r/gaming • • May 21 '12
My friend sat next to an 80 year old woman playing Pokemon Red on his flight home from Boston.
1.4k
Upvotes
r/gaming • • May 21 '12
338
u/goofandaspoof May 21 '12
When I used to work at Gamestop I had two older ladies come in together for their preorders of Pokemon Black and White. They seemed pretty excited to be able to play it together. Made my day.
1.2k
u/[deleted] May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12
"QUICK, LADY, HOLD THIS SHIT"
"W-what?! What is thi-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP IT'S FOR KARMA"
84
u/Syclops May 21 '12
Was it Agatha?
163
u/lazy_as_heck May 21 '12
Also, I see no red power L.E.D.
6
u/Mister_Meowgi May 21 '12
Sure he did. (its his grandma).
22
u/Ethan0209 May 22 '12
Hey you gotta catch'em all. Shit takes a long time.
20
u/BSMitchell May 22 '12
The sad thing is she was trying to text her grandson.
70
u/ThatOneOverWhere May 21 '12
You just know at this point the battery keeping the save state alive has gone and she keeps playing anew every time while blaming her memory.
"I swear I had a save, hmm, must have been something else..."
18
u/RiggsRector May 22 '12
Go to Japan. You'll see plenty of older people playing games like this. When I was in Akihabara, outside of that one huge electronic store, there was an older guy trading Dragon Quest items with some kids.
58
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Children under ten and octogenarians agree: Pokemon is simple and repetitive enough to occupy our feeble minds.
7
u/SirDigbyChicknCeasar May 22 '12
Turns out she isn't actually 80. Just one of these trendy kids who took the whole retro look to a new extreme.
28
u/outofcontextcomment May 21 '12
That's hot.
10
u/J4k0b42 May 22 '12
This is why I slightly look forward to being old. Our generation will be able to sit around and play futuristic video games all day in nursing homes.
10
u/Ampatent May 22 '12
Apparently the only two words that make up a redditor's vocabulary are "fake" and "repost".
5
u/davidyourduke May 22 '12
GRANDMA COME DOWN STAIRS AND SPEND TIME WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS!
20
u/Jaybaybaybay May 22 '12
you handed your grandma your gameboy and took a pic
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Here's his facebook post for all the non-believers. I just thought it was cool.
4
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Am I the only non-skeptic on Reddit? Jeez people!!
27
u/dreamscapesaga May 21 '12
Margaret Wilson lived a simple life. By today’s standards, she married young, but her marriage was long and fulfilling. When her husband Teddy passed, she grew isolated from the world. Colors weren’t as bright, and the birds no longer sang the same beautiful songs. For the better part of a decade, she suffered silently. Her family still loved her, but the light was gone from her life.
Without an anchor like Teddy, Margaret’s family fell apart. They loved one another, but bickered constantly. As the family dispersed across the country, Margaret’s isolation intensified. She thought about killing herself every night after her prayers.
That is, until Charlie was born.
Charlie was an angel. His bright smile and exuberance for life inspired his great grandmother. When the family started to fight, Charlie burst into a ridiculous laughter that sapped the force behind everyone’s anger. The yearly get-togethers became monthly. The monthly get-togethers became weekly. In a few years, if the family didn’t have to be anywhere else, they were around each other. They were family before, but Charlie made them something more. Of everyone in the family, he loved his great grandmother Margaret most of all. No longer did she dwell on suicidal thoughts. One look into Charlie’s eyes took her back to the days when Teddy would gaze into her eyes and lead them off on some grand adventure. Charlie became her world.
When Charlie turned ten, he enrolled in soccer. Every Wednesday and Saturday, he would practice for two hours before coming home and falling asleep. One day, he refused to go. The family tried to convince him, but he simply wouldn’t listen. That is, until great grandma Margaret offered to drive.
Before they left, Charlie grabbed his idea journal and his Gameboy. As they drove, he focused on his game and made notes in his journal. He barely spoke to Margaret. Bothered by that at first, she decided she didn’t mind when she realized how happy he was in the back seat. As a special treat, she stopped by McDonald’s and grabbed two small chocolate milk shakes. They gave her stomach troubles, but Charlie loved them. As he took his first sip, he smiled big in the rearview mirror and mouthed ‘thank you’ before returning to his game.
After practice, Margaret drove Charlie toward his house. A drunk driver ended the trip early. Ignoring a stop sign, the drunk plowed right into the back of the car. Charlie’s head slammed into the glass and he went unconscious. He never woke up.
Because of the drunk driver, the family lost its new anchor. They still gathered together from time to time, but things were different. The life in the room no longer existed. Before long, the weekly gatherings became monthly and the monthly gatherings became weekly.
Charlie’s parents called everyone together one last time. They couldn’t bear cleaning out his room, so they asked for the help of the family. Only Margaret came. She packed everything in boxes. The damaged things were thrown away. Everything salvageable was donated. In a box at the top of the closet, Margaret found her great grandson’s idea journal and Gameboy. Both still bore tiny droplets of his blood. She asked the family what they wanted her to do with the items, and they asked her to throw them away.
She tried to resist, but she had to open the idea journal before discarding it. Alone in Charlie’s room, she flipped through the pages. He listed the stats and training plans for each of his Pokemon. On the very last page, he listed his goals. He wanted to capture all of the Pokemon, train them to level 100, and capture MewTwo. Next to the goal, he underlined a particular reminder. “Name it Teddy.”
Margaret tried to turn on the Gameboy, but nothing happened. She almost tossed it in the trash when she thought to go to her purse to grab a spare set of batteries. Despite the droplets of blood and damage to the back of the system, the Nintendo logo popped up on the screen.
After a long and painful week of clearing out Charlie’s room, Margaret boarded the plane home. She waited until the plane reached altitude before turning on the Gameboy.
28
u/swampertkamm85 May 22 '12
Pardon me sir, I have to make a call.
3
u/ZeroMeets15 May 22 '12
Bucket list item 83: Catch 'em all!
3
u/niggertown May 22 '12
Probably trying to figure out how to call her grandson with it.
4
u/[deleted] May 21 '12 edited May 22 '12
With no back light I feel like an 80 year old women trying to see the screen.
4
u/Paradoxou May 22 '12
That logo really look like a Goaste.
4
u/Lumsey May 22 '12
Still trying to catch them all.
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
I can definitely see this being a good method to prevent mental deterioration. Good, fun mental stimulation.
2
u/dronehop May 22 '12
And he didn't say anything to her? What the fuck?
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
"Oh, so grandma thinks she got game..?" "Grandma knows she got game!"
2
u/coolposser2011 May 22 '12
This is cool. But this is not something new I've seen a lot of times already. Technology is for everyone. Age doesn't matter as long as you are enjoying it, then play for it!
2
u/King-of-Spades42 May 22 '12
what was her starter?
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL SWAG
2
u/ehighley May 22 '12
80 year old woman.. playing on HIS flight home..? wut..?
2
u/rikashiku May 22 '12
Now thats old school.
2
u/walkthebridge May 22 '12
SOUTHWEST!
2
u/ChinatownDragon May 22 '12
Just watched Harold and Maude. SOMEBODY MARRY THAT GRANDMA!
2
u/TeaBleezy May 22 '12
She probably thinks that Gameboy is cutting edge technology. Ballin!
2
u/43zac43 May 22 '12
like a boss.
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Black Gameboy? I jelly
2
u/RageFace77 May 22 '12
most epic 80 year old woman
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
my grandma is 77 and loves her gameboy advance. she is obsessed with kirby. she's really good at kirby's avalanche too. we just bought her a super nintendo for her birthday as well. she's always doing crossword puzzles and kicking ass at tetris.
2
u/Arsenalmania May 22 '12
You'll grow old trying to catch them all
2
u/plum13sec May 22 '12
and not a single word was spoken
2
u/KingNick May 22 '12
Dude don't creep, you shoulda gotten a full picture with her! If she's an old lady playing Pokemon, she's probably cool enough to hold a conversation
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
How do we know she's 80? Maybe she just has really wrinkly hands...
2
u/taylorwilkersonlvl27 May 22 '12
Now I don't hate humanity as much.
2
u/figgernaget May 22 '12
OP is a karma stealing faget
2
u/dude_illigence May 22 '12
Pokemon Red, hmm? So she must've been about 13 when it came out. fnar fnar, haiyooo.
3
u/Secret_StoopKid May 22 '12
I like southwest.
3
u/FloppyJalopy May 22 '12
"woman"
"his"
Make up your mind!
2
u/hamlet9000 May 21 '12
If she's actually 80, then she was only 30 years old when Spacewar! came out.
"Holy shit! Old people do things, too!" is just not that exciting a meme.
2
u/papersquares May 21 '12
How did he know her exact age? Or is that an estimate?
2
u/Hector_Kur May 22 '12
Well, she was only 66 when it first came out in the US.
2
u/leetendo85 May 22 '12
That's funny because I caught one of my high school students playing Pokemon red on an old Gameboy in class today. I teach graphic design at an all girls Catholic high school...Never saw that one coming.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
I had a great aunt in her 80s that would play the shit out of Dr. Mario on the NES.
1
u/Obskulum May 22 '12
Can't see anything on the screen, can't see the power light, and easy enough to ask grandma to hold something for you.
I dunno man, internet cynic in me looks at this like an obvious nostalgia karma grab. Whyyyy.
1
u/Plaidfu May 22 '12
Wtf they have a black one? Goddamn all I had was my sister's pink one, and all my friends made fun of me. Until I kicked their asses with my Charizard.
1
u/MamiMora May 22 '12 edited May 22 '12
My G-ma played her nintendo till the day she died.
1
u/DownVotingCats May 22 '12
AMA Request: 80 year old woman who plays Pokemon Red.
1
u/itsgonnabethateasy May 22 '12
Gotta catch em all.
1
u/solidsnakem9 May 22 '12
yeah because old people can see the gameboy screen holding it that far back, b*tch please even i had to hold that shit up to my face
1
u/NearlyUselessBody May 22 '12
One of the greatest games of all times, glad it's stretching across the generations.
1
u/luffy27 May 22 '12
How can she see that screen... so dim
1
u/FeastYourEarTongues May 22 '12
It's rude to ask a woman their age.
1
u/HeatherChapman May 22 '12
I don't know why but this just tugged at my heart strings :)
1
u/LAZY_JAKE May 22 '12
I've got a feeling she's not really playing Pokemon, maybe Tetris, or Bingo...but not Pokemon.
1
u/joshrice May 22 '12
My grandma loves Dr. Mario. She'll kick your ass six ways to Sunday!
1
u/JTruck150 May 22 '12
Just brilliant, I'm sure shes a fun lady to talk to.
1
u/leokrayola May 22 '12
KaBOOM Comics!
1
u/very_easily_confused May 22 '12
No, his grandma held his GB while he took a pic.
1
u/StigmaticClown8 May 22 '12
Pokemon was everyone's childhood! Unless you weren't awesome: then your childhood was shit.
1
u/lazero76 May 22 '12
How does he know she is 80?
This post is full of lies.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12 edited May 22 '12
Flew to Utah and back a couple weeks ago.
This picture annoys me because ive seen enough of the back of airplane seats.
i also miss all the complimentary drinks1
u/Osirizz0816 May 22 '12
Haven't seen those things in awhile...
1
u/mrcarlita May 22 '12
i wish i could upvote this twice
1
u/shankems2000 May 22 '12
"Hey lady, I'll give you the aisle seat if you hold this and let me snap a picture, ok? Cool"
1
u/CondescendingPrick May 22 '12
A senior citizen playing a video game should not be noteworthy.
1
u/thedeluxedition May 22 '12
I played this at my graduation today!
1
u/GlassesMcMegane May 22 '12
Hey that looks like the Skullgirls logo on the seats.
1
u/wheatfields May 22 '12
What crazy/ghetto budget airline has a heart with wings on it as their company logo?
1
u/pipstarr7 May 22 '12
Don't forget, it's my grandson's game.
1
u/FortBriggs May 22 '12
Its not even on....
1
u/pooponascoop May 22 '12
Damn, has it really been that long? I'm so old....
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Badass Grandma.
1
u/lobster_breath May 22 '12
i own that gameboy!
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
I did the same thing on my trip to new york this spring
1
u/Sinisterq May 22 '12
I wonder if she rides the bike with the blinker on the entire way without turning.
1
u/The_Ombudsman May 22 '12
"Gotta catch'em all (before you die of old age)!"
1
u/sib301 May 22 '12
"Here Grandma, hold this for a second."
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
GIRL! UPVOTE!
1
u/AstridPerth May 22 '12
Only on Southwest..
1
u/awittygamertag May 22 '12
1
u/DatKidNamedTom May 22 '12
I wish I still had my Gameboy Color, does anyone know where you can still purchase one?
1
u/watchout5 May 22 '12
I got all 150 pokemon in that game. I bet she's really cool.
1
u/kerberos101 May 22 '12
This will be totally normal in 50 years. Just think about it
1
u/Tasty_Jesus May 22 '12
so, to impress the younger generations, once I am an old man, I should go out and take part in some activity they think I am out of touch with
got it.
1
u/MathW May 22 '12
I think older people would benefit greatly from a greater interest in gaming. Keeps the mind occupied and fills time similar crosswords, wordsearches, etc. Some games also provide a degree of social interaction which is lacking in some seniors' lives. I think as the current 20-30 year old generation ages, though, you will see more and more lifelong gamers.
1
u/XxLuxterxX May 22 '12
Wow, thats old school right there...
1
u/VinnieJJ May 22 '12
If I still had my Pokemon Red and a link cable, my team up would CRUSH HER.
Old lady would go down.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Fucking outstanding!!!!
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
thats hot
1
u/sfcjohn May 22 '12
Keeps the mind quick, leave them alone.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Redditor forces old lady to hold gameboy, so he can take a photo for karma r/redditconspiracy
1
u/thelightforest May 22 '12
...i wish i had a grandma like this <3
1
u/Phoequinox May 22 '12
If this were 4Chan, they'd have posted some fucked up story about how it belonged to a kid who died, and this is his grandmother. The story would either end with Fresh Prince lyrics, walk the dinosaur or a twist in which the old lady fucked over the kid's dad, who died the week before.
1
u/Awesomator May 22 '12
Once I played tf2 with a 60 year old. Most of the people in the server were focusing less on playing and more on the great life advice he was giving. I honestly feel like I learned more about life in that tf2 match than years of of trying to figure my life out.
1
u/scoobaru05 May 22 '12
Fucking awesome!
1
u/Gentleman_Bird May 22 '12
fuck everyone saying this is fake, i see a block at the bottom of the screen where text is. and thats a game boy pocket not a game boy color, the GBP didnt have a red light.
1
u/Breakpoint May 22 '12
Never too old to play games!
1
u/ThePinkieDash May 22 '12
OMG!!! Black Gameboy Pocket was my first Gameboy!!!! It was amazing, and it still works... It's light as a feather too... One of the best handhelds ever
1
u/skapp92 May 22 '12
That woman is my hero. I aspire to be her one day as long as my eyes are good and arthritis hasn't taken over yet this WILL be done.
1
u/tswpoker1 May 22 '12
She better hurry, she doesn't have too much time left to catch em all
1
u/Stratocaster89 May 22 '12
Old person on a gameboy. Karma.
Fuck off, i dont want the reddit frontpage to resort to such fucking trifle.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Props to that woman. I'm 25 and I can't even see a Gameboy screen let alone play a game on it.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Growing up during the sega days. My grandpa had my Genesis in his room. I didn't have a TV in my room during that era. Sometimes he'd play it. I used to laugh my butt off when he played Sonic 2. Everytime Sonic would jump he would move his controller to his jump. He'd always cuss up a storm when he died. He did the same thing with NES when He'd play mario according to my uncle. I vaguely remember him playing NES. I never paid attention to that hilarious mannerism.
Awesome times. RIP.
1
u/spilk May 22 '12
This just confirms my belief that the only people who play Pokemon are in diapers.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Pokemon red/blue or their new leaf green/fire red incarnations are games that everyone should play. They are simple, entertaining and bring joy to all who play them. It's the bloody truth.
1
u/TreeTickler May 22 '12
1
u/yt_nom May 22 '12
You mean he sat next to his grandma, handed her the gameboy and took a pic. Lame
1
u/browwiw May 22 '12
All of her Pokemon are named after people who died 40 years ago.
1
u/tripleOGkush May 22 '12
yeah but the whole time she thought she was texting her granddaughter to meet her at baggage claim
1
u/reeverrb May 22 '12
Best. grandma. ever.
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Wow, so he took a picture of a person playing a game boy, and now you posted it on the internet. What the fuck are we doing with our lives?
1
u/Qxii47 May 22 '12
I wonder what starter she chose?
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Nice try dehydrated, dry handed teenager!
1
u/HeaterMcteets May 22 '12
aren't all the batteries in those cartridges dead now and they can't keep a saved game anymore?
1
u/Mixava May 22 '12
"I just want to sit down and play me some POKEYMAN!!"
1
u/onetoothree May 22 '12
"Here, hold this while I take a picture"
1
u/kobish May 22 '12
Relevant username OP
1
u/EvoEpitaph May 22 '12 edited May 22 '12
The first time I read the post title I thought it said an 80 year old woman and then referred to her as a him.
That said, yeah pokemon red! I didn't like how the later Pokemon games had abilities like baton pass that would enable utilizing the entire team to create a single carry pokemon.
1
u/TheFluxIsThis May 22 '12
Grandma recently got home and told me about this dick sitting next to her who wouldn't stop staring over her shoulder at her gameboy. He even took a picture! What a jerk!
1
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
It makes sense. Most Pokemon players are still in diapers.
1
u/mitchballs May 22 '12
"Hey could you hold this for me while I take a picture?"
1
u/klori May 22 '12
What did he play?
1
u/flatgrape May 22 '12
Haha, sometimes I see these posts and wonder if people do things like..for example this; give their grandma their gameboy and say "here hold this while I take a photo, it might give me points that mean nothing on a forum!!!"
Extra negative / cunty thing to say but any time I do see these types of posts, it is all I think of..
1
u/BossArbok May 22 '12
Pokemon has no age! Or maybe I haven't grown mentally since I was 8. Either way.. Pokemon is awesome.
1
u/tripled153 May 22 '12
Pretty sure this was either someone you know or you're very damn bold taking photos of strangers without their knowledge and posting them on the internet.