How old is too old to be playing game?

[Its_asdf]

cmon, no one fucks their wife every single second

They don't?

[Jowe]

I've never really understood why older people and girls never really get into gaming.

when your arthritis hurts so bad you can't type or move the mouse.

"Old people are supposed to die. That's what they do." - Old School

There's this person named Andrew Begley who is 80 years old and he still plays NBA Live. He even maintains a site for it.

Turns out andrew is only 21..

[hipn]

LOL

[Axel]

You're never too old to play games. I've outgrown some of the more childish games though(Mario and the Ninentendo). I've met people online who still play games and are over 60. One person is a grandma, but a pretty hip one.

[Jowe]

What are you doing chatting to 60 year olds on the net you sick fuck?

[Axel]

It was a social game, The Sims Online. I quickly cancelled my account (the game sucked, but at the time I liked the other offline games) but along the way I met a lot of cool people. You can visit properties where 18 people (limit per lot) can meet up, gain skills, make money, etc. It's basically an open chat room, and I happened to meet someone who was 60. Not my fault.

[John WB]

You're never too old to play video games.

[shadowgrin]

Turns out andrew is only 21..

Guess those youth potions culled from the blood of a thousand forum members work for Andrew.

[jwin]

long read, but it looks like some people will be playing games well into their retirement years.




I read, with much of interest, the postings about what the demographics of Madden players might be.

I'm 54 and have been playing Madden since 1998, when I first used the game as a training aid to help my German business colleagues to understand American Football. It worked well, and I and several of my colleagues quickly became hooked on the game. But I was hooked for reasons that seemed to be associated with "older" Madden players - I was hooked on the game's ability to provide a reasonably accurate simulation of the real thing, and not its ability for me to completely control a player’s movements.

I can't claim to speak for, or represent the "older" set, as there really isn't such a set. There are many different sets, perhaps not based on age at all. Nor can I claim to speak about any "younger" groups because I can guess that there are also many groups that might have many younger people in them, but perhaps not. In the two Fantasy Football leagues that I run, I have people aged 22-65 (men and women), with a median age of 43. I also play Basketball every Friday evening with 12 guys, where the age group is from 14-68, with a median age (if you don't count the 14 year old) of 44. The point I’m trying to make here is that within any representative group, the age span will likely run from young to old with a median age being somewhere in the middle. I can guess that the demographics for Madden are not that far off.

I'm an American living and working in Germany (and Europe) as a management and marketing consultant, advising and directing individuals and groups aged from 30-60 in developing new business strategies within their particular markets, or in dealing 1-on-1 with individuals who have management challenges within their own realms. What I notice is that, in general, regardless of an individual's age, their interests and motivations will fit a particular "style" that is more associated with a general "group type" or "style", and not generally associated with age, race or gender. It's simply a matter of style. And within that style are individuals from all age, race and gender groups, that seem to run from young to old with a median age someplace in the middle (you can always find exceptions, of course, but I am speaking in general here).

I play Madden online with my brother who is 42. I also play Madden online with my nephew who is 17. I also play Madden online with a business colleague in Wisconsin who is 66. When we play, we always play with the controller and not just in Coach mode. The 66 year old is actually better with the controller than my brother. The 17 year old is the best with the controller, but, then, he doesn't work and admits to spending far more time perfecting his Madden technique than I could ever spend. More power to him. But I can still sometimes beat him.

I've been a member of this site for 2 years now, and what I notice is that, regardless of the platform that players use, the style of Madden play in general revolves around 3 "types": Controller Freaks, Wanna-be Coaches and Wanna-be General Managers (Franchise Mode). This isn't earth-shaking information, I would be very curious to learn about the demographics of each of these groups. (As a side note, nobody I know plays the Superstar mode for more than one season. I personally feel that Superstar mode is a great idea, but it is clearly in its infancy. So, unless I'm wrong, I don't believe that there is a mass that can be defined as Superstar Freaks - or am I wrong?).

What is the age demographic of an individual who is only interested in playing Coach-mode? How many over-50 (or pick the age you want to use) play exclusively with the Controller? What is the international makeup of the Franchise Mode players?

Myself, I am a Franchise Mode type. I play Madden mostly in Franchise Mode, because I like the element of chance to come into my game (it is only a game after all, right?). And, I don't use Scouter for my draft (although Scouter is a great application, by the way). I set my Sliders such that it provides the most realistic simulation and I try to keep my Audibles to a minimum. Does that make me an "older" player? There is a guy in Amsterdam who is 20 and does the same thing. There is also a 24 year old woman in Tokyo who also only plays this way. There is also an 18 year old man in Michigan who has no interest in playing the Controller - he only plays Franchise Mode. He says that he isn't interested to spend hours to master the controller. But he loves Madden anyway

Are any of those "younger" people mentioned above strange? I don't think so. Is there something weird about the 68 year old who "breathes" the Controller? Not at all. It's all about style.

When someone picks a game apart, they do so based on their own style. To say that one style is younger or older, at least based on what I have observed, is ludicrous. Clearly some people will be better than others in a particular style. But to generalize that a particular style is based on a particular age group is simply wrong. And if you don’t believe me, look back to the 60s when we all thought that they knew better than any older person (seems that back then a lot of older people were also against the Vietnam war). Or in the 70’s when the “older” people were supposed to know what was best for the US (Carter only lasted 1 term): Or in the 80’s when the younger people were supposed to be pushing the greed culture (greed seems to pass through all age groups). Or in the 90’s when the New Economy was to be driven by those who weren’t shackled by the old business rules of the past (check out the stock market from 2000-2002 – oops!). Or now in the New Millennium where we are being bombarded with horror and fear messages about impending doom by those who claim to know “what is best for us” (Dick Cheney, NY Times, 2002). The Administration’s ratings are currently at an all-time low and continue to sink.

But I digress. What are the real demographics of Madden? Who plays it? How do they play it? What are really the best features and the worst? What does the public really want? Tearing apart the game is one thing. But tearing it apart with solid evidence based on real research is the only way to really influence it’s direction.

[Its_asdf]

I actually feel kind of akward when older adults play games.

A guy in my school has parents who play tons of games with him and shit. I find that kind of strange.

[Jowe]

At least they arent playing with him.. period.

[Jing]

one of my friend's dad.. he's a wow and eq addict. lol
but still gets pay really good money at his job.. interesting

[Jeffx]

44, and I'll be gaming 'til I die!

[J@3]

Keep playing NBA Live and that might happen alot sooner than you may hope.

[Ruff Ryder]

What's gonna kill him first? Live or the Knicks?

[J@3]

Playing Live as the Knicks

[Kbryant8]

My uncle is like 31 and he still play`s computer games
I think that never is too old for that.I have playid Basketball games with my grandma and with other family guys

[Ruff Ryder]

My dad still plays computer games and he's 55.

[shadowgrin]

at the comments directed to Jeffx.
If I reach the retirement age and if my body doesn't ache up, I'll probably be playing games most of the time with the grandkids, defeating them and giving trash-talk comments like "Take that you SOB's."