The Last Games You'd Play?

Rigor Morty asks: "I am an older man (44), an avid fan of video games, and I am faced with a problem; my hands are becoming arthritic as I get older. I fear I will soon have to completely give up the console games I have loved over the years. To that end, let me ask the Slashdot Nation — if you were going to give it up, what games would you insist on playing before you had to quit? I'm willing to make some effort to do this, and spend some cash; I will buy the new consoles if I need to, or try to find obscure titles."

What about the Wii?

[no reason to be here]

i know arthritis can be quite painful. is it such that you would be unable to grasp the Wiimote? if you can, well, you might have several more years of gaming in Nintendo's brave new world.

I know it's predictable...

[E-Sabbath]

But, well, the Wii seems like it might be decent for the arthritic gamer. ExciteTruck just needs pushing one button, and a lot of leaning back and forth.

Two

[grub]

1) Thief: Deadly Shadows (actually any of the Thief series but you specified console)
2) Oblivion.

Secret of Mana

[LionKimbro]

I'd play Secret of Mana, [gamespy.com] straight through.

I swear, it is the most beautiful game in the world.

Re:Arthiritic? At 44?

[timmarhy]

if he has arthitis at 44 it's not wear and tear, it's rehumatoid arthitis and food supplements will do jack shit to help him.his hands are probably swollen and painful beyond what you can imagine, it's a horrible condition.if it was me i'd be searching for other input methods though, instead of putting up with the pain.

Re:Think outside the xbox.

[Kagura]

That's part of the road to mastery. Actually learning how to play the game is very easy. Here is an interactive site for learning Go [playgo.to] that everybody who has come into contact with swears by.

All you need to do to get better in Go is to play more games. A large part of its allure is that playing more games increases your strength, starting from the very first game you play right up until you've played for 60 or 70 years straight. You always get stronger at Go with each passing game, and even this generation's top professionals are much stronger than last generation's.

(To respond to the two examples the parent gave above: As far as learning when regions are alive and dead, you should learn as part of your initial instruction into the rules exactly what makes a group alive or dead. A group with at least two 'eyes' is alive. Although you will know that definition, it takes a reasonable number of games for that to be internalized, as do many of its other niceties.

And as far as knowing when the game is over, that is something else that takes time to fully grasp. Within two months of playing, you will probably be able to say for certain, without any outside help, when the game is over. Of course that statement is a bit simplified, as lower-ranked players will miss certain plays that could gain them some points in the end-game, but the point is that true beginners often feel like they do not know when the game should be ended, whereas somebody who has play for one to two months semi-regularly would have a very good idea when to end it.)

Zelda, Ocarina of Time

[kiwioddBall]

Would be my choice. I've been playing video games for years, but when I played that game (nearly 10 years ago now?) It moved things to a whole new level. When I first got out onto open spaces of Hyrule field and heard the cool music and saw the sun setting it was pretty good as far as video games go. Little touches like the music when the sun rises etc. I haven't had a go on Twilight Princess yet (Wii comes out here in about a week).

That said there are plenty of other games other than video games. You can't beat a game of cards with friends.

If you haven't travelled, get your buzz from seeing other cultures before little things get too difficult.

Re:Arthiritic? At 44?

[Colin Smith]

I couldn't take the stuff, myself... it gave me migraines after a few weeks.

You don't happen to be allergic/intolerant to shellfish do you? Standard glucosamine is made out of shellfish shells. There are non-shellfish sources though which avoids the allergy. Also cod liver oil is good for heart problems, joints and it improves memory, reasoning ability.

 

Fallout 1 and/or 2

[Superpants]

That'd be my choice anyway.

Re:Consider a flight sim

[Randseed]

Agreed on that count. X-Plane is undeniably the best PC flight sim out there. Enough time with it and you could probably be somewhat comfortable getting a 737 down safely, albeit with a little damace owing to the fact that you aren't used to the 'feel' of the plane. Definately a good skill, and you can mod it all to hell by doing things like designing your own aircraft. For extra points, scale model them down and build actual models. ;)

Re:Think outside the xbox.

[fullpunk]

A good AI algorithm for GO has not yet been discovered. The number of states is extremely high and a board configuration is hard to evaluate, which make it hard to write good (and fast) AI for it.

Wikipedia has an entire article [wikipedia.org] explaining it in details.

Re:Arthiritic? At 44?

[bullok]

if he has arthritis at 44 it's not wear and tear

That's completely untrue. I've had osteoarthritis (the wear and tear type) since I was 25. Traumatic injury, various diseases, bad genes, bad luck, or some combination of these can all be responsible for early onset osteoarthritis.

Re:Dance Dance Revolution

[grammar fascist]

Way to recommend the 44 year old arthritic the two most activity-heavy game types, douchebag.

Actually, getting a lot of exercise is one of the best things you can do [arthritis.org] for arthritis.

I'm 30, I also have arthritis, and it's worst in my fingers. Good muscular support around my major joints is one thing that keeps me from feeling the effects there. I'll never be able to play golf, but if I keep in good shape I should be able to swim, bike, and run well into my 70s.

Re:Arthiritic? At 44?

[AuBowser]

Cod liver oil has too many pollutants. Try a pharmaceutical grade fish oil extract. Ingest the good parts after the bad stuff is filtered out.

Other good options:

[cgenman]

Eyetoy-based gaming. They almost never require finger movement. *plug* Like Eyetoy:Antigrav *plug*

DDR. No fingers required.

Light-gun games. Use one hand to aim and the other to pull the trigger.

RPG's. Most menu-based games play fine with feet controllers, or without fine motor movements.

Point-n-click adventure games like The Longest Journey.

Singstar.

As for last games suggestions it would really depend upon what kinds of things you enjoy playing. I'd go Ikaruga on the GC (not Dreamcast), and Radiant Silvergun on the Saturn. I'd plug Guitar Hero, but it's usually enough to induce arthritis in most people. Katamari Damacy (PS2). Ore no Ryouri [pandora.be] (PS1). Bionic Commando [thealmightyguru.com] (NES). I'd get some interested friends together and throw some Saturn Bomberman parties.

Really, what you should do is grab your gaming friends, have them bring over their NES / Atari / whatever old systems they have around, and just play as many different things as possible one night a week every week. By the time your hands go, you'll have played through a slice of history, and you'll have some very close friends.

Drop consoles, go PC

[SirJorgelOfBorgel]

Well, it's not exactly arthritis, but I've had RSI (repetitive strain injury) from computing for years. It's very light though, I can still pretty much do anything and everything I want, I just have to stop sooner than my friends. One thing I have noticed though, is that when playing consoles, within minutes everything hurts. This is while I can play games on the PC just about indefinitly without aching at all. That should spell out the difference. Yes, I do use special ergonomical mouses and keyboard though, but those are like $100 together and in all probability, your health care plan will actually pay for it (mine did). Is this all relevant to you? I don't know, it could be. Good luck.

Keep playing to keep fingers nimble

[Edgester]

My grandmother has rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. I gave her my old gameboy and she loved to play Tetris. She said that playing it regularly made her fingers hurt less. Maybe you should keep playing enough to keep your fingers in shape.