Factors affecting the gaming experience of older adults in community and senior centres

Abstract

This study investigated whether a Wii Bowling tournament could improve older adults’ attitudes towards digital games and factors affecting their gaming experience. This study applied a two-group pre-post design. A total of 142 older adults aged 60 and over were recruited from 14 community and senior centers (N = 81 in the experimental group; N = 61 in the control group). The participants in the experimental group formed a total of 21 teams, which played against one another once a week for a period of eight weeks. The findings indicated that the Wii Bowling tournament improved older adults’ attitudes towards digital games (t=2.53, p=.01). More importantly, the authors identified six factors that contributed to the positive gaming experience of older adults in community and senior centers.