The Gamer's Quarter

SuperWes · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:03 pm Post subject: Getting Girlfriends to Game

My girlfriend said something surprisingly poignant yesterday. She said, "I used to think I played games for the stories, but now I realized that I really don't care about the stories. I think I just like good characters and settings." I'm guessing she realized this after I bought her Broken Sword, ObsCure, and much every other adventure game that's come out recently. Then she said, "How can games capture whatever it is that girls like about Anime?"

And I said, "Well, the problem is that games are all about interaction, and the easiest emotions to envoke through interaction are visceral."

She agreed with me, then said, "I think all I want is a game that's funny. Too many games take themselves seriously." Note that she despised Sam and Max hit the road and she's not a huge fan of Psychonauts. She did like Metroid Fusion and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow for the GBA though. She also played Harvest Moon on GBA and decided that once you've played one Harvest Moon you've played them all.

What kind of games would she like? I suggested that she might like Ace Phoenix when it comes out, but then, it might be too story based for her. She loves Katamari and she's looking forward to Shadow of Colossus and Kingdom Hearts 2. Any suggestions?

-Wes
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Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

No One Lives Forever is pretty funny, sometimes. And it has a female lead too! Though it might be too action based for her tastes, still worth a try I think. I hear chicks dig Beyond Good & Evil like no other so that might be worth springing on her, if you haven't already. Has she tried Animal Crossing? I'm not even sure if that's a game or not but you could definitely get sucked into it.

I think she's right when she says more games need to just be funny, which I assume she meant without having to resort to potty humor. It makes me try to imagine what a funny game would play like, if humor were a part of gameplay. A clean version of Conker?

Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:29 pm Post subject:

Silent Hill 2 is allegedly female-friendly.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:30 pm Post subject:

And... Suikoden, apparently. If she's already gotten used to, you know, playing the things.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

SuperWes · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:41 pm Post subject:

Yeah. She liked Animal Crossing for a while, but when our towns got erased by a rogue Japanese game formatting a US memory card in slot 2 error we pretty much both gave up on that one.

And yeah, she hates RPG menus with a passion, so Suikoden is out. She doesn't mind Silent Hill except for the whole Horror thing. She's not into horror movies or games.

-Wes
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dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

King of Fighters.

It captures what girls like about anime.

Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:57 pm Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Try Baulders Gate: Deadly Alliance, or what ever it was that was the Gauntlet clone for the PS2. You could also try things that are obviously character driven games like Parappa or Megaman Legends that are just about doing cool things with cool characters. Gungrave is about the same, but is more about capturing the anime that boys like with Hellsing than what shojo attempts to.

Then again you could aim for NiS games. They have said before they aim to be more on the feminine side.

Games are not really aimed at women, they are aimed at gamers. It is kind of hard to use them as a gateway drug. If she thinks that by playing one harvest moon she has played them all then she did not like the game and is not willing to give it another shot. The PS2 game is surprisingly different than most of the others, where the GBC ones are much different as well.

Hell, get her Space Channel 5.

dhex · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:53 pm Post subject:

go to the classics and start from there. games were fairly androgynous compared to the current HOLYFUCKINGSHITTITSOMG!!!! box art thing we're drowning in.
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:28 pm Post subject:

you know. i'm sort of a woman. i'm a gamer, though, so obviously the topic doesn't address me. i think the question really is (deducting gender from the equation): what games are good for a "casual gamer" (a term which describes the majority of the women who game, today).

i agree about "the classics." i just got my mother hooked on galaga 88 for the pc engine.

i think the reason is simplicity of interface (not simplicity of game, of course). contemporary console games are bogged down with numbers and menu screens and all sorts of conventions that one will only recognize and understand if one is already deeply entrenched in contemporary gaming. "classic" games are good because there's not much of a pre-existing "vocabulary" one has to bring to the game in order to come to terms with it.

the famous example, of course, is myst. this is a game that is played entirely with the mouse, by clicking on things (and occasionally holding or dragging them), and it and its sequels have always boasted an audience that was about half women.

my last partner was way into tetris. so.
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dhex · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:29 pm Post subject:

my mom was way into tetris, too.
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Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

My mother enjoys a game of Super Mario 3 every now and then.

Wes, let your woman check out the Lolo games, or Bubble Bobble. Everyone likes Bubble Bobble, or they should if they don't. But I don't see how they could dislike it. Unless they were just a cold, mean person to begin with.

SuperWes · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:55 pm Post subject:

I guess I should say that she's not really at the casual level. I mean, she liked Kingdom Hearts, which is pretty complex. And Dororo, which is also kind of complex. It's not really a gateway thing either. She wants to find a game she'll like, it's just that she complains that they're all the same. And I really can't argue too much with that assertion.

We played a bit of the Everquest Dark Alliance ripoff but it got too repetitive for her. She's a big fantasy fan so I thought that would be a sure thing. Guess not.

Stupid girls!

-Wes
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nICO · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 120 Location: WVUSA

Beyond Good and Evil.

My girlfriend and I have been playing through it one section at a time for the past few months now and she loves it. She likes taking the pictures of things especially.

Also what my girfriend and I have been doing is just going through videogame history and hitting some of the more important titles and playing them for a little while. We usually don't spend much time on any one game. The idea is to have fun together and to give her a sense of perspective and an appreciation of games in general. While we're playing a game I always give her a rundown on what makes this game special and some background.

This has actually been a pretty successful thing. There have only been a couple games she didn't like: Chu Chu Rocket because the multiplayer was too intense and the puzzles too difficult, Ikaruga and Gradius V because they are so challenging, and any JRPG because she thinks they're too boring. There have been far more hits. Her favorite we've played, besides Beyond Good and Evil, is Shenmue. She also really liked Monkey Ball and Seaman.

This is also a sure-win plan because the process is more important than the destination. It really doesn't matter that she doesn't like many of the games we play enough to beat them herself. We still played videogames together for an hour or two.
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Brauner: Damn you, humans... You selfishly start wars and despoil the earth. Perhaps justice wasn't on my side but I will never admit that it was on yours.

SuperWes · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:43 am Post subject:

simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

I think you may have answered your own question right there. If they all look the same to her, try distinctive things like Cubivore, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Mister Mosquito, Paper Mario, Res, Ico, Katamari, etc., where the premise/execution are interesting enough to be remembered over the actual story. You want her to walk away with her strongest memory being fun/interesting gameplay, not a boring, shoddily written JRPG save-the-world-from-darkness story with random battles with blue menus.

Persona-sama · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:59 am Post subject:

You should pick up that Sonic Mega Collection and give that a spin.

I mean, it's Sonic.
No one hates Sonic.

And if you do, you need to die*.

*totally not a joke.
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nICO · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 120 Location: WVUSA

I've played Mega Collection with my girlfriend a bunch. It's always fun to switch who's playing Tails in Sonic 2. She liked it.
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Brauner: Damn you, humans... You selfishly start wars and despoil the earth. Perhaps justice wasn't on my side but I will never admit that it was on yours.

dhex · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 9:26 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

This might get girls more into gaming:

http://www.slashdong.org/boards/viewtopic.php?p=6

player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

Reason to start posting here again:

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 11:39 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Dess: rad.

SuperWes · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 1:54 pm Post subject:

Yes. Sounds awesome. I'd write something about that myself, but it's a lot grosser when guys talk about that stuff. Plus I've never really liked putting a dual shock in my butt.

-Wes
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dessgeega · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:04 pm Post subject:

i need there to be msn emoticons in my piece, though. they're critical.
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SuperWes · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:09 pm Post subject:

I will put all sorts of emoticons in your piece.

That sounds wrong.

-Wes
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dessgeega · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:15 pm Post subject:

SuperWes · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:21 pm Post subject:

player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

Omg, can I e-flirt, too?

...sorry...you guys were begging for it...
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

DonMarco · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 349 Location: 33903

don't be such an e-tard, player 2.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

I'll be there.
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

Mister Toups · Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2005 8:49 am Post subject:

OMG did you guys hear about Shaper and another god? They were TOTALLY flirting by the water fountain!
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

player 2 · . Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 585 Location: Madison, WI USA

Shaper said he has some totally rad toys and stuff at his house, but Mom told me I shouldn't play with strangers. What to do, what to do?
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

Persona-sama · Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 1:36 am Post subject:

AND THUS TOUPS WAS BORN.
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Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 9:00 am Post subject:

I keep reading this thread title as "getting girlfriends to come".
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 9:04 am Post subject:

Only in porno.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

http://www.fourfatchicks.com/Reviews/Devil_May_Cry_2/DMC2.shtml

Devil May Cry 2 is a good game for absolute beginners, my girlfriend managed to complete the first level on her first go and my Mum has got to level three so far.

It doesn't really provide much in the way of characters or dialogue, but the environments are fairly interesting.

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:41 pm Post subject:

man, this is an old topic! have women figured out how to play videogames yet?
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seryogin · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:42 pm Post subject:

If you count Barbie games as games.
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Pijaibros · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:51 pm Post subject:

I've always been fond of the Adventures of Cookie and Cream for some co-op fun.

It's very much a more cute Toe Jam and Earl, in which you must have a friend to play it.
Also you must actually cooperate to get through the levels. In fact, you both are using the same controller. I wish more games were designed like this.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:57 pm Post subject:

i've heard a lot of good things about the devil may cry series. i remember a friend recommending it emphatically to me years ago (the friend was another woman, by the way!). i havn't played any of the games yet, but i've watched some videos.

it seems like there's a lot of comboing going on. and i have a hard time thinking of anything less fun than attempting precision and accuracy in a 3D game.
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Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

dhex · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:11 pm Post subject:

the first dmc is really fun until the last boss. fuck them.

my wife really likes paper mario. she may even finish it this year.
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simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

Games my girlfriend has enjoyed:
SSX3
Mario Kart: Double Dash
The minigames from Mario 64 DS
Mario Golf

that's it, really. And it took a long time for her to learn how to play those first two. Mario Golf is probably the only fully succesful experience I've had gaming with her, start to finish.

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:54 pm Post subject:

Szczepaniak · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 770

I'm going to ask a personal question, don't hate me for doing this.

Do you live in different apartments?

Give her a copy of System Shock 2, and give her a spare key to your place.

Then just wait for the sunlight to go away.

Oh yeah.... Instant knight in shining armour.

Well, unless she gets wise to the plan, in which case it may backfire horribly.

(The plan being that it freaks her out, and she rushes to your place, right into your arms. where you can say "It's alright, I'm here for you." I mean, it's a fairly deceitful trick, true, almost like the popcorn cinema trick from that movie, but hey.... it's all I can think of right now in terms of games.)