Old Grandma Hardcore is Nintendo's Grandparent of the Year
by Alisha Karabinus 
{ Sep 11th 2006 at 7:59AM }
Who could have anticipated that they'd be sending a 70 year-old ringer into Nintendo's Coolest Grandparent of the Year competition, huh? Barbara St. Hilaire, better known to the gaming community as Old Grandma Hardcore, took the top honors in the contest, held on Grandparents' Day at the Nintendo World Store in New York. Contestants battled in Brain Age, and OGH took home two DS Lites and ten new games after vanquishing the competition. Since she already owns both a Phat and a DS Lite, we wonder if she'll pass the booty on to one or two of her 13 grandchildren. From her blog, OGH certainly seems like the coolest grandparent around, so we approve. In fact, we'd like to steal her to be the official DS Fanboy Grandma, but we're afraid she'd kill every time we break out Mario Kart.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Atreyu Twiceborn @ Sep 11th 2006 8:22AM
look at that creepy guy in the picture lol
Toffy @ Sep 11th 2006 8:30AM
I want a grandma like that, mine still calls everything a nintendo, or a gameboy.
Old grandma Hardcore, wouldn't you want to be my nanny too?
:D
DS @ Sep 11th 2006 10:49AM
Pheessh, i bet i could kick her ass when i reach 80
Tim St. Hilaire @ Sep 11th 2006 11:10AM
Alisha, honestly she didn't think she was going to win. Her first times in the practice rounds were something like 1 minute 25 seconds. When it came down to the last round, she won by only a couple seconds, the other lady, Ruth, was pretty good. Her final time was 32.2 seconds, I think.
She's giving the DS and most of the games to her daughter and grandkids.
In the picture you posted, I'm the ugly bastard on the right, and Grandma is cool as hell ;) She's awesome.
naib @ Sep 11th 2006 11:37AM
It's a cool site Tim. Haven't checked it in awhile.
Has she had to replace a 360 yet? ;)
Alisha Karabinus @ Sep 11th 2006 12:27PM
Hiya, Tim! Tell Grandma that we send her heartfelt congratulations. She does seem super awesome. If I could get my mom to pick up video games again, I know she'd be like that in a few decades, but she's not giving in. Maybe I should just get her a DS.
She reads here, though. HI, MOM!
As for her thinking she might not win... well, Brain Age is no match for a pro like her! I was talking the story over with a friend and before I even mentioned her nom de plume, my friend was all O M G L O L O G H, of course she won.
Everyone has faith in the Grandma. Probably because she really does seem to be the coolest grandma of the year. Ruth may have been good, but your granny had it in the bag.
Thanks for stopping by! Keep updating you guys' site -- it's a good read.
-Alisha
Tim St. Hilaire @ Sep 11th 2006 1:40PM
Alisha, what do you mean by "MAYBE" you should get your mom a DS? ;)
Nah, Grandma's no pro. She loves to game; absolutely LOVES to game, but she's only as good as the rest of us. That's why it surprised the hell out of everybody when she won! We had our crews there for MTV shooting The G-Hole, and some folks who had read the Reuters article about the event, just to watch, so whenever they would announce Grandma, everybody gave a huge cheer.
It was like a goddamn Disney movie :)
It's hard to update the site as much with work getting in the way. DS Fanboy, Joystiq, Kotaku, GoNintendo, man, ALL the sites Grandma and I check each day- it's impressive you guys update that often, even with multiple authors.
Alisha Karabinus @ Sep 11th 2006 3:46PM
It's a labor of love, Tim, a labor of love... and maybe some incentive. ;)
I wish I could have been there to see the competition... I'm sure it was awesome. I fully expect to see many many pictures on your blog. Don't make me come over there. I have sticks.
I'm not afraid to use them, either!
Mom @ Sep 13th 2006 9:46AM
Yeah Alisha, what do you mean "maybe" you should get your Mom a DS?