Home Away From Home
by Dlyrius, HSM team writer
We have been told for years that “Trix are for kids,” but what about video games? I meet more and more older folks in Home each and every day. Since I began playing in Home myself, I found myself constantly nagged with a single thought: is Sony making wise marketing decisions when it comes to limiting their age demographics for advertising to the younger crowds?
Well, an opportunity presented itself to test my theory — and I jumped at the chance to show some truly older folks just what PlayStation had to offer them in the way of entertainment and social interactions.
The day to leave finally arrived after two months of planning, and I was off on a 2,300 mile trip to San Benito, Texas with my sister to visit my elderly parents. Both of them are avid readers of my articles on HSM, so I figured it was time to show them exactly what they had been reading about the past few months since neither had a clue what Home was. Now, if you know anything about the southernmost part of Texas, you know it is hellishly hot in June and the humidity is enough to kill an elephant, so most folks spend a lot of time indoors where it’s cool enough to actually breathe without gasping for air. Perfect situation to show off some entertainment that required very little effort and provided hours of endless options and fun for everyone.
Being the Home addict I am, I packed up my PlayStation, a couple of controllers, forty-three miscellaneous chargers and an assortment of cords and cables that easily rivaled the wiring in the planes we took. I also grabbed a few games I thought they might enjoy trying out. My dad is a history buff and hot-rod fan from way back, so I took Burnout Paradise City, Modnation, and Red Dead Redemption for him to try out. For mom, I took Little Big Planet and Oblivion, since she is more into the scenery and silliness factors. I also intended her experience to be more Home-based since I knew she would enjoy dressing my avatar and visiting my spaces to see the decorating options available. She was also curious as to the social networking aspects of Home, so we also made plans to visit some public areas with me at the controls. Fifty pounds of carry-on crap later, we were on our way south.
Now, getting through security at the airport was an assembly line of those little gray plastic tubs full of all kinds of electronics (PS3, accessories, laptop, digital camera, cell phone, mp3 player, cords, disks, batteries…the list goes on), as well as my shoes, reading glasses, underwear, and my firstborn child (sorry, bit of an exaggeration there, but you know what I mean if you fly). I actually took more electronic equipment with me than I did clothing. It was days like this where I truly wished Sony had Home on the Vita. I won’t go into the hellish flight delays we endured. I could write a novel on this particular trip. Let’s just suffice it to say, I will never fly through Houston again.
Dad’s first look at BurnOut Paradise City
After 15.5 hours, we finally arrived in San Benito at approximately three in the morning and discussed the day’s events before falling into a blissful sleep. The next morning I set about hooking up the PS3 to get started on my research. My Dad was amazed at how easy it was to hook up, so that was a plus right away. I fired up Burnout Paradise City and explained the controller functions to him.
Within a few minutes he was tearing up the city and having a ball. He loved the details and sound affects associated with the numerous vehicles he had to choose from. While we did encounter some issues with some initial discomfort in his arthritic hands holding the controller while operating the buttons, we quickly found a solution by placing a pillow on his lap to rest the controller on and he was off racing again. He had some spectacular crashes and enjoyed every minute of it.
Next we tried Red Dead Redemption, so he could see the outstanding graphics within that game as well as learn how the same controller was used in different ways for each game. He enjoyed the scenery since it is very similar to where they currently live, and it was fun for him to be a virtual gunslinger while riding his horse around.
During my week there, I introduced them to other features on my PS3, such as our subscriptions to Netflix and Hulu Plus. We enjoyed some movies they hadn’t seen and they really liked the fact that it was so much cheaper than paying for a monthly premium movie channel with a much better selection to choose from, as well as being way more convenient to just pick something from the menus rather than running down to the video store to stare at rows of shelves. Many older folks have physical limitations for travel and movement, so being able to skip a trip to the video store and still be able to choose from a wide variety of things to watch, is a major attraction to this retired age group.
Next it was mom’s turn to play. We waited until my last day there to spend time on Home so the memories would be fresh in my mind to write this article. Not to mention, we had to spend the week tiring my sister out so she would leave us alone long enough to play. I logged us into Home and turned her loose at my Harbour Studio.
After having a few wall to face encounters with my avatar, she got the hang of navigating an avatar around — and that’s when the fun began. I showed her how to access my wardrobe, and it was on. She had a blast digging through the endless options I have, and actually got so excited trying multiple things on she locked up my machine. After a few giggles while the machine was rebooting, I explained how the 3D rendering worked and that she had to slow down a tad so the machine had time to respond to her selections. She is a bit of a geek like her daughter, so she totally understood everything I told her about the limitations and resources of the machine itself. Once she had made her clothing selections, we set about visiting some of my personal spaces so she could see how all of them could be decorated in any fashion the user decided.
She marveled at my endless selections of furniture and ornaments, and loved the fact that things were so easy to move around. We spent a couple of hours messing around before going to a public server so she could see all the other avatars people were using. I explained to her that each one was a separate machine with a single user at the controls. This is when we got into our in-depth discussion about how Sony could better utilize their marketing resources to attract more consumers to their virtual products by expanding their age demographics.
Mom playing in my wardrobe dressing up my avatar
She felt that while it was nice that a single user could have an avatar to play with, she felt it would improve things a great deal if they allowed multiple avatars to be used simultaneously, split-screen, through one machine. Simply put, the idea was to make Home a multi-player game platform within one’s own house, assuming internet download capabilities and hardware are up to the task. She expressed the fact that if she had company and was playing on Home, it would be much better if she was able to hand them a controller so they could play along with her instead of making them watch her play — or, heaven forbid, log off to talk to them. The park they live in has a varied population depending on the season (from a couple hundred to several hundred souls), and has an active computer club with some very experienced folks going there on a regular basis. She could totally envision a PS3 club joining the list of activities these folks would enjoy year round, no matter where in the country they were residing in at the time — if they only knew it existed.
We are talking thousands (if not millions) of people over the age of 65 with nothing but time and tons of disposable income in their idle hands, just looking for an entertaining and creative outlet for their imaginations. In the short time my folks were exposed to my PS3, they learned about a whole virtual world they thought was only for kids. They discovered the guys could relive their youth through the endless game selections, while the ladies could regain their youth with a pretty avatar and a wardrobe they never have to wash. We all agreed that if Sony and its developers spent the time and money to market this amazing machine to the older masses, chances are they would not only increase their profits by leaps and bounds, but they could take advantage of the baby boomers that grew up with other Sony products and maintain the brand loyalty with these folks.
So take this for what it’s worth: my 70-something parents enjoyed their short PlayStation experience. They now wonder why Microsoft and Wii both include ads for all age groups with their gaming products, while Sony has so much more to offer — but, marketing-wise, is ignoring them.
July 5th, 2012 by Dlyrius | 28 comments
Dlyrius, a native Oregonian, has been an internet chat addict since the days of the old BBS services.
DLY,
Great read, very interesting perspective on gaming in general you have here. I wonder if maybe you parents are thinking of ever picking up a PS3 for themselves?
LOL I honestly couldn’t answer that question. I know mom does her thing most of the day with ancestry.com, and dad has lots of naps. I do know that she really thought they were missing out big time not showing what playstation has to offer to folks her age. They are quite a diverse crowd and got money to burn, so we were both sure they would love the PS3 as much as we do
This was an interesting article and I have questions neither which of will or in the case of the writer’s parents should be answered due to privacy: will the writer’s parents continue their SONY adventures and yes indeed, why doesn’t SONY advertise HOME to seniors more than they do.
In the case of HOME well oh heck they don’t advertise much to anyone as far as I can see but maybe that’s because it’s in BETA or else they’re waiting for a new supply of servers.
A new supply of servers? What an idea!!!
LOL, I just fired off an email to the parents to let them know the article was up so they could read it. I will post a reply on their responses so everyone knows
I’m glad to see someone finally noticing how many adults are on the PlayStation instead of just kids. In The Black Hats (club based at Novus Prime) all of the members except one are over 18. Our oldest is 64. We average age range of 40+. I myself never would have never imagined that I would be over 30 and playing video games everyday. I bought my PS3 in February 2011 just for playing Guitar Hero. I stumbled on this little world called Home. And looking back now that was the best thing that could have happened. I’ve met some amazing friends, and most important I’ve met the man of my dreams playing guess what a video game. Nice story Dlyrius!
Thanks
I really wish I could drag my PS3 around to a few dozen retirement communities and show the folks there what they are missing. We all know this is WAY better than bingo and we even have our own casino!
Your parents look just like some of my classmates at the 50-year school reunion in Kingsville. I can vividly remember those summers. That’s why I always say, Texas is a great place to be from (FAR from).
I really appreciate this article, Dly. I am going to be 74 in a few weeks and you hit the nail on the head: we have tons of time and plenty of money. Maybe you should free-lance this article to the AARP magazine? Wii is already getting established in some assisted living communities and has proven to be very popular. They might welcome your insight on this -- and pay you, too.
OO excellent idea, how do i go about doing that? LOL
As the leader of a huge club of older gamers in Home I agree wholeheartedly with this idea Dlyrius. If Sony was to do a survey of the money spent in here I think they would be surprised at the results.
I whole heartedly agree
They say the average gamers age now is around 40. As Home is (before everything else) a social network, it baffles me about some of the content they release on a weekly basis. Think about it, who are the people that love their PS3s most? The fashionistas? The 30 something hipsters? Or is it the gamers, the geeks and the “nerds”?
Absolutly Sony should be aiming Home at a much broader audience. What I wanna know is, why didn’t we a massive bunch of Starwars stuff? Where’s pur Millenium Falcon personal spaces, our R2-D2 pets, our Star Trek stuff, or Farscape for that matter? If the average Gamer is 40, where’s the He-Man, the MASK stuff, Thundercats, Brave Star, Terrahawks or Thunderbirds? There’s a GOLD MINE of ideas just waiting for someone at Sony or any of the other developers to pick up and run with.
What do we get? Diesel, Wrangler, Billabong… *SNORE*
Then, as this article duly points out, there’s a massive untapped potential with a huge really really bored stack of money just waiting to not be spent on those unthankful youthful faces of grandchildren. Get on it Sony!
Well you never know who might be reading this and should the powers that be listen, we might just see some awesome stuff in the future for us coots LOL
I love the idea, and think Sony has a potential goldmine on their hands, provided they make some adjustments. While I love Home as-is, the thought of my grandmother or any other eldery persons being exposed to the trolls, fams and outright racism and misogyny sends a shiver down my spine.
They’d almost have to create a second version of Home for the older gamer. More open public spaces with nice settings and scenery, and less stuff like x7 or spaces with loud, blaring music. Done right, HomeSilver (or whatever they’d choose to call it) could replace bingo and slot machines as the passtime of choice of the elderly.
the great thing about us older folks, we are experts at ignoring idiots
i doubt any of the trolls, fams, racism etc would cause much more than a click on ignore for this age group and the possible potentials are endless.. think of all that wisdom that is going to waste playing shuffle board. they could be here sharing it!
Anyone who worries that seniors could be bothered with trolls, fams, etc. should hang out in the Hub with Dlyrius and DarthGranny for an hour while we ‘school’ some of the children.
LOL, we aren’t that bad are we? *smirk*
This really is a great article Dlyrius. @Elskutto -- I doubt you would see many elderly people joining Fams… No worries.
LOL you never know, how about starting a Renegade Raisin fam?
Too funny!! LOL
When i first logged on home a year ago I tought i would be a dinosaur at 40. Boy was I wrong. Matter of fact. Most of my friends are older than me. Well, the ones I hang with at least.
With the success we witness with the Wii among “the wiser ones” I have to agree with you. Sony should put more effort to advertise PsHome to the older generations. I dont think competing AAA is the best strategy. You might strike a few headshot with a frantic shooter. But you need a different strategy if you want to take down an entire battalion.
@ Elskutto I would’nt worrie too much about exposing elderly to PsHome fams and racist. It’s a common mistake to think because some older peoples have a less than prime state body that they are much more fragile. They also are wiser and from my experience can deal with them better than many “inexperienced” ones. Remember, they saw worst gangster and racist in the past than we ever will.
Well said Doc
As promised, here is a direct cut/paste of my mom’s email reply and comments about their playstation experience:
“Perhaps Sony geeks are so young that they think us older folks wouldn’t have the foggiest notion how to operate their systems. I doubt if these younger geeks, using under 40 as an example, could even fix or have any knowledge of the older systems. Our group does. We’ve “Been There, Done That.” Wonder who they think bought these “toys” for the younger generation and taught them how to use it.
Microsoft and Wii market to us because they are smart enough to know we’ve used every version of operating systems and electronic games since they came out. We not only use these but buy them for our grands and great-grands, and yes entertain them by playing with them. It may take a little longer for us to defrag our brains, but we do like and have the latest greatest toys.
Contrary to the “younger generations” notion of us, we do not sit in a chair all day and watch the bunnies hump on NatGeo. Bingo is not a favorite here in our community, too passé. You would more likely find our group using Wii with their friends after their 4 p.m. cocktail get together and dinner out. We didn’t have time to be interact with our friends that much before we retired but do now.
Dlyrius can attest to the fact that these groups are “party animals” and go from early a.m. to late p.m.”
She is right about that last statement. I was there visiting during the busy season and they had a party at the dance hall next door that kept me up until 4 a.m. with loud music and laughter. I figured they would be sleeping in the next day, nope, not a chance. They were out bright and early cruising around, walking dogs, playing horse shoes, swimming, etc… I don’t thing retired is a good term for these folks, I think they are simply recycling life
TY for posting your Mom’s reply
My pleasure
“Sit in a chair all day and watch the bunnies hump on NatGeo.” Ahahaha! I love it!
LOL now you know where I get my sense of humor
I really enjoyed your story here Dlyrius. It was like reading a short story. Awesome.
So glad you enjoyed it, it was fun writing it, and even more fun doing the research for it LOL