adult videogaming

If you’re like me, perhaps you started seeing a new word recently—Wifi-- and puzzled over it, then started seeing Wii, and thought somebody must be misspelling something, and what were all these annoying intruders into the lexicon, anyway???

Well, the former is pronounced like hi-fi, is usually hyphenated, and is a type of wireless Internet service. The latter is pronounced like “Wheeeee!,” and I’m sure that interjection has escaped from the mouths of many who tried the Nintendo Wii videogaming products in public libraries or elsewhere. The Wii is a video game console that can be used with a wide variety of software products including Wii Sports, with which one can play virtual tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing.

Wii Gaming at the Riverdale YM-YWHA

When I say “videogaming” do you think teenage boys? If so, think again. According to a report of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, over half of American adults play video games. 23% of survey respondents 65 and older and 40% of those 50-64 report playing video games. Video games include games online and/or with devices such as desktop or laptop computers, game consoles, cell phones, Blackberry, some other handheld organizer or a portable gaming device. Older adult gamers play games more frequently. Over one-third of gamers 65+ play games every day or almost every day. 28% of adults in the study have used a game console such as Xbox , PlayStation or Wii.

Wii Gaming at the Riverdale YM-YWHA

A recent article in American Libraries magazine tells us that Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library began Wii gaming with teens around 2006. When staff, especially then-manager of Senior Spaces there, Allan Kleiman, saw how seniors in senior centers and nursing homes were taking to Wii, he thought, “Why not libraries?”. Teens were used as mentors and training instructors; they had to demonstrate their ability to teach adults the technology by training Kleiman and Youth Librarian Theresa Wordelman. After a few months, the older adults became accomplished gamers and started teaching others themselves. They’ve since had multi-screen game events, with simultaneous bowling, Guitar Hero, and Brain Age Academy, and they’ve held tournaments between the teens and their former mentees.  read more »