Getting my girlfriend into gaming

[Marik2]

Alright I know there are plenty of female gamers out there, and let me say that I love how it is very possible for the gaming industry to move from this male dominated and oriented world to one shared by both men and women. Onto my actual question. I grew up around games, from the original NES, to current systems. The girlfriend I have now though, was not brought up around any types of games, and she actually kind of looks down on gaming, she doesn't really see it or understand it as a hobby. My question to both genders, is what would be a great starter game to try and get her into gaming? I'm just about willing to try anything here, I don't want to see posts about WoW, or other MMORPGS, when I tell her to hit Y on my 360 controller it takes her about 30 seconds to find it. That's about as much as she has ever done with a gaming controller. And the only system I currently have is an Xbox360, and a pc, of course.

Ive gotten a couple of girls into gaming by playing halo next to them.

Id put it on normal and I would slowly walk it through with them.

Its a very easy game to pick up and play.

 

[larysalove]

When I was first trying to get into gaming, I was afraid of ruining people's reps or something and of people yelling at me by playing online. So when I got my very own shiny xbox, I tried playing campaign first. Well, I quickly found that boring, so online it was. I learned as I went along. I still dont know how to do things, but I'm about a million times better than I was when I started.

That said, the first game I ever played on my own was Left4Dead. Maybe thats why I love killing zombies so much.

For a long long time my favorite game was mario kart wii. It seems like a great game to get someone into gaming because the controls are so simple. I'd try something like that.

 

[blobby218]

you might try to start with smaller flash games, maybe try getting her a ds with n nintendogs or something then move on good games on the xbox like portal.

 

[ddrfr33k]

Go buy the X-Men Arcade game for 800 points off XBLA. My (now) gf and I played this together on Saturday. She's already a gamer but hates overly complex or difficult games. I taught her the controls in under a minute and had us beating up sentinels in no time. And she loved it.

Seriously. The classic arcade brawlers are about as simple as they come. And they have multiplayer appeal.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

Er. What games she might like really depends on what kind of person she is. And to the one above me: Nintendogs would not be a good game to start with, unless you REALLY like dogs.

EDIT: Not the guy above me. The one that recommended Nintendogs. Whatever.

 

[Tron-tonian]

As others have said, play to what she likes. If she loves dogs, then yeah, Nintendogs is a great choice.

I would also add in that casual games (despite the hate they tend to get from the 'hardcore' crowd) would also be a good start. Things like Farmville. Once she is good and hooked on that, talk about a similar game, but one that has more options - Civ4, say.

The idea is that you start her with something that is easy and familiar. Then, when she talks about how the game 'needs ', you can talk about some other games in the genre. But most importantly, keep the learning curve relatively smooth. And don't be upset if she doesn't become as much of a gamer as you. Some people don't want interactivity, they want to shut their brains off and vegetate in their off-time, and that's fine, too.

 

[zeldagirl]

For one, don't force the issue - some people just don't like games, and that's the way it is.

That being said, maybe try to find a multiplayer game that's easy enough for new players to get into, but that is something you can also do *together*. If you can make it into a date or make it a romantic "couple" thing, she may be more inclined to want to hang out (and may enjoy it more).