This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
You would not believe how much joy I received from watching two of the top teams in the National Senior League compete for the 2012 California state championship in Wii Sports: Bowling. Or maybe you would. Everyone I told about the event loved the idea of folks from different retirement homes, many of whom have never played other video games before, getting together for some elite, digital 10-pin action.
The Wii Warriors from Anaheim and the Alley Oops from Santa Clarita (along with their entourages, fans, and coaches) each traveled for more than an hour to Vintage Senior Living in Westwood, Calif. to show why they’re some of the best in the state at this underrated e-sport.
They don’t play for a three-million-dollar jackpot like in the upcoming League of Legends Season Two World Championships. Instead, these seniors play for the love of the game, social benefits, and a little competition.
I saw it in the way that each team’s fans enthusiastically threw up their hands and cheered when the bowlers knocked down strikes (eight in a row for some) or picked up spares. The groups didn’t talk trash to each other. Instead, the athletes were supportive of the fact that, at their age, they could all succeed using a relatively new piece of technology. In that sense, everyone was on the same team.
That isn’t to say, however, that hey didn’t take the match seriously. Like anyone performing under pressure, some of the team members were visibly frustrated when they didn’t do their best. Many of them were accustomed to rolling their diamond-printed bowling balls (that you need to be at the Pro level in the game to unlock) and scoring between 290 and 300 points per 10 rounds at their respective homes. Taken out of their element, not everyone was able to play at the same high caliber.
But you could still see that they were very comfortable waving the Wii Remotes and controlling their grey-haired Mii characters. That was nice to witness. For the most part, the technology was not an obstacle for these seniors but merely a manageable tool. It also served as a social focal point.
In general, the prospect of playing an accessible game like bowling in Wii Sports gets some residents to come out of their rooms to discover it, play together, and watch each other practice. This simulator is something fun and exciting for our elders to do and talk about. Undoubtedly, for them, it’s much more engaging than sitting and watching TV every day.
In the end, the four Wii Warriors, with their screen-printed purple T-shirts, eventually outscored the Alley Oops in their light-blue polos. Both teams played magnificently, but only one can move on to the national championships later this year.
For many of these seniors, playing this particular title "helps with the memory care" says Tom Gray, the NSL 2011 Wii bowling Coach of the Year. "It changes older memories into newer ones as you become a champion or have a great bowling game." Thankfully, the same uplifting effect also applies to spectators like me: a game journalist in his mid-twenties.
