So for people in their 50’s gaming can be hard on the hands. For me, I have worked with my hands all my life. Not rigorously, but I have used my hands to do a lot of work throughout the years like carpentry, I used to work on my own cars, construction, I substituted as a volunteer Fireman for a little while, and I used to do a lot of Karate (Tang Soo Do). So my hands have seen some use. In fact I have broken many bones in them from karate, getting them smashed under vehicle parts, and crushed from demolition jobs. So using my hands now, as I grow a little older, and depending on the weather, can be a task.
What it boils down to is the controllers. I am very partial to using a keyboard and a mouse to control the action on the screen. I also like to use the larger controllers like steering wheels or a nice joystick that has quite a few programmable buttons (like a flight stick). I am not admonishing the console games…in fact I will be writing about a few console games in the future. It is a preference, but when you have as many miles on you as I do you tend to want to play games that allow you to have fun and not get all cramped up or feel it the next day in your bones.
Console gaming requires the use and mastering of a smaller controlling unit whereas you could also purchase a unit of the like for your PC gaming you don’t have to. There are a number of alternative controlling ideas out there for PC gaming. I visited the Dell website to check on a few options and it appears there are well over 50 different options just on their site alone. Alienware, Corsair, Logitech, and Razer are a majority of the options. They range in price from $30 to over $200. Mostly the differences I noted are the prominently raised keys. My assumption is they are more heavy duty than a standard keyboard. Now, I have to admit that I haven’t broken a keyboard yet, but they are making them much more flimsy nowadays. Tech Radar suggests the keyboards from the list below.
- Logitech G513. …
- Cooler Master MasterSet MS120. …
- Corsair K63 Wireless. …
- HyperX Alloy Elite. …
- Corsair K95 RGB Platinum. …
- Razer Cynosa Chroma. …
- Corsair K68 RGB. The snack-proof gaming keyboard. …
- SteelSeries Apex M750. Great for gaming, just OK for everything else.
There are even special gaming mouses (mice?) too. There are several that are rated as being the best, but I have found that these fancy mice are individual specific. When you go out to purchase any controller for your PC or Mac you should experience the unit and not just take the word of some Salesperson. Best Buy is a good place to do that. I found a nice list of some preferred units and I posted it below. They are quite fancy.
- Logitech G502 – Highest Native DPI Mouse. …
- Razer DeathAdder Chroma – Best Budget Mouse. …
- Corsair Scimitar RGB – Most Programmable Buttons. …
- Razer Naga Hex V2 – Another mouse for MOBA Games. …
- Corsair Sabre RGB – Budget FPS Gaming Mouse.
Scimitar RGB 
G502 Mouse 
Razer Death Adde 
Logitech G502 – DPI Mouse
Personally I prefer wireless controllers. It doesn’t matter if it is console or PC. I am not one for being tethered to anything. Not that I am walking around my office with my mouse and keyboard in hand I just prefer the look. The largest issue, as you can guess, is if the power runs out in the middle of a game.
I do find it strange that the XBox 360 allows the use of a USB keyboard with their “computer” but you cannot modify the controls to play games with it. Personally I feel this is a market they should look into. Since I can plug my XBox into any device that takes an HDMI connection it would just be an area they could possibly gain a few more acolytes for their console.
This is where the PS4 blows XBox out of the water (again). They do allow for control via keyboard. They even have specific suggestions for which ones to use and they have games that allow them. PS4 suggests the Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard and the HORI Tactical Assault Commander Pro. The games that they allow are in the list below. You can see that some of them are made ONLY for the keyboard.
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Overwatch
- War Thunder
- Elder Scrolls Online (keyboard only)
- Neverwinter (keyboard only)
- DC Universe Online (you can only use the keyboard)
- Paragon
The website below is a good list for the PS4 and how to set it up for control of this fashion.
https://www.psu.com/news/how-to-use-a-keyboard-and-mouse-on-ps4-and-which-games-are-compatible/
Now, no matter what your preference in the end, it will all boil down to what games are even available for the choice you make. Obviously consoles would be the better choice just for variety alone. My father passed away about 8 years ago. He was 87 when he died and he played games on his PC up until his death. He loved Myst and Flight Simulator mostly but he wasn’t a fan of console games. He verbally mentioned that the controllers were too hard for him to use. Now, not growing up using a controller I can see that. Overall it is the preference of the player and what they either want to play or what they are willing to play. With all of the retro gaming sites that have games available for downloading there is a wide variety/library of choices. For the best graphics and gaming experiences though, excluding MMOG games, then consoles are more than likely the way to go.
You can probably tell that I have a definite preference toward making the controls easier for the older generation. I mean, these companies should respect the pioneers of the gaming industry. Even though we are older and may not have as much time to game…we are older and have some (more) expendable income than we did when we first started gaming. I’m just saying, they can cater to the target audience, but they should still consider the loyal audience too. I have been gaming my whole life and the only way I will stop is if I physically can’t do it anymore.
DJLonS-Blog 