Every day Hamako Mori, a 90-year-old Japanese woman, repeats the same ritual: stretch her fingers thoroughly before grabbing the controls of the console, so as not to lose her skill when the game begins.
–
After 40 years of screen and having played more than 200 games, Mori was designated the ‘streamer‘(person who plays a video game, comments on it and broadcasts it) oldest in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.
–
The retiree, who lives with her family in Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo, plays at least three hours a day. When the game is interesting, it does so until two in the morning.
–
“I am passionate about games,” she acknowledges with an affable and distinguished expression. She wears golden glasses and her hair is tied up in a ponytail. Relieve your stress, he says, killing monsters across the screen.
–
In 1981 this housewife discovered video games, when she bought a console Epoch Cassette Vision, after seeing how much the children enjoyed playing.
–
Since that time it does not stop. He has tried everything: Super Mario Bros. Call of Duty, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy or Resident Evil, to name a few.
–
He was jumping from one generation of consoles to another, such as the Nintendo 64 or now Sony’s PlayStation 4, which his family gave him when he turned 90.
–
Among his favorites are the series of the Grand Theft Auto or Elder RPG Scrolls V: Skyrim, in which he appreciates “being able to do what you want, freely”.
–
Millions of YouTube views
–
Although he is not a fan of network games, he shares his games with others’gamer‘(players) through its YouTube channel, launched in 2014, which it feeds with three or four new monthly videos. The channel has more than 300,000 subscribers.
–
“It’s more fun to be watched by a lot of people than playing alone,” she says.
–
On your channel “Gamer Grandma” (the grandmother gamer) Hamako Mori transmits the games and scenes of his daily life. The videos regularly get several million views.
–
But new video games require a certain agility of the hands that at their age fails.
–
“It is getting difficult, really,” he admits. “Honestly, I’m not a good player.”
–
She does not give up. On the contrary: exercise your hands and fingers every day before playing.
–
“I manage to do many things, I am not going to stop just because it is difficult, on the contrary, it is a challenge. And I prefer this than doing nothing,” he adds.
–
What’s more, he intends to continue progressing: “I want to play well regardless of my age and I will continue as long as I can.”
–
She also invites other older people to imitate her: “It is not necessarily because of the video game itself, it is good to have an activity,” says the woman who swam until she was 80 and who enjoys sewing.
–
The gamer She is concerned about the issue of video game addiction, especially among the youngest. But he also points out that thanks to them many people have managed to live more serenely the confinement imposed by the global coronavirus pandemic.
–
“Playing at home is safer than going out,” he recalls.
–
His greatest wish: buy the new PlayStation 5 console, due out in late 2020. “I’m really obsessed. I want one.”
–
– .
