Good stuff. Pls let me/us know about further articles.

Oddly enough my Mum never played games, but for some strange unexplainable reason she was absolutely awesome on Rocky on the PS2.

I think my Dad stopped gaming because with age he can't keep up with it aswell, and there's alot more going on, my friend's Dad who's about 50 plays DDO I once had a game of resistance 1 with him on co-op he soon gave up because he said it was too much to follow everything, I think with most games and advances in technology this will probably only get worse, more people on screen with more effects.

I read your blog.  It was pretty good.  I can't speak to what caused your father to quit gaming, but I know why I quit other hobbies I used to enjoy.  For me, it was a question of time and other more important responsibilities.  On several occasions in my life I had to make a decision if I wanted to continue with a hobby or let it go and put my efforts into more pressing matters.  Certainly some hobbies, including gaming, require a serious amount of time to fully enjoy.  But, each of us only have so much time in the day to utilize.  If we spend our time gaming that means something else will miss out.  Perhaps your father chose to spend his free time in other, more productive or more social ways.  You should ask him why he decided to stop gaming.  I suspect his reasons had very little to do with gaming itself and more to do with the general obligations of life.

Great article. My dad only used to play Sonic the Hedgehog and X-Men on his Genesis.

For me that is all very weird. I'm the only one in my family that plays video games. Mostly because at 25 I am the youngest and was just the right age to grow up with playstation.

I could imagine my dad telling me more than 'I've retired' from games and much less politely :D

Awesome read. I look forward to reading more about your father's progress through Mass Effect. I suppose if RPG's are your dad's poison, you picked one I could easily see a "retired" gamer get into after fifteen years out of the saddle.

Nice Article, My Dad usually only plays tiger woods but I showed him fallout 3 and he can't stop playing.

Both of my parents were into games, back when Myst and Doom were new... But when my dad bought a new computer and I told him his graphics card could play COD4 , he went out and bought a copy. He now has a good 6 recent shooters and almost bought Mass Effect after my suggestion, he'll turn around eventually :D

I wish I could get my dad back into playing games...but i cant even get him to pick up a controller anymore. Interesting articles tho.

Great article, but I must say that getting into Mass Effect after 15 years of retirement is a pretty tough challenge. Good luck to your dad though...

Interesting reads! I'll be sure to keep up.

Great articles! Keep us updated.
I am playing Mass Effect at the moment, so it's great to read your dad's perception of it.

Watching your parents game, for me, is a awesome thing. The roles sort of become reversed and now you're the mentor and they're the student. My dad used to play games with me all the time when I was younger (he's quite good as M. Bison, I must say), and he actually got to the last level of Halo: CE with my mom on co-op.

Great article, and if there was ever a game to get your dad back into gaming, Mass Effect would be a sure contender. I want to see his choices towards the more interesting Paragon/Renegade moments in the game, as well as his reaction to the new characters he'll meet soon enough. Keep us posted!

That was very entertaining to read. Having played the game myself, it's funny reading your dad's choices. He truly is going to play a role in this game. I wonder how he will deal with the racism and the friendships he creates?

An enjoyable read. Keep us informed, I would like to see more of this.

" An enjoyable read. Keep us informed, I would like to see more of this. "

Played some NHL94 with my Dad in like 95. Next time he picked up a game was Wii Bowling last year at my Uncle's house.

Excellent read.

This is actually a really interesting concept since gaming is still such a young medium.  Most of us probably haven't even thought about a time when we'd stop playing video games.  Getting your dad's perspective on a modern one is a really great idea.  I will admit the whole "retired gamer" thing is a little corny, though.  Still, really great read.  :)

This was a good read, more please.

Here is part three guys. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.thumbthusiast.com/2009/06/a-retired-gamer-on-a-modern-classic-mass-effect-part-3/


Thanks for all the feedback, as well.

As far as why he retired, I'm not actually sure. It is something that I plan on asking him after we're finished and doing the interview portion (Which i haven't sold him on quite yet). I'm thinking that the added perspective of playing a game since he quit playing games might add more thoughtfulness to his answer.

It's been interesting for me too. Not only is it fun to have another person play with you through a game like this, but his view of things is often different than mine. So when i'm taking notes for the next article I like to ask and figure out why he chose certain things to say or how he feels about certain characters.

This is completely off topic. But as a new poster, i'm pretty annoyed by the moderators on giant bomb. I've had to ask for this to be moved from the Mass Effect board back to General Discussion 3 times, and the first time I posted it, it was deleted. But i'm finding the users to be far more welcoming.

Really enjoyed reading these :) thanks for posting. Looking forward to reading more.

Udina and Anderson sitting in a tree. I would have never even thought about that. I was planning on playing this game again, but I will never look at those two the same again. Bar fight was cool too.

Haha... maybe Anderson and Udina DO have something? I know that Anderson in the books was with some chick but they didn't last because of some unknown reason. He was a lot younger than too.

Man, I wish my dad played RPGs like that. He plays games a lot, but he only plays first person shooters and thinks everything else is "gay"

I got my father an Xbox 360 last year for christmas, and it really revived his interest in gaming. He's put a ton of time into GTA4, Mass Effect and Fallout 3, more time than I have even. Screw the Wii, quality gaming is what brings people back.

my dad used to be a big arcade guy. Just putting in quarters on the Pac Man and Galaxian machines. 
 
In fact, the first game he bought was Time Crisis for the PS1 because he played it in the arcades before. That became my first video game I ever played at the age of two.
 
Now, he just likes to sit back and watch me play once a while though he played Rock Band for a few weeks when we got it.
 
 
My mom used to play the shit out of Arkanoid on the good old gameboy late at night when everyone else is asleep but that quickly stopped. 
 
Though they dont play anymore...for some reason they want the Beatles : Rock Band !!!

Not exactly along the same line, but a little bit...
 
Frankly, I think about gaming as we age quite often. I know I'm at the age where my reflexes simply can not and never will compete with someone who is twenty-two. But what will happen when I'm in my 40s? Or my 50s? Or even my 60s? Will I be able to play FPS games? Will I be able to play game that require speed or dexterity? Will I be relegated to strategy only games? And slow ones at that? Or will I just stop gaming entirely? Will everyone else stop, too?
 
The years creep up on you and I worry that those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s will quickly find ourselves considering these things and wondering if we will be capable of enjoying our favorite recreational activities well into our old age. I can't imagine not gaming, but . . . I can't imagine keeping up when everything starts to deteriorate. And that's assuming that we're all essentially health for old people too (since some of us will suffer a number of other debilitating ailments with age that will shut us down from playing, too).
 
Also, it's interesting that your dad ever "retired" from gaming, because it sounds like he was never really of the right age for gaming to begin with. I mean, I don't really know anyone in their 50s or older who games to start with (then again, I don't really even know anyone my own age who games, because my colleagues are all settled down and worrying about their mortgage and getting enough sleep to bother playing videogames... *sigh*...)

Retiring from gaming usually happens(imo) when people stop getting satisfaction/entertainment from games. It becomes nothing more than a time sink for them.

Really liking the series.
 
Hope your dad keeps makes it to the end.
 
He seems really into the story - given how pressure is put on the player to go after Saren, I'm interested to see how many side missions he'll do.

" my dad used to be a big arcade guy. Just putting in quarters on the Pac Man and Galaxian machines.   In fact, the first game he bought was Time Crisis for the PS1 because he played it in the arcades before. That became my first video game I ever played at the age of two.  Now, he just likes to sit back and watch me play once a while though he played Rock Band for a few weeks when we got it.  My mom used to play the shit out of Arkanoid on the good old gameboy late at night when everyone else is asleep but that quickly stopped.   Though they dont play anymore...for some reason they want the Beatles : Rock Band !!! "

This is great stuff. And I'm starting to wonder about Udina and Anderson now. 
 
 [ARTICLE SPOILERS AHEAD] 
 
It kinda follows; Mass Effect touched on most contentious political issues, from abortion to freedom of religion, and of course racism. Homosexuality (as an "issue") is just about the only one I can think of that didn't have a mission attached. 
I think it's totally possible.

My father was a little into playing. We had an Atari 2600 that we played together before he passed. My step-dad and mum were never much into playing games. I could get them interested occassionally but never for ling or on a regular basis. I think the last game I remember my step-dad playing that wasn't some sort of flight simulator was that 25th Anniversary of Star Trek game way back in the day. I can only remember my mum helping me play a level of Cosmos Cosmis adventure once and never any other time.  
 
I have never really thought about how to get them into (or back if I could call it that) gaming. I guess if I were going to try my best bet would probably to buy them a Wii so that can get some 'casual' party game action with my brother and sister who are much younger then me or with the my sister kids as a family activity. I couldnt see the getting in play games outside of that.

There are no retired gamers. Only nonpracticing gamers! 
 
On a more serious note though, I think that what makes people put the controller down is that as they game and age and as the gaming industry changes and ages with them games loose their original luster, or whatever it was that caused people to be infatuated with them originally. This results in a lack of interest and then the gamer starts trying other things to fill their free time and in the process puts the controller down and doesn't pick it up again.
 
I remember trying to get my parents to play games with me as a kid, but they just couldn't get into it. However, my mom really did love the Wii when I first got it.

Only read part 1 and 2 for now but thumbs up. I always wondered what games today would look like to the old gamers. Welcome to the forums by the way.

" @CSXLoser said:

" my dad used to be a big arcade guy. Just putting in quarters on the Pac Man and Galaxian machines.   In fact, the first game he bought was Time Crisis for the PS1 because he played it in the arcades before. That became my first video game I ever played at the age of two.  Now, he just likes to sit back and watch me play once a while though he played Rock Band for a few weeks when we got it.  My mom used to play the shit out of Arkanoid on the good old gameboy late at night when everyone else is asleep but that quickly stopped.   Though they dont play anymore...for some reason they want the Beatles : Rock Band !!! "

for some reason? i can tell you a bunch of reasons why an older couple would like to have a Beatles videgame.  "