Admit it, when most people try to explain video games to their grandparents they become slightly frustrated since the words Pong and Super Mario Bros. might come up occasionally since a lot of older folks just don’t understand the games today and might even think that they’re kind of ridiculous or simply too much to grasp. That’s not the case for this grandmother who was given the honor of being inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest gaming YouTuber, something the average person might not think was bound to happen but has happened all the same. Hamoko Mori, a 90-year old grandmother, has been playing video games for nearly four decades now, longer than most gamers have been alive, and before anyone thinks that she’s the type to just sit down to a nice, sedate game of Tetris or Pac-Man, get that thought right out of your head. She enjoys games such as Skyrm, GTA5, and even Resident Evil. Hamoko isn’t the type to take it slow when it comes to video games as she’s been keeping up with the changes in the gaming industry for some time now. Looking at the cartridges she has it’s obvious that Hamoko didn’t really get in on the whole Atari phase when it first came out, but it is obvious that she’s been gaming long enough to remember cartridges, even if she’s forgotten a lot of the games at this point. Don’t joke, a lot of serious gamers have forgotten more games than many of us will ever play.
Admitting that she spends about 6 to 8 hours a day on gaming is enough to make anyone’s eyes widen since a lot of us might think of our grandparents as the type to go out and do something with their lives, pre-coronavirus obviously, or find projects to do around the house, or even just putter here and there all day trying to fill the hours. Obviously every individual is different and will find ways to spend their day, but hearing about an elderly citizen that’s gaming like a pro isn’t typically something one might expect to hear about. While she admits that she doesn’t always get through the games smoothly she still enjoys them and gets the same rush out of winning as many people do. Kelly Knox of Nerdist had something to add to this topic. That feeling is well-known to a lot of us that have ever played video games since that feeling of accomplishment is definitely something that a lot of us crave and can’t get enough of when it comes to just about anything. With gaming though it is pretty addictive, so thinking that she limits herself to so many hours a day is definitely a positive note since too many gamers tend to fall into a pattern that sees them eschew basically everything apart from their basic human needs, such as eating and relieving themselves when necessary. Some even go without showering for a couple days at a time if not longer to keep playing the game, and that’s fairly disgusting. Thankfully Hamoko does appear to get up from the game now and again to take care of herself and her home, as otherwise things might not look so nice around her place.
If you didn’t guess it already she does have her own YouTube channel, with around 150,000 subscribers no less, meaning that she’s become something of a sensation online, which isn’t too surprising since there aren’t a lot of 90-year old gamers out there that have been doing this for so long. Adam Pockross of SyFy Wire has more to say on the topic. Hamoko does make mention that there might be others like her out there, but not many. It’s true, some older folks might actually get into the games of today and remember playing the games of decades past, but a lot of people tend to put the video games away once they hit a certain age or, barring that, they’ll tend to focus their time and energy on other matters that need their attention. Given that Hamoko was in her 50s when she started it’s easy to think that her family was pretty well set and that she didn’t have as many responsibilities to keep her from enjoying the games as some folks might. After all, having kids, a home, and a daily list of obligations makes it difficult if not impossible to focus on video games that often. At this point though it’s clear that Hamoko has all the time she can handle and is using it to her advantage.
One could easily state that Hamoko isn’t the typical grandmother just for her love of video games, but on the heels of that is the fact that this is pretty cool actually since there aren’t a lot of people who could claim that their grandparents are into gaming. The stereotype of being a doddering old grandmother is obliterated in this case.
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