P.S I should say thanks for all the help I receive from Jennie and McG and all the other boomers who pitch in, also for the very good - no excellent - walkthroughs that help when I get well and truly stuck.

Hi Teresa , That's an interesting point you make about the games "making you smarter" and providing another vehicle to communicate with your grandchildren. I think of adventure games and other genres of games to be good "brain exercise". They definitely improve ones concentration and observation skills. It also seems as though the "generation gap" between kids and their parents/grandparents has become wider in recent years. Taking an interest in what the kids enjoy is an excellent way to narrow that gap. I believe anyone who enjoys a good movie or a good work of fiction would be intrigued by adventure games , if only they would try one.

Robert, it is true that this is a good way to communicate. I knew nothing about computors when I started, but with the kids on board I learned, then if I got stuck I got out the good book, read it, and did what it said. RFM became a watchword, and I still do it. I didnt think I could until I tried. A few months ago I tried Alida which is very hard to load, with the help of the manual and boomers I learned to save and paste and now Ive learned something else so its all a question of believing you can do it.

I started with Myst at age 61, a year after getting my first computer(2002)
Got totally hooked and have been merrily BAAGing and playing ever since.Started with only point & click adventures, then played my first action adventure-Indiana Jones Infernal Machine, then the Thief games, Outcast,Anachronox and Noone Lives forever.
Playing games keeps me thinking young,never bored,and mind alert. It's the best thing since sliced bread!
I like to switch back and forth between adventure and action. I like the heart thumping, exciting pace of action games as well as the slower paced more relaxing puzzle based ones as long as they are beautiful and interesting to look at.
64 going on 10

Hi bigmamma , I loved No One Lives Forever. It combined the first person shooter with some adventure elements. Cate Archer was a hoot !! I loved her sarcastic humor in the game. I played that one on my PS2 a couple of years ago . I saw a post in the RPG/Action forum about NOLF 2 . So I went to gamespot.com to check it out , but it's only availible on the PC (was rated 9.3= superb ). Do you use mouse and keyboard controls for you shooters/action games ? I would need a PC compatible controller , I think the mouse/keyboard interface would be too awkward.

robert,

for a fps game like NOLF the mouse/keyboard combo is the way to go. a gamepad is awkward. that is why so many do not like playing these type of games on the consoles as you a gamepad just doesn't give the same type of control as the mouse/keyboard does. once you try it this way and get used to it you will never want to play an fps wih a gamepad again uness you just have to play halo 2 when it comes out and not wait for the pc port.

Robert, I am 58, female and I like Adventure games as well as Action,FPS and RPG'S. I am attempting to play Sentinel, I keep getting stuck, Psychotoxic and Cold Fear now. Some of my favorite non adventure games are: Max Payne,RTCW,Call Of Duty, Medal of Honor, HL2, Painkiller,Doom 3, Morrowind,Icewind Dale and Gothic. The love of all these games knows no age or gender.

Kazzmo wrote : "The love of all these games knows no age or gender."

Hi Kazzmo. I'm starting to see that . Like 23 y.o. Skeeter who plays adventure games and 63 y.o. Bigmamma who's played No One Lives Forever (the combat in that game is pretty intense ).

I just turned 50 last week, female, and though I love adventure games, some of my faves have been 'Realms of the Haunting', 'NOLF' 1 & 2, 'Half-Life', and 'Deux Ex'.

I will be 64 in a couple of months and tho I prefer adventure games I have played a number of RPG's and FPS games I do not care for shooter action games as they became repetative and boring after awhile.One of my most favorite games which I replay often is Return to Krondor a RPG.

Hi Robert-

I am 58 (my true age) and I got hooked on them about 4 years ago when my older (she is 71) sister sent me one. I have been buying ever since. I do prefer point and click. But I expect to be playing them for many years, just wish they would make more.

Maggie

robert,

good, i am glad you are going to give NOLF2 a try using the mouse/keyboard.

by the way, IMHO, the first game was much better but you can decide for yourself.

Hi Skeeter! Yes, you have to purchase Sacred Underworld, although Sacred Plus is free if you have the original Sacred. But if you get Sacred Plus up and running, a bunch of us are still playing it. Come on down, the more the merrier!

Robert, to answer your question, yes, those games all use real time combat, except DD does have a pause feature if you want (where you can drink potions, decide what to do next, etc.)

Hi Robert:
I loved NOLF! I have NOLF2 and am savoring the chance to play it.
The humor is great, especially if you're a fan of those old sixties James Bond spy movies.I think Kate Archer beats Lara Croft hands down.She's feisty and funny-much more sense of humor than Lara.
I have never played games on anything except PC. I find the mouse and keyboard combo less awkward to control than the keyboard only (a la Tomb Raider games)

@ nickie

Was on sacred plus last night. What is your character name? Mine is Skeeter/Mobious. Which servers do you go to? Open or closed? And which server in them?

Im at level 5/6 i think so far at the end of the day yesterday, hope ur a low level as i dont like playing with high level players as they leave me lol. But i hope to play with you on the campaigne if possible, perhaps we start together some new characters?

Let me know if u wana do any of this.

Skeeter, we're not playing on-line, we're just playing our individual games all at the same time over in the RPG forum, and then talking about it! You might be able to talk Popcorneater into going online, but my dial up is waaaay too slow, sorry.

Oh, i got the impression you were playing online.

I'm 69, going on 70. Have been playing, reviewing, writing walkthrus and hints for almost 20 years. Love Adventure games and will continue to play them until the day I die. Hopefully that's still a long way off. Trying to introduce some of my 13 grandchildren in the genre. Trying.
Fred J. Philipp, ala Questbusters fame.

I've been on so many adventures with her . I've played all 6 Tomb Raiders (was kinda disappointed with all the bugs in the PS2 version of "Revelation" ) and looking forward to the new one that may be out this fall.

edit P.S. to Nickie, I checked out Divine Divinity , it looking pretty interesting , I'll give it a try. If it's as good as Beyond Good and Evil I definitely want to play it !

Hi Robert...I am 70 going on 69 I love adventure games, but also some of the RPG's, FPS's "Splinter Cell" is one of my favorite's, along with "Prince of Persia 3d" Hey...I guess I will try just about anything! You will get used to the "keyboard/mouse" and it works just great! especially if you can remap the keys to make them easier to reach! I also played NOLF 1, have #2 when I get around to it..playing Indiana Jones, Infernal Machine right now, but getting a lot of help from a buddy! Glynn

I find action games much better with my gamepad i bought, its a thrustmaster firestorm wireless one. Specially as there designed for action games and are usually totally remapable controls for them. Fps games arnt too good tho as i hate aiming guns with the directional pad. best for them are the wasd keys and mouse and thats it really.

Hi Glynn

I love all the Tom Clancy games , Splinter Cell is one of my favorites too , I just finished "Chaos Theory" a couple of weeks ago. Have you tried the "Ghost Recon" series ? , they're pretty good too . If I can get games like that on PS2 or Xbox , that's my preference , since I can rent them from Gamefly.com . I would go broke buying all the types of games I love to play . Right now I'm playing Psychonauts on my Xbox and Dark Fall: Lights Out on the P.C. and have Black Mirror , The Longest Journey , Zork : Grand Inquisitor , Beyond Atlantis and Runaway all waiting to be loaded after I finish Dark Fall 2. I went crazy at Amazon and Ebay , but BaaGed some really good deals .

Skeeter, I saw an adapter and drivers to connect an Xbox controller to the pc at Consolestop.com . I think it's "remappable" ( if that's a word ) . I wonder how good that would be. And if you can use the thumbsticks for moving , looking and aiming instead of the directional button.

Robert, I haven't played the "Ghost Recon" just not enough time for all the games I have You sure picked some good games! I have played all of the adventure games you just bought...let us know what you think of "Zork Grand Inquisitor" It was a RIOT! LOL Glynn

I'm 20 years old, and like just about all genre of games.