Welcome to The Gray Gamers!
My name is Pam and I’m the sort of administrator and brains behind this site. My identical twin sister Jan will be contributing from time to time since she is the gamer between the two of us.
I’m the oldest by 10 minutes and the smarter twin, Jan is the intuitive one. I try to think my way through things, Jan just sits down and has fun. Most of the time she kicks my butt.
Between us we make a good team.
Here is an example for you. I went over to her place recently to try out her new Wii Fit board. A few hours later a neighbour knocked on the door.
She’d been playing with the neighbour on their Wii and didn’t re-sync her remote when she got home. This senior moment caused problems for the neighbour. He went to play Mario Super Party 8 and Jan’s Wii kept shutting his down.
That’s were having me underfoot came in handy because I actually read manuals from time to time. Jan thinks manuals are boring.
I knew where the sync buttons were and how to use them.
Problem solved and everybody got back to playing.
I’m not really chatty, I like things like research, tech news, reviews and writing.
Jan loves the socializing that comes with playing games.
You should see her place; friends and family are usually there playing a game on her HP m8200n, Acer Extensa 4420, Wii, DS or Gameboy Advance. It’s a happy and busy home!
I have a 5 year old locally built desktop computer with XP which still works fine. If something goes wrong 9 times out of 10 I’ll fix it myself.
I added ram to bring it up to 2G’s because I’ve discovered some game genres I’ve gotten interested in which need the juice. Because of the things I enjoy doing and because I’m a night person, it’s quiet at my place.
I have an 10 year old Toshiba monitor for a TV, Jan will be the first of the two of us to upgrade to an LCD hi-def. I’ll be the one who will yack specs with the sales person; she’ll see one that looks good with her decor and between the two of us, she’ll have a TV that suits her needs.
Jan has the Wii, I don’t.
I don’t have a Gameboy or a DS.
Yet.
I’m okay with that, I look forward to heading over to her place to play. We laugh a lot. If laughter was medicine we’d be two of the healthiest people in Canada. If fun was success we’d be multi-millionaires.
We are each other’s better half.
Jan has no problem reminding me she is a better player than I am, she’s interested in all types of games and I reluctantly admit she pays attention to what new games are coming out.
I think I’ve only beat her once, on one of my my favorite games – Raymond Raving Rabbids, which she gave away without telling me. Sigh.
I haven’t forgiven her for that yet.
We’re over 55, and I think we fit the profile of what would be considered by researchers and game companies as classic gray gamers.
Jan has used computers longer than I have, and has a need for speed. It makes sense she has the Wii, she’s got the patience to feed a houseful of family and friends who come over to play and wind up staying longer than they planned.
We’re both on pensions – Jan was a funeral director and I worked as a journalist. We live in the north, I like winter, Jan doesn’t. So while I’m out shovelling, taking pictures and enjoying our Canadian climate, Jan is hibernating and playing.
From time to time I plan twist her arm or bribe her to help out with a game review or a post. She’s looking forward to chatting with you when you find this site.
Gray gamers are a demographic game developers initially figured would be happy with solitaire while they developed games and game systems for younger people who will be life long customers.
Hehehe. Gray Gamers have been lurking, playing and buying along with with the younger crowd. So have women, and to that end companies are developing games for PC’s and consoles that appeal to more than the grand kids.
The Gray Gamers is about you and for you. As the site grows, we’ll be adding a forum; meantime we’ve put up some basic categories, and a comment box.
Talk to us. Tell us what you want to know. We’re here, we’re playing, and together we can make The Gray Gamers a go to web site.
When I can get Jan off the Wii fit board for a few minutes, she’ll introduce herself here. Seriously, I’ve tried to get her to write something up for days!
Hi, I’m Jan, the other half of this ditsy duo!
Our lives are full of laughter and merriment much to the consternation of my children and grandchildren. Nothing tickles me more than embarrassing them while I clean their clocks in a game.
Huh. To hear Pam talk, you’d think she did all the work.
Pam is a poop. She can’t play a game without reading the instructions, tech specs and whatever scrap of paper might be found. Heck, I just want to play. My analytical and cynical super-sibling is very competitive If she didn’t waste so much time analyzing and researching, maybe she’d have a fair chance against this gray gamer.
Frankly she drives me nuts. No social butterfly; she is apt to be seen buried with her head over a keyboard. Having said all that, this site would not exist without her vision, dedication and stubbornness.
I’m looking forward to meeting you, sharing our gaming stories and learning from you all.
PS: The only reason she beat me at Raving Rabbids is because she played for 15 hours and it was past my bedtime.
The Gray Gamers is online because of an outstanding company.
Cre8d-design in New Zealand is well known in IT and media circles as one of the best website design companies in operation.
Cre8d-design staff believe in this project, and have lovingly put The Gray Gamers together and coached me through learning curve annoyances (like The Gray Gamers Facebook page).
Cre8d-design staff are the technical and creative wizards behind this site and have our deepest gratitude.
which twin is which?
We both look forward to meeting you. Gray gamers let’s get our game on!
