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Senior citizens at a local retirement community are up in arms over Wii bowling.
Ted Campbell is not your typical gamer, but when it comes to Wii bowling, he scores about a 200 average, not bad for a 78 year-old who hadn't touched a bowling ball in years. "I quit bowling in 1964 because of back problems, two replacement knees and a hip," he said.
He's back on the virtual lanes and he's not alone. Campbell set up a Wii bowling league at his Springfield retirement community that's grown to 80 players on 20 teams. "Its exercise number one, it's a social function number two, getting people off the couch and moving."
When Marge Krape was asked if she thought she would ever be playing video games at 75, she responded, "No way, no way, I saw my kids and grandkids grow up with these and I never thought i'd be of interest, but it is lots of fun."
Krape has also been using a game calledBrain Age. It's designed to help keep her mind sharp through a series of 15 different activities like sudoku, word scrambles and number games.
George Mason professor, Andy Carle, an expert in aging, said getting seniors active and thinking is changing the way video games are perceived. "What we are doing with this technology, with these games, is we are doing cognition training that allows you to go on and literally exercise your brain," he said.
Seniors are actually a fast growing part of the video game market, according to the entertainment software association, folks ages 50 and up, make up roughly a quarter of the game playing audience.
For more information visit: www.nintendo.com
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