Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

This 87-year-old grandma eats, sleeps, and breathes ‘Animal Crossing’

Steven Petite
By
Animal Crossing
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How much Animal Crossing is too much Animal Crossing? One 87-year-old grandma knows the answer to that question: You can never play too much. But we imagine she’s logged many more hours in Animal Crossing: New Leaf than you. Paul Hubans’ grandmother has put 3,580 hours into New Leaf. Yes, you read that right.

In a viral tweet, Hubans shared a picture of the Nintendo 3DS‘ Activity Log with the proof.

Recommended Videos

My 87-year-old grandma has played Animal Crossing New Leaf on her 3DS every single day for the past 4 years now.

Her 3DS finally broke this year, so we got her a new one for Christmas. During a system transfer I checked her activity log: pic.twitter.com/R33KycrW4q

— Paul ⚔️ Hubans (@phubans) January 1, 2019

Hubans made the discovery while performing a system transfer for his grandmother, whose 3DS died after four years of daily use. Given the fact that his grandma played New Leaf every day for four years, she averaged close to 2.5 hours of game time per day. That’s a staggering and beautiful love for New Leaf. She has spent nearly 150 full days inside the adorable community simulator. We think she’s an inspiration.

Hubans was kind enough to give the people what they wanted by sharing a picture of his grandma (our hero) playing 3DS. We’d like to think the look of satisfaction on her face was caused by a great day of picking perfect fruit.

Here she is! pic.twitter.com/JfETQ2FEJm

— Paul ⚔️ Hubans (@phubans) January 2, 2019

So how does grandma typically spend her time in New Leaf? Hubans said she likes to do the “daily village chores, like hitting rocks, digging up fossils, etc.” That makes sense considering grandma does, in fact, play the game daily.

With Animal Crossing coming to Nintendo Switch in 2019, we sure hope grandma will get the chance to restart that clock and play for another 3,000-plus hours. Hubans said that the family wants to save up to buy her a Switch for the next iteration of the popular franchise. After his tweet went viral, Hubans, an indie game designer from California, shared a link to The Indie Game Legend 3D, a game of his that launched in early access on Steam late last year. He is also working on UFO 50, a retro-style collection of indie games.

Hubans’ grandmother isn’t the only one around with a passion for a single game. Grandma Shirley is an 82-year-old YouTuber specializing in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Shirley is so beloved in the Elder Scrolls community that fans want to see her as a character in The Elder Scrolls VI.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Steven Petite
Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
Nintendo’s eShop closures are a necessary, but messy move
A Nintendo Wii U gamepad flat on a table.

Nintendo last week announced its intentions to shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops, the systems' digital storefronts, in March 2023. This decision was disappointing for hardcore fans who stuck with Nintendo during that rocky era and extremely worrying as many of the games available on the platforms won't be preserved.
More significant Wii U games and a handful of 3DS titles were ported to Switch, but many titles are still stuck on those systems and can’t be ported. Once the digital storefront shutdowns, digital-only titles will be gone forever, and physical copies of these titles will get more expensive and harder to experience. Fans and game preservationists have not been pleased by this decision, with the Video Game History Foundation giving the most candid response.
https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
Following this announcement, Digital Trends spoke to an industry analyst and game preservationists to get a better idea of what exactly caused Nintendo to shut down these stores and to learn how it could do a better job at preserving its legacy.
Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
“While Omdia expects the number of Switch consoles in active use to exceed 90 million on a global basis this year, the Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022,” he explains. “Even when you include the more enduring 3DS family of consoles into the equation, the Switch still comfortably accounts for over 90% of Nintendo’s total active console install base.”
If one is going off just the numbers, it’s sensible that Nintendo would want to focus on the majority of its players. Bailey admits that “Switch users are already reaping the benefits of Nintendo’s singular first-party development focus on one platform.” Still, one might argue that Nintendo should just let the eShops remain up even if it isn’t actively updating or maintaining them.

Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t see that as possible due to cost and security issues. Game Over Thrity, a Twitter user with over 20 years of experience working on IT projects and infrastructure, shed some light on what might have influenced Nintendo’s decision-making in a thread.
“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

Read more
For classic RPGs, what’s old is new in 2022
Chrono Cross' main characters sail on a boat.

For years, niche audiences and fan translations kept excitement around Japanese RPGs, some of which never released in North America, alive. Now, companies like Square Enix are taking notice by reviving games and franchises that mainstream American audiences might not know about.

While this trend was bubbling for a few years, it came to a head in the February 9 Nintendo Direct. Square Enix announced four remasters or remakes of retro JRPGs, two of which were never released in North America before. Going forward, it looks like the key to the genre's continued success may be looking to the past, and Square Enix is the shining example of that philosophy in action.

Read more
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Turkey Day guide
Animal-Crossing-New-Horizons-Cook

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is celebrating the second Turkey Day event this year on November 25. Seasonal events are some of the most exciting reasons to jump back into the game for their unique and time-limited tasks, but mostly for the special rewards you can earn that you otherwise couldn't get your hands on. With the most recent 2.0 patch and DLC already having been released and marking the end of any substantial additions coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, these events are even more important to participate in to keep the game, and your island, feeling fresh.

Turkey Day is a not-too-subtle reference to Thanksgiving but renamed so that players around the world will be able to associate with it. Also, the key new character for Turkey Day is himself a turkey, so the name feels quite appropriate. Last year offered a ton of great rewards for helping to whip up some seasonal dishes, and we expect this year to be quite similar. However, with cooking now being a part of the normal gameplay, there may be a few surprises in store when the 25th rolls around. If you want to get a (turkey) leg up on what to expect from this year's Turkey Day in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, here's a full guide on how to prepare.

Read more