This gaming grandpa is an inspiration for his grandchildren. He diligently plays through his games, prefers horror, and says that games help him in everyday life. His story on YouTube became a hit.
Who is it about? The gamer Yang Binglin is 86 years old and comes from Sichuan in China. He is becoming quite well-known on YouTube. One video introduces him and highlights the significant milestone that he has completed 300 video games. Among them are titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Battlefield 5, Sniper Elite 3, or Wolfenstein Youngblood.
Binglin talks about his experiences and how video games help him in everyday life.
What distinguishes the grandpa as a gamer
What makes him special? It is already extraordinary that at 86 years old, one still regularly plays video games. Additionally, Binglin has completed 300 games in the last 20 years. An impressive achievement that certainly surpasses the milestones of many gamers in the last 20 years. Every afternoon, he sits down and plays for about 3 hours. He describes himself as a fan, not a professional player. He does what he enjoys.
During and after missions in the games, the gamer takes handwritten notes. He describes how he approaches missions. Through his work as an engineer, he has always been interested in technology.
How did it start? In the video from South China Morning Post, it is explained that Binglin initially played puzzle games with his grandson. Then he switched to the PlayStation and played survival games. Now horror games are his favorite genre.
How he uses it in everyday life: Every morning, Binglin plays table tennis. “Video games gave me a lot of inspiration that I can apply in everyday life. Playing table tennis also requires a competitive spirit, doesn’t it?”
Since 2018, his granddaughter has been sharing her grandfather’s gaming videos online. As a result, the channel has nearly 200,000 followers on local social media. The granddaughter explains that she hopes to have a similarly young spirit when she grows up.
For many gamers, it is still unusual that grandparents also game on consoles, smartphones, or PCs. But how rare is that?
The website Statista.com has compiled data on this and shows that 15 percent of all gamers in Germany in 2020 were at least 60 years old. Counted were individuals who play computer or video games at least occasionally.
In contrast, about 8% of German gamers were 9 years old or younger in 2020. You can find the complete study here on Statista.com
Video becomes a sensation
How well is this received on YouTube: The video has already achieved over 1.3 million views on YouTube in less than a week (as of March 8, 12:24 PM). More than 34,000 people give a thumbs up, while only about 300 give a thumbs down. There are almost 6,000 comments on the story about the gaming grandpa.
We will embed the video from South China Morning Post here:
This is what users are saying:
- “If he passes on all his knowledge about video games to his grandchildren, they’ll become gaming wizards”
- “This grandpa is the real gaming veteran, who has played more games than most others”
- “This man will not slow down anytime soon. He is physically active and keeps his mind sharp with video games and writing strategies. I hope I’m that cool when I get older.”
Others mention that many players cannot explain to their grandparents what video game they are playing or why it is so good. With Yang Binglin, that would be a nice exception.
How do you like that? Do you think it’s cool that the grandpa is so active in gaming and do you wish to live like that when you get older, or is that not for you? Let us know your opinion here at MeinMMO in the comments.
