Grandma Games Too!

[bapenguin]

MTV (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1505892/20050718/index.jhtml?headlines=true) has a story about a 69 year old woman who is quite the hardcore gamer.Check these gaming credentials: From the comfort of her recliner, St. Hilaire reads Game Informer and Electronic Gaming Monthly. Her Internet bookmarks — all two of them — include gamefaqs.com. She loves "Final Fantasy VII" and "VIII" and thought "Parasite Eve" was "fabulous" but felt "Silent Hill 4" was redundant ("I couldn't get into it"). She's owned a pile of systems, from Atari 2600 and Genesis to PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube.

The lady even has a Blog (http://oghc.blogspot.com/).

It would be hillarious if she gets on Live and trash talks. It brings new meaning to, "My grandma could kick your ass."

Thanks HardOCP (http://www.hardocp.com)

[thecrazyd]

Pff... playing Final Fantasy does not hardcore make.

[Hyperglide]

Wow, that's cool and all but not a big deal. My mom is 50 and plays more games then I do. It's awesome having a mom that's a gamer we get along so well it's scary. She actually helped me on Halo 2 the other day (she owns an Xbox, I don't). I'm not talkin' about co-op too. Like she actually told me where to go when I got lost, and what to expect (had to tell her to shut up a couple of times so as not to spoil it all for me). I never thought the day would happen. Maybe when pig's fly! I guess that's what happens to some people when they are shut-in's or just simply want a change in their lifestyle.

[LilEvilFish]

yeah not that big a deal. lots of people are surprised about how many older computer users and gamers there are. They play better games too :P

[Hyperglide]

yeah not that big a deal. lots of people are surprised about how many older computer users and gamers there are. They play better games too :P

That's true I find a lot of older gamer's like the Sim's type games though. My mom was infatuated with 'The Sims Bustin' Out' for the longest time. Now she's got a much bigger game library for her Box now she's moved on to bigger and better things.

[Kefkataran]

That website is ridiculously entertaining. I'm gonna spend some time browsing around on that.

Pff... playing Final Fantasy does not hardcore make.

Look at all the stuff she's played and passed. I'm willing to call her hardcore.

[Nesta]

Pff... playing Final Fantasy does not hardcore make.

Being 69 years old and playing FF, however, does make her somewhat hardcore.

[mister_slim]

If you type 'grandma hardcore' into google, you'll find gaming isn't all that Grandma does.

[Savok]

I remember back at GameFAQs years ago, we had an old guy there (late 50s I think), Sir Q, really great and gentle guy who had a plethora of debilitating medical ailments which pretty much kept him at home. He found playing videogames to be very enjoyable and spent a great deal of time at CE (Current Events). He was the adopted grandfather of the place. Eventually had to leave due to his medical problems getting worse as I recall, sad day that.

Grandma here seems to be the polar opposite, she swears as much as I do.

[agentgray]

Grandma moments. From her blog:They knew what they were doing. They knew they had legions of FF fans out there that would buy anything with some cool artwork on the cover blessed with the Square stamp of goodness. And yet they did it anyway. You have to forgive them, though, they are the Square, The Alpha and the Omega if you will.

Most Grandma moment: "What the hell is this?? I have to change their 'outfits' for stuff?? [...] WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"Good stuff. I can just picture grandmas saying this while pulling her pants up to her chest and complaining about the government full-time.

However, I read the rest of this blog, and part of me is like, "Yeah, riiiiiighht..."

This is the internet afterall.

[bapenguin]

If you type 'grandma hardcore' into google, you'll find gaming isn't all that Grandma does.

That made me laugh out loud...but EWWWWWWWWWWW.

[Savok]

Watch the videos Gray, she's there cursing away and complaining. Even has the old school "extra push" of helping your character jump by moving the controller.

[EternalGamer]

I rent a B&B that was converted into a studio apartment. The owner is a 70 year old retired parson that lives alone. It's a good deal for both of us because he has somebody around in case something happens and to help him with odd jobs and I get very cheap rent. Anyway, we have become very good friends and recently for some odd reason one of his his daughters bought him an Xbox.

He of course had no idea what to do with it, but I have been helping him learn how to play games on it. Since I am away at graduate school, I don't really have any local friends to game with, and it's been a lot of fun teaching him/playing with him. So far we have played through Baldur's Gate 2, Lort of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth, and played a lot of Animal Crossing. In fact, I rebought Animal Crossing because I thought it would be a fun way to help him become more comfortable with the controls since it is a more relaxed game. He absolutely loves it. He already has his house compltely paid off in it (he beat me) and it is his favorite game. He plays it probably for at least an hour or two every day. It made me realize how rare of a quality Animal Crossing has, there aren't many games that have cross over appeal so easily.

Recently we started playing X-men Legends as well and we are about half way through it. THe only problem he has is the same problem anyone who hasn't played games their whole live has. There really aren't a lof o games designed for beginner people who are picking up controllers for the first time. Games are so complicated now and assume you have a lot of previous knowledge/experience going into them. Things like knowing which things are interactive and which things are not. Alot of us gamers have seemingly developed a second sense about this. We know what things are just "background" but he doesn't. This causes confusion with invisible boundaries and doors etc. that are just wallpaper. I can tell the difference, he sometimes can't. He also opened my eyes to a lot of arbitrary/non-sensical things about gameplay mechanics many of us just take for granted because we know "that's how games work." This is especially true in things like puzzle solving where we tend to use what I have termed "gamer logic," an arbitary set of rules we know based on all the previous games we have played.

His daughter bought him Halo along with the Xbox but I don't think he's quite ready for it yet. But I wouldn't be surprised if by this Fall we weren't shooting down covenant together. Anyway I'll have to show him this story, I think he'll get a kick out of it.

Dan

[EternalGamer]

That website is ridiculously entertaining. I'm gonna spend some time browsing around on that.



Look at all the stuff she's played and passed. I'm willing to call her hardcore.


I can't seem to find the list of games she's played. Got a link?

Dan

[bapenguin]

I rent a B&B ....

Good story! Thanks.

I love this quote from the Blog:Grandma hates doctors almost as much as she hates not being able to finish Fatal Frame.

[Himsa II]

Thanks for the LIE!!!

this is not true. Dont believe everything you read on the internet. ;)

[Kefkataran]

I can't seem to find the list of games she's played. Got a link?

There's no definitive list that I could find, but if you just browse around it talks about all the different games she's played.

Of course, everyone's saying this may not be true, but fuck. Who cares? If it is a lie, at least it's a harmless and entertaining one.

[PixelSamurai]

Gamefaqs.com? Well crap I was about to make a witty joke about the gamefaq forums until I realized I have it bookmarked too. Handy site for tips, and for reliving your adolescence.

[Liquidize105]

Definitely not the target audience.

But keep on trucking grandma!

[kurr]

Dude, just wait, one of these days, you will be pwned by [SSC]Someone's_Grandma. I swear.

[Kefkataran]

Dude, just wait, one of these days, you will be pwned by [SSC]Someone's_Grandma. I swear.

That's been my tag online for years.

[Mister Pie]

That's a great point, Eternalgamer, I've never thought about that before. I guess after years of playing games, I really have developed a sense of what I should be able to interact with and what I shouldn't.

[Zeal]

Pff... playing Final Fantasy does not hardcore make.


::high-five::

Bitch don't know nothin' bout some Radiant Silvergun and some Elevator Action Returns.

[ElectricMonk]

::high-five::

Bitch don't know nothin' bout some Radiant Silvergun and some Elevator Action Returns.

I think it's funny that people can get defensive over this