Video game addict great-grandmother reveals how she plays with her consoles for eight hours a day

An important-grandmother who describes herself as a “online game addict” performs for as much as eight hours a day – even getting up in the course of the evening.

Bridget Odlin was already forward of her time when she picked up her first controller over 40 years in the past.

She purchased a Nintendo console with a Tremendous Mario title for her son Andrew, then aged 13 – and have become hooked.

Bridget is so well-known in gaming circles she is selling a nationwide event later this month on the age of 76.

The previous council debt restoration officer, from Louth, Lincolnshire, mentioned: “I clearly bear in mind Andrew wouldn’t let me have a go and advised me, ‘Oh you’d simply break it’.”

“However I used to be actually curious and, quickly after, my husband purchased me my very own console, along with one other copy of Mario and I completely cherished it. I used to be hooked.

“My son couldn’t consider it. He advised all people at college, ‘My mum performs video video games!’

“It actually helped us to have a connection. Teenage boys are laborious to grasp at instances, however my gaming gave us a stage taking part in subject and one thing to speak about.”

She added: “We even began taking part in video games collectively like Mario Kart.”

Andrew died abruptly in 2009 however the mum-of-three, who has 9 grandchildren aged between 30 and 7 and two great-grandchildren aged one and 7, nonetheless thinks of him every time she performs.

Bridget, who suffers from the lung situation power obstructive pulmonary illness (COPD), says gaming has saved her sane through the coronavirus pandemic.

She mentioned: “I’ve performed tons and many video games whereas we’ve been in lockdown. It’s saved me sane.

“As a result of I’m shielding, I’ve not been to the retailers or something, so gaming has been a lifesaver.”

Bridget’s husband Philip, 68, an ex-motorcycle mechanic, is now additionally a gamer.

He at all times supported her obsession – and has even purchased her every new Nintendo and PlayStation console as and after they have been launched.

She mentioned: “He at all times purchased me new consoles after they got here out, as a result of I by no means misplaced my thrill for gaming.

“I’ve performed tons of of video games and Philip actually does indulge me.”

Bridget has since managed to influence bike fanatic Philip to take up the interest after he began telling her what to do in a videogame she had taken on vacation to Lanzarote.

A fan of open-world and puzzle video games similar to Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, she admits to sneaking away from bed in the course of the evening to unravel gaming conundrums.

She mentioned: “If I get caught with a puzzle and get up at 2am pondering, ‘Oh, I understand how to do this,’ I’ll get away from bed and switch the console on.

“I’m an avid gamer, I’m addicted.”

Her ardour for gaming additionally makes her an excellent cool gran, as she typically bonds together with her grandchildren over a console and says her data of videogames helps to shut the generational divide.

Bridget believes that gaming is nice for the mind and is eager to encourage different older folks – and households – to choose up controllers and get gaming, particularly through the pandemic.

And he or she is delighted to be selling the Cadbury’s Heroes League event on November 14 on stay streaming platform Twitch, which is being staged to boost consciousness of the advantages of gaming.

She mentioned: “Individuals say video video games are only for teenage boys sitting of their bedrooms, however they aren’t.

“Kids can shortly outgrow their grandparents after they turn out to be youngsters, however our love of videogames means we will at all times discover widespread floor.

“I feel I’ll be in my wheelchair and nonetheless taking part in.”

For the prospect to attach with your loved ones over gaming and Cadbury Heroes, go to the Cadbury Instagram web page or watch the event on Twitch on November 14.