Recently talked to a 90+ year old man in a park in front of his nursing home, guy is a former RC plane enthusiast. Can’t do anything now because of his age, though. Bored all the time, sitting in the park is his highlight.
Thinking of donating an old gaming PC that can somewhat run the Microsoft flight simulator. Would that be a good idea? Can the average 80-90 year old use that at all, just speaking sensorically and motor skill wise?
Are there any other thoughts you have on that idea?
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Sure. The Wii is in like every home and rehab already. The biggest concern would probably just be what type of controls are available? RC guy might get used to a gamepad, or maybe a stick and throttle set up.
Motor skill is going to vary wildly from person to person.
Maybe not yet, but soon. I’m a member of the first gaming generation. I started with C64 and various ‘standolone one game hand consoles’ that Nintendo built back then before NES.
One thing you have to understand is that in the 80’s males older than me thought gaming was for children only. Only childish nerds were interested about such things. “Cool” kids feared they’d get socially ostracized if caught using a computer, let alone playing video games.
This attitude is still quite strong in 50+ and fact that we revert back as we get old makes it worse. From their perspective it’s same as giving then shitload of legos/dublos to build stuff and they will resent you for insulting their dignity.
I think in 20 years PCs and consoles will be basic hardware for nursing homes.
I want a shitload of legos to play with and I’m a grownup!
Fuck yeah! If you throw enough legos at nurses you also get sedatives.
By strategically placing them on the floor, you can get a bonus dose!
While this is stereotypically true, my grandparents that passed away 14 years ago were avid gamers. They adored their NES and bought a SNES when the NES died. I think it is worth inquiring with local nursing homes to see if they have anyone that has gaming experience. My grandma’s favorite game was Loopz. Grandpa’s was golf. Puzzle games especially are good for that age group as they keep the brain busy but don’t necessarily require adept fine motor speed like other genres.
There are always exceptions. I’ve got few geezers as steam friends, but I’ve met much more 50+ colleagues who laugh at me for telling I’m a gamer.
In 50 years I hope we can set up a LAN and play some CS, TF and Quake in the nursing home.
Username checks out
Some nursing homes have their seniors pay games to keep up mental and physical skills. Something like Microsoft Flight Simulator would be perfect for that.
It may not be every person in their 80’s that can game on a PC, but enough can.
Keep the PC locked down, though. Think of it like giving an old gaming PC to a kid.
Keep the PC locked down, though. Think of it like giving an old gaming PC to a kid.
I know nobody wants to hear this, but it’s more like giving an old gaming PC to a 13 year old. If anything is going to break it, it’s going to be the malware downloaded from “sketchy” sites of a certain variety.
I’ve heard of vr being used to get them more active
my grandma threw up within one beat saber song
skill issue
Lol, there are more games than visual confusion pelted at your face. Many people get motion sick and need to start slow, some will never be able to play VR, but if they do calm games it will keep them active. There are golf and fishing/hunting games and puzzle games. I hope VR or a version is still a thing in 20+ yrs when I am old
I found I could do some fairly nauseating shit by removing the shroud so my peripheral is RL. like compound running, running in RL while also analog stick running in game. I think it was asgards wrath 2 I was dkinng that in to bypass the stamina restrictions. removing the shroud didnt help grandma though.
Sounds like a great idea - I suspect the biggest obstacle will be finding someone at the home who is confident enough in what to do with it to be willing to accept it.
I’ve run into similar issues with schools where they are hesitant to accept donations of things like that because they don’t want to be saddled with equipment they don’t know how to use and maintain. Maybe worth seeing if you can raise a bit of money for a second hand Xbox or something?
Yes, I’ve thought about the issue as well. I’ve thought about offering to maintain that single PC myself. A console could be a good idea, though! Not sure about accessibility/variety of input methods (and variety of games, I thought Steam could be best)
You should be aware that “maintaining” that PC may be more than you expect. Just this weekend I had to help my aunt because the bank’s website had a “big thing in front of it” that she couldn’t get rid of. It turned out to be a cookie banner that was just a bit too big for her laptop screen, and the buttons to close it were out of the frame.
That’s just an example of course, but depending on the person(s) using it, there may need to be someone at hand to help at all times.
My college had software that would revert the pc to an image after each reboot, saves sent to a remote location, this could work here as windows has a monthly update schedule and steam has cloud saves. At the beginning it will be a lot of setup/install/re-image but as time goes by less intervention should be needed
I’d guess they can find ways to use a computer, even if the residents can’t play Flight Simulator
Maybe some other game that’s not reliant on reaction, or something else entirely
That sounds like a great idea! Especially paired with a joystick or actual flight control simulator, that would be awesome!
If not that 90+ man, someone else is bound to get really interested in playing Flight Simulator, or anything else you might leave there. Bonus points if you throw in a flight stick.
It depends on the type of “nursing home” - in a facility catering for more mobile clients, yes, there are some benefits from it and there are actually some good studies on it. The major obstacle is the reduced joint mobility (Arthritis of the fingers) and reduced reaction times. Therefore it would be paramount to use adapted control methods and adapted games.
In a nursing home that has a clientbase focused on the nursing aspect it’s far more difficult - most clients will be “too far gone” for most aspects of gaming with a regular PC,but there are some studies using adapted devices and therapists to activate patients ressources.
They’d probably be best off with PCs and a LAN in their bedrooms, and a console room elsewhere.
Horizon’s RC simulator is on steam.
Does he have much experience with computers? Not sure if it’d be easier to set him up with something like ChimeraOS that just runs Steam and the game or a basic desktop environment so he can write stuff and browse the internet.
In the aged care home I work in, we’ve had a few who can work a smart phone but most can barely work their TV. Being into RC planes might work in his favour.
If he doesn’t want it, someone else there will.
That’s a tough one.
Old people who dont do new things do so because they don’t take the initiative to seek new things out.
They might try something, if someone helps them to understand it.
Some will be frustrated with the learning
curveramp and give up before they understand the value.Old people are creatures of habit. They have the least neuroplasticity of anyone.
I still think its a nice idea though. I suggest a variety of games with simple mechanics.
I would avoid games which require urgent management of simultaneous movement and aiming.
Try to think about what old people would like to be doing if their bodies permitted them to.
Something like Assassins Creed 2 might be nice, for some people to do a “virtual tour” of Rome (provided you can give them a save file with that part of the game available).
Haha thanks for your input, your line “think of what old people would like to do” and then suggesting Assassin’s Creed is gold
