Trying to get my mother into gaming. I need help.

[dimensional]

Also we've talked about Soul Caliber (we're trying to find games we can play together) and when I pointed out that it had a fantasy motif and good looking graphics she displayed interest, but I don't own any Soul Caliber games. Any idea which one would be a good place to start? 4 or 5? (Yes, I know about characters like Ivy, let me worry about that)

I would be a bit wary about introducing someone who has never played (or very new) video games before to a fighting game straight off the bat they are not the easiest of games to learn my mother had trouble with just the jump button in mario hopefully your mums a bit better but still it may be a bit complex (saying this in a non condescending way) and if you are much better than her and keep winning or have to purposely throw the match to let her win then it probably wont be much fun.

Imo its one to come back to as it is great fun and you may as well go with the latest one if you get it or just the original Soul Calibur which I think is available for download on 360?

Im afraid I dont have many suggestions but maybe something like Diablo or champions of norrath, sacred 2 or baldurs gate dark alliance would be a better starting point they are quite fun with 2 people and she would probably have an easier time especially as you help each other rather than oppose each other.

 

[Limecake]

I'd say stick to something simple first, skyrim is a lot to wrap your head around if you're new to video games (I'm assuming your mom isn't a gamer already) casual games work the best for this especially popcap ones (Peggle is insanely addictive) or puzzle ones (like professor layton as was mentioned) these allow her to ease into gaming slowly, they tend to start off simple and slowly introduce gaming staples (like power-ups, different characters and adapting strategy)

we seem to take for granted how much knowledge we build up over time when it comes to gaming. things like sneaking, healing, inventory management and character building are all second nature to us but is kinda overwhelming for someone new to gaming.

 

[Jinxzy]

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Classic-Anthology-Pc/dp/B005JQ064A

There's also Dragon Age: Origins (don't get Dragon Age 2) and the Witcher games.

Perfect game, it's fantasy and it's compairable to Skyrim.

Buy the Sims and let her play that.

It can be played by pretty much anyone.

They also have a Sims Medieval that she could try that has the more fantasy feel. You fight dragons, make kings and queens, even go on quests.

There are also a few fun xbox arcade games like Torchlight (also on PC), Castle Crashers, Dungeon Defenders, Faery, Puzzle Quest (1 and 2).

Even the other games people have said already, Diablo, Guild Wars, and Fable (1,2,3) Would be fun choices as well.

 

[Erttheking]

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Classic-Anthology-Pc/dp/B005JQ064A

There's also Dragon Age: Origins (don't get Dragon Age 2) and the Witcher games.

Perfect game, it's fantasy and it's compairable to Skyrim.

Buy the Sims and let her play that.

It can be played by pretty much anyone.

They also have a Sims Medieval that she could try that has the more fantasy feel. You fight dragons, make kings and queens, even go on quests.

There are also a few fun xbox arcade games like Torchlight (also on PC), Castle Crashers, Dungeon Defenders, Faery, Puzzle Quest (1 and 2).

Even the other games people have said already, Diablo, Guild Wars, and Fable (1,2,3) Would be fun choices as well.

Castle crashers...I have that game but I practically forgot...ok, let's give it a shot. Guild Wars will come when...well it come out.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Also we've talked about Soul Caliber (we're trying to find games we can play together) and when I pointed out that it had a fantasy motif and good looking graphics she displayed interest, but I don't own any Soul Caliber games. Any idea which one would be a good place to start? 4 or 5? (Yes, I know about characters like Ivy, let me worry about that)

Personally, I couldn't get into 4 and I haven't tried five, but SCII has held up really well. It still looks, sounds, and plays great. It's still got the best single player mode of all the games. If you've got the system to run it I recommend it highly. Pretty much the only thing it lacks is online multiplayer and a character creator.

 

[Erttheking]

Also we've talked about Soul Caliber (we're trying to find games we can play together) and when I pointed out that it had a fantasy motif and good looking graphics she displayed interest, but I don't own any Soul Caliber games. Any idea which one would be a good place to start? 4 or 5? (Yes, I know about characters like Ivy, let me worry about that)

Personally, I couldn't get into 4 and I haven't tried five, but SCII has held up really well. It still looks, sounds, and plays great. It's still got the best single player mode of all the games. If you've got the system to run it I recommend it highly. Pretty much the only thing it lacks is online multiplayer and a character creator.

Sadly that might be a deal breaker, my mom WANTS a character creator

 

[Ryotknife]

i think the last game my mother played was tetris on the NES.......

my stepfather on the other hand has always loved playing the GTA series (running over pedestrians mostly) and the gran turismo series (racing in 60-80's cars)

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Guild Wars(Guild Wars 2 when it comes out)
R.O.H.A.N.: Blood Feud
Runescape

All of the above are excellent MMOs.

Dragon Age: Origins
White Knight Chronicles(buy WKCII, because it has a remastered version of the original WKC)
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Lord of the Rings: War in the North
Resonance of Fate
Final Fantasy(any one would work, I would however recommend FFX or FFXII[if you have a PS2])

Tales of Graces f(PS3 only)
Tales of Vesperia(Xbox 360 is English, the PS3 version is Japanese)
Tales of Symphonia(Gamecube or PS2)
Tales of the Abyss(PS2, recently released on Nintendo 3DS, but has no multiplayer)
Tales of Destiny(PS1, although play is possible through a PS1 emulator on a computer)

Basically any Tales of Game would work, they're all fantastic fantasy set games with co-op

My highest recommendations would be Guild Wars and the Tales games. Guild Wars is a fantastic fantasy MMO that, as other have said, is a pay-to-buy, free-to-play. It's also not like other MMOs, where the longer you play the better you are than everyone else. That's only partially true, because they game's play is really based off HOW you want to play. It's quite a fun game. I often wish my internet wasn't crap because I do so miss playing Guild Wars.

Tales of Graces f is fairly new as it was released only a month and a half ago. Vesperia shouldn't be hard to get a hold of, either. The thing with Tales games, though, are that they're all anime styled. If your mom doesn't particularly like anime, then you'll be hard pressed to get her to like a Tales game. I would try it, though, because they've all got amazing stories. Tales of Symphonia in particular.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Also we've talked about Soul Caliber (we're trying to find games we can play together) and when I pointed out that it had a fantasy motif and good looking graphics she displayed interest, but I don't own any Soul Caliber games. Any idea which one would be a good place to start? 4 or 5? (Yes, I know about characters like Ivy, let me worry about that)

Personally, I couldn't get into 4 and I haven't tried five, but SCII has held up really well. It still looks, sounds, and plays great. It's still got the best single player mode of all the games. If you've got the system to run it I recommend it highly. Pretty much the only thing it lacks is online multiplayer and a character creator.

Sadly that might be a deal breaker, my mom WANTS a character creator

Ah, that's too bad. Even so, If you personally have an interest, check it out, especially if you want a good SC singleplayer campaign.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

The upcomming Dragon`s Dogma has an character editor and a fantasy setting. I can`t say mch about the difficulty.

Otherwise i think Syrim isn`t a bad idea. Do you use a console or pc? If it`s a pc there are sure(?) enough helping mods if it get`s frustrating.

There`s also an old hack and slash called Demonstone. I like the D&D art design but the graphics aren`t what you`d call up to date.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I think you should just dunk her in the deep end and let her give Dark Souls a try. You never know, she might turn out to be an instant pro at it, even if it doesn't work well it will still be a laugh.

What about Dragon Age: Origins?

 

[Deathmageddon]

My mom knows a bunch of old ladies who are into Assassin's Creed, try that.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

WoW.

The vast majority of female gamers I know are big MMO fans.

Bioware might be a better lead-in than Bethesda as well. Skyrim is a ludicrously masculine game.

Big burly men, bears and beer arr.

 

[Isalan]

Not co-op but Jade Empire would be a good place to start. Its not overly long, chinese fantasy setting, great story, and if your in the EU it even has John Cleese.

And you cannot beat John Cleese. Scientifically impossible.

Co-op wise, Diablo 3 is out in a week or so, and Torchlight 2 will be out shortly after. Both have got a decent co-op focus.

 

[Isalan]

My mom knows a bunch of old ladies who are into Assassin's Creed, try that.

The Hidden Knitting Needle? Now thats a Womens Institute I could get on board with.

 

[Gatx]

Buy the Sims and let her play that.

It can be played by pretty much anyone.

Going along with this, and the mention that your mom would prefer a fantasy setting: The Sims Medieval.

 

[RJ 17]

I know I know, it's kind of a suicide mission but I'm actually making some progress. I actually managed to convince her to try out skyrim but I need some help. Skyrim is the only game in my library that I think that she'll like, see I'm a sci-fi fan while she prefers the fantasy setting. She also said that she would like to try games with beatiful graphics and with said fantasy setting and Skyrim is the only game I have that really fits into that category (well I have Dark Souls but I don't think that that is going to work)

Any ideas for what games you think she'll like? Also we've talked about Soul Caliber (we're trying to find games we can play together) and when I pointed out that it had a fantasy motif and good looking graphics she displayed interest, but I don't own any Soul Caliber games. Any idea which one would be a good place to start? 4 or 5? (Yes, I know about characters like Ivy, let me worry about that)

If no one has suggested it yet, how about the Fable series? Fantasy, family-friendly, and it's generally decent looking.

 

[ElPatron]

What about Ico or Shadow of the Colossus?

I don't see anything about them that could be unattractive to any demographic.

 

[Kapri]

If she's anything like my mother it's a lost cause. ABORT! ABORT NOW!