Which first game would you recommend to a new gamer?

[Kasawd]

I'd probably introduce them to Starcraft to see if RTS games are their thing. If not, I'd go straight into Final Fantasy VI.

Platformers like Metroid would be a fine way to get into it, as well.

Mega Man.

Break 'em in rough.

They'll have nightmares, it's perfect!

 

[Treblaine]

Left 4 Dead and walk them through it Co-op... though there is the danger they may never get the confidence to go off on gaming adventures by themselves.

Yeah, probably this. It's quite straight-forward and has very basic controls, so it should be perfect as an introduction into gaming.

Otherwise I'd suggest Uncharted 1 or 2... it has good variety, though it may be a bit hard, it should be manageable on easy and it also has great writing with a light hearted Indiana-Jones slash Joss Whedon feel to it.

I'm not all that sure about this one, though. I've had a friend over who has played through the bulk of Uncharted 2, and while he can hold his own in the firefights, he still has some issues with finding the correct path and seeing where he can and cannot climb. And this is a guy who frequently plays games on PC, only not all that many Action/Adventure games.
Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you (if not moreso), considering that Uncharted seems to fuse together movies and games in such a way that would make it easy for newcomers to get into it. It seems it not that easy, though.

Yeah, one reason I'm mentioning Uncharted rather than Mario, which seems like an obvious obvious, is maybe Mario is a bit TOO basic. you need a fair amount of imagination to be captivated by the handful of pixels of early Mario games. I just think that Uncharted has the "hollywood-standard" look and feel to draw in gamers who may have taken a pass on previous games that may have just as good underlying gameplay, plot characters but were a mess of 'Engrish', bad scripts and basically Z-grade exposition and delivery.

But Z-grade in the best possible way, I love that cheesy dialogue of old Resident Evil and Tomb Raider games, it was clunky but to me if had heart. Also, after repeated play-through of Resident Evil 1 I am now almost certain the English voice cast were deliberately hamming it up for laughs, some points you can almost catch where it cuts out laughter and they seem to be fighting back guffaws.

Better to fail gloriously than just make adequate dialogue that just ends up mundane. though uncharted is quite a bit better than mundane... it's still not the best storytelling I've seen anywhere, the place it really shines is how the characters developed in cutscenes also show through in the gameplay as well. And I think that is what news gamers will be intrigued most by.

 

[chstens]

The original Operation Flashpoint.

 

[LeonLethality]

Mega Man.

Break 'em in rough.

My first game was Megaman X, my second was Super Castlevania. I was broken in rough =D I would totally recommend it because if you can beat those games first anything after will not sway you when it comes to difficulty.

 

[Treblaine]

Left 4 Dead and walk them through it Co-op... though there is the danger they may never get the confidence to go off on gaming adventures by themselves.

Yeah, probably this. It's quite straight-forward and has very basic controls, so it should be perfect as an introduction into gaming.

Otherwise I'd suggest Uncharted 1 or 2... it has good variety, though it may be a bit hard, it should be manageable on easy and it also has great writing with a light hearted Indiana-Jones slash Joss Whedon feel to it.

I'm not all that sure about this one, though. I've had a friend over who has played through the bulk of Uncharted 2, and while he can hold his own in the firefights, he still has some issues with finding the correct path and seeing where he can and cannot climb. And this is a guy who frequently plays games on PC, only not all that many Action/Adventure games.
Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you (if not moreso), considering that Uncharted seems to fuse together movies and games in such a way that would make it easy for newcomers to get into it. It seems it not that easy, though.

Though you have to take it into recognition that I've (yes, I'm the idiotic turd that doesn't understand Uncharted) played mostly FPS's the last 3 years which have made my brain significantly smaller. Though I get impatient when I play singleplayer at someone else's house, when I know I have limited time to get everything cleared so it's better to ask than wonder for several valuable gaming minutes.

OT: I would recommened Portal, Psychonauts or any Mariogame for a new gamer. Portal for it's ease, mass appeal and brilliant level design (I still find it overrated, mind you). Mario for obvious reasons, EVERYONE have heard of Mario and it's the closest examination of gamings core and Psychonauts for it's plattform and humble exploration.

Portal! Of course, definitely a great showcase to new gamers in what games are capable of doing that films and other media just can't. Kinda over-rated, yeah, anything that generates memes is almost by definition over-rated, but it's still really damn good.

 

[GoldenRaz]

Snippety SNAP!

Though you have to take it into recognition that I've (yes, I'm the idiotic turd that doesn't understand Uncharted) played mostly FPS's the last 3 years which have made my brain significantly smaller. Though I get impatient when I play singleplayer at someone else's house, when I know I have limited time to get everything cleared so it's better to ask than wonder for several valuable gaming minutes.

Great that you finally admitted to being a moron (accepting is the first step to recovery), but you have to admit that there where times (particularly in the beginning) where you had little to no idea of what you should be doing or how to accomplish your objective at hand. That said, you've become very competent during the gunfights. So, yay?

You're going to think I'm crazy but

Fallout 3.
Here's why. Besides the fact that it's one of the best games of this generation, it's a very forgiving game with a great tactical targeting system that can pause the action and produce some fantastic action sequences. This was probably the first FPS-ish type game my wife had played since Unreal Tournament (which we always played with a mouse and keys no less) and she got the hang of it immediately.

I also think it would be the best way to get a new gamer acquainted with the current gamepad. You start off only needing a few buttons but as you go on, you start to learn what everything else does and how it works. Soon your apprentice will know where all the buttons and might even pick up that the analogues can be used as buttons too.

Above all, there's no wrong way to play Fallout3. Sure there are things that you might miss but it doesn't affect your overall progress. It's also a very organic game that makes it seem like a real world you're messing around in.

Wow, I never really thought of that, but you're completely right. There is never such a time where you can't pause the game to heal or change weapons, and the aiming is damn-near autonomous with the V.A.T.S. and all that. All that combined with the easiest difficulty setting probably makes Fallout 3 a prime beginner's first game.
Good call!

 

[SilverUchiha]

If they are into shooters, I'd say start them with one of the original FPS games, Duck Hunter (be fair, it was first person, and all you did was shoot).

If they're into needless exploration and have a lot of free time, I'd recommend a Zelda game.

If they're into fun little gimmicky things, I suppose a sidescroller Mario or Sonic would be okay.

If puzzles are they're thing... Tetris.

If free is their thing, online flashgames would be a good way to start.

 

[HentMas]

You're going to think I'm crazy but

Fallout 3.
Here's why. Besides the fact that it's one of the best games of this generation, it's a very forgiving game with a great tactical targeting system that can pause the action and produce some fantastic action sequences. This was probably the first FPS-ish type game my wife had played since Unreal Tournament (which we always played with a mouse and keys no less) and she got the hang of it immediately.

I also think it would be the best way to get a new gamer acquainted with the current gamepad. You start off only needing a few buttons but as you go on, you start to learn what everything else does and how it works. Soon your apprentice will know where all the buttons and might even pick up that the analogues can be used as buttons too.

Above all, there's no wrong way to play Fallout3. Sure there are things that you might miss but it doesn't affect your overall progress. It's also a very organic game that makes it seem like a real world you're messing around in.

there is one flaw with your premise, its too hard to start up!, i mean, you can toy however you want with the stats at the beggining, but if you have never ever played a game like this before you are bound to end up regretting some choises, if it was my first game i would have never enjoyed it, because i like to know what the heck i am doing, and adding points to an irrelevant name for "melee weapons, laser weapons, small guns, critical hits etc" (the whole SPECIAL system) is a difficult task in itself to get a good starting character, wich will make him (like me) do his/her over and over untill he is satisfied

that being said, the inmensity of the world, and the non-linear style of game play can be a little bit overwelming, how many times have you got stuck in a linear game and ended up looking for an answer in the webz??, now in a non-linear game its much easyer to lose the track of things one is doing, and as a new gamer he might enjoy the experience of shooting and killing stuff, but after a while he will lose a sense of "reason behind actions" and end up losing interest in the game

over all, i dont think its a good idea for a guy who haves never played a game

now, Mario, thats a game as simple as it gets, you have the good guys, the bad guys and a goal, its "do this and go there" and carries you by the hand untill the end, the skill is just about jumping in timelly fashion or going back an forth according to the place you are, that teaches him coordination in his hands and some basic control management, throw a guy with no idea of how you use a controll and he will often get overwhelmed by the amount of buttons in the controller (needles to say left stick movement, right stick cammera is confusing in itself and more often than not they will end up looking at the sky or the floor)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Fable 2. It's pretty, has a good tutorial, is easy, introduces moral choices, and you can't fail.

 

[Lordmarkus]

Snippety SNAP!

Though you have to take it into recognition that I've (yes, I'm the idiotic turd that doesn't understand Uncharted) played mostly FPS's the last 3 years which have made my brain significantly smaller. Though I get impatient when I play singleplayer at someone else's house, when I know I have limited time to get everything cleared so it's better to ask than wonder for several valuable gaming minutes.

Great that you finally admitted to being a moron (accepting is the first step to recovery), but you have to admit that there where times (particularly in the beginning) where you had little to no idea of what you should be doing or how to accomplish your objective at hand. That said, you've become very competent during the gunfights. So, yay?

Impatience! Impatience!!! I've never had time to gather Zen!

 

[Julianking93]

Zelda maybe?

I mean, it was the first game I ever played.

 

[Ieyland]

Sandbox games. Newbies always enjoy exploration. Genres like RTS, shooters and RPG are usually for hardcore gamers. Although it really depends on what he/she likes most.

 

[Capachinola]

Alot of you people are mentioning games that were built for ancient game systems. That would also mean forcing them to use the horribly scary controllers that came with them, which is, at least, a turn off for me.

Edit: Such as the Nintendo 64, im not talking Pong or whatever.

 

[Palademon]

Well, Super Smash Bros is a hell of fun and a great portal to trying other games. For a shooter I recommend Halo as I think it's easier to muck about with your friends and less serious than CoD. If you want crazy fun and have an original xbox, wii, or one of the early ps3s, then get Timesplitters 2 and future perfect.

This site has revived my love of that series and I'm sorry that half my replies turn into a slight fanboy rant, I am trying to stop, sorry if it is annoying anyone. I have basically started to ***** about a fourth one like people do for Duke Nukem Forever.

 

[AxDude]

World of Warcraft, obviously. One more poor soul for the crack addition.

 

[CdDoom]

Hm, Well, Little big planet...creative, easy to get into, four players if need be.
None of those power up's that make you question how they are used, i mean, its a mushroom that slides across the ground, its gotta be pretty sketchy, the fire flower, maybe you have allergies, they star, to sharp and as for that green mushroom, we all keep an eye on that little skank.

Nintendo.. what couldn't you play, its all pretty simple.
OR as a joke you can set them up with an old Resident evil game and make them wonder where the camera control is.

 

[GonzoGamer]

You're going to think I'm crazy but

Fallout 3.
Here's why. Besides the fact that it's one of the best games of this generation, it's a very forgiving game with a great tactical targeting system that can pause the action and produce some fantastic action sequences. This was probably the first FPS-ish type game my wife had played since Unreal Tournament (which we always played with a mouse and keys no less) and she got the hang of it immediately.

I also think it would be the best way to get a new gamer acquainted with the current gamepad. You start off only needing a few buttons but as you go on, you start to learn what everything else does and how it works. Soon your apprentice will know where all the buttons and might even pick up that the analogues can be used as buttons too.

Above all, there's no wrong way to play Fallout3. Sure there are things that you might miss but it doesn't affect your overall progress. It's also a very organic game that makes it seem like a real world you're messing around in.

there is one flaw with your premise, its too hard to start up!, i mean, you can toy however you want with the stats at the beggining, but if you have never ever played a game like this before you are bound to end up regretting some choises, if it was my first game i would have never enjoyed it, because i like to know what the heck i am doing, and adding points to an irrelevant name for "melee weapons, laser weapons, small guns, critical hits etc" (the whole SPECIAL system) is a difficult task in itself to get a good starting character, wich will make him (like me) do his/her over and over untill he is satisfied

that being said, the inmensity of the world, and the non-linear style of game play can be a little bit overwelming, how many times have you got stuck in a linear game and ended up looking for an answer in the webz??, now in a non-linear game its much easyer to lose the track of things one is doing, and as a new gamer he might enjoy the experience of shooting and killing stuff, but after a while he will lose a sense of "reason behind actions" and end up losing interest in the game

over all, i dont think its a good idea for a guy who haves never played a game

now, Mario, thats a game as simple as it gets, you have the good guys, the bad guys and a goal, its "do this and go there" and carries you by the hand untill the end, the skill is just about jumping in timelly fashion or going back an forth according to the place you are, that teaches him coordination in his hands and some basic control management, throw a guy with no idea of how you use a controll and he will often get overwhelmed by the amount of buttons in the controller (needles to say left stick movement, right stick cammera is confusing in itself and more often than not they will end up looking at the sky or the floor)

I agree that (with any sort of RPG) the leveling up and stats will take a little getting used to but Fallout 3 really does make it easy with explanations (in the pip boy itself) of all the stats. I think even a new gamer will think to themselves "I put a lot of points into energy weapons, I should hold onto that laser gun."

Also, I think the non-linearity and massiveness might just be the thing to draw someone in. As huge as the gameworld is, F3's wasteland is packed with missions, events, and random items & characters and you're highly likely to run into some random, unique, and interesting occurrence no matter what direction you decide to walk in.

I think we agree that the player would eventually/immediately lose track with the main story but (especially with the case of Fallout 3) most people I know ended up making their own story in that game and found it to be more fascinating than the one laid out for them.

Also, the "Very Easy" setting is incredibly forgiving.

Mario has it's merits too but very few games now-a-days use only a directional and a couple of buttons. I would recommend Fallout 3 for home and SMWorld on the GBA for outings.

 

[Good morning blues]

Why not Half-Life 2 or Portal? They both really cater to people unfamiliar with the genres. Portal is probably even better, since you don't need to deal with the chaos of a game like Call of Duty.