heresyoftruth's Journal: Zelda and Aging

I am still playing Zelda Windwaker at what I suspect is a slower rate than the average middle schooler. Perhaps I don't suspect this, but know it. Between work, and classes I don't have the time to sit for three days straight and finish it off.

I really like the game, but the way the camera angles don't follow the direction you look in has come to irritate me on more than one occasion. I find I am looking at the characters face during boss fights, and having to repeatedly hit the L button to reorientate. I am old and carmudgeony, and would like the camera to fix on the thing I am trying to gack.

Since my work over winter break at the assisted living facility, I have been wondering about what happens when my age group ends up at that point. In the large facility, made up of individual apartments, only one or two residents had computers. These were set up by younger family for communication purposes.

I envision, when my 30-something age group get's there, that we will be surrounded by gaming boxes, computers, cell phones, or the equivalent. I imagine my 80 year old self sitting down in the dining room trading tips on the latest Zelda's Geriatric Adventures with three old men who prefer Grand Theft Motorized Wheelchair.

I also wonder if the stimulus from game playing with help or hinder the development of dementia. I am a nurse who spends a lot of her working hours in a dementia unit attached to the assisted living facility. I imagine if I end up with alzheimer's that my larping experiences will come to the fore. Hand me a cane, I will yell "5 edge! Take that you orc!" Perhpas my memories of playing a swordswoman for the game will make me a hilariously difficult patient.

Of course, this is providing we don't get holographic rooms, or direct connections to jack into our games.