Wife Gaming

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Wailer85

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I'm a long time gamer that has recently gotten married. My new bride has been ambivalent about the PS3 and my gaming. She enjoys the blurays and doesn't mind late night gaming after she's gone to bed. However, she does not find much pleasure in watching me sit and play for any extended period of time.

Instead of yearning for my pre-marriage years, I'm looking to find some games we could play together. She has no gaming experience. All suggestions welcome.
 
Play Street Fighter, purposely make matches close calls. It's how I get everyone hooked on it. And when they learn how to do the correct motions they feel accomplished =D

But if she's not the type to play "guy" games, then go with LBP or something "cute." Whatever you do, stay away from COD.

(and I also agree with the poster below)
 
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If your only console is a PS3 you may have a difficult time with this. LBP is probably the best recommendation. ModNation Racers may work too. The problem with the PS3 is that most of the games that are multiplayer are all dependent on twitch gameplay and she may be put off by the demands on her reflexes. If she isn't in to gaming then I wouldn't try to force it too hard. Maybe you could get a DS or PSP and play that next to her on the couch while she watches TV and wait to play the big games when she goes to bed.
 
[quote name='8bitArtist']tell her she needs to find a hobby to do while you do yours. no one is forcing her to watch you play games.[/QUOTE]
this. or you need to start laying off the games.

or you can knock her up. thatll keep her busy.
 
try the lego games ( starwars cmplete saga, indiana jones, harry potter, batman) theyre good to play with a chick. puzzle games are good as well. id also say maybe a platformer or 2 like ratchet and clank and any games with a female lead ( tomb raider, heavenly sword).
 
same problem here. I've only been able to get her to play Lumines (psp) she LOVES this and critter crunch (psn). she button mashes soul caliber but i cant get her seriously into it. Oh, rockband and singstar are also fun for her. She likes to sing.

I am thinking of getting LBP 2 and hoping for the best. Probably our best shot.
 
My wife plays the all the Lego games (star wars, indiana jones, harry potter, etc.) with me and she doesnt play games usually. Also the Buzz Quiz TV and Scene It games are easy to get into. But she will watch me play some game genres.
 
My wife loves little big planet and new super mario bros. She also enjoys the DS I bought for her, so if you can't get her into PS3 gaming, you can pick up a DS for her. Suprise her with it as a gift with some chocolates and flowers, and she'll be really excited.
 
Heavy Rain possibly, Katamari Forever are a few PS3 titles my fiance has played a good bit. I'd recommend Viva Pinata, but those are 360 exclusives.

Have you considered rhythm games? We play Rock Band/Guitar Hero occasionally as well. Best of luck regardless. =]
 
Use Flower as an entry point, move to Magic Orbz (just don't tell her 'Wanna play with my magic orbz?') which is a simple breakout clone but very entertaining, basically the idea is to go from very simple-controls to something more meaty over time. Completely avoid competitive multiplayer until she gets the hang of the controls or she'll just get frustrated.

I've never tried it though, my wife is 100% anti-gaming, so good luck!

And avoid the very very silly advice of knocking her up, there's no better way to STOP having your gaming time than having a baby
 
My wife doesn't game. But she is usually fine with reading a book or messing on the internet while/when I play. The few games that I got her into were LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet and Clank (omg, it's a cute kitty character) and actually Heavy Rain.

One game that I got her so into she will actually request to play is Trivial Pursuit. She also likes it when I play Katamari b/c of both the soundtrack and periodically, when your katamari is large enough, you can swallow up fat people and cats and birds and cows, and they all make fun sounds.
 
My soon to be wife is not too big into gaming either. She did enjoy LBP and Modnation racers. She also likes to create my characters for games like Dragon Age and Demon souls. Some times I just let her create a bunch of characters.
 
i would agree with the littlebigplanet suggestion, especially the customization.
But if she hasn't really played games, it can be difficult/frustrating and isn't an ideal gateway game.
also agree that katamari can be good, but again, not really as an entry point.

does she game at all? the ps3 can be too much to take in if they haven't gamed at all.
Maybe some pc gaming, first?

Peggle is an excellent gateway game for someone to try, as is plants v zombies- most everything popcap makes.
hidden object games, or stuff on shockwave/bigfish

if you want to stay with the ps3, I suggest co-op games, that are relatively easy, and allow one person to kind of pull the other through/defend- a game like death jr on wii. Frustration is an enjoyment killer. also, if a game has lite rpg elements, that can also be a plus.

But, have you asked her what she might like? Said that you enjoy doing this, you think there may be some games she enjoys. You don't want to force her to do anything or make her unhappy, but you would like to try to share this part of your life with her. And the bottom line is, when couples game together, it can be a great experience. Far more bonding than watching tv/or movies together.
 
Two thoughts:

1. Buy your own TV for gaming. It solves a lot of problems.
2. Get RockBand, if she is into it music. If she sucks playing the instruments, she can sing....if she sucks at singing, well, I can't help you there.
 
Honestly two games did it for my wife. First one was FFX, then World Of Warcraft. Most of my friends had the same experience(World of Warcraft). After a while they learn to fly solo in WoW and lets you free up time to play on the console or with your wife ;)
 
Luckily my wife is a gamer and loves to play or watch, but some of our favorite co-op games have been LittleBigPlanet, Borderlands, and Tales of Symphonia. I've also gotten her completely and hopelessly addicted to Pokemon, which is a great couch game while you play on the console.
 
What kinds of hobbies or interests does your wife have. It would make sense to come up with a game that relates to either of those. i.e. like's watching game shows, family feud would be a great game.

btw, family feud is pretty fun with a friend or even online. And I'm the type to play games like SSFIV for hours on end, so not exactly the casual gamer.
 
Just pick up Uno and Hasbro Family Game Night and she'll never bother you again. I've recommended these 2 to everyone (who has wives or GFs) and it never fails.

Being a newlywed, be careful. They're alot of "loser douchebags" who are smooth talkers (and the 1st year of a actual marriage is usually the hardest and you definitely don't need some "a**hole nutcase who works at Sears full-time" in your mix). No offense to Sears :)
 
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My wife enjoyed playing LBP and Buzz with me. She also enjoyed watching me play Heavy Rain.

Also consider getting her a DS as you're more likely to find good games geared towards more casual players to keep her occupied while you do what you want. My wife played the Layton games and is currently playing Picross 3D
 
If you want an easy game for her that she will also think is cute, I recommend Critter Crunch. It's a game both of you can play together and I'm sure she'll fairly like it. If she likes puzzles, you can also get Lemmings. That will keep her away for a while.
 
LittleBigPlanet GOTY is great for co-op gaming and is seriously fun as well. Could go with Borderlands as well for some of the RPG element. Maybe something like Rainbow Six Vegas even. You would be surprised at how much more fun any game is in co-op.
 
My wife plays some games. Recently I guess I opened the flood gates because she loves light gun games. So I guess my suggestion is to get Time Crisis, also I lucked out my wife usually knits while I play.
 
My wife will generally play any co-op games with me, especially action RPGs or the Lego games.

Thankfully she also enjoys backseat driving (spectating) while I play other games like Infamous or Batman AA or what have you. According to Kevin Butler, Uncharted 2 is like watching a movie, so maybe she'd watch you play that?
 
[quote name='jmbreci']1. Buy your own TV for gaming. It solves a lot of problems.[/QUOTE]
:applause: We have a winner. It sure as hell beats my 'get a different wife' suggestion I was gonna make.:rofl:
[quote name='LaraCroftsLeftBoob']the best game for women is "get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich"

maybe she'll unlock an achievement.[/QUOTE]
:rofl: That's all I'm saying.
 
I know quite a few girls, including a few moms, who have really taken a liking to Ratchet and Clank. Grab A Crack in Time, and I guarantee she'll be hooked. (You will be too. :p )
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']:applause: We have a winner. It sure as hell beats my 'get a different wife' suggestion I was gonna make.:rofl:

:rofl: That's all I'm saying.[/QUOTE]

I'm assuming you don't have a wife. :rofl:
 
[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']I'm assuming you don't have a wife. :rofl:[/QUOTE]
You are correct. I've had a couple of gf's who have 'tolerated' my gaming hobby, but still expected me to enjoy their hobbies with them. Suffice to say those relationships didn't last.

Then again, I'm as mouthy irl as I am on here, so that may have also contributed to it.;)
 
My wife didn't game before we got married, but now she plays, and all in all is more appreciative of the hobby.

You aren't going to win over a non-gamer with the kinds of games you play now. They require a lot of reflexes and hand eye coordination that a non-gamer just doesn't have. When a game becomes frustrating, its not a game - its a chore.

Turn based games like Mario Party and Dokapon Kingdom my wife and I can play together. Her choices, rather than her hand-eye coordination dictate her success in games like that. Additionally, She has a lot of fun playing Rock Band with me, mostly singing or playing the guitar on easy.

My wife really enjoys puzzle games (puzzle quest, sudoku, Meteos, etc) and games like Hotel Dusk and the Ace Attorney series. Your goal shouldn't be to leap right into doing things together right at the start, but to get her interested in something that fits her interests, then once she has a grasp of those kinds of games, expanding the horizons slowly.

I will never be able to play a game like Mario or Halo with my wife - she gets really frustrated because of the twitch reflex kind of stuff, but even so.. her newfound love of one genre of games helps her to understand my love for the kinds of games I enjoy.
 
This is an odd one, but I would say Uncharted 2. Theres No Co-op, but watching it is like watching a blockbuster movie. Whenever I play that game the whole family gathers around
 
I got lucky. My fiancee (we're getting married in 3 months) is a pretty major geek like me, but wasn't really any kind of gamer at first. Then she really got into certain games after watching me play them constantly. Fable II, the Kingdom Hearts games, Little Big Planet. She doesn't seem to go for more hardcore stuff though. I think the key is finding a gateway game so to speak. It won't be the same for everyone, but multi-player casual games are probably a good start.
 
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My wife isn't too big into gaming, my suggestion is to never let gaming stop you guys from doing something together. If she'd rather go to a movie or take a walk or whatever, do that. Game on your down time. It's okay for both of you to have hobbies but it shouldn't get in the way of you guys doing other activities together. On down time for both of you it should be cool for you to game while she does something else.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']You are correct. I've had a couple of gf's who have 'tolerated' my gaming hobby, but still expected me to enjoy their hobbies with them. Suffice to say those relationships didn't last.[/QUOTE]
On a related note, it's nice to want to get your non-gamer significant other into gaming, but you should expect, on the flipside, to show some interest in their hobbies as well. It's only fair, right? ;)

OP, I'd say the best way to go is to gauge her interests and go from there. Does she like sci-fi? Pop music? Crime dramas? Cartoons? Certain types of sports and/or traditional games? Etc. And if it turns out that she doesn't like gaming, then no big deal; at least she doesn't mind your hobby :)

You don't even have to like the same types of games. My husband and I are both gamers, but we have very different tastes. For instance, he likes WRPGs, which for the most part I can't stand, and I like DDR, which he doesn't care for. There are some games that we'll play together (we're fond of Worms Armageddon, Chu Chu Rocket!, and StarCraft), but those sessions are few and far between.

Also, something to keep in mind: watching someone else play a game for an extended amount of time can be really boring, because you aren't playing it yourself. For games that I haven't already played myself, I've found that only if there's a decent amount of cutscenes and/or puzzles to help solve can it be genuinely interesting. That said, LoZ: Twilight Princess and Assassin's Creed II were two of the more "watchable" games for me.
 
I'd like to interrupt this thread with a public grammar announcement:

Fiance is a male and fiancee is a female. Just so y'all know.
 
[quote name='blueshinra']On a related note, it's nice to want to get your non-gamer significant other into gaming, but you should expect, on the flipside, to show some interest in their hobbies as well. It's only fair, right? ;)[/QUOTE]

Yeah. It would be nice to get them into my hobby, though once I found out they only 'tolerated' my hobby and pretended to like to game with me to appease me, that made me not wanna be very nice anymore. Especially since I was still supposed to play nicey nicey and be all into their shit.:razz:
 
As the OP, I'd like to thank everyone for the suggestions. I think a few may have come from gamers without, at this moment, a significant other (e.g. knock her up, tell her to read a book, ignore her, etc.).

I bought Flower as many people suggested. That kept our collective interest for about an hour. I see how some may have enjoyed the non typical game play, but I personally found it boring. Unfortunately, my attitude probably influenced my wife.

After that failure I followed more advice and bought Lego Harry Potter. I am happy to report my wife and I have had two gaming sessions (1.5 -2.0 hrs each) over the past couple of days. She is actually excited for the next time we can play. This is a huge win.
 
the best game for women is "get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich"

maybe she'll unlock an achievement.
Click to expand...

I'll be sure to use this line after some lego build doesn't work. Hopefully my achievement will be turkey and swiss on a wrap.
 
Love my wife; while she's not a gamer she actually enjoys gaming with me. In the past we've played: Project Gotham Racing 2, Halo (funny, but it was fun meleeing sp? her lol), Mario Kart and Bomberman.

So for the PS3 you may want to try out bomberman from the PSN. She just might enjoy trying to bomb you or other characters. Or maybe some of those kart-based racing games like ModNation or Sonic racing.
 
If she is into trivia, I'd try Buzz Quiz World. I have the original games on PS2 and my girlfriend and I compete in those games together. It's a lot of fun!
 
Another vote for Buzz.

On PSN, try Critter Crunch or Super Rub A Dub. If you want to try some old school games, try the Ultimate Genesis Collection.
 
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