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My dad just turned 65 and he still has no interest in video games except for solitaire. But I really think that he'd enjoy video games, especially as a way to k

My dad just turned 65 and he still has no interest in video games except for solitaire. But I really think that he'd enjoy video games, especially as a way to keep an active mental life in retirement. I tried to explain the "it's almost-real physics!" angle of Kerbal Space Program, but that wasn't persuasive. Any tips? Also, have you played Overwatch or TF2? I found both of those more interesting than Titanfall-- and a wise player can really help a team by jumping into the role that isn't present on a team.

mikestew 10y ago
"Hero" type games don't interest me much, and though Team Fortress interests me, just never made time for it. But, yeah, I've always been the one to sit on the flag with a rocket launcher, throw my warm body at a territory when no one else will (K/D, phfffftt). Don't see why that won't still serve me well in my old age.
- civilian 10y ago
  Agreed at ignoring K/D :D Hmmm. So I don't think of Overwatch as a "Hero" type game (although I'm not sure what you mean by that). I think Overwatch classes map to TF2 classes pretty straightforwardly. And there's no leveling or grinding for functional items, so it is maybe even a better than TF2 in that regard?
  - mikestew 10y ago
    Oh, perhaps I misread about Overwatch. Or getting confused in my old age. :-) Not that I'd have time to play it, what with Titanfall still being entertaining, have barely played Battlefield 1, and a new Ghost Recon comes out on the 7th. I look forward to retirement so I can have more time to play! EDIT: And I missed the part earlier where you asked for tips with your father. Ya know, I gave it some thought, and I don't know that I have any. Your dad is about ten years older than I am, which means he was just a tad past the proper age when the Atari 2600 came out. Me, I grew up with the Sears pong console, then came the day when we got a 2600. I was ten or twelve, just the right age to get hooked. So to me it's "umm, sure, I'm in my fifties and spend way too time playing video games. Your point?" whereas your father might have been just old enough to complain about those "kids and their video games", I don't know. So both he and I have had about fifty years to fall on one side or the other, and neither one of us has probably changed all that much since. You and I both wonder, "why wouldn't you think Kerbal is cool? Hell, if I were retired, it's all I'd do if I didn't have any discipline." because we're already over the hump of playing to begin with, whereas he hasn't gotten past the barrier of "video games==the devil's tool". Dunno, just spitballing, and unfortunately don't have any potential pearls of wisdom. IOW, I don't get it any more than you do.
- crooked-v 10y ago
  Overwatch may interest you because it's tuned pretty hard to reward team gameplay instead of just "who gets the most kills" and K/D isn't even something reported in the game stats. One of the characters (Reinhardt) is even designed around essentially being a damage sponge for teammates, with killing enemies being a distant third priority after shielding allies and keeping enemies out of short range with his big hammer. It's also got a lot more variety in characters than most similar games, with the cast covering a variety of ethnicities, cultural origins, and ages ranging from 18 or 19 to 60+.
- overcast 10y ago
  Overwatch is an EXTREMELY polished version of TF2. There is really nothing at its level at this point. I play both Titanfall 2 and Overwatch now. Titanfall 2 is a great, super fast team action shooter. Overwatch is completely focused on balanced team combat, each player has a unique character, with unique abilities to counter other character abilities. No two players can have the same character on one team, and the "scoring" is quite unique. KD is really not taken into account, and in fact, you can't even see that ratio at any point during the game, except for your own number of kills, and deaths. Points are awarded at the end for a wide variety of things, and ALL players vote the top 4 players, based on these types of achievements. It's pretty awesome.
  - mikestew 10y ago
    Thanks, all. It's obvious I've confused Overwatch with something else. Given the backlog I've currently got, I'll wait until the "Game of the Year" discount and give it a whirl.
    - overcast 10y ago
      It was just $20 on the korean battlenet(global key) :) That's where I picked it up while I was on the fence!
alexchantavy 10y ago
The Civ games sound perfect for him!

mikestew 10y ago

"Hero" type games don't interest me much, and though Team Fortress interests me, just never made time for it. But, yeah, I've always been the one to sit on the flag with a rocket launcher, throw my warm body at a territory when no one else will (K/D, phfffftt). Don't see why that won't still serve me well in my old age.

civilian 10y ago
Agreed at ignoring K/D :D Hmmm. So I don't think of Overwatch as a "Hero" type game (although I'm not sure what you mean by that). I think Overwatch classes map to TF2 classes pretty straightforwardly. And there's no leveling or grinding for functional items, so it is maybe even a better than TF2 in that regard?
- mikestew 10y ago
  Oh, perhaps I misread about Overwatch. Or getting confused in my old age. :-) Not that I'd have time to play it, what with Titanfall still being entertaining, have barely played Battlefield 1, and a new Ghost Recon comes out on the 7th. I look forward to retirement so I can have more time to play! EDIT: And I missed the part earlier where you asked for tips with your father. Ya know, I gave it some thought, and I don't know that I have any. Your dad is about ten years older than I am, which means he was just a tad past the proper age when the Atari 2600 came out. Me, I grew up with the Sears pong console, then came the day when we got a 2600. I was ten or twelve, just the right age to get hooked. So to me it's "umm, sure, I'm in my fifties and spend way too time playing video games. Your point?" whereas your father might have been just old enough to complain about those "kids and their video games", I don't know. So both he and I have had about fifty years to fall on one side or the other, and neither one of us has probably changed all that much since. You and I both wonder, "why wouldn't you think Kerbal is cool? Hell, if I were retired, it's all I'd do if I didn't have any discipline." because we're already over the hump of playing to begin with, whereas he hasn't gotten past the barrier of "video games==the devil's tool". Dunno, just spitballing, and unfortunately don't have any potential pearls of wisdom. IOW, I don't get it any more than you do.
crooked-v 10y ago
Overwatch may interest you because it's tuned pretty hard to reward team gameplay instead of just "who gets the most kills" and K/D isn't even something reported in the game stats. One of the characters (Reinhardt) is even designed around essentially being a damage sponge for teammates, with killing enemies being a distant third priority after shielding allies and keeping enemies out of short range with his big hammer. It's also got a lot more variety in characters than most similar games, with the cast covering a variety of ethnicities, cultural origins, and ages ranging from 18 or 19 to 60+.
overcast 10y ago
Overwatch is an EXTREMELY polished version of TF2. There is really nothing at its level at this point. I play both Titanfall 2 and Overwatch now. Titanfall 2 is a great, super fast team action shooter. Overwatch is completely focused on balanced team combat, each player has a unique character, with unique abilities to counter other character abilities. No two players can have the same character on one team, and the "scoring" is quite unique. KD is really not taken into account, and in fact, you can't even see that ratio at any point during the game, except for your own number of kills, and deaths. Points are awarded at the end for a wide variety of things, and ALL players vote the top 4 players, based on these types of achievements. It's pretty awesome.
- mikestew 10y ago
  Thanks, all. It's obvious I've confused Overwatch with something else. Given the backlog I've currently got, I'll wait until the "Game of the Year" discount and give it a whirl.
  - overcast 10y ago
    It was just $20 on the korean battlenet(global key) :) That's where I picked it up while I was on the fence!

alexchantavy 10y ago

The Civ games sound perfect for him!