Old school, new games: A granddad’s journey into the digital world

Cath Bowie, better known to her fans as GrumpyGran1948, made headlines recently for her love of Fortnite, and the success that she’s had streaming her games on Twitch. She uses her platform to encourage other older people to play video games and says in her profile that she “[plays] to enforce the opinion that you don’t need to be young or good to enjoy the game.” She rejects the “toxic” language and attitudes she sees in some players, and instead plays with a group of other older gamers.  

But will all older people enjoy gaming as much? I decided to enlist the most technophobic person I know to help answer this question: my granddad.   

At 86, my granddad has spent a long time resisting the allure of modern technology. He uses a flip phone and is totally disconnected from the internet. The most sophisticated bit of tech in his house is his TV, which he uses to watch horse racing and Antiques Roadshow. If it’s necessary, he asks me to look things up “on my machine.” 

When I first broached the topic of playing video games with him, we were sitting in the living room as he told me about the trouble he had connecting with my cousins when they first started playing video games during visits as kids.   

“Conversation doesn’t come into it,” he says, “if that’s why you’ve come to visit, to look at your phones, what a waste of time.’” That’s how it started, he admits, and now he’s a proud opponent of social media, video games, and anything that takes you from face-to-face to face-to-screen.  

This is investigative journalism, on the cutting edge

 I tell him about Cath Bowie. “Couldn’t she get out or do other things?” he asks. “I think she just enjoyed doing it,” I tell him. “Hm… I would say, find something better to do. Take up knitting or something.” 

 But when I tell him that people can make money by streaming games, he changes his mind. “Ah well, she’s a… celebrity of this modern digital age, self-employed… marvellous, to be self-employed.” 

 So, what about playing games himself?  

 He agrees begrudgingly but lets me know he won’t enjoy it. I decided to test him on a few different games on both the Nintendo Switch and the Xbox One. 

 

Pokémon Shining Pearl 

“Pokémon!? You are joking!?” 

It’s difficult to say if my granddads already turned against Pokémon thanks to the knockoff cards he tried to tempt me with throughout my childhood or the hours he’s spent watching my brother play it. Whatever the reason, he expects to hate this game from the get-go.  

The first issue we come across is on the character selection screen. “How do I move this?” he says, pushing the joystick as far as it will go and sending the selected box careening across the screen. I show him the D-pad instead, and he eventually settles on a character and a name – Ruoo. 

“If there’s something you find that’s very difficult, let me know.” I tell him. “What a waste!” says my granddad. I remind him that this is investigative journalism, on the cutting edge. 

It takes him a while to make his way out of the bedroom where the game begins. “Listen, what on Earth am I supposed to be doing here?” He says, “so far, it’s a boring waste of time!” Eventually, he makes it out of the bedroom and even leaves the house. We find his rival for the game and finally begin.  

“So, can we go to the next game now then?” he asks. I suggest holding on just a couple more minutes until the first battle. “I think we should finish with this because it’s mind-boggling boring. Complete waste of my brainpower. In fact, I think you’ve destroyed it. This is for six-year-olds… waiting for their tea or something.”  

“Now, don’t be rude,” says my brother, “the box says three and up!” 

We move swiftly on to the next game. 

 

Gamer Granddad’s rating: 0.5/5. 

Ease rating: 4/5. 

Final thoughts: (When I ask if he has any final thoughts, he just starts laughing. “Oo no.”) 

Time played: 11 minutes. 

 

Portal 

With his focus on the apparent loss of brainpower in Pokémon Shining Pearl, perhaps Portal, at its core a puzzle game, will be more up my granddad’s alley?  

Well, maybe it would be if the controls weren’t so sensitive. We look at the ceiling. We look at the floor. We look at the ceiling again. Eventually, my brother reduces the controller sensitivity, giving my granddad just enough control to fire his first portal. He goes through, gets confused at the fact he’s somewhere different now and tries to go back. After we explain the portal mechanic to him a little better, he grasps the intricacies of the first-person perspective, and we complete the first level quickly.  

“Don’t you know any other 80-year-olds?” he asks, “it’s not inspiring me at all.” 

 

Gamer Granddad’s rating: 1/5. 

Ease rating: 3/5. 

Final thoughts: “No, I didn’t really like that too much. More realistic, I suppose. One thing I can say: the audience participation is increasing in excitement! But the gamer is going to sleep…” 

Time played: 9 minutes. 

 

Mario Wonder 

We set him up on the first level and show him the basic controls. “Oh, look at that silly manoeuvre,” he says, going backwards. When he gets going, collecting his first coin it looks for a moment like we might be onto a winner… and then the goombas come into play. Focused on collecting coins as he is, he reaches game over in minutes. “Hooray… there we are. Next!” 

He gets into the swing of things much quicker, scoring strikes like a pro

 Gamer Granddad’s rating: 1/5. 

Ease rating: 2/5. 

Final thoughts: ‘As bad as the rest of them.’ 

Time played: 5 minutes. 

 

Nintendo Switch Sports (Bowling) 

This is the only game on this list that my granddad has previous hands-on experience with, having played it with my family a couple of times. As such, he gets into the swing of things much quicker, scoring strikes like a pro. “It’s a lot simpler than the other ones,” he says, “there’s a purpose to it.” 

He says he’ll do three or four rounds, but doesn’t quit until seven or eight, despite me having to remind him every couple of minutes where the A button is, as he’s not wearing his reading glasses, at which point he comes back to himself and decides to move on. 

 

Gamer Granddad’s rating: 3/5, probably higher if played with other people. 

Ease rating: 4/5. 

Final thoughts: “There just seems more sense to it than any of the other games… probably a good exercise for your right arm anyway.” 

Time played: 10 minutes. 

 

Forza Horizon 3 

We set my granddad up in one of my brother’s cars in the middle of the outback, explain the controls, and let him run wild. “Oh, this thing moves!” he says, about the car. It doesn’t take him long to get the hang of the controls, and within a minute he’s speeding around the landscape.  

He enjoys the “carefree abandon” of this game, he says, visibly happy for a moment for perhaps the first time since this started as he drives full speed into a tree, knocking it down and ignoring the calm tones of the Sat Nav telling him to turn around. “Oho, watch this chaps,” he says, crashing into a barn. “I think that building might be stronger than your car, I’m afraid,” I tell him, but he tries several more times before giving up. 

Gamer Granddad’s rating: 4/5. 

Ease rating: 4/5. 

Final thoughts: ‘No.’ 

Time played: 5 minutes. 

And what about Fortnite, the game that launched Cath Bowie into relative Twitch stardom? How would my granddad fare playing that? 

“You’re a creative writer, I don’t see why I have to actually do it,” he says, unswayed by the concept of journalistic integrity. Just as well, probably. I’m not sure my laptop would have survived his attempt.