Kotaku
My Dad has been visiting since late last month and his arrival happened to have coincided with the arrival of another important thing in my life (these days): Grand Theft Auto IV.
Dad was, at one time in his life, quite a gamer. He introduced me to the glory of Donkey Kong on the TRS-80 (or was it the CoCo), looking as delighted as I was when he first loaded the game up with a tape player and sat me down to play it on a bulky keyboard.
His was the first computer upon which I ever played a flight sim, some early military flight sim on an 8088, I think. We played countless games of Doom together, logged hours of strategy gaming, but as gaming become more complex and my interests in console gaming slowly evolved our gaming lives drifted apart.
He tried to stay by my side, or the side of my avatar. He bought an Xbox, we played plenty of Ghost Recon together, but the speed of the game and his slowing reflexes, the caustic nature of online gamesmanship and Live chat slowly wore him down until he retreated from the Xbox to, of all places, Second Life.
It's there that I still find him, almost nightly, when I call, or when I walk down the stairs to say good night these recent weeks.
But something changed when GTA arrived. Maybe it was all of the time he heard me talking about it, the interviews, working on the stories, the reviews. Maybe it was one last attempt by him to reach out to me, to find that old connection of games. But he was intrigued, so I sat him down in front of the television and booted up the Playstation 3. Handing him the controller, a controller he had never seen, let alone held, I walk from the room.
That first day passes quietly and quickly. Me upstairs working, him downstairs playing. He slowly works through the game's controls, quickly grasping the concepts, but not so quickly perfecting the movements.
After his first day in Grand Theft Auto IV his only comment is on the driving: It just doesn't feel right.
It's the thumbsticks, I tell him, he's not used to such small movements. He grunts his agreement.
The next day he watches me for hours as I play online, shooting and getting shot, in endless matches of GTA multiplayer.
It looks just like every other game I've ever seen, he says. How's it different.
It isn't, not really. It's like baseball, or maybe watching a rally race: The field, the track, the players change, but the same basic rules of the game never do. What happens within those rules between the beginning and the end of each match is what makes it worth doing.
His second day on the game is much longer, he plays it well into the night, the morning I suspect. He's starting to get it, I can see it in his pale hazel eyes, his red-rimmed pale hazel eyes. He's starting to like it.
I catch him the next day, after another marathon session, talking to my step-dad, who is also visiting the house with my mom. He's trying to explain to him what's so fun about the game, how it's different, but not really. Sure it's another game, but it has such detail, so many little things worth seeing.
My step-dad is intrigued too. His interest lasts about ten minutes before it turns to boredom, and he falls asleep next to my dad... who sits by my side as I zip through a handful of missions on the Xbox 360.
After another day of gaming my dad is asking me about consoles, specifically about the Playstation 3. How much is it? He wants to know. Which one should I get? He asks. Why a PS3, why not an Xbox 360? I ask. I had an Xbox, he says, I want to see what the Playstation is like this time around.
His addiction, now seems full blown. He laughs as he works his way through the missions, gets the jokes, likes the humor found in the dialog, the radio stations, the advertisements. I even catch him laughing at Weasel News, despite his affinity for the real world's Fox News.
I asked him this morning what he thought of the game, is it enjoyable? Enjoyable, he says, isn't the right word. It's interesting... challenging. I like the graphics, the animation is amazing, but the story is what keeps me playing. I just can't beat some of the missions and that gets frustrating.
He's still, he says, thinking of buying a Playstation 3 and if he does it will be just to play this game.
Grand Theft Auto IV has found an unexpected fan in my father, a man who once gave up on games because they felt as if they had left him behind. Despite it's roots in hardcore gaming, I've come to realize that GTA can be every bit as attractive to casual gamers, to the Second Life set as it is to those who live and breath 360 and PS3.
Now to work on getting dad back online.
Comments
That is awesome!
Give it 2 days and all you'll see on fox news is the GTA inspired killings and robberys across retirement homes and duck ponds everywhere
My dad is a big gamer too (more than me sometimes) and he's pushing 60. Kudos to all elderly gamers!
Who knew a vicious, disgusting murder simulator could be so heartwarming? :D
"It isn't, not really. It's like baseball, or maybe watching a rally race: The field, the track, the players change, but the same basic rules of the game never do. What happens within those rules between the beginning and the end of each match is what makes it worth doing."
Excellent analogy.
Good read that one, still cant see my own Dad liking GTA though!
Having said that he did get addicted to Goldeneye on the N64 many moons ago. Good tatse even if he doesn't play these days.
damn, i wish the old people i know were as cool as your dad. not only did he like it, but we was willing to try it before passing judgment.
Sounds like an awesome dad!
hilarious. My I want to see the kids come to the living room. "Grandpa, can we have a turn on the PS3?"
"Get your own damn system, I'm killing hookers!"
Great stuff.
The only game my dad ever plays is duke nukem. Every now and then he asks me when the new one is coming out.
Poor guy.
Haven't read the article yet, but that picture is full of win!
nah offline is where its at, at 23 the amount of twats online is already too much, you dont want to put him through tea baggin or 12 year olds who would but sailors to shame at cursing.
Great little write up Brian. Definitely sending this to my father to show that it is completely acceptable for someone that age to find interest in video games.
The first night I was playing, me and my friends all agreed that the driving (steering/taking turns) seemed off. If you mention it to the raving mad GTA fanboys they will defend it by saying it is "realistic!"
I guess it is alright to have realistic driving physics in a game that doesn't punish you for running red lights, hitting pedestrians or having the ability to get away from cops with ease.
I don't have many problems driving after 15 hours of game time, but I still occasionally smash into shit I shouldn't be.
It looks like the Wii isn't the only contender in the geriatric demographic anymore.
It was my father, too who introduced me to videogames. I'll always have such fond memories of playing Pole Position on the Atari 2600 late into the night with my dad... I'm not sure he'd like GTAIV though.
Great writeup. Long live the sandbox.
I may not be a 70-year-old gamer, but for someone who really doesn't and never cared about online play and despises companies shipping broken products and patching them later, I can relate to the feeling of being left behind sometimes. It's nice to hear that GTA is friendly for everyone.
Maybe it's time for me to add a 360 or PS3 alongside my Wii and check it out.
That was an awesome article!
Wow, you're dad is so cool! I want to be old and still into video games too. Amazing how a game like GTA can reach out even to the most elderly. I think grandma hardcore may have a friend here..
Good article. That second paragraph reminded me of loading/saving with cassettes back in the day on the CoCo (chicklet keyboard, 4k ram lol) and the Vic-20
Sadly, my pops will play a mean game of Wii Sports (golf & bowling) with me.....and nothing else.
Very nice read.
Personally, I think your dad is more the exception of the casual gamer, who was once a mainstream or hardcore gamer. I think there is too much to do and to many usability flaws in the game to really cater to the casual audience in general. I'm a hardcore gamer myself and it took me a while to really master all the controls and gameplay rules.
But hey, I think that you're pretty lucky to have that connection with your dad, it is pretty awesome!
This was an interesting read, a good insight and honestly, it likes a flame in my heart for an older man that gets this kind of stuff. Also, good for him with the PS3.
While I am glad to read a story like this, I can't help but see that if you weren't so patient and he wasn't an ex-upper market gamer that held a bound with you through games, I don't think he would have stayed long.
From reading it, it really seems more like him wanting to enjoy the game with his son than him really wanting GTA IV. I mean it is a good read, but I don't think GTA IV is a bridge game, and I don't believe there are many brand of gamers willing to be that devoted to bringing others into different types of gaming.
Sometimes I dread the idea of getting old, but then I think about how insanely beautiful the videogames will be then, and then I get happy about it.
AWESOME I still have my beloved TRS-80!!
Good story but you know what? It made me mad... cuz my stupid copy on ps3 keeps freezing! lol
Now try teaching him how to powerslide in mario kart wii!
That's ..actually heartwarming. Nice read.
I'd love to get my dad into COD4 or something similar but I've found that with some (note, some, not all.) Service veterans, they don't want the reminder of what they went through. My pops doesn't deny me the pleasure of playing, but he won't join me. I totally understand where he's coming from.
Hopefully the violent nature doesn't overtake him and cause him to murder your step-dad.
Great story and great pic. Your dad is too cool. My dad always tried to act interested when I went off about some game but he never really "got it." The only thing he ever picked up on over the 20+ years I've been gaming are the advances in graphics technology.
That's amazing.
My father was the one that got me into games as well. It's always an argument between my parents on who was the one that got me into gaming first. My dad says it was my mom. My mother will yell at my father, saying it's always been him, then she'll retreat back to the computer to play Bejeweled and Super Collapse.
Thanks to their love and support, I've been gaming since I was old enough to pick up a controller, and now I'm making it my major in college and hopefully my career in my life.
Glad to hear your story!
This is probably the best article I've read here. Makes me want to go out and grab my Dad a console.
@Stikasasn: disable online. That stopped my freezing
I'm staying off that man's lawn. Great read though.
As a single tear rolls down my cheek. I wish my dad could master the controls. I have played a lot of project gotham with him but unfortunately that is were it ended. Awesome write up.
LOL! Just keep him offline on a great game. That's joy of gaming rekindled already and no matter the console, online forever remains the same. Caustic is as good term as any.
GTA IV: bringing generations together. what an awesome article. i also think it's cool that your dad's cool with your step-dad.
Great story. That is really cool. Gotta call my dad over...
I can't wait for the next round of R* ads with a bunch of people in a retirement home sitting around with controllers hooting and hollering at a screen filled with choppers, rockets, and explosions.
Lol at the old man and the sea picture.
Awesome story. GTA does seem like a game that anyone can pick up even if they haven't played games in awhile. It doesn't seem so complicated once you actually pick up the controller and start playing. Heh, itll be cool if you can play some GTA multiplayer with your dad.
My dad is mostly into PC strategy games, but he'll play just about anything. Unfortunately with 3 kids(not counting me) and 7-5 job he's finding it harder and harder to be able to play games without constantly being yelled at by my mom. I haven't played anything with him in a long time but my 7 year old brother enjoys playing warcraft 3 with him.
This weekend I planned on showing it to my grandmother since she likes the kind of humor GTA has, also she is a big fan of mob type stories. =P
great read, and it's awesome that your dad enjoyed the game, my dad got me into games myself, from atari to star trek in MS-DOS
but what caught my eye was that your stepdad slept on the couch next to your dad while he was playing, which i say is both admirable of both of them and your mom as well. Not very often that you meet people who are accepting to situations like that. Something like that is just admirable!
Next to childhood, your later years is the perfect time to be a gamer. Loads of free time and, for some, expendable incomes.
Save for retirement. Think of the games.
great story brian, i love heartfelt pieces
That...Th-that was beautiful.. :_(
My father, not a gamer, walked in a few days ago while I was trying to blow up 10 cars in 10 seconds. After watching me for a few minutes, his only comment was, "why?".
I'm sure if my father was a gamer, or technologically literate in the very least, he'd like GTA. It's exactly his kind of humor, and the missions play out like his favourite kind of movies.
None of the elderly people in my life know much, or care much, about technology. Only two of the people I know that are over 65 make a point of going to the cinema every so often. My grandfather recently mentioned how he hadn't seen a movie in theatres in over 20 years, and that he saw an ad for a western - his favourite genre - called Brokeback Mountain. He said he was actually considering going to see in theatres. I had to explain to him it probably wasn't the kind of movie he thought it was.
That's pretty cool man. I still live with my folks and we actually bought my Dad a 360 for Xmas and he's in love with GTA IV and COD 4. We've actually been playing quite a bit lately and having "family and friends deathmatches" with my brother, cousin and a couple of friends.
It's pretty cool to have a parent that's willing to accept video games.
So true. That's very similar to my GTA IV story.
I had never played a GTA game before I when I first popped in GTA IV into my PS3 and played for 2 hours I didn't see what the big deal was about. Really, it felt like a life simulator, a life simulator of a poor immigrant trying to make his was in america. I thought it was cool but not 10/10 quality.
Then though, the next day, I craved to keep playing it. I was starting to get hooked.
Unfortunately though, here is where the story goes sour-- within four and a half hours of playing my game crashed 5 times, two of those times appearing to corrupt my autosave data. It would crash, I would reboot the game and then after the opening picture slideshow the loading screen would come up and it would crash as it loaded. The only way this problem seemed fixable was by deleting my autosave data and starting over again. After 5 of these game breaking, corrupting crashes, I lost my spirit to keep playing. GTA IV is huge, and I knew there were sveral more of these crashes to come if I continued. Disheartened, I brought the game to gamestop and traded it in for something else. The guy at the counter told me the crashing happened on the original 60GB's and 20GB's and that turning autosave off would make it better, but the thing is without autosave I'd be spending hours just driving back and forth betweeen the save house and my mission, with the risk of possible crashes along the way.
It just seemed so unfair because I liked the game so much. I am now checking Kotaku every day now to see if there is an article posted about a patch being released, because deep down I want to buy the game again and play it.
What a great story. It's good to see that he's willing to try something new (soooo many people are so stubborn about that). I still have a hard time trying to get my sister to play a FPS game, if only cause of the console controls. But on the pc she grasps it a lot more.
In the end, she'll go back to her DS, or NES/SNES games on her pc :p
Sometimes I think that maybe I could have gotten my dad into racing games.
I'll never get the chance.
If your dad does get a PS3, you should introduce him to Metal Gear Solid. After all, it's the story he liked, right?
You should suggest games for him to play, and let him review them. I think it would be great to see his view of more games.
i got my mom to sit down with me for a little while to show her the game. she happen to come in while i was taking Roman out for a drink. she was giggling at the dialog between Niko and Roman as they talked about American titties. then they came out of the bar, and i handed her the controller.
"try to make it to the corner."
"i'm trying. he won't stop walking is circles."
we laugh as he stumbles backwards over hydrant.
fun times.
sadly I'm the only gamer in my family. Though my grandma did love Dr. Mario and Yoshi's Cookies.
Give me a fucking break. What is this "Tuesdays with Morrie"? Way to pour on the sap.
Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that Crencente's father, mother, and STEP-father are all in one house, seemingly at peace with one another? Is this old news? How frikkin' rare is that? You've got one hell of a family there, sir. Grats.
And the article was a fun read, too. Thanks for that, and good luck to your dad! Hopefully he'll find something else worthwhile to play on his PS3 (when he buys it).
I don't know if you could call your dad a "casual gamer." He obviously played the hell out of games when you were young and attempted to keep playing them on the XBox even when is dexterity/reflexes began to fail him. So he retreated to a "game" that he could play, and it sounds like he spends a hell of a lot of time on that. It's like a weightlifter who has to learn to bulk down at a certain point, he still might be buff and into lifting weights, he just can't lift them as heavy as he used to be able to. I wouldn't call him casual, I'd say he found something that let him remain as "active" in his hobby as he possibly could. It just so happens GTA works for him even if there is still some of that young whipper-snapper twitch to it. I think the story would mean more if you found somebody who absolutely didn't play anything ever, but found something compelling about gameplay/story that won them over. As it stands this just sounds like an old-timer who has decided to make a come-back.
This was definately the best read I´ve had all day. I´m just deeply jellous because I have no close relatives who used to play videogames or play them now.
A) Thats awesome!
B) if your dad gets a PS3 may I suggest getting him everyday shooter also. Simple controls but challenging. (My mom saw me play this.. asked to take a whack at it. I now loose my PS3 for an hour to 2 a weekend while she trys to get further)
@fenderfuel08: turn off your PSN! The game works then!
Amazing read!
@LucRichard: I LIKE sap.
Good story, man.