Seneludens: Health benefits for elderly gamers

Seneludens, when translated into English, basically means “to be playful in old age.” It’s a wise thing to remember as everyone gets old someday, and you never know if you might still be playing the future equivalent of Halo when you’re 64. There’s also a research project that bears that name, and it’s one that hopes to design games and other environments that’ll keep the aged mentally agile and let them connect with others.

Mihai Nadin, who heads the Seneludens reasearch project, hopes that collecting information from the elderly on how they respond to certain sensory activity to make new environments and games for the elderly to try out. While we haven’t progressed to that point of making new virtual worlds for the aged, there’s definitely proof of older gamers still making an impact.

For instance, there is the phenomenon known as Brain Age. Not only is it a best-seller in Japan, but it’s also sparked its own tourney. Let’s not forget Barbara St. Hilaire, the so-called “Old Grandma Hardcore” who’s been playing game since before we were born! Heck, she even won the Brain Age tournament, which shows her own ability and mental agility. There’s also been research done on the therapeutic value of games, from mental health to helping people in dealing with other ailments.

Let’s just hope the therapeutic video game for the elderly mind comes soon, because as many gamers know, it would suck to miss out on a new game because you forgot the release date.

Seneludens, when translated into English, basically means “to be playful in old age.” It’s a wise thing to remember as everyone gets old someday, and you never know if you might still be playing the future equivalent of Halo when you’re 64. There’s also a research project that bears that name, and it’s one that hopes to design games and other environments that’ll keep the aged mentally agile and let them connect with others.

Mihai Nadin, who heads the Seneludens reasearch project, hopes that collecting information from the elderly on how they respond to certain sensory activity to make new environments and games for the elderly to try out. While we haven’t progressed to that point of making new virtual worlds for the aged, there’s definitely proof of older gamers still making an impact.

For instance, there is the phenomenon known as Brain Age. Not only is it a best-seller in Japan, but it’s also sparked its own tourney. Let’s not forget Barbara St. Hilaire, the so-called “Old Grandma Hardcore” who’s been playing game since before we were born! Heck, she even won the Brain Age tournament, which shows her own ability and mental agility. There’s also been research done on the therapeutic value of games, from mental health to helping people in dealing with other ailments.

Let’s just hope the therapeutic video game for the elderly mind comes soon, because as many gamers know, it would suck to miss out on a new game because you forgot the release date.