# See these games here? Well...



## Callum91 (Jan 11, 2014)

So imagine this situation. You're sat with an elderly relative and somehow computer games become the topic of conversation. After a very long discussion said elderly relative decides that they would like to give these new fangled games a try to see what's what. Question is which games would you introduce them to and why? Modern next-gen shooters? Old school point and click? Handheld/PC/Console/Mobile? Do you think a certain repertoire of skills are needed to play certain types of games?

Lets assume it could be any game from any genre from any point in time. Which 3 would you pick and why? The goal here is to show how fantastic computer games are, to try and give the best and briefest flavour of what they've been potentially missing all these years. The thread is somewhat inspired by a recent thread with Charlie Brooker and John Snow and partly by a real conversation I had with my grandma this morning ( I showed her Tearaway on the PS Vita and the artistic styling and music really, genuinely impressed her, she thought all video games were hyper-violent like GTA/BF/CoD etc).


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## Metal Malcolm (Jan 11, 2014)

Portal - because not only is it ingenious and brilliantly written, but you can stop to think without getting shot in the head

GTA - to show what it's actually like, the scale and freedom of movement. Yes, you can murder prostitutes if you want - or you can fly a helicopter!

Something related to what they enjoy. Perhaps a FIFA game if they like football, LA noire if they like old gangster movies...


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## Callum91 (Jan 11, 2014)

Metal Malcolm said:


> Portal - because not only is it ingenious and brilliantly written, but you can stop to think without getting shot in the head
> 
> GTA - to show what it's actually like, the scale and freedom of movement. Yes, you can murder prostitutes if you want - or you can fly a helicopter!
> 
> Something related to what they enjoy. Perhaps a FIFA game if they like football, LA noire if they like old gangster movies...


Portal would have been one of mine too and for the same reason, a game where you can just stop, put the controller down, make a brew and have a good mull over your situation. Plus I think such a game could genuinely help an older person keep their mind sharp and focussed, it does get silly hard as it goes along and it's much better than sitting and doing the crossword in the paper!

I'd also throw in Mario Galaxy 'cos it's not only just fucking glorious but the Wiimote and Nunchuck is a nice break away from the standard console controller fare. That's one thing I know my gran struggles with, buttons, much easier to poke a screen or wave something/yours arms around to interact with the game.

Maybe Guitar Hero? Something more ''real'' to get their mind around, not just killing/collecting but playing actual songs they may have actually heard of in ''reality''.


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## felixthecat (Jan 11, 2014)

My Ma (78 and 3/4) took to Professor Layton games on my nieces DS like a duck to water. Loved them so much we bought her her own.

These days she never goes anywhere without her DS and her Kindle so we've also had to buy her a bigger bag.


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## Callum91 (Jan 11, 2014)

That makes me happy to read . I bought my grandma a Kindle a few years back, she loves it.


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## tommers (Jan 11, 2014)

My mum (who is 65) plays samba de amigos on the wii and candy crush and things like that.

I think if I wanted to show people what they've been missing then Mario Galaxy is certainly a good shout, Portal too.  Maybe Skyrim as well, even though it wasn't really my cup of tea.

If i thought they were up to it then I'd really try to get them into Dark Souls but let's face it, that's unlikely.

I suppose it depends though, doesn't it?  My Dad might like a golf game or something, that's the beauty - there's something for everybody.


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## Epona (Jan 11, 2014)

Portal is a good suggestion, there's rarely any urgency so plenty of time to sit and decide what to do next, and as a cleverly designed and dressed-up puzzle game it's a great example of how popular games aren't always about shooting people.  Also the co-op in Portal 2 is really good (and requires good teamwork and stretches the grey matter to work out a solution), so if you can set up 2 computers and play together, it is great.  Although I admit to sometimes experiencing 'Portal Rage' when OH doesn't get what I am telling him to do once I have worked out the puzzle.  "No, there... THERE... ffs... jabs finger at screen... THERE"


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## Silva (Jan 12, 2014)

Yup, portal. Maybe something like Civilization if the person in question likes history.


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## Callum91 (Jan 12, 2014)

Just had a thought, how about Minecraft? Good example of an indie game that's gotten quite large and popular, endless possibilities where only the imagination of the player is the barrier.


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## tommers (Jan 12, 2014)

I suppose if you wanted to show them that not all games are hyper-violent then stuff like To The Moon, Dear Esther, Antichamber, 9.03m, Proteus, Stanley Parable, Gone home etc etc are all possibilities.  They can then even get into the whole "is this still a game" debate and feel really current.


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## hegley (Jan 12, 2014)

My mum (70) has a serious Angry Birds addiction and my dad (74) has more max level characters in World of Warcraft than I do . I really think it's down to personality rather than age, although I agree about the need to be able to think stuff through without getting killed every 5 minutes.

Thinking about it a septugenarian+ guild in WoW would be pretty .


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## Buddy Bradley (Jan 12, 2014)

hegley said:


> Thinking about it a septugenarian+ guild in WoW would be pretty .





> brb - bio
> back - no wait, brb bio
> back kk let's go wait brb bio


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 13, 2014)

Plants versus Zombies, Peggle?


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## Crispy (Jan 13, 2014)

Portal is a great game, but it requires mastery (and I mean mastery) of either twin stick or mouse/kb FPS controls. Has anyone here seen what happens when a complete videogame novice tries to play an FPS? They run into walls, turn in circles and repeatedly stare at the ground and the ceiling. It is not conducive to an appreciation of games as art.

Best to choose something touch or mouse controlled, that is impossible to lose and contains no violence.


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## ohmyliver (Jan 13, 2014)

I'd recommend Journey -  especially with the multiplayer on.  It's impossible to die, it shows some of the good side of multiplier (i.e. cooperation) with none of the bad side (sweary children, griefing etc), it's an interesting way of telling a story (i.e. the story is told by exploration), and it looks great.


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## Cid (Jan 13, 2014)

Crispy said:


> Portal is a great game, but it requires mastery (and I mean mastery) of either twin stick or mouse/kb FPS controls. Has anyone here seen what happens when a complete videogame novice tries to play an FPS? They run into walls, turn in circles and repeatedly stare at the ground and the ceiling. It is not conducive to an appreciation of games as art.
> 
> Best to choose something touch or mouse controlled, that is impossible to lose and contains no violence.



I sort of remember the keyboard to wasd+mouse transition, at least I remember it was a massive pain in the arse at first. Think I made the leap with Duke Nukem 3d, playing round a mate's place. I must have clocked up thousands of hours using it by now and still make a fair few errors (particularly when you get games using different action buttons etc - swapping from Elder Scrolls to generic FPS can be traumatic). I'd say Portal is an excellent introduction to wasd, but yeah - also might prove frustrating.


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## FridgeMagnet (Jan 13, 2014)

Even people with a lot of gaming experience but who were just not very good at reflex games were put off by Portal. Some of it is actually quite hard, not just from a puzzle-solving POV but a timing/controls one.


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## Fez909 (Jan 13, 2014)

World of Goo - fun with nice graphics and immensely simple to understand. One of the best puzzlers of all time.

Sim City - I'd be torn on showing them the newer version with all its flaws (they don't have anything to compare it against anyway) or one of the older ones, which while looking less impressive, are still excellent games and feel less restrictive.

Red Dead Redemption - an open-world sandboxy game would have to be included, and I haven't played the new GTA. I'm playing RDR now and it's amazing. Nice gentle pace for the oldies too.

My theory is that old people love puzzles, they love being in charge and they love cowboy films. I've covered all the bases there, while showing off some of the best of what gaming has to offer


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## Callum91 (Jan 14, 2014)

Fez909 said:


> World of Goo - fun with nice graphics and immensely simple to understand. One of the best puzzlers of all time.
> 
> Sim City - I'd be torn on showing them the newer version with all its flaws (they don't have anything to compare it against anyway) or one of the older ones, which while looking less impressive, are still excellent games and feel less restrictive.
> 
> ...


My gran loves John Wayne, she'd love riding around shootin' baddies and skinning critters .

How about Pikmin? There's a strong time incentive yes, but... the gameplay is easy enough to master, grow Pikmin, collect bottle caps/batteries/fruit/playing cards etc. It's essentially virtual gardening, all old people like pottering around in gardens right?


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 15, 2014)

i found portal 2  to be a  bit  less  demanding than portal on twitch gameplay.

with 2 player  i did  90%  of  it  with one freind.  we  both enjoyed it  but  there was a slight issue	as i tended to see the solution  before  he  did  and  then  ended up  giving instructions.  it was ok  but  for him it  probably  lacked  that  "eureka" moment  buzz i got


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jan 15, 2014)

actually  if  it's  just  for  trying  something out   and  the   person involved  likes  a bit  of  history/traveling	 maybe  put  on a bot  of assasins creed.	 just wander around  renasiance rome  or  something.


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## sim667 (Jan 16, 2014)

Limbo


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