There has been plenty of talk about the Wii being used in aged care homes, by grandparents and other ‘older’ family members, but what do these people who are more mature than most gamers truly think about the Wii? Given most of these people have never played a video game before, I thought it would be fun to throw a questionnaire in the direction of one elderly gent who plays the Wii. This guy is 85 and he’s no slouch when it comes to some Wii sports and even other Wii games.

The following is taken from the questions posed to our elderly Wii fan. His name is James. Wii Centre hopes you enjoy this article and that it gives you some insight into just why the Wii has seemingly been a hit with not only elderly gamers, but also non gamers of all ages.

More after the jump….

James has been playing the Wii for over a year. He was introduced to the Wii by his grand daughter, a gamer herself who had purchased her Wii prior to Xmas. The Wii was a bit of a hit come Xmas day when everyone was chilling out and James picked up the Wiimote - “it looked like a white TV remote, not so daunting as these other things [grand daughter] has”. Interesting observation given this is something Nintendo themselves had mentioned in various press releases prior to the launch of the Wii, stating the simple nature of the Wiimote would ‘entice new players’.

When asked why he likes playing the Wii James had a simple response “it gets me moving and keeps my mind active”. He states “I read the papers, go for walks, make my tea, but the Wii means I can do some things that in reality I’m a little past [laughs]… a game of bowling is my favorite and I’m actually fairly good.”

So James likes Wii Bowling, something quite a few homes for the elderly have taken up across the globe, even holding bowling tournaments. Our octogenarian gamer also states, “I’ve seen the war things [grand daughter] plays and I think, why would anyone want to relive such a terrible period of time for fun.” An interesting outlook that many younger gamers probably don’t give much thought to.

When the question of other games is posed James smiles slightly and states “Yes, yes I can [do] play some others, one that I liked was a Mario game, but it was very energetic and fast” (this was actually Wario, not Mario, as he was referring to WarioWare Smooth Moves… James didn’t like Mario Galaxy stating “it was a little confusing”).

Another favorite was Wii Sports Golf, though James admits to being no Tiger Woods. “I find that sometimes I think I am hitting it a certain way, but it doesn’t work well on my television set”—“I find it quite relaxing though and golf is something I can no longer play in reality, so it is nice to be able to at least get some sort of round.”

This brings up an interesting point. A recent article about the Wii being used in elderly care homes had one resident state “When I score a knockdown, it actually feels like I’m going through it again. It’s a good feeling,” – With this kind of usage, though sale numbers would be smaller, wouldn’t it be nice to see a few games specifically aimed at the ‘older’ gaming market? Sure this demographic is small, but think of the positive effects this sort of thing must have on the lives of some elderly folk. James sums it up quite nicely by stating “In some ways it’s like being young and fit again”.

Come on Nintendo!! A few games specifically for this market… it’s not all about the money.

Thanks to James for his time.