Hamako Mori, the 96-year-old Japanese woman behind Gamer Grandma, recently ended her YouTube channel’s three-year hiatus to give an update on her well-being, much to the relief of her viewers (as spotted by Game*Spark). In her latest video, Mori explains that she suffered an accident and had to be hospitalized. Following three years of care and rehabilitation, she hopes for a speedy recovery.
In Mori’s words, she got too energetic one day and found herself slipping and falling in her hallway. The accident caused three fractures and prevented her from standing and walking on her own. While she hopes to walk soon, she is currently not playing any video games.
Mori was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2019 as the oldest video game YouTuber. Born in 1930, she began playing video games after seeing her children and grandchildren do so for hours on end. Her first gaming experience was on Epoch Co.’s Cassette Vision. She would then move to Nintendo’s Famicom and Sony’s PlayStation before transitioning to more modern consoles.
Mori’s gaming history is extensive, as she already had several games under her belt before starting her YouTube career in December 2014. Her first YouTube video shows her playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, while her last video (before her hiatus) was a playthrough of the Resident Evil 4 remake. Since that last video ended on a cliffhanger, fans were notably concerned about Mori after her prolonged absence. A pinned comment by Mori on the same video, dated 2024, revealed that she was feeling under the weather, but was playing Pikmin, Only Climb: Better Together, and Vampire Survivors off-stream.
Mori’s return to YouTube has fans in celebration, with many comments saying they are pleased to see her and wish her a speedy recovery. Though it remains to be seen whether she will return to gaming, it goes without saying that it is great to see her again.
