Hello OTG! It’s a pleasure to be here!
My name is Rebekah Valentine. I’m a journalist for IGN.com. I have a pretty weird spread of beats, ranging from covering video game industry earnings calls, to in-depth investigations into studio culture, to a monthly column about indie games. But one of my favorite beats involves community reporting - digging into video game communities and sharing what makes them special with our audience. And that’s why I’m here today.
I’m here because I’d like to write about Old Timers Guild for IGN. More specifically, I’ve been curious for a while about folks who are older than the perceived “traditional” gaming audience, but who play games just as enthusiastically as younger players. The general perception of “gamers” (including from IGN’s audience) is a mix of children playing kids games, teens, and younger adults in their 20s and 30s, maybe into their 40s. But for some reason, conversations about gamers often fail to acknowledge that many, many people who are older than that love and enjoy the same games just as much, especially now that video games themselves (as a mainstream hobby) are roughly 50-60 years old themselves! Why would people stop playing?
I’d love to chat with some folks in their 50s and up who are part of OTG and love to play games for a story about the community. The questions are breezy - I’d love to know a bit about who you are, how you got into games, how long you’ve been playing, why you play, how your gaming habits have changed over time, and what you’re excited about playing right now. Maybe a question or two about any challenges or misconceptions you’ve faced in the process, if you’re up for it. I can conduct interviews in whatever way is most comfortable for you, whether that’s a phone call, email, other voice chat service, or anything else.
If you’re interested, I’d love to hear from you! Please kick me an email at rvalentine@ign.com and we’ll set something up. I’m happy to answer any questions you have about my project beforehand, too.
Thanks all for your time! Hope you’re all playing something good right now.
She reached out to the Admins first, and I’ve spoken with her myself.
