How to explain videogames to your elders

[Twitchy Racoon]

The other day I started playing bioshock for the first time (very fun) and my grampa was sitting next to me, he liked the beginning part where the city was first presented and how Adam bragged about not liking to share anything, but the second the first splicer appeared and started screaming profanities until I wrenched his punk ass to tartarus. He quickly ignored everything else the game was attempting to show and started criticizing it for being 'just another violent game' I attempted to teach him otherwise but his mind was set and he went to go play tetris on his computer (fucking casual gamer ).
A similar event happened a few days later when my dad watched me play gears of war 2. He was amazed by the graphics and really liked the music but lost interest the second I turned on my chainsaw bayonet and started playing pretend surgeon.
So here is my question: What would be a good definition of a videogame to a 40-60 year old thats never seen one before. How can I explain to him\her that the game isnt only about killing 'people' and that they should try looking at the other parts of the game more often instead of concentrating on the 'bad' parts?

 

[lacktheknack]

The killing people overwhelms everything else. That's why they don't like it. And they're right, in their own way.

The only way to convince them otherwise is to play games like Rayman, Mirror's Edge done right, Myst...

Really, why should they have to overlook the "bad" parts if the "bad" parts take up more then three quarters of the gameplay?

 

[smearyllama]

Hmm... I used to play a lot of games with my dad. Metal Arms on the purple cube, and CoD2 on the 360. My grampa is fairly tech-savvy for his age, and my mom gets games, but sees them as a passing thing.

 

[Free Thinker]

Well, when my grandpa was still alive, I'd quickly switch to a WW2 game, and I quote him on this, "We need to make more of these kind of games! Everything else is garbage." If only he know there are too many WW2 games.

 

[aLivingPheonix]

Possibly get a fun, but less violent game, something like... Mass Effect. (I'm only on like... The first level. Just after I disabled the bombs, so I don't know how violent it gets) And show them it has a good story, and that the fighting, whether violent, or not, can help assist the story. Like World at War. Bad example, I know, but the violence captured the brutality of war, which helped immerse you in the experience. It all depends on how it's executed. If you can get them to understand that theres a reason for the violence, maybe they'll be more accepting.

Also, Tetris is awesome.

 

[Twitchy Racoon]

Hmm... I used to play a lot of games with my dad. Metal Arms on the purple cube, and CoD2 on the 360. My grampa is fairly tech-savvy for his age, and my mom gets games, but sees them as a passing thing.

your family must be awesome

 

[smearyllama]

Hmm... I used to play a lot of games with my dad. Metal Arms on the purple cube, and CoD2 on the 360. My grampa is fairly tech-savvy for his age, and my mom gets games, but sees them as a passing thing.

your family must be awesome

Whoah boy, they're pretty cool, but my mom is crazy afraid of the internet corrupting my 14-year old mind. Even still, my grandma tried to play Ghost Recon one time.
Ghost -bleepin- Recon. You may have a point there man.

 

[Twitchy Racoon]

Possibly get a fun, but less violent game, something like... Mass Effect. (I'm only on like... The first level. Just after I disabled the bombs, so I don't know how violent it gets) And show them it has a good story, and that the fighting, whether violent, or not, can help assist the story. Like World at War. Bad example, I know, but the violence captured the brutality of war, which helped immerse you in the experience. It all depends on how it's executed. If you can get them to understand that theres a reason for the violence, maybe they'll be more accepting.

Also, Tetris is awesome.

Yeah its actually the first game i played after my grampa showed it to me, been my favorite game since

 

[voetballeeuw]

Hmm, you should definitely describe it as the crack cocaine of our generation. It causes thousands to plunge into addiction, destroying lives quickly and efficiently. It warps the minds of gamers until they are similar to Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange.

I kid, I kid. You could tell him that video games are just a different way to tell stories. It focuses on interaction. That sort of thing.

 

[Twitchy Racoon]

Hmm... I used to play a lot of games with my dad. Metal Arms on the purple cube, and CoD2 on the 360. My grampa is fairly tech-savvy for his age, and my mom gets games, but sees them as a passing thing.

your family must be awesome

Whoah boy, they're pretty cool, but my mom is crazy afraid of the internet corrupting my 14-year old mind. Even still, my grandma tried to play Ghost Recon one time.
Ghost -bleepin- Recon. You may have a point there man.

lol

 

[smearyllama]

Hmm... I used to play a lot of games with my dad. Metal Arms on the purple cube, and CoD2 on the 360. My grampa is fairly tech-savvy for his age, and my mom gets games, but sees them as a passing thing.

your family must be awesome

Whoah boy, they're pretty cool, but my mom is crazy afraid of the internet corrupting my 14-year old mind. Even still, my grandma tried to play Ghost Recon one time.
Ghost -bleepin- Recon. You may have a point there man.

lol

Though she gave up after a few minutes, it was pretty cool.

 

[Twitchy Racoon]

Hmm... I used to play a lot of games with my dad. Metal Arms on the purple cube, and CoD2 on the 360. My grampa is fairly tech-savvy for his age, and my mom gets games, but sees them as a passing thing.

your family must be awesome

Whoah boy, they're pretty cool, but my mom is crazy afraid of the internet corrupting my 14-year old mind. Even still, my grandma tried to play Ghost Recon one time.
Ghost -bleepin- Recon. You may have a point there man.

lol

Though she gave up after a few minutes, it was pretty cool.

lolol

 

[Nouw]

They don't really care. The perfect kind.

 

[Judgement101]

My parents know I mainly use my xbox to talk to my friends so they are totally okay with it.

 

[shootthebandit]

let them play manhunt or postal, show em what games are all about.

i kid, let them try age of empires or total war

 

[Jim From Accounting]

well if my parents say anything about the games i play i just point out who it was that got my 1st psx and GB that makes them shut up quite quickly. but if its the elderly most of them that i have met dont mind the games that are out my gran just thinks of them as interactive stores and nothing more.

 

[2xDouble]

If they refuse to experience something because of its violent content, showing them other games isn't going to convince them. That one experience has branded all video games as "violent murder simulators". (damn you, Jack Thompson). Your best chance to convince them is to appeal to them intellectually. Perhaps show them a few episodes of Extra Credits... or explain the experience (not the mechanics) of the game as best you can. You can try to find a game you can play together (and good luck with that).

Or just accept that they aren't going to like the things you do. They had to accept their parents, and your parents had to accept them. And your children will have to accept that you don't like what they do. It sucks, but the generation gap is a ***** sometimes.

 

[Savagezion]

Yeah, they are right to an extent. The whole reason behind making Gears was a guy wanted to make a gun with a chainsaw on it. Just as a friend of mine refuses to play games that you can't kill stuff in it (Rollercoaster Tycoon, Tropico, etc.), some people refuse to play games where the point is to kill stuff.

 

[Turbo_Destructor]

My dad is only interested in racing games. My mum's a little more open-minded, she doesn't have a problem with violence in media - her favourite movies are Terminator and Aliens. I managed to get her to play Mass Effect. She didn't get all that far though, she just can't get the principle of "left thumbstick is for moving, right thumbstick is for looking". Once she gets past that both of us reckon she'll enjoy it. I also had a grandpa who was a real WWII enthusiast and when I showed him COD2 it pretty much blew his mind, shooting nazis and all.

I guess the violence is just more of an issue for some people than others. I they can't handle it, there's not that much for it except for them to play gay games like the Sims

 

[Lullabye]

Yeah, they are right to an extent. The whole reason behind making Gears was a guy wanted to make a gun with a chainsaw on it. Just as a friend of mine refuses to play games that you can't kill stuff in it (Rollercoaster Tycoon, Tropico, etc.), some people refuse to play games where the point is to kill stuff.

People who focus more on the violence, gore, sexuality, etc, tend to miss the point in the story, or rarely take time to do anything else in the game. Which sort of is shorthanding the "interactive experience" bit. In a book, when a person walks into a room, they have to give you every detail. In a game, you have to do it yourself. If you fail to see whats around except for the chainsaw fodder, then you are seriously missing out.
I mean, when playing left4dead, I read almost every message on the walls and floors. Sometimes I died because of it, but my gosh did that make the game a whole lot more meaningful. I mean, it's one thing to kill a zombie. It's another to kill a zombie in anger because of the sad, hopeless message you just read about a mother staying by her dying son. Yeah, sure, the point is to kill zombies. It take up all the gameplay, save for some environmental interaction. But is that all it has to be? Hell no. But then, people see what they look for i suppose.....