A Boyfriend's Guide to Get Your Girl to Game
He games but she doesn't; can it work out for both of them? Yes, it can
“Natalie, my girl Mandy doesn’t understand my love for games and she won’t even touch a controller when I want to include her during one of my frag fests. What can I do to get her to game with me like I do with you?” A close male friend named Chris asked me as we plowed through the Locus horde in Gears of War one evening.
I get this question quite a lot from my male friends who game and oftentimes I start feeling like that tomboyish girl in that cable show “My Boys” - you know, the one who happily shares a cold beer with her male friends while talking sports non-stop at the poker table. The only difference is that we talk over a lengthy spy versus mercenaries round of Splinter Cell: Double Agent or while massacring each another in Resistance: Fall of Man. I could see that every male friend who asks me this question is determined to share their love for games with their girlfriends rather than putting their gaming on hold because said girlfriend is turned off by games.
You, me, Guitar Hero II and a bottle of wine? I am so there!My response is always the same: find a game that appeals to all ages and genders and start with that. This means if you want to introduce games to your girlfriend you don’t start with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or a complex shooter like Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. You start with a game that requires a second player and is fit for all types of gamers. I suggest starting with Wii Sports, a game that offers bowling and tennis (among other sports, but tennis and bowling feels right). The Nintendo Wii is a wonderful console to introduce to your date mainly because the games A, require a more physical response thanks to the innovative controllers and B, many of the games are easy to get into almost immediately.
Many female non-gamers have sited that many games feel complex thanks to the controls and this might not seem far off but with the Wii the controls require a player’s natural movements. I would stick with games that require multiple players but once your date has an idea of how the controls work you can move to games like Mario Party 8, Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves and finally The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. That’s right; leave Twilight Princess for last because it requires all the things she learned from sharing a game of bowling and the various party games that Mario Party 8 has to offer. Twilight Princess will serve as your gateway to a somewhat more complex and story-oriented genre … the role-playing game.
“Is this a good time to tell you how much I love you?”Role-playing games take longer to finish and it may require you to surrender your controller but now you’re introducing a new type of game to your non-gaming girl. The RPG has all the drama, romance, adventure and action that epic movies possess and most importantly the stories in many of these games will hook your date to the point that she will want to know what happens next. You can start with the most emotional ones like Final Fantasy VII or, if you rather stick with the new stuff, start with Final Fantasy XII. The Kingdom Hearts series is another great role-playing game to start with seeing as it mixes characters from the Final Fantasy series with familiar Disney characters. The trick, really, is to show your girlfriend that that’s more to games than just shooting and punching (all of which you can introduce later as long as you play alongside her … but we’ll get to that later) and that games come in different genres much like movies do.
If story is her thing, you can move to games that involve a little more direct action but nothing too gritty (e.g. the Silent Hill games) or too overly violent (Condemned: Criminal Origins). Keep her growing appetite for story and character development going with games like Bully for the PS2 (introducing her to GTA-styled gameplay so you can set her up for Grand Theft Auto IV) or Kameo: Elements of Power. If you want to introduce first-person shooters, don’t start with the more difficult ones like Rainbow Six Vegas but rather start with one that pushes a story to keep her interest in the game and to show her that first-person shooters can also be deep. I highly suggest starting with Peter Jackson’s King Kong since the game has a familiar story and it invites a gamer to experience a first-person perspective but also a third-person one as well. From there you can move to first-person shooter with its own style that isn’t too strict (Battlefield) or too blood-and-guts (The Darkness) like Biohazard or Perfect Dark Zero.
I’m the only one left alive? Oh yeah, whose your mommy!I always applaud games that offer co-op for the obvious reasons that you get to play side-by-side with your partner but also because it allows you to give your girlfriend a helping hand within the game. I can’t stress enough the power of encouragement, letting your girl know she did a great job of reaching the checkpoint or doing a great job of providing covering fire. Let her know you enjoyed having her play by your side and that her skills are getting better and better. I believe that couples that game together really do stay together and that sharing our hobby with those we love makes the game all the better.
Mah Evo IV~
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