Ratty said:
I'm not there yet but I can tell you getting old sucks man. The world goes faster and faster while you slow down whether you want to or not. Along with your body weakening, things you had always taken to be true are now old fashioned. All of these changes in the world and yourself remind you that your time is soon over or already passed, and before long you'll cease to exist entirely. To say nothing of slowly losing all your friends and younger people treating you like a burden and your sufferings and indignities as a source of comedy.
That being said while it's true most people tend to get stuck in their ways when they get older, "old folks" is far too large a group to just dismiss them all as "not getting it". That's at least as bad as grouping together and making generalizations about all people in other age groups like teens or thirty-somethings.
Some elders are literally too old to grasp new and complex concepts, but that's a bit more sever than just not getting it. That's a state everyone should hope they avoid as they age. But to be fair there are a lot of young people too dumb and/or stubborn to ever reconsider anything once they've made their initial judgement as well.
But it would behoove you to remember that many, many elders first got introduced to and formed their opinions of video games around Pong, Asteroids and Space Invaders. And since then probably Tetris and crap social/mobile games. So when they tut-tut your hobby give them the benefit of the doubt and try to understand where they're coming from. Because you'll be coming from there sooner than you think.
Dang, now I feel depressed. Because it's true.
Frankly, it's a travesty that modern society is obsessed with youth and good looks while age and wisdom is ignored, if not derided and mocked outright. I was taught growing up to appreciate the elderly, and I've formed many wonderful (if fleeting) friendships with such individuals over the years. Listening to their life stories is fascinating, and they often possess a keen perceptiveness that can only be cultivated from decades of experience. Having said that, it can be hard at times to get them to see things from a younger mindset sometimes.
*Gets down from soapbox*
The problem is that many older people haven't kept up with the rapid progression of video games over the years. They still picture games as simple arcade titles like
Pac-Man or card/puzzlers like
Solitare and
Tetris, not realizing the quantum leap visuals, gameplay and storytelling have taken since then. This is reinforced by the current mobile market, with most smartphone games being quick diversions at best and blatant cash grabs at worst. Thus, they can't fathom how someone could invest dozens, if not hundreds of hours into games like
Skyrim or
GTA V (on a related note, it's also why many of them scoff at the very real issue of gaming addiction). To many of them, video games are "kid's toys," and the notion that many gamers nowadays are adults is not only strange, but unsettling to them.
Now before you start getting judgemental about it, bear in mind we're already starting to see generational divides within gaming itself. Just look at the discussions online. You have older gamers saying they "don't get the appeal" of contemporary blockbusters like
Minecraft. They bemoan the decline of genres they grew up with, such as 2-D platformers and flight simulators. They complain about "too many CoD clones," forgetting that the market was absolutely saturated with Pac-Man and Mario clones back in the day. As the average age of gamers continues to climb (last I saw it was getting close to forty), these discussions are only going to increase as the years go by.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to totter off, sit on the porch and wave my cane at all the dern kids these days with their fancy-schmancy Oculus Rift nonsense.
