How would you get someone started on gaming?

[Durahansolo]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Watch me as I backpedal faster than Lance Armstrong on a bike.

Now that I look at it, we are picking games and systems that we would pick for ourselves pretty much. Think about it like this, what was the first game you can remember that got you hooked on a specific type of gaming and why (Racing, RPG, Strategy, Etc.).

[Lmnop]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

And frankly, fun in video games is somewhat overrated. Being interested is far far more important than having fun. Like a good novel, you don't have to be smiling and laughing and having a good time in order to thoroughly enjoy it. Obviously being bored isn't good, but if all you're looking for is 'fun', you're going to skip right over a lot of the greatest parts of gaming.

Wow. I couldn't have worded this better, myself.

Not true at all. You should know better, alphabet.

I don't have a Wii. Maybe I didn't realize. Give me the name of a 50 hour-long Wii game that isn't full of giggles and light-hearted comedy, and doesn't require more than one person to get the most out of. Oh, and compelling story.

[Malacite]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

I don't have a Wii. Maybe I didn't realize. Give me the name of a 50 hour-long Wii game that isn't full of giggles and light-hearted comedy, and doesn't require more than one person to get the most out of. Oh, and compelling story.

Yeah, my best friend loves to read fantasy novels. She's only ever played FF X-2 and 8, but getting a PS2 (or backwards compatible PS3) and the entirety of the Final Fantasy series is a good way to start.

Most of the games are turn based, and even the ATB isn't terribly fast (yay wait mode) so it's not all that stressful for someone like her who's not terribly good at games and lacks the reflexes needed for a game like Halo.


The closest thing the Wii has to a compelling, long game would be Twighlight Princess but IMO that really doesn't count at all. Same goes for Fire Emblem really >. <; Mind you, the Wii has the virtual console and there are quite a few gems on there right now.

But over all I'd say the Ps2 would be the best system to go with (again, unless you have a backwards compatible PS3 like I do and money isn't an issue) since it's cheap and has a massive library of games.

[Feba]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Give me the name of a 50 hour-long Wii game that isn't full of giggles and light-hearted comedy, and doesn't require more than one person to get the most out of. Oh, and compelling story.

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition.



Not a great game, but it meets all of those criteria. Otherwise, I'd say 50 hours is very far on the high side. Pretty much only RPGs and GTA [clones] (Blackhand falls into the latter group) reach that level, and as I mentioned there hasn't been much in the way of good RPGs so far this generation. If you toss out the time requirement (and really, look at the length of 'blockbuster' games on other consoles, like Halo) it becomes much more reasonable. Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption are both pretty serious games; RE4 has at least 30 hours of story, and tons of replay value. Twilight Princess and No More Heroes have plenty of humor, but they're far from childish, if not too heavy on the story side. Super Mario Galaxy, while definitely kid friendly and story-lite, is also very much a gamer's game; with tons of hours and plenty of difficulty in there to truly complete. Zack and Wiki is somewhat childish and comedic, but that doesn't keep it from being a very solid game. Okami is much less kid friendly, but has plenty of jokes. It's a game that anyone who has even moderately enjoyed Zelda should try, and then quite a few more people.

And yes, not all of these games are Wii exclusive. HOWEVER, all of the ones I mention have significant benefit from being on Wii; typically 16:9, controls, improved content or graphics, or some combination of the three

The Wii has plenty to offer gamers. It might not be as well hyped and advertised, but it is definitely there, right below the surface.

[Ameroth]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Give me the name of a 50 hour-long Wii game that isn't full of giggles and light-hearted comedy, and doesn't require more than one person to get the most out of. Oh, and compelling story.

Twilight Princess. You can spend easily 50+ hours in this game.

Maybe that sounds elitist, but "Bowling, Tennis, Mario Party, and Cooking Mama" don't exactly prove video games to be much further along than Space Invaders.

Yeah I'd call you elitist. What's wrong with space invaders?

Not that I have a problem with those games. Just... it's basically all Wii has. The more people who see that as the only dimension of gaming means more people who still don't understand mature games exist (my brother used to work retail and always informed parents that the copies of GTA he was selling were not meant for anyone under the age of 17. They were always shocked).

TP, Smash Bros, Metroid, Animal Crossing (unreleased but obviously fun), Mario Galaxies, Wario Ware, etc are all fun, and possibly engrossing games that are rated T or lower. Newsflash: A game needn't carry an M rating to be fun or interesting. With this logic, you could assume that people who enjoy a nice family film would never possibly be interested in a rated R film.

Just because Wii has made a living off more family friendly games doesn't discredit it from still have potential as an amazingly fun console. Not to mention, the majority of people that blow the Wii off are the same people who haven't really gotten the chance to see what the Wii can offer.

p.s. I'm not really a Wii/Nintendo fanboy. I just don't like the misconception that a video game has to be aimed at hardcore gamers to be fun. Spend an hour or two in Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing and we'll talk.

Twighlight Princess but IMO that really doesn't count at all.

Why?

[Lmnop]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Thanks, Feba. I was honestly looking for information and you delivered. Twilight Princess is the one game that I saw coming, of course. I've never been able to stick with a Zelda game, oddly. And so far, Twilight Princess is the only one I'm really wanting to play.

So, thanks Feba. And Ameroth is a dick as always so I'm not going to justify you with comment.

[Malacite]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

I wouldn't rate TP that high personally, but then someone who's new to gaming likely wouldn't be as Jaded about it as I am.


I honestly can't think of a better title that fits that criteria to throw someone into than FFX. The battle system is perfect since you can effectively take as much time as you need, the story was pretty good and the production values were through the roof for such an early release.


FF7 might be the "favorite" in the entire series, but it also looks very dated and may put some people off. XII, while more recent is more complex and quite frankly a fair bit more serious than the others (except 6 and even then >.>) as well.


The reason I don't count the Zelda game is because it's not story driven. Yes there is a story to it but let's face it, Zelda's always been about slaying monsters and exploring dungeons. The story is just there to keep RPG fans hooked and even then it's fairly weak. Take into account the horribly convoluted Zelda time line and.... well, rather not get into that head ache.


Honestly the story's just not that compelling at all. It definitely took a more serious tone than the others (while attempting to copy my personal favorite in the series, LTTP) but it's still an action title with the same tired predictable story.



Even Mario Galaxy isn't all that newbie friendly. The game can be fairly difficult and horribly nauseating at times due to the camera. If you're going to set someone started into gaming with the Wii, I would say to go with Mario Kart and Zelda though.

That way you get a balance of simple, easy fun and hardcore gaming because let's not kid ourselves; Zelda is for the hardcore gamer Nintendo fans.

[Feba]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Well, honestly, one of the reasons I enjoyed TP so much was because I played OOT (gamecube) around the same time. There are some times when I imagine OOT levels, and they're in TP quality graphics; the new game made the old game actually feel newer, in some ways.

[Telera]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon are love....

That said, I'd probably have to go the PS2 route. Most of the strong RPGs are on that platform, as well as many strong games in just about every other genre. If you were looking to get someone into gaming that hadn't been before, the PS2 would be a very good starting ground for showing them what each genre was about.

[Susurrus]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Think about it like this, what was the first game you can remember that got you hooked on a specific type of gaming and why (Racing, RPG, Strategy, Etc.).

Good point.

Here's what you do (Amazon prices, rounded to nearest $):

Wii: $250
Wii-Play (might as well spend extra $10 when getting 2nd controller to get extra game): $45
Classic controller: $17
Classic Controller: $17

Spend up to the rest of the $171 on VC. These are the games most of us started on, right?

List of games available (w/ new ones added every Monday):

List of Virtual Console games (North America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

You've got pretty much every genre available on there.

[Durahansolo]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

Good point.

Here's what you do (Amazon prices, rounded to nearest $):

Wii: $250
Wii-Play (might as well spend extra $10 when getting 2nd controller to get extra game): $45
Classic controller: $17
Classic Controller: $17

Spend up to the rest of the $171 on VC. These are the games most of us started on, right?

That's what I was thinking, cept me that started with Atari and my brother's old Magnavox Odyssey lol. However, since nobody ever learned how to play E.T. I'd stay away from atari .

RPG: First RPG game I played was not a Final Fantasy Game, My first RPG was Super Mario RPG lmao (Which is now on the Virtual Console I think).

Strategy: First Strategy game I ever played was Close Combat, and soon after that Age of Empires.

FPS: First FPS I ever played was Goldeneye for N64, now that game provided hours upon hours of entertainment. Not only in multiplayer, but also in single player. After that there was Unreal Tournament for Dreamcast, I miss those bots .

Adventure: I guess Mario Brothers Series. Super Mario Brothers 2 was the only one I didn't own. Super Mario 1, 3, All-Stars, World, and Land 2 all fit in this category.

Racing: Mario Kart (SNES) was the first real racing game that I loved, then Diddy Kong Racing on (N64) & Edit: Wave Race 64. Lastly would've probably been Grand Turismo 3 (PS2), Midnight Club 1/2/Dub Edition (PS2) , and Need For Speed: Underground 1/2.

Action: Mega Man 1-3, 7, and X were the only ones I owned. Final Fight (SNES) yeah that game was fun especially after I got my first controller with Auto-Fire lmao. Duck Hunt with Light Gun (NES) and my personal favorites Super Scope 6(SNES) and Yoshi's Safari(SNES) with Super Scope Cannon. Vigilante 8 and Vigilante 8: SE.

Simulation: Sim City 3000/4 were the only ones I owned. Sims and Sims 2 series, nuff said. (PC)

Puzzle: Tetris (Gameboy), Columns (Game Gear), and now Lumines Series.

Sports: Madden 94 (SNES), Madden 64 (N64) and NBA Showdown (SNES), then NBA Live 95 and 96(SNES). NBA Jam/SE(SNES)/Showtime(SNES)/Hoopz(DC)/Street Series(PS2). Old Favorite Wayne Gretzky's 3-D Hockey(N64) and Blades of Steel (First hockey game I ever played, all I remember doing was fighting in that game, there were no actual goals scored lol.) at least I actually played Wayne Gretzsky.

Random: The most random game ever Vegas Stakes (SNES). This was a casino game that had 4 different casinos with different table limits in it. After you gained a certain amount of money you were able to go to a 5th casino with a infinite table limit until either you won the game or they kicked you out for losing too much money. While playing the game ultra random stuff would happen. For example somebody would walk up to you down on their luck and ask to watch you. When they asked if they could watch you, your casino buddy would pop up and say "This person could be a pickpocket, be careful." If you chose to let them watch you play they'll either leave a few games later or steal your wallet which took half of whatever money you had. You could get a lottery ticket that wins you like $1000. So the game was always kept interesting.

[Malacite]

Re: How would you get someone started on gaming?

RPG: FF7

Strategy: Command & Conquer

FPS: Wolfenstein

Adventure: Honestly I'm not sure.

Racing: Super Mario Kart

Action: Mega Man 2 (Also the very fist video game I ever played and incidentally one of my favorite series ever)

Simulation: Sim City 2

Puzzle: Tetris (NES)


Sports: Does the multi-sports thing on the Sega Master system count? I forget the name but there was biking on a mountain, catching a frisby and other stuff.