The AARP, in yet another misguided attempt to be helpful, has a video posted on their website that explains everything an older person needs to know about video games in two minutes.

Not to spoil the joy and frivolity, but apparently it’s lots of fun to make Spongebob Squarepants run approximately 8 feet to the side and then jump in place. Isn’t this fun! Also, there’s no need to be intimidated by such cutting-edge technology as the X-Box, Gamecube or Playstation (insert a healthy rolling of my eyes here…this video was done in May of 2006, but let’s update this thing, shall we?), because it’s as easy as hooking a CD player up to your television.

Yes…she said that.

Sandy Berger then goes on to mention that you can find a list of her top five video games by going to aarp.org/computers. She fails to mention that you must then click on “Life Online”, then scroll halfway down the page to find it, but for the savvy members of AARP that would find this video useful (presumbably the ones that would find the statement “This is the controller…it controls.” to be informative), I’m sure it’ll be an exciting puzzler.

There are plenty of people that are of age to be AARP members playing MMORPGs…chances are, you’ve had an over-60 guildmate at some point, whether you realized it or not…I’ve had quite a few. This means that there is a segment of the AARP membership that already plays games quite a bit, and fully understands how they work. So why does the AARP website put up a two minute video with that condescending tone of voice you would use to explain horseless carriages to your great-grandmother? I know, I know…”to help our members enjoy life”. And “There are quite a few of our members that are interested in video games, but need to be reassured.” Fine and worthy goals, but I have a news flash.

If there are people in their 70′s that play MMORPGs and participate in raiding guilds (and there are), then guess what? As is always the case, those that are most interested in gaming figure it out. They don’t need a weak attempt at explaining gaming, phrased like you’re talking to a kindergarten child, using outdated equipment and incorrect information.

I don’t mean to pile on the AARP here, but this is emblematic of a problem in gaming today. For some reason, it has become the norm to assume that everyone wants to game…and if we can just get the right mix of “stupid” and “stupidly difficult”, then we’ll have everyone on the planet logging on.

It’s not going to happen.

There are people that wouldn’t enjoy gaming if you paid them to do it. There are no universal activities, beyond breathing, sleeping and eating…everything else is a niche activity. There are games for casual gamers, games for hardcore gamers, and games for those in between. There are no games aimed at people that don’t like to play games, and there’s a damn good reason for that.

Gaming, and especially MMO gaming, got to where it is because it didn’t try to please everyone…it just tried to be a fun activity for those that enjoyed that type of thing, developed by talented people with a passion for what they were doing. But now games in general, and MMOs especially, have become very big business. And, as we all know, the more suits that are involved, the more the target of any development becomes “mass appeal”. There’s nothing wrong with mass appeal…in moderation.

To me, it always comes back to this…don’t design a game for a specific market, design a fun game. Do that, and the gamers will come. World of Warcraft has become the success it is because it’s easy to get into, most computers will play it with no problem, and…it’s…fun. There are quite a few rabid WoW-players that are well past retirement age. Why? They find it fun.

If you’re reaching out to a target market, you’re going to fail. Design your game in such a way that your target market reaches out to you…then, you’ve got a winner, because you’ll find more than just your target market playing your game…even AARP members.

Of course, the AARP also has a list of “Gadgets That Drive Me Nuts“, which consists of “Mobile phones” and “remotes”, so I’m not sure we have to worry about a mass influx of AARP members into Eve Online anytime soon.