Would you play a game with an elderly person as the protagonist?

Sure, a Miss Marple crime solving game would be great. :)

Yeah, but game companies seem to want to have he image of a middle class white american male in all their games since they still think that is the majority of people who play games. Its sad they don't do more to address Others who play. Also I think there are no females because developers think it would make most gamers uncomfortable it there was a romantic plot involving the protagonist and a male. And no elderly because they still think we are mostly too young and immature to think they are cool. Besides a few exceptions there really are no elderly protagonists, the only major example I can think of from mgs4 who was actually old was still 40 and you could change his face.

Sure. Why not?

Personally I would enjoy a real Noire detective story with an old dude (similar to LA Noire, but more like Heavy Rain) I really liked the levels in Heavy Rain with the detective, but they weren't really flushed out I thought. I would like a game that truly flushes out the style of what Noire is. City's lit up completely at night, smokey bars with moody jazz playing, etc. (think of the bar parts in Catherine or the cruising driving scenes in the movie, Drive)

I find it ridiculous that the main character in video games are always young and at the peek of their performance. I really enjoyed MGS4 because it tugged on your heart strings to see Snake the way he was and how he viewed the world. If they could somehow combine the Noire style I mentioned above with Snake's point of view of being stuck in an old body I would really enjoy it.

@believer258 said:

@Trylks said:

@believer258 said:

Plus, you can make your characters in Mass Effect, Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Saints Row, etc. look pretty old.

Why would anyone want to spend hours looking at some elderly person

Role-playing. Maybe someone wants to role-play as an older badass? Maybe someone is old and wants to do that? I don't know. If an older person manages to retain their strength and speed, then they could be a very formidable opponent. Imagine fighting someone who has the physical abilities of a twenty four year old but the experience and knowledge of someone who's been kicking ass for forty years. You'd respect some of those wrinkles then, wouldn't you?

I totally do this exact thing from time to time in many RPGs I play and if i can set a character age/looks.

Being a powerfull badass and old/aged raises your inherent badassery level severalfold.

Possibly. Harry Brown got me pretty fired up but I don't know how smooth the transition would be from film to game...

If the protag fits the "Bad Ass Grandpa" Trope, oh god yes!

Why should it matter in the first place?

If you haven't played this I recommend it. Its a 4 min game and its demo which is on Steam is free. The only difference between the demo and the purchasable product is that you have a chance of having a heart attack in the purchase.

My Saints Row: The Third character is getting up there in age. Still spry as shit though.

I feel like some people are having a hard time differentiating between an old person and an elderly person, at least, on the first page.

I'm not scrolling every one of these responses, but I'll put my vote in for a little game called DUCK TALES!

Old age is a handicap, albeit an inevitable one, but still. Your physical and mental abilities are greatly reduced (yes, they start declining at the age of 45. Provincial courts here in Quebec have used that as an argument to retire some officials). Would I play as a handicapped protagonist? Yes, if the mechanics are well implemented and not too distracting.

...yes. I have. I'd do it again if I had the chance. ...and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!

Bah. I clicked yes but the iPad ended up triggering the no button.

@Socialone said:

Old age is an handicap, albeit an inevitable one, but still. Your physical and mental abilities are greatly reduced (yes, they start declining at the age of 45. Provincial courts here in Quebec have used that as an argument to retire some officials). Would I play as an handicapped protagonist? Yes, if the mechanics are well implemented and not too distracting.

Also, I usually don't point out typos, I'm not really a grammar nazi, but I laughed out loud at "an handicap".

I frequently make old dudes when I play RPGs.

One of my favourite characters I've used in a few different games is a 60ish militant cleric wearing golden plate armour, wielding a massive warhammer, and adorned with a bald head and big brown beard streaked through with grey.

@TooWalrus: Sorry buddy, frenchie here. I'll edit that if you don't mind.

@Socialone: Ha, don't worry about it, I've butchered your language plenty in French class.

Sam Fisher is pretty old

I already did.

No. Fuck old people.

Gears of War 3, Splinter Cell Conviction, Assassin's Creed Revelations.

I guess? I dunno, I think the only ways to make an old dude not play like shit are all pretty dumb or basically make them not old. As characters they can be interesting but from a gameplay perspective, ehhhhhhh.

If he can move like Ezio or Old Snake, hell yeah.

If he spends his days shuffling around a nursing home, waiting for relatives to call, or the sweet release of death (which ever happens first), then not so much.

Kaim et al from Lost Odyssey are like 1,000 years old. That counts as old, right?

How bout using Gouken or Akuma in SSFIV?

What if I made a really wrinkly, old lookin character in Skyrim or some other game that let's you create a character?

I hear Asura from Asura's Wrath is pretty damn old.

We already have a few games where we play as old people.

And I wouldn't mind playing as old person as long as the gameplay still can be entertaining.

Asura is well over 12,000 years old.

@Dagbiker said:

The problem with playing as an elderly person is that

1. gameplay needs to be fun.
2. you need a character you can relate to.

If your main protaginast is a whealchair bound old guy who needs oxygen to survive. Then no one under 80 is going to relate to that predicament. It is also going to be pretty hard to focus gameplay around a guy who cant do anything.

Well...

Do I smell a Saints Row The Third Expansion?

@FluxWaveZ said:

Metal Gear Solid 4?

He's not really straight up elderly. Sure physically he looks well into his 70's, but chronologically he's still a young man at only 43. So, I'm not sure that Old Snake really counts?

@AssInAss said:

Have you seen what she does with that cane? Fucking crazy!

@Ramone said:

Does Scott Shelby from Heavy Rain count? He's got grey hair at least.

Absolutely not. His aged look is intentional on the part of the developer. Quantic dream actually digitally aged the actor from 49 to 60, so he wouldn't match the killer's profile. Shelby's original scanned character model (before they digitally aged him) actually appears as the mad taxidermist in the DLC.

@Smashlampjaw said:

Sam Fisher is pretty old

Sam Fischer's only 56 (source: "Making of Splinter cell"(2002) on the original Xbox "Splinter Cell" game disc). I don't think that the original question pertained to middle aged people. It pertains to people over say 70. Some prototypical answers would be someone like Shujinko (89) from Mortal Combat Deception, or Wang Jinrei (99) from Tekken, or Warthog (105) from Twisted Metal 2. Personally, I couldn't care less about how old the character is.

@FluxWaveZ said:

Metal Gear Solid 4?

What he said, also, Sam Fisher isn't getting any younger...

i dont think people understand what he's asking.

i think he means a real old person, not a video gamey action star old person. cus snake, sam fischer, ect. they're technically old but they move and behave like a young person who's perfectly healthy.

but i think maybe a survival horror type game where you play as an old person would be really cool. those games you always move slow and clunky and at least its explained by the fact your dude is like 75.

@believer258: @Tennmuerti:

I see and I understand. I'm not very into roleplaying and then most games have characters focused on male badassery, it's good to go for a change when given the chance. I still prefer some male character for the first playthrough because it feels better to have Ashley and Liara fighting for "me" than Liara and Kaidan. But, nvm.

About age, I like utopias (or dystopias) where people don't age, like "a brave new world" or "In-time".

50 years give you a lot of experience, sure, but that experience looks best when it looks like Olivia Wilde (at least now, I'm quite certain she will age well, but she didn't yet).

PD: Spoilers of the first 2 minutes of In-time. Seriously, a trailer would spoil more, thus: no tag.

I voted yes but with a condition. If the main character is old just for the sake of being different then I don't think the decision is justified. If theres a good story reason why he has to be old, then its okay, if there's a gameplay reason for him to be old as well, then great.

Matlock: the video game

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Sure it was only one of many protagonists, but the boss fight was very memorable.

Yes. I think it would be awesome x

If he's a wizard, well, yeah, of course.

Scrooge McDuck in Ducktales was pretty old. That game was pretty fun.

maybe, being old stimulator. where did i leave my cane? did i take my pills today?

Deckard Cain 2012.

@iam3green said:

maybe, being old stimulator. where did i leave my cane? did i take my pills today?

Next game from David Cage.

Yeah, really makes no difference to me. In fact, older protagonists probably have a more interesting story to tell.

Yes. And isn't Wolverine like a couple of hundred years old? That last game was awesome.

Uh, MGS4? Done.