Grandmother videogame guru proves you're never too old to have fun

CNN has a great article about a 69-year old grandmother in Ohio who is making quite a name for herself as a videogame player.

Grandma, let me play that video game!

Wednesday, December 28, 2005; Posted: 10:21 p.m. EST (03:21 GMT)

SHALERSVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A 69-year-old grandmother has become the heroine of young video-game fans and the star of a Web log created by her grandson.

Barbara St. Hilaire plays video games 10 hours a day and spends a good part of her Social Security check on games.

St. Hilaire thinks the blog and media attention she's gotten is funny but doesn't quite understand it. However, she appreciates the free games showered on her by video game makers who want to share in the reflected glare of publicity.

And there are the bloggers she has met online. "I guess this is my form of traveling the world," she told the Akron Beacon Journal.

MTV profiled St. Hilaire, hired her as a video game correspondent and offered to screen her interview requests. It's all been, as her 22-year-old grandson Timothy St. Hilaire put it, a bit head-spinning.

"Well, last weekend was hell, but it's over," the grandson told his grandmother's fans on his blog http://oghc.blogspot.com/. The blog is named for her moniker, Old Grandma Hardcore -- as in hardcore video game player...

This is nothing new in Japan, where for years videogame systems (especially Nintendo) have been seen as entertainment for the entire family, including "seasoned citizens". Now the trend is catching on over here. I think it's a good thing: I can't wait to play games with my grandkids someday! Well I can wait but you know what I mean. I found this story after hearing about it on Gamermom, a just-discovered blog that also proves you don't have to relinquish the joystick just because you're getting a little older :-)