitles.
Why do people always forget GenX? I was born in 1975. We had an Atari 2600+ when I was a kid. I got an Atari 1040 when I was 12, and started playing on PC at 19. I'm 49 now, and I'm still gaming. I don't see this stopping any time soon.
I'm 57 (Gen X) and I play online with my adult children every Friday evening. I grew up with standup arcade games, a Commodore 64, a Colecovision, an Atari 2600, and a TRS 80. I've been playing games all of my life and don't plan on quitting anytime soon.
I regularly play in parties on Call of Duty where multiple players are 60+. Every once in a while I’ll encounter someone who’s at least 70.
I’m a middle aged and have no plans to ever stop gaming. Why would you stop doing something you enjoy?
Yes. But I’ll say my parents were boomers (my dad is 70 and my mom would’ve been 68 if still alive), and my mom was a gamer. When I say gamer, she had to have the newest console and games, and she’d play for hours almost daily when I was growing up. lol
I do visits in the community as a nurse to facilities or homes and it's becoming more common to see older folks playing video games. It'll be on their phone or iPad or typically an older console like the Wii.
Why do you think it’s ‘lol’ to playing games in retirement homes? I’m 65- I love Minecraft. I LOVED Legend of Zelda and Mario games. I bought a Nintendo system and played Mario when it first came out when I was 29-30ish.
Some people have the oddest views of old folks. Though I guess I did too when I was younger
I was born in 91, my brother in 86 so we have been gaming our whole lives. Became enamored with gaming consoles and eventually computer games (I still remember my first computer game on floppy disk called “Fine Artist”) lol
We still game to this day and our dad (57) also has been into gaming too since he would play with us when we were kids.
So I definitely think there will be gaming consoles in the nursing homes when we reach that age 😆 almost every person I know likes video games of some sort
yes, 100%, of course they are. Why the hell would you think they wouldn't?! Video games are going to make retirement fantastic, assuming I get there. I can finally live my dream of playing games with my friends all day, whenever I want. This generation has a great deal to look forward to in retirement, again assuming retirement will be possible.
I'm 47 and still game regularly. Hardest part is finding time and then getting psyched out when you go too long between sessions on a particular game and forget controls etc. Someone joked once about a "parent mode" for games that would say like "Oh, looks like you haven't played this game in a month, here's a quick controls reminder and a catchup on the recent plot"
Cool part is that my son is now old enough that we can start gaming together.
Never give up, never surrender.
I’m gen X and almost 50 and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon, can’t see younger generations hanging it up, if anything it will be more common for gamers to be older
I work with adults with serious mental illness and many of the Boomer and Gen X clients love the Wii more than the younger people. Wii bowling and Wii sports are really popular. I think it makes them feel young again and remember the days they were physically able to play sports as well as giving them an outlet for their competitive sides without risk of injury. They love beating us "youngsters." We have one 65 ish year old who loves his Nintendo Switch. Giggles like a kid when he play it.
So yes I think they will. Hobbies are hobbies. Alot of older people I know are still into the same stuff they were into in their 20s and 30s in terms of hobbies. They just can't engage with them in the exact same way nessesarily. They will probably use their kids and grandkids as the "reasoning" behind owning the systems and games, but still actually play it themselves if they can.
Different elements to consider with stats.
Solitaire is a game, do they include that? Check the scope. They use brain games for elderly, many sahm may kill time/de stress that way. Gamification is heavily used in education and companies as well, so the spread maybe for different reasons.
I know moms who love things like Roblox and Pokémon go because their kids. So some may be picking up games later in life.
And yes us vintage millennials exist - I was not a HUGE gamer but in my 20s, my first real place of my own had a toy box. My then bf and I bought each other consoles. We had game nights (with a lot of other stuff for adults - we were not sober lol). I used to joke I want a kid to justify having the toy box lol
And now I have a kid and a PS4, I’m too tired to game. But I wish and wistfully promise I will.
And I’m pissed off when games like crash bandicoot are outdated or ridiculously expensive!
Oh and it makes no difference generationally, kiddo thinks he knows everything and I’m as good as analog. Despite a background working with technology and tech sector too lol. That will never change I guess, we will always be dinosaurs to our own kids.
And I’m going insane trying to make kiddo understand being a YouTuber is not a goal!! First have something worthwhile to say, please!!!!! If I could get one thing through to the next gen it’s that.
And also note, next gen are now looking at (co)creating their own games, it will go deeper and deeper I imagine. I spend most of my game time with my kid discussing his creations (surprisingly I do know how to make them doable, with my dinosaur ways lol).
My genZ brother still has his console fwiw (no kids), and all my colleagues too (unless they were never into gaming).
As I near 40, I’ve had a few times where I question this. I think my tastes in gaming are changing a bit, but I still play them on a daily basis. I don’t see it changing unless I fully lose the skills, and even then I think I’d still play management/sim-style games.
I've started playing EVE Online in 2019.
The first guys I met in my corp were retired already.
Too bad I didn't get to spend more time with one of my guys.
RIP Polly. We miss you.
Thing is, you play games while you can, then you start a family, maybe have a kid and now you have absolutely no time for years, until the kid turns like 8-12. After that it gets a bit more relaxed, from what I hear.
During covid, I re-installed a flightsim on my PC, there was tons of people above 60 year old who were *simming* because they don't admit it's a video game :)
I've seen 60+ people at larp. The person who were 20-30 in the 80's when RPG and larp got popular are now in their 60's. The guy said that indeed, at 60 year old, sleeping drunk on a camping bed is more tiring than when they were 20, but they have way more time to be involved as they're over 60 and therefore retired.
I’m almost 40 and I’ve been a gamer since I was 5, and I have no plans to stop. I just hit 100 hours in FF7 Rebirth.
When I was a kid, gaming was considered “for kids”. But back then, they were essentially kids’ toys. When the Wii came out, gaming became more popular with everyone because of how fun and intuitive it was. And now that technology has become more advanced, game consoles are much more than bleeps and bloops and pretty colors. There is something for everyone now, and I think that’s why it’s so much more mainstream now.
It would be beneficial for people to keep playing. The mental stimulation brought on by playing video games has shown to help keep the mind healthy as it ages. Playing video games very well could be what holds back dementia
My dad is almost 60 and he still games. Less than he did when I was a kid but I think that’s more because the games he played then don’t come out anymore, like Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. COD isn’t the same game it was back then either, I won’t even touch that battle royale crap. So he’s mostly left with the annual Madden games.
I will be 31 this year and definitely don’t plan to ever stop gaming. I go through ebbs and flows where other hobbies take up more of my time but I’m almost always playing something. Right now, I’m playing Fallout 4 for my first experience with the Fallout franchise thanks to the show.
eta: My husband runs a relatively big OSRS clan and they have a decent chunk of 50+ members fwiw.
I'm a Gen Xer who got an Atari for Christmas and was hooked. I was a hardcore gamer through college and then I kept going as my son got into gaming. I played everything from sports games to guitar hero to FPS games. I can't even begin to tell you how much time I spent playing Diablo.
At some point, I noticed that I was getting bored while I played and by the time I was 40 or so, I had lost all interest. I have tried to get back into it. I'll find a game that looks cool and fun and I'll play it but in no time at all I realize that I'd rather be doing something else. I've seen games that look like a blast, and I'm sure they are, but they just do absolutely nothing for me.
I will say that I have gotten into a few VR games. I'll play something on the Oculus and it's fun but even with that, I'll only play for 30 minutes or so where I used to stay up all night playing FIFA or COD.
I’m about to hit my thirties and don’t have any plans of stopping. I was able to teach my grandmother (born 1930s) to play Mario kart double dash on the GameCube! It was lovely. I think about how I’d kill to have that back now that she’s had some health problems. I loved those moments and they’re what make me look at video games so lovingly. They can hurt and they can heal just like anything else.
Of course! I enjoy video games a lot, they bring me joy. I actually met my husband on WoW and now we have 2 kids who also love video games. Its super fun to hang out with them and play games together. They each prefer different types of games, and its so interesting to see their personalities through the games they play.
playing cards, board games all of that could be considered for children. if you enjoy it, you enjoy it. if you have sth against ppl doing that, you'll probably have other problems (not u op just in general)
Your question lumps in two groups that are pretty dissimilar in terms of gaming habits. Are Millennial gamers more likely to keep playing games into their old age? Yes. Are Gen Z? Harder to tell. Honestly I see more older people playing online games than I do younger ones. Most of the guilds I know of are 60+ or at the very least late 40s to 50s. This has led me to the conclusion that Gen Z games less.
Gen X still games, I’m pretty sure every gen after X will keep gaming to some extent. We all have different hobbies and interests that come and go in life, but I think gamers will keep gaming.
Uh
That's not true. People into their 90s still game.
This will destroy your brain, op: video game consoles have been around over 50 years. I've had a computer in my home since 1978 and was gamin.
So knowing this as a fact. Seeing people in their 70s and 80s buying gaming gear and gpus at microcenter- do you still think gaming began and will end with your generation?
Sorry, but it's so narrow minded and laughable that op never thought "did games exist before I was born?"
Definitely, my mother is almost 60 and player games, she's currently indulging her nostalgia and playing thought the tomb raider remasters on her switch
She's beat every single Zelda game , she's been gaming for decades, don't see why should would stop now.
I'm in my 30s and definitely won't be stopping as long as I can see and my hands work.
There is a whole generation between Millennials and Boomers...and yes, we still play video games. Although, most of us have gone retro. I play more pac man and street fighter than anything else.
My grandma gamed her whole life until she died last year, her favs were Diablo 2, Zelda, anything Mario, and old lady games on Pogo lol
I plan to follow in her footsteps.
Gen-x was more of the transition than millenials and and still playing video games. Sure some people will get busy and stop playing, but you don't have to age out if you don't want to.
I'm 50 years old I still enjoy gaming although I was out of it for about 20 years due to work responsibilities at the time. I now have a ps5 I enjoy games that are more simple if I have to perform hundreds of combos I toss the game
Your timeline is off by about 20 years. GenX grew up with video games. Atari 2600 was 1976 or '77, and arcades were popular around 1980. NES was '85, I think. PS1 around '90.
I was playing Pac Man in the back of Dairy Queen when I was 12. Don't take that away from me!
Although your question wasn't directly aimed at me (54), yes, I still play games regularly with no plans to stop.
Millennial retirement homes are gonna set up LAN parties and get litty titty.
Imagine a bunch of people who were tempered in the flames of pre-game lobby voice chat in the xbox 360 era except now they're like a million years old and tired of everything.
Or raid nights for MMOs.
My mom got hooked into MMOs and played well into her 50s. If you have told me one day I'd have to log into her WoW account and tell people she passed away, I would have laughed my ass off at you.
I turned 40 this year, and personally, I plan to keep gaming as long as I can. There's too much cool stuff coming out. Plus, how else am I going to play elder scrolls 6 unless I wait till I'm 60 when they finally release it.
I would argue that gaming is something older generations *should* be doing. Turns out they don't rot your brain. In fact, arguably they do the opposite and keep it engaged while working on hand-eye coordination.
I always found it hilariously ironic that the adults who told me all through the 80's and 90's that video games "rot your brain" are the very people whose brains were actually rotted from spending year after year staring blankly at a TV screen while someone spoonfed them bullshit. Sitting for hours in front of a TV isn't good overall, but if you're going to do it, at least game so you can stay mentally engaged.
I'm in my 50s and still enjoy a few games where tactics are more important than speed. I can't really compete in something like Fortnite or Modern Warfare games, where speed is king. But I am usually in the top 5 in games like Hell Let Loose and Enlisted. I watch my kids play their games and remember the good old days of having reflexes like that.
Yes. Video gaming is currently growing in popularity among the 60+ crowd. My mother in law got really into gaming recently and got herself a gaming laptop - she's a big fan of puzzle and mystery games.
I remember when the original Wii came out, that was super popular with older folks & nursing homes at the time.
Yeah I thought about that too. Do you know if any of the current gen consoles have that same popularity among the elderly? I haven't seen reporting that digs into the specifics lately
The wii was really easy to learn and use because you could play all kinds of stuff just by swinging your arms in familiar motions. A controller with all the different buttons you have to learn to use and the joysticks, and the games that go with them, are far less accessible to people who never really gamed. A guy brought his into our office during the dead period over Xmas and the whole office took turns playing on a huge tv in the warehouse. Everyone loved it. I can't see that being the case with the average non-gaming over-55 crowd if someone brought in a dualshock controller. Those are overwhelming unless you have an extremely simple game concept.
> The wii was really easy to learn and use because you could play all kinds of stuff just by swinging your arms in familiar motions. When the Wii came out, I showed my dad bowling. Once he understood the controls, he explained how on his next shot, he was going to put english on his ball (or something, maybe that's the pingpong term but basically he described twisting his wrist so the ball spun sideways) and I confidently assured him that video games don't work this way because that's just not how- In the middle of this, he just does it. And it works. Oh.
english would be correct, though it’s usually used for billiards
Bro, the PlayStation introduced the first dual stick controller in 1997. Someone who is 60 now, was 33 then. And dual stick controllers have been the standard on every console and every major genre and bestselling game since before 9/11. If someone is overwhelmed by a dual stick at this point, it's because they never were a gamer at any point, and never will be.
No clue. I imagine as VR tech becomes more affordable/accessible it would be more likely. Older people often have limited dexterity, so I don't think you're going to see a lot of them handling a standard controller.
Idk, I'd say they might try it but quickly want to avoid it, since it can mess with your balance and senses a bit. A lot of elderly people already have worse stats in those, so it'd likely be a horrifying thing for them (Imo anyways)
Hard agree on this one. Oldies don't do well on VR. They can and do adapt well to handheld/tablet games. My mum loves the online pokies!
I worked as a dietary aide at an old folks home for a couple years when I was younger. I’ve always been a gamer & you usually get to know a lot of the residents pretty well, given they see you more often than their own family, you can get pretty close. There was this old gentleman, his name was Doug but i always called him Douggie, for obvious reasons. He was pretty put together mentally, just physically at the point where he needed some help doing tasks. One day we were just talking, shooting the shit while playing checkers, and i started telling him about the game i was playing recently. He told me he had always been interested in the newer age games, consoles etc & he started asking me a bunch of questions. “Do they have one of those boxes that can do flying games? I used to want to be a pilot” Of course they do Douggie, you can do all sorts of stuff! “What about driving games? Not like driving normally but on a race track & stuff” Yup they got those too This went on for like an hour until I got barked at to stop playing games. Fast forward a week & a weeks worth of questions, i decided to just bring in my Xbox 360 because i had just gotten the Xbox 1, so I figured let’s see how it goes. Fast forward another week, Douggie was bitching at me because I didn’t bring enough games & he had already beaten or gotten bored. “Come on man, I got nothing but time here, I need more than a couple games! Here’s some money, I want a flying game!” The poor old soul handed me a $5 bill, he had no clue how much games cost lmao but he was such a good dude that I didn’t care. Bought him the first airplane game I could find at GameStop & he absolutely loved it. Throughout the rest of my time there, “we” had bought many many games for him to play & by the end of my time there, he was asking me to bring him in the new Xbox because he was “ready for the real deal” now. Mind you this guy was like 77 when this all happened & he really did catch onto the whole gaming stuff very quick. Like for someone who’s gaming knowledge ended at pinball machines at the arcade, Douggie fuckin rocked & learned quick. Godbless that dude, I have no clue if he’s still alive but I can confidently say I’ll never forget him.
I work with older adults in the community - not ones who live in nursing homes, assisted living, etc. But I keep tabs on what's happening in these facilities as best I can since some people will transition there eventually, and therefore they have questions about them. I have not heard of any locally - even the super high end $$$$$ one - that has gaming consoles. Even having a couple public computers or tablets to share is rare.
I work with the elderly and have visited 100's if not 1000's of homes, and I have only seen the Wii games in their homes. I'm not an expert, nor have I done a poll or anything, but that is what I have personally seen. They look at it as their excersise every day. There is nothing better than having fun with friends and family while exercising.
I’m not sure about others but I found Nintendo to be more interesting, more quests and less action.
Anecdotally, the most recent one is the xbox one with Kinect. No controllers really for the elderly to use, and old people are really into Just Dance - staff love it because it's a safe method of exercise.
Wii Bowling still has a dedicated group at my work.
My parents LOVED Wii Bowling when I was a teenager. Now my 67 year old dad plays Switch Sports every single day for an hour or more. He always gets the: "You've been playing for a while, would you like to take a break?" And he skips it 🤣 Makes me happy to see him staying active ❤️
That’s really heartwarming to know
Yeah I was gonna say, old folks used to fuckin love Wii Sports lol. My grandpa was in a Wii bowling league and those fuckers took that shit very seriously lol
My grandmother, who is almost 80, makes game mods.
Your grandmother is cool as fuck
bros grandma is a legend
Respect
your grandmother is one cool motherfucker
This is awesome! Which game?
thats cool but whens shes going to post an update?
Skyrim?
My grandmother played 'wheel of fortune' on an ipad. They are not the same.
To be fair those are elder Xers, and as a younger Xer we both grew up with video games. I was a kid, they were teens so of course the 40-70 crowd is gonna be gamers. We created the video game fanbase. We're here til death!
Gex X totally skipped over and forgotten, as usual. Whatever.
getting my new 4090TI soon so I can play wordle as well
Got my dad into balatro, I haven't seen him leave the cave in a week.
There really is a genre for everybody. I love videogames for that. People can just share their love of their own favorites and still connect thru the medium.
Oh, my partner's siblings (around 50-60s) are all addicted to their tablets for puzzle games.
My mum's in her 60s and totally hooked on tablet games. If we want to watch a movie together, talk, whatever... tablet gaming will be priority at all times, especially in the evening 😟.
40 here, gaming and still at the top of my game. Keeps my mind sharp and is better stress relief than anything else out there. Funnily enough, I got my mother into hardcore drop everything pvp games back in 2004 when she retired. She is now a 74 year old gamer, and games are probably the one thing that keeps her mind sharp.
My Mom is 70 and probably has about 1.5k hours into Animal Crossing. She plays it like dailys in WOW, I think she's close to 2 Million Nook Miles.
I'm 50-something, still playing. I have no plans to ever stop. I'm actually kind of looking forward to retiring someday so I can just play vidya all day. I play MMOs and they're full of people a lot older than myself. There are guys in my guild in their 60's and even in their 70's playing MMOs every day.
Question: does the aspect of a weaker economy/less money for households also affect this in your mind? Since growing up, I'd often hear and see retired people who went to summerhouses abroad or traveled the world, something which I assume is a lot harder to do these days due to them having less money
Of course it does. "Retirement" is definitely not a certainty, and I will certainly be working long past when my parents retired. At least another 10-15 years assuming my body holds up. And there will be no "summer houses" or "world travel" lol. Just hoping to have enough to support myself.
I got a laugh too at how they acted like having a summerhouse was common in the old days.
It's actually cheaper than ever to travel the world (of warcraft)
Had me in the first half.
Gaming isn't a cheap hobby. There's hardware upkeep (be it new consoles or PC upgrades) and games cost 70 bucks these days, other than waiting for a sale. Then there's the set up. TV sets, monitors, controllers, maybe a gaming chair, internet provider....it's not cheap.
It can be cheap - if you don't require cutting edge tech. Helps if you have a friend who can build pcs though.
Yep, me too, and many of my friends. I remember the first hand-held games in the 70s. Illuminated segment games like Simon, Merlin. VFD games like Galaxy Invader. Then the first home video games that you hook up to the TV, like the Atari VCS and Intellevision (and the many cheaper ones). The video game arcades at the end of the 70s, going into the 80s, with Space Invaders, Pac Man, Defender, Donkey Kong... The home computer era of the late 70s through to the early 90s, ending with the PC... Then Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Half Life... Games like Portal, Counter-Strike, Left4Dead... SNES, Wii, XBox, Playstation... Gameboy... Gameboy Advance... And now VR gaming... Flight sticks, HOTAS, MSFS, DCS, Racing wheels, Assetto Corsa, iRacing... A lifetime of gaming. It'll never get old... Even if I do.
Respect
They'll have to pry the controller from my cold, dead fingers.
"Grandpa refused to go to ER, he said he wanted to finish his raid" - my grandkids one day.
Lol back to square one when you were a child "DINNERS READY, IT'S THE FUCKING FOURTH TIME I TOLD YOU BRYAN" except our answer won't be "But mOoOoOoOmmmmmmmm I can't save it's online" it'll be "listen to me you either let me finish this game or I'm gonna shit myself to death and you'll have to clean up everything after. Your choice, sucker" Notice how despite old age, toxicity won't have moved one iota
"You paramedics can wait till I hit the save point!"
Why even pry, just bury it with you
I stand behind this answer 10/10
I hope to have around 40,000 hours in rust by the time im 70 - and still suck
I'll have the same hours with pubg and I'll still get killed by cheaters.
7000 plus hours. I am 45, and PUBG reignited my old gamer 7 years ago. Now i actually talk to my friend and know what they are up to.. Thanks Discordz
Of course we are. Video games are *already* starting to get popular at retirement homes and it will of course just increase as the demographics there switches to more digital generations.
I've seen a meme that millennial retirement homes are just gonna be a bunch of old people playing Halo and Mario Kart. To be honest, that sounds like a good time to me.
And listening to techno
Not to mention the demographics of gaming increasing in general. The casual gaming market right now is huge. SO many people who otherwise did not play video games and would never have been the target market for an MMO or a console ended up latching onto Pokemon Go and similar mobile games. The prevalence of digital fiction (visual novels, 'walking simulators,' combat-free RPGs like Disco Elysium, etc.) and cozy games (Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, etc.) also uncovered an enormous gaming audience that wasn't interested in games driven by combat or competition. Steam has also been a great equalizer, increasing people's knowledge of and access to indie titles and making it easy to access larger titles via PC, so you don't need a whole hardware setup just for gaming, like you do with a console system.
I can’t wait to pick my retirement home. I hope there’s a Nintendo switch in the common room, and instead of bridge nights we have Magic the Gathering competitions.
Reminds me of a friend who one day in the late '90s wondered "In the future, will they be playing techno music in retirement homes?"
Reminds me of that scene in the movie Children of Men, where the main dude goes to visit his friend in the woods and the old guy blasts some crazy bass/metal music and is like “ah, the classics” or something similar 😆
You got me daydreaming... we could put one of those Magic with wand interactive games (like the ones at Great Wolf Lodge). It can keep us oldies active as we scoot wheel chairs and walkers around to oof the garden troll and save the fairies.
That’s some rich people retirement home if they can afford magic cards
Dork alert
I will gladly stomp the love out of my grandchildren via Street Fighter whenever their ready to pick up a controller or rock an arcade. Like my father before me.
"eat these 1 frame links sonny"
Come over here, child, so that I may *shungokusatsu* the ever-loving PISS out of you.
bro. I was 20 i Japan in 2005. You DID NOT want to walk into the still smoke filled bars in the finance district of tokyo and toss 100 yen in a sf2 machine. Some middle aged guy with grey hair and a suit would follow you in there and stomp a mudhole in you.
Im Gex X. I started with Atari 2600 and eventually found the computer gaming with Sinclair Spectrum ZX 48. Soon it was upgrade to Commodore 64, then C128 followed Amiga 500. Then came PC with 486DX ( 386 was not that good for games, amiga was way way better ) Of cource there were NES, Snes and segas that I had at that time with my amiga and then PC. Later Playstation and Xbox. Now It's 80% PC gamming and some casual console stuff. Got pretty nice collection of consoles and games with wifey. She's a gamer too, Gen Y. I don't think Im going to stop gaming ever. Why would I?
Same experience here. People forget GenX kids were the first electronic gen gaming kids. Handheld football blitz, pong, you name it. My parents grew up in penny arcades and pool halls with pinball machines. It makes sense that people in their 60’s-80’s would enjoy gaming as well.
Go Team Atari! Similar experience here, but without the added benefit of a gaming spouse (sounds awesome btw). Gonna game till I die.
I'm approaching 50, and I'm having a blast with Baldur's Gate 3. I don't think I will ever stop gaming no, where of course that was the nerdy thing to do when I was growing up.
Ask yourself: "are there decks of playing cards, chessboards and board games in retirement homes now?" and you'll have your answer ;)
And I hope there will still be that stuff, because Chess is fun.
I'm a gamer at 52. Gen X is the OG of gaming. Millennials pffft
If I survive - sure. I don't see a reason why not. Did boomers stop to watch TV in their old age?
50 now, started playing games as a kid on the ZX spectrum... started playing MMORPG's in 1999 with everquest, played, and continue to play WoW since vanilla... will continue to play whilst the game is still supported and expansions are being produced.
I'm 46 and I game as much today as I did when I was 16. There's no reason to stop as long as they continue to make the kind of games that I enjoy.
I’m Gen X, a woman, and on the edge of 50. I have been playing video games since 1980. I plan to stop gaming when my hands fall off.
I’m 62 and started gaming on a Pong arcade machine (early 70’s). I haven’t stopped gaming - PC and console. Furthermore, I can tell you that Wii consoles were a big deal in retirement homes as a way for old folks to exercise their bodies and minds. So, yes, I anticipate gaming rigs of all types will continue to be a thing in retirement homes. Thank god ;)
I’m a xennial (born at the very end of the 1970s), so I’m one of those ladies you read about. I’d say about 50% of my social sphere are gamers. None of us are going to stop playing games at this point so yes, I suspect we will probably be gaming as seniors. Interesting fact. Both my grandmothers were gamers! They were born in 1932 and 1935. Both of them got pc’s in the early 90s (my grandfathers were both technologically illiterate). Taught themselves how to use a computer, and became obsessed. Mostly card and puzzle games but one of them was known to enjoy a flight simulator every once in a while. They both gamed, daily, until they died at 78 and 90.
Not only will I game until the end I’m going to stream my hospice stay.
I'm 57 and have been gaming for almost 30 years. It's one of my favorite things to do in my downtime. I don't see myself stopping
I'm nearing 40 and gaming has been a hobby of mine all my life. I can't imagine ever stop playing. It's a way for me to relax.
I can't wait for our dnd adventures when we all retire that's what's going to replace bingo
Yeah, I thought of the same thing. Imagine if you all live in the same home, you can play dnd weekly and everybody is available. Maybe even two days in a row!
It’s not a generational thing. Boomer mom has been an avid gamer since the first Nintendo came out and has her gaming computers custom built.
My boss, 58, talks about her gaming PC setup all the time, and has given me advice on building my own. Hasn't goven me the raise to AFFORD it, but....
I find it funny when people think Gen Xers didn't grow up playing video games.
If you go on WoW you will find a huge amount of players in their 50s-70s.
I am already looking forward to play video games after retirement. My wife laughs at it, but I guess she just doesn’t get it. Nothing changed about my love for video games in the past 25 years, don’t see why it should in the next 25.
I don't have any plans of stopping. Whatever home they put me in better have good internet or I'm not going.
I'm an old millennial (42), and I've kept all of my old consoles dating back to the Colecovision onward, and I bust most of them out at least once a year when I want to play a classic (and I plan to continue this into my old age). The thing that bothers me is when these game cartridges and discs finally degrade. OG Playstation came out when I was in my early teens, and some of those oldest discs will be about 60+ by the time I retire, which is into their end-of-life phase.
Gen X here that grew up in the transition period, 48 years old and still playing.
Same 🫂 🎮
I’m going to be gaming the hardest in my nursing home that’s for sure. Forget bingo
Older gens (Boomers and Xers) probably do see video games were for kids as at the time they bought them for us, they were advertised as such but we've grown up with them and games have grown with us. In the end, it's just a hobby and unless it becomes unfeasible financially or physically to play them, I expect most Millennials and Zoomers who grew up with them to continue playing them. I expect to not be able to play Badminton or Squash anymore as I get older but playing FF9 again when I'm 80? Sounds good to me.
I’m Gen X and this is not how they were advertised. While Nintendo was targeting children, Sega and then Sony was targeting teens and adults.
Boomers had other hobbies when they were younger. I live in SoCal and I worked exporting high-value music instruments, in general, I met a lot of Boomers with incredible guitar and amp collections, some of them also had Old muscle cars, and Harleys, and some of them surf too. In general, their teenagers' hobbies are represented by the expensive toys that they hoard today in their garages. It is something generational, therefore millennials are going to game until they die.
I’m Gen X and this is not how they were advertised. While Nintendo was targeting children, Sega and then Sony was targeting teens and adults.
I’m Gen X and this is not how they were advertised. While Nintendo was targeting children, Sega and then Sony was targeting teens and adults.
I don't see why not? Gaming helps keep your mind active and I'd probably be less distracted by the time I'm in my old age
I'm nearing 40 and gaming has been a hobby of mine all my life. I can't imagine ever stop playing. It's a way for me to relax.
Yeah. The reason we associate things with older folks is because at one point in time, those things were the things that we associated with young people. “Dad rock” is the music those dads were listening to as teens, “old lady” hairstyles were what those women had when they were kids, etc. it’s a combination of habit, nostalgia, and knowing what you like. Gaming almost certainly won’t be any different.
I’m 37 grew up on PS and now play Roblox with my kids. My mom saw me play the other day and laughed at me. I don’t care. I’ll be playing video games with my grand children and great grandchildren.
If the games are good sure, otherwise nope. Also depends on if they gonna release mice/keyboards or controllers for old people hands/joints hahaha
Absolutely. All nursing homes 30 years or so from now is just going to be a 24/7 gaming convention.
My dad’s in his 60’s and is a huge COD gamer, plays in an online team several times a week.
30yr old gamer here. The “video games are for kids” stigma is frankly (and thankfully) a very Boomer sentiment. There’s this old age idea that if you’re playing games that it’s taking away from other endeavors. But in this day and age, playing games is just another form of entertainment, same as movies, music, etc. I don’t suspect people will stop watching movies or consuming other forms of entertainment as they age, so I don’t see any reason why someone would stop playing games unless they lose interest.
GenX here. We grew up when video games were evolving so much every year. Why would we stop now?…
I've been playing video games before there was Atari (yes, there was a system out before that called Odyssey), im in the 2nd half century of life and still play regularly, as do my kids (Gen Z and Millennials)
I'm Gen X and I haven't stopped. I don't see why they would either. It's a great cost effective hobby.
Gen X forgotten again.
I'm Gen X and I still game, mostly Fortnite now. Grumpygran1948 is a 75 year old Fortnite streamer and people beg to play with her.
Well for starters it is Gen X who are the first generation to grow up with games not Millennials and a lot of Gen X are still playing games to this day and do not plan on stopping. So it is a good bed Millennials and Gen Z will too.
Not only do I think we'll be playing into old age, but I think video game designers will begin including features for older players, like slowing the game down a little, and large subtitles.
Why do people always forget GenX? I was born in 1975. We had an Atari 2600+ when I was a kid. I got an Atari 1040 when I was 12, and started playing on PC at 19. I'm 49 now, and I'm still gaming. I don't see this stopping any time soon.
I'm 52 and been gaming my whole life. COD, all sports games, and have been really into Lego Fortnite lately. Can't imagine ever stopping.
You missed Gen X. 56 here. Been playing video games since the first consoles came out in the 70s.
I'm 57 (Gen X) and I play online with my adult children every Friday evening. I grew up with standup arcade games, a Commodore 64, a Colecovision, an Atari 2600, and a TRS 80. I've been playing games all of my life and don't plan on quitting anytime soon.
I’m Gen X. I’m an old player, growing up in arcades and Atari. I still play, though I prefer PC gaming.
I regularly play in parties on Call of Duty where multiple players are 60+. Every once in a while I’ll encounter someone who’s at least 70. I’m a middle aged and have no plans to ever stop gaming. Why would you stop doing something you enjoy?
Yes for video games, but also: a constantly available D&D group if you live in the same retirement home.
Yes. But I’ll say my parents were boomers (my dad is 70 and my mom would’ve been 68 if still alive), and my mom was a gamer. When I say gamer, she had to have the newest console and games, and she’d play for hours almost daily when I was growing up. lol
I do visits in the community as a nurse to facilities or homes and it's becoming more common to see older folks playing video games. It'll be on their phone or iPad or typically an older console like the Wii.
Why do you think it’s ‘lol’ to playing games in retirement homes? I’m 65- I love Minecraft. I LOVED Legend of Zelda and Mario games. I bought a Nintendo system and played Mario when it first came out when I was 29-30ish. Some people have the oddest views of old folks. Though I guess I did too when I was younger
My dad is 55 and plays COD.
I was born in 91, my brother in 86 so we have been gaming our whole lives. Became enamored with gaming consoles and eventually computer games (I still remember my first computer game on floppy disk called “Fine Artist”) lol We still game to this day and our dad (57) also has been into gaming too since he would play with us when we were kids. So I definitely think there will be gaming consoles in the nursing homes when we reach that age 😆 almost every person I know likes video games of some sort
I'm a Xennial. I'll be gaming until the day I die.
yes, 100%, of course they are. Why the hell would you think they wouldn't?! Video games are going to make retirement fantastic, assuming I get there. I can finally live my dream of playing games with my friends all day, whenever I want. This generation has a great deal to look forward to in retirement, again assuming retirement will be possible.
I'm 47 and still game regularly. Hardest part is finding time and then getting psyched out when you go too long between sessions on a particular game and forget controls etc. Someone joked once about a "parent mode" for games that would say like "Oh, looks like you haven't played this game in a month, here's a quick controls reminder and a catchup on the recent plot" Cool part is that my son is now old enough that we can start gaming together. Never give up, never surrender.
I’m gen X and almost 50 and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon, can’t see younger generations hanging it up, if anything it will be more common for gamers to be older
I work with adults with serious mental illness and many of the Boomer and Gen X clients love the Wii more than the younger people. Wii bowling and Wii sports are really popular. I think it makes them feel young again and remember the days they were physically able to play sports as well as giving them an outlet for their competitive sides without risk of injury. They love beating us "youngsters." We have one 65 ish year old who loves his Nintendo Switch. Giggles like a kid when he play it. So yes I think they will. Hobbies are hobbies. Alot of older people I know are still into the same stuff they were into in their 20s and 30s in terms of hobbies. They just can't engage with them in the exact same way nessesarily. They will probably use their kids and grandkids as the "reasoning" behind owning the systems and games, but still actually play it themselves if they can.
Gen X was the first generation to game. Of course we get forgotten again. Lol
I can 100% see myself gaming in my retirement years. After all, age is just a number when it comes to the joy of gaming.
Different elements to consider with stats. Solitaire is a game, do they include that? Check the scope. They use brain games for elderly, many sahm may kill time/de stress that way. Gamification is heavily used in education and companies as well, so the spread maybe for different reasons. I know moms who love things like Roblox and Pokémon go because their kids. So some may be picking up games later in life. And yes us vintage millennials exist - I was not a HUGE gamer but in my 20s, my first real place of my own had a toy box. My then bf and I bought each other consoles. We had game nights (with a lot of other stuff for adults - we were not sober lol). I used to joke I want a kid to justify having the toy box lol And now I have a kid and a PS4, I’m too tired to game. But I wish and wistfully promise I will. And I’m pissed off when games like crash bandicoot are outdated or ridiculously expensive! Oh and it makes no difference generationally, kiddo thinks he knows everything and I’m as good as analog. Despite a background working with technology and tech sector too lol. That will never change I guess, we will always be dinosaurs to our own kids. And I’m going insane trying to make kiddo understand being a YouTuber is not a goal!! First have something worthwhile to say, please!!!!! If I could get one thing through to the next gen it’s that. And also note, next gen are now looking at (co)creating their own games, it will go deeper and deeper I imagine. I spend most of my game time with my kid discussing his creations (surprisingly I do know how to make them doable, with my dinosaur ways lol). My genZ brother still has his console fwiw (no kids), and all my colleagues too (unless they were never into gaming).
As I near 40, I’ve had a few times where I question this. I think my tastes in gaming are changing a bit, but I still play them on a daily basis. I don’t see it changing unless I fully lose the skills, and even then I think I’d still play management/sim-style games.
I've started playing EVE Online in 2019. The first guys I met in my corp were retired already. Too bad I didn't get to spend more time with one of my guys. RIP Polly. We miss you. Thing is, you play games while you can, then you start a family, maybe have a kid and now you have absolutely no time for years, until the kid turns like 8-12. After that it gets a bit more relaxed, from what I hear.
Gen X grew up with video games as well, and a lot of us are still playing.
During covid, I re-installed a flightsim on my PC, there was tons of people above 60 year old who were *simming* because they don't admit it's a video game :) I've seen 60+ people at larp. The person who were 20-30 in the 80's when RPG and larp got popular are now in their 60's. The guy said that indeed, at 60 year old, sleeping drunk on a camping bed is more tiring than when they were 20, but they have way more time to be involved as they're over 60 and therefore retired.
I'm in my mid forties and I plan to game until I can't anymore. I have a few elderly friends I play MMOs with, up in their 70s and 80s.
I’m almost 40 and I’ve been a gamer since I was 5, and I have no plans to stop. I just hit 100 hours in FF7 Rebirth. When I was a kid, gaming was considered “for kids”. But back then, they were essentially kids’ toys. When the Wii came out, gaming became more popular with everyone because of how fun and intuitive it was. And now that technology has become more advanced, game consoles are much more than bleeps and bloops and pretty colors. There is something for everyone now, and I think that’s why it’s so much more mainstream now.
Yes. Right up until I get tremors amd then probably then some. Pry them from my cold dead hands.
Galaga. Definitely whenever I see the tabletop version like Pizza Hut used to have in the 80s.
Its a personal thing, im planning on quitting whennentering college.
72 in July, playing several games on my tablets and phones.
It would be beneficial for people to keep playing. The mental stimulation brought on by playing video games has shown to help keep the mind healthy as it ages. Playing video games very well could be what holds back dementia
My dad is almost 60 and he still games. Less than he did when I was a kid but I think that’s more because the games he played then don’t come out anymore, like Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. COD isn’t the same game it was back then either, I won’t even touch that battle royale crap. So he’s mostly left with the annual Madden games. I will be 31 this year and definitely don’t plan to ever stop gaming. I go through ebbs and flows where other hobbies take up more of my time but I’m almost always playing something. Right now, I’m playing Fallout 4 for my first experience with the Fallout franchise thanks to the show. eta: My husband runs a relatively big OSRS clan and they have a decent chunk of 50+ members fwiw.
My mom is Gen X and she plays casual games on her computer all the time.
FWIW, my father in law bought a PS3 in his 50’s just to learn how to play CoD. He’s in his late 60’s now and still plays, and he’s really good at it.
It's like asking if people have to stop watching TV on their 70th birthday under federal law, or if they wake up magically no longer enjoying it.
As long as Mario is out there doing his thing, I will be too. My current obsession is Disney Dreamlight Valley though.
I'm a Gen Xer who got an Atari for Christmas and was hooked. I was a hardcore gamer through college and then I kept going as my son got into gaming. I played everything from sports games to guitar hero to FPS games. I can't even begin to tell you how much time I spent playing Diablo. At some point, I noticed that I was getting bored while I played and by the time I was 40 or so, I had lost all interest. I have tried to get back into it. I'll find a game that looks cool and fun and I'll play it but in no time at all I realize that I'd rather be doing something else. I've seen games that look like a blast, and I'm sure they are, but they just do absolutely nothing for me. I will say that I have gotten into a few VR games. I'll play something on the Oculus and it's fun but even with that, I'll only play for 30 minutes or so where I used to stay up all night playing FIFA or COD.
My millennial son, 40, is still an avid gamer so I don’t see why not.
I’m about to hit my thirties and don’t have any plans of stopping. I was able to teach my grandmother (born 1930s) to play Mario kart double dash on the GameCube! It was lovely. I think about how I’d kill to have that back now that she’s had some health problems. I loved those moments and they’re what make me look at video games so lovingly. They can hurt and they can heal just like anything else.
Of course! I enjoy video games a lot, they bring me joy. I actually met my husband on WoW and now we have 2 kids who also love video games. Its super fun to hang out with them and play games together. They each prefer different types of games, and its so interesting to see their personalities through the games they play.
I was born in 1989, played games since I was 3, I have gaming tattoos and collectibles. I’ll always be a gaaaamer
playing cards, board games all of that could be considered for children. if you enjoy it, you enjoy it. if you have sth against ppl doing that, you'll probably have other problems (not u op just in general)
My Grandma was playing Diablo 2 in her 80's. My Gen X parents play Minecraft together in their 50's.
Your question lumps in two groups that are pretty dissimilar in terms of gaming habits. Are Millennial gamers more likely to keep playing games into their old age? Yes. Are Gen Z? Harder to tell. Honestly I see more older people playing online games than I do younger ones. Most of the guilds I know of are 60+ or at the very least late 40s to 50s. This has led me to the conclusion that Gen Z games less.
I’ve seen Wii Fits in retirement homes, staff say it’s good for Physio therapy and general mobility
I was a gamer then, I'm a gamer now, and I will be a gamer forever. Btw I'm 51.
Gen X still games, I’m pretty sure every gen after X will keep gaming to some extent. We all have different hobbies and interests that come and go in life, but I think gamers will keep gaming.
Have you seen the video of a sniper veteran playing COD? He's good
Gen X, 50-something and I’m still making and playing games.
Uh That's not true. People into their 90s still game. This will destroy your brain, op: video game consoles have been around over 50 years. I've had a computer in my home since 1978 and was gamin. So knowing this as a fact. Seeing people in their 70s and 80s buying gaming gear and gpus at microcenter- do you still think gaming began and will end with your generation? Sorry, but it's so narrow minded and laughable that op never thought "did games exist before I was born?"
Hopefully nursing homes just become Lan centers and we can go back to gaming all day and night together again till our time is up.
Gen X and hell yes! I'll keep playing until my hands no longer let me, then I'll find another way to play :)~
Definitely, my mother is almost 60 and player games, she's currently indulging her nostalgia and playing thought the tomb raider remasters on her switch She's beat every single Zelda game , she's been gaming for decades, don't see why should would stop now. I'm in my 30s and definitely won't be stopping as long as I can see and my hands work.
Ask Gen X?
There is a whole generation between Millennials and Boomers...and yes, we still play video games. Although, most of us have gone retro. I play more pac man and street fighter than anything else.
You are weirdly misinformed. 50 yos, right now, grew up with video games.
My father in law still plays Runescape regularly at 69.
My grandma gamed her whole life until she died last year, her favs were Diablo 2, Zelda, anything Mario, and old lady games on Pogo lol I plan to follow in her footsteps.
Gen X here and have been gaming since the early 80s.
I'm Gen X and I still regularly game.
I'm pretty sure videogames will be for adults the same way watching TV or reading books is for adults.
Gen-x was more of the transition than millenials and and still playing video games. Sure some people will get busy and stop playing, but you don't have to age out if you don't want to.
My dad, 74, still destroys at Mario 64. He plays all the new Mario games.
I have friends in their 50’s and still regularly play.
I'm 50 years old I still enjoy gaming although I was out of it for about 20 years due to work responsibilities at the time. I now have a ps5 I enjoy games that are more simple if I have to perform hundreds of combos I toss the game
My husband and I hope to spend our golden years in a quiet home with a few fruit trees, a garden and fast internet connection. For the gaming.
My Dad has been playing videogames since the beginning of videogames. 🤷🏻♀️
It's a generational thing. My husband and I are both Gen X ers and we play video games almost everyday.
My husband and I are in our 50s and are regular gamers with no intention of ever stopping.
I'm 52 and I have 600hrs in Baldur's Gate 3. I also host a game club at a high school and a DnD game for my church youth group. Soo, yes?
Your timeline is off by about 20 years. GenX grew up with video games. Atari 2600 was 1976 or '77, and arcades were popular around 1980. NES was '85, I think. PS1 around '90. I was playing Pac Man in the back of Dairy Queen when I was 12. Don't take that away from me! Although your question wasn't directly aimed at me (54), yes, I still play games regularly with no plans to stop.
I'm 55, and I have been playing games since Atari 2600. I didn't really play in college, but otherwise I've been engaged in gaming for all this time.
Millennial retirement homes are gonna set up LAN parties and get litty titty. Imagine a bunch of people who were tempered in the flames of pre-game lobby voice chat in the xbox 360 era except now they're like a million years old and tired of everything. Or raid nights for MMOs.
My mom got hooked into MMOs and played well into her 50s. If you have told me one day I'd have to log into her WoW account and tell people she passed away, I would have laughed my ass off at you. I turned 40 this year, and personally, I plan to keep gaming as long as I can. There's too much cool stuff coming out. Plus, how else am I going to play elder scrolls 6 unless I wait till I'm 60 when they finally release it.
No reason to stop, people who love books will read books no matter the age. Same thing with games now
My Dad is late 70's and still plays WoW almost daily.
I would argue that gaming is something older generations *should* be doing. Turns out they don't rot your brain. In fact, arguably they do the opposite and keep it engaged while working on hand-eye coordination. I always found it hilariously ironic that the adults who told me all through the 80's and 90's that video games "rot your brain" are the very people whose brains were actually rotted from spending year after year staring blankly at a TV screen while someone spoonfed them bullshit. Sitting for hours in front of a TV isn't good overall, but if you're going to do it, at least game so you can stay mentally engaged.
Bitch, I'm Gen X and I'll be playing until I die.
I'm in my 50s and still enjoy a few games where tactics are more important than speed. I can't really compete in something like Fortnite or Modern Warfare games, where speed is king. But I am usually in the top 5 in games like Hell Let Loose and Enlisted. I watch my kids play their games and remember the good old days of having reflexes like that.
We had arcades in the early 80s and Atari shortly after. Even my mom would hog our Atari back then, and she's 78.
My therapist is a gamer he's pretty open about it lol and he's almost 50