the ever-present "girlfriend games" thread

[aaron]

hay guyz,

my girlfriend says to me tonight, "we should find some more games that i like." to which i say, "really?" and she replies, "yeah, i really like playing with you but i don't like most of the games you play." which leads me to this oft-belabored and much-chagrined question: "What games should I get for my girlfriend?" she likes the following games as far as i can tell (as in, we've played them together and have seemingly had a good time):

Peggle
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Every Extend Extra
Trials HD
Ken Griffey Jr presents Major League Baseball
Mario Party 2

she doesn't have an opposition to violence (she may actually prefer it). she's not super into anime style games. i have a 360, PS2, saturn, dreamcast, SNES and N64. bring it on. i know there have been a million threads like this but i'd like to hear everyone's current recommendations and/or success stories with getting their otherwise non-gaming ladyfriend (or manfriend) into playing games and actually enjoying themselves, not just putting up with it.

sincerely,
aaron

[jfrost]

My girlfriend loves Metal Slug. When I bought Metal Slug Anthology she smiled at me condescendingly, then I made her play the games, and she loved them. In fact, she loved them so much she always plays them now when she goes to the arcade (having 1cced MS5 once, by the way).

I would recommend any beat-'em-ups and run-'n-gun games for cooperative and loving fun between guys and their girlfriends. Maybe she would like Alien Hominid?

Also, since your girlfriend likes Peggle, try something like Columns with her. Again, my girlfriend liked it. Well, most puzzle games are pretty much guaranteed to be enjoyed.

[gtmtnbiker]

I wonder if she would like Paper Mario 64 or Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door? Those would be my recommendations.

[aaron]

i have metal slug anthology, never thought of that. maybe i can get her to play gunstar heroes with me too. hmm.

[jfe2]

My wife is really into Bejeweled 2 on Steam and Uno on XBLA. She also had a lot of fun playing co-op Zombie Apocalypse with me on XBLA. That was surprising to me, but the game is easy to pick up and play.

[vlame]

almost anything on the ds

phoenix wright
layton
yoshi's island
cooking mama
kirby

[PGchris]

Play through the donkey kong country games with her I have fond memories of getting high playing through the trilogy with my ex

[dire51]

My wife likes games like Tetris, Ms. Pac-Man and Columns, but also likes shooters: R-Type, U.N. Squadron, In The Hunt, Aero Fighters and Strikers 1945 II among others (the last three she gets to play at work in their arcade). I even picked up the Super Famicom version of Aero Fighters, Sonic Wings, for her for our anniversary so she could play it at home.

But since my wife does not conform to what a "typical" woman would like when it comes to games, I may not be of any help here. I had two serious relationships before my wife: the first girl didn't really play videogames, and the second one played nothing but PC games, namely You Don't Know Jack, Diablo II and crappy internet flash games.

What the hell. Break out a good shooter and see if she gets into it.

[the7k]

For some reason, Tetris Attack has the reputation of being a "Girl Game". For example, the last AWA I went to had a Tetris Attack tournament, but it was only open to females.

Which I think is bullshit. Tetris Attack is an "Everyone Game". I contemplated crossplaying just to get into the tournament.

[elvis]

Here's one I prepared earlier:

http://www.stickfreaks.com/rant_girls_games.php