Article written by Cody Mello-Klein, Northeastern University, via https://techxplore.com
However, the games industry still routinely ignores or fails to design games with older adults in mind, says Bob De Schutter, a game designer and associate professor at Northeastern University.
“If you look at all the literature that’s out there on games, games are how we learn … and all of a sudden once you’re 16, you need to stop doing that?”
“The game industry had and maintains a constructed idea of the player that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Pearce says.
There are also tangible benefits of getting more older adults involved in gaming, Pearce says.
“There’s an epidemic of loneliness that’s particularly bad among older adults, and one of the things we’re looking at is creating social games for older adults”.