One granny won’t have a problem with staying home.
In fact, 87-year-old Audrey had already put in an amazing 3,580 hours on the Nintendo game Animal Crossing: New Leaf. She actually shot to fame last year after her grandson posted about her love for the game on Twitter.
Audrey only took a few days off due to illness but got back to her virtual town, all the while looking forward to the release of New Horizons (coming out on March 20). Paul Hubans, Audrey’s grandson and a game designer, mentioned that he was trying to save up enough money to buy his gran a Switch as well as a copy of the new game.
But Audrey will be getting more than just a new game because it looks like Nintendo actually paid tribute to her devotion by naming a character in the new game after her.
A Redditor name koolwala posted screenshots from the Nintendo World game review and the new game features a brand-new villager in New Horizons named Audie. This fresh addition is a wolf with a killer eyeliner and killer shades to boot. It might be a stretch to associate “Audie” with “Audrey” until you learn that Audie is Audrey’s in-game handle in New Leaf.
There’s always the chance that it’s all a coincidence especially since Nintendo didn’t “officially” honor Audrey. But given her 15 minutes of fame last year, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, either.
Paul said he choked up when he learned of the potential nod to his gran. While there’s no official confirmation from Nintendo, it’s still a heartwarming enough a story that it really wouldn’t hurt anyone to think that they simply did.
One thing’s for sure, Audrey will likely be playing New Horizons for hours on end anyway, tribute or no tribute!
Replaced!