5 Games to Introduce Somebody to Gaming

[esperandote]

Relatively simple games with wide interest range

Plants vs Zombies
Mario Kart
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4
A Mario game
Super Smash Bros

Its hard to say without already knowing the person preferences. Others I could use:

If they like action: Devil May Cry, God of war
If they like sports: Fifa, NKB 2k
If they like horror: Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4
If they like puzzles: Profesor Layton, Portal
If they like intricate stories: Metal Gear Solid 3

 

[Spoon E11]

Well you guys are missing the obvious games to get people into "gaming" how about games like (and possibly in this order over a longer period of time if necessary)

1. Angry Birds
2. Super Mario (possibly the ones on snes. or the "new" supermario on DS or Wii)
3. Portal 1
4. Age of Empires 2
5. Mass Effect 1

 

[Idocreating]

I think the problem with a lot of the choices people have here is that the games picked simply are not good for those completely new to the gaming scene.

You need to tailor an introductory game to the person's specific interests, no point them playing Mass Effect if Star Trek and Star Wars bored them to tears. No point in Dragon Age if they slept through all the Lord of the Rings films.

That said, can't go wrong with Mario. New Super Mario Bros especially so since you can just let them be Mario (With the 99 lives you've no doubt aquired) and keep getting them back in when they die and respawn in the bubble.

Really, the toughest part is getting a non-gamer to agree to sit down and try something.

 

[nokori3byo]

I'd say Uncharted 2 or 3: some of the more lavish set pieces, which show that games are beginning to surpass genre films with their balls to the wall action sequences.

COD 4. "All Ghillied Up" and maybe "Shock and Awe" for good measure.

RDR, whose main character arc ended on a very memorable note, displaying great maturity in story-telling.

Assassin's Creed 2 or AC: Brotherhood to show the amount of detail that can go into the re-creation of a real-world setting.

A good RPG. Fallout 3, a Mass Effect game, and (I'm guessing) Skyrim would all work nicely.

 

[band43seat]

for fantasy, god of war if they want blood, or maybe kingdom hearts for a cutesy feel
for rts, age of empires, age of mythology
for turn based combat, i go to the ancient ff7
for mmo, wow
for shooter, l4d, team fortress, basically valves lineup, as well as doom classic
for racing, gran turismo 5, or mario kart wii
for puzzle, portal
for fighting, super street fighter 4 arcade edition, super smash bros brawl, marvel vs capcom 3 ultimate
for platform, infamous, super mario galaxy,shadow of the colossus
for strategy that isnt rts, pokemon black, fire emblem shadow dragon, bleach the 3rd phantom

 

[wolf92]

KOTOR
Mass Effect
Portal
TF2
Jak and Daxter

 

[Timberwolf0924]

What the main thing is, most people are putting games up that they, themselves, loved or enjoyed. Not something that is great for everyone. I see Portal is a game listed, I love Portal, I beat it many, many times. But if you give portal, a puzzle game, to someone who isn't good at puzzles, then it's just going to frustrate them.

A person who hates Sy-Fy (see what I did there?) Will not like Mass Effect, no matter how much you loved it, it's sci-fi and they will not agree with you. I've played all Mass Effects (including the Cell Phone one, which I really didn't like) and alreay have ME3 Collectors Edition paid off. But if I got my brother to play it, and he loves all COD and Battlefield games, he'll go like 45mins in and be like BLEGH!

Find the games that work with the person, my younger sister. I got her Harvest Moon, Animal Farm, and Viva Pinata for my systems and she'll come over and play them for hours. Give her a shooter/RPG, and she's done quick.

My parents, Bejewled/Tetris for my mother and a poker game for my dad. I know what to get them because I know their personalities.

If you want to get someone into gaming find something they will like, and thats how you do it.

 

[Colter Stradinger]

Fallout 3
Half-Life 2
Halo: Reach
any COD not set in WW2
Bioshock

 

[Colter Stradinger]

Maybe Mortal Kombat instead of COD

 

[Belaam]

1) Portal (obviously)

But then I think you want a little variety to see what they like.

2) A simple racing game. Maybe the Mario Kart of your choice.

3) Strategy. Civ (probably IV, your mileage may vary) if they want to think about moves. Warhammer or Starcraft if they want fast play.

4) Sandbox. GTA of your choice or Saints Row 2

5) RPG. Elder Scrolls game of your choice or Fallout 3 depending on whether they prefer sci fi or fantasy. Maybe a free-til-level-20 WoW account if they are more social. Maybe Bioshock.

Yes, I realize there's no real FPS on here. But frankly, I think that's a good move. A complete newbie will not enjoy being killed over and over while being called names by 10 year olds. If they love Portal, but express a desire to actually shoot people, or love GTA/Saints Row but want less story, then you can point them towards CoD, Halo, Battlefield games.

 

[Simeon Ivanov]

Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed
Portal
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
Serious Sam

 

[DanielDeFig]

While it would depend on the specific individual (Personally I have absolutely no interest in sports and driving games, but I would recommend FIFA and/or Gran Turismo to someone I knew would be interested), this is a list of games I would use to introduce a person to a broad spectrum of some of the best stuff video games have to offer.

-Flower
This is a game I can recommend even to someone who has no interest in getting into games. It feels wrong to label it a "game, it's a pure interactive experience)

-Portal
The best representation of the puzzling and problem solving element almost every game has, in some form or another.

-Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
The most addictive parts of RPGs is in pokemon games, in it's purest form. Obsessivley collecting, modifying and optimizing your stats to overcome other ppls stats (Or as Yatzee puts it: Numbers)

-Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos
RTS and an excellent merging of gameplay and storytelling in a genre that isn't exactly renowned for storytelling (That's usually the role of RPGs). Also, a good way of finding out if you're into online competitive games (RTS or otherwise)

-Ratchet & Clank
A great platformer with lots of weird weapons, most of them guns. Platforming and fighting has been a staple of video games since their origin, and this is the best non-retro one I can think of.

 

[Rad Party God]

I think that to introduce somebody to gaming, it doesn't have to be an overly complex game, much less a hard game and as contradictory of my philosophy to gaming as this may sound, it needs great (or decent) graphics and if it's story driven, it needs to start with a bang.

Also, bare in mind that we can't pick any game, we can't give them Planescape Torment or Baldur's Gate, because they'd be simply too overwhelmed by the complex mechanics and the sheer amount of gameplay options those games offer, at least, not yet, until they become a bit more familiarized with games.

Just as Yahtzee said, we're taking baby steps here, we're not giving a motorcycle to someone who doesn't even know how to ride a bicycle, nor we're showing Citizen Kane right away to someone who just started to watch movies.

My 5 gaming introduction picks are, in no special order:

-Angry Birds: Yes, I know this isn't one of the best games ever made, but this list is not "our favorite games ever" or "best games ever", this list is about "gaming introduction". Okay, Angry Birds, it can be either the iOS version or the Chrome version (wich is free and available to pretty much any PC or laptop). The game's controls are simple enough, with charming graphics and you can see stuff being blown to pieces without too much effort and it also has a great difficulty curve.

-Mass Effect 2: Yes, I said Mass Effect 2, not the first game, at least, not yet. I said that we need a story driven game with a great start and I'm hard pressed to find a better game with an equally great introduction (except maybe BioShock), also, say whatever you want about the game, it still has a great combat mechanic that's simple enough for a beginner to understand and the conversations are quite entertaining too, to say the least.

-Mario Kart Wii: It can be pretty much any Mario Kart, but I picked the Wii iteration simply because it's the newest and the easiest to find. Also, the Wii version introduced the "Steering wheel" configuration that's incredibly annoying and stupid for hardcore fans, but incredibly easy and entertaining for a beginner. I know, from my experience, that this game series can do wonders to introduce almost any non-gamer to gaming and Mario Kart Wii continues that trend. Speaking of wich...

-Wii Sports Resort: It's no secret that the Wii introduced many people to gaming and Wii Sports did wonders to reach that goal, but the controller still had it's limitations when people started to notice them. Enter Wii Sports Resort, thanks to the Motion Plus addon, the controller can pick even subtler moves and almost every single minigame that was included with the original Wii Sports was included in an updated form. Annoyied by the golf game not picking your movements?, Resort had that issue addressed, but not only that, it introduced a myrad of other great minigames.

-Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: I can't praise this game enough, with amazing graphics that surpass almost anything ever seen for the NDS, a hilarious story and great combat mechanics that are simple enough to pretty much anyone to understand, there can't be a better game to introduce anyone to RPGs and Mario's universe.

So that's it, my Top 5 pick of games that are great for beginners, I was tempted to add Half-Life 2, Portal, BioShock and even Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy, but, as I said above, baby steps first, then you can gradually introduce other, better games to them.

 

[Fleaman]

Megaman X.

http://youtu.be/8FpigqfcvlM

EDIT: To qualify, based on OP's edit, learning the controls is EVERYTHING. Gamer sense is based pretty much entirely on skills you learn in Mario and Sonic; little things like being able to intuit a game's objectives, or knowing when the game's trying to get your attention with flashing lights, or being able to figure out where to go. This is all built on top of being able to connect your action to the reaction in the game interface, and that's just too hard to do in most modern games, especially first-person games, which are notorious for giving people's parents vertigo.

Portal 1 is way better than Portal 2 in that regard, by the way. It spends a lot more time easing the player into the rules of the world, and isn't as visually complex in its early stages. It's hard to realize this when there's just such a huge amount of learned instinct that we as gamers take for granted.

 

[BlastedTheWorm]

Dark Souls
Ninja Gaiden
Mega-Man 2
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
Contra

 

[joe-h2o]

I started a "what FPS for a newbie" thread here a week or so ago, and most of the choices there were pretty in line with this thread.

For more than FPS as a genre though, I'd have to suggest something like Civ4 or even something more simple like Plants vs Zombies.

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

FFXIII: Decent story elements, and will really allow a new gamer to get their feet wet without rushing them, as well as having a combat system simple enough to understand.

Mario Kart (any console version): Easy to learn, intuitive since most people have at least some idea of how to drive, and easy to use split-screen MP with.

Mass Effect: FPS games don't come naturally to a lot of people, so while I considered Halo I thought it best to take a game with 3rd person combat instead, and ME is VERY forgiving with your accuracy, as well as serving as more of a Western-style RPG to contrast FFXIII.

Arkham Asylum: A bit more tactical based than the other games I've mentioned, with a pretty easy combat system that doesn't require master-class reflexes. Also, everyone loves Batman, so the story might be more engaging to newcomers.

Fable 2 or 3: I'm hesitant to pick the first game because graphically it doesn't hold up well, and new gamers don't want to see the history of how you came to like video games, so choosing last-gen games would make me hesitant. Fable is a very beginner's take on open-world exploration, with your dotted path helping ensure new gamers don't get too frustrated.

As for Portal, I wouldn't even consider introducing a new gamer with it. It is not intuitive for first-time players, makes it very easy to give up and quit because you get stuck, and doesn't really teach skill sets for other games.

 

[Arluza]

Portal (It is a great looking, easy, funny, and engaging experience.)

Angry Birds (Yes. It counts as a game. Shut up. It is so basic that anyone could understand it.)

The Company of Myself (a flash game that shows that you can put true emotion into a game)

Halo Reach OR Halo: Combat Evolved (FPS games are very popular. Halo 1 and Reach are both great examples. This coming from a person who can't stand most FPS games, and I don't really like Halo.)

Rock Band 2 (Music is a very important part to games. A game who focuses on music is a must.

As for some other lists I've seen on the first page:


Fallout and TES games are HUGE. WAY too big for a new gamer.

COD4. I haven't played COD because I'm not an FPS guy, but if I had, I'd still probably say Halo. Halo seems a bit easier to get in to. Especially since the first one didn't spend half of the dev time on online.

Mass Effect. No. The tutorial in the first game SUCKED. It is also too big for a new gamer. Yeah, the story is cool, but for a new gamer, keep in mind they don't know everything about games you do, so this game is a MUST AVOID for new gamers.

Assassin's Creed. Maybe. The first one was a bit too hard for a new player, and it is too open. A new player might get lost and never know what is going on or why they are lost.

 

[digipinky75910]

Zelda seems pretty straightforward, classic. I have not played the recent games though. Not too complicated but should have enough of a challenge.