University of Texas: games might slow aging process

post from Joystiq on 30 September 2006 06:10:00 PM. © Joystiq

The University of Texas (go Longhorns) is designing games and researching their effect on older players, according to Yahoo! News. The University of Virginia (go Cavaliers) questions the Texas goal of maintaining mental and physical agility with games.

The image of older gamers flailing around with touch-sensitive gloves and VR helmets is our favorite detail of the $13-million project. The future has never been so retro. Mihai Nadin, the professor who heads the research says, "This is not a marketing opportunity but a social responsibility."

But we think it should be a social responsibility and a marketing opportunity. After all, the article makes the obligatory Brain Age reference, citing sales of roughly seven million total copies. Those weren't just given away. Publishers of casual games have already been selling to this older demographic; we don't think it'll take long for other games to reach an older audience.

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