Do you buy video games for your significant other?

[Haoie]

Dang it, is everyone here married but me?

[Mozgus]

So I guess this thread helps verify that women don't play good games...

[Original_Name]

Not a significant other, but a girlfriend of more than a year.

Let's see, I bought her a Super Nintendo with Super Mario World + All-Stars and Yoshi's Island (I got such a great deal on that. One of the highlights of my eBay career). That was her favorite by quite far. I also repaired an old Dreamcast (the laser was loose. Easy fix) and gave it to her, and burnt her a bunch of games; her favorites are Space Channel 5: Part 2, Powerstone 2, Dead or Alive 2, Rez, Cosmic Smash, Mr. Driller, Grandia 2, Samba De Amigo, Crazy Taxi, and she's about to start Skies of Arcadia. Pretty awesome.

This year I got her Rune Factory 2: A Harvest Moon RPG (or whatever it's called) for Christmas, because she's absolutely in love with Harvest Moon, but has lately been wanting to get into RPG's more. We saw a video of it and it looked great, and I looked up a review with favorable reviews, so it looks like a good buy. I'm sure she'll play it alot alongside Animal Crossing and Kirby Super Star Ultra. I actually kinda like her taste in video games... except for that one time she said she liked the Sonic Adventures better than the old ones because they were, "too fast". ._.

Our relationship is pretty much the meeting of hardcore Segaphile and a casual-but-dedicated Nintendite. Made up words are great. I think we both cherish art and addictiveness overall, but I think I value story a bit more than she does.

So yeah, it seems like my girlfriend has better taste than you guys' significant others.

UTTER PWNINATION.

[elvis]

Bought the wife a DS Lite and Puzzle Quest a couple of years back, and more recently a Wii.

Between Wii VC and emulators on the DS, she's come close to finishing every single Zelda game (with the exception of the original on NES, which we're all finding tough going after coming backwards from more recent titles).

Now she's on to the various Mario and Yoshi titles.

The best thing about getting my wife into gaming is she understands the hobby, and as a result I get more time for my own gaming since she's grown to love the passtime too. That wasn't my motivation for introducing her to it, but it's certainly been a pleasant side effect.

[Niode]

I don't really buy my fiancée game related things for xmas. She tends to not buy me much in the way of game related things either unless I specifically ask for them (she bought me a Neo Geo MVS for my birthday last year, I said that was what I wanted and it didn't matter if she couldn't afford it, I wouldn't be upset if I didn't get it. Not only did she get me the MVS (a 4 slotter no less) she also surprised me with GH3 for PS2 and Resident Evil 4 for Wii). She is good at picking up on stuff I like though. When she does get me game related things she's never bought be a shitty game. I've always liked all the stuff she's bought me.

We tend to get each other thoughtful things at xmas rather than games. I'm completely fine with that. I'd much prefer to buy my own games just so I don't get dupes or dud games anyway.

Most of the time we're buying each other games throughout the year, she knows when good games are cheap, and I buy stuff for her DS and PS2. Things that I know she'd like or stuff she wouldn't necessarily buy herself.

It's not really surprising that a lot of the members here are in committed relationships/married. There are quite a lot of 'older' members here. The younger guys are definitely in a minority.

[Scooter]

HA! The only time I can get my wife to turn on the PS2 is so she can watch a movie. And now that we have DVD players all over the house she doesn't go near a video game. I only wish I could get her to play a few games. She will spend entire weekends watching movies but thinks games are a silly waste of time.

She did surprise me the other night when she asked for a Wii so we could play Wii Sports together. We played tennis at a friend's house once and she loved it. Previous holidays I've asked her if she'd play if I bought a Wii and she said probably not. Of course now when she's "in the mood" I've already spent all I'm going to spend for the holidays and her birthday was just a week ago. I have no really desire to have a Wii for myself so there's no use in asking her to give ME a Wii. If all the current generation machines available, it is 3rd on my list for the system I'd want the most for myself.

[elvis]

I only wish I could get her to play a few games.

Getting the fairer gender into gaming is not difficult. There's a few tricks to it, but basically you can boil it down to:

1) Find a game that *SHE* likes. Don't plonk her down in front of Street Fighter 4 and expect her to get excited by it. For my wife it was Puzzle Quest on DS, and various Zelda games. There was much trial and error getting there too (it's not like she browsed gamer sites all day telling me what she wanted to play).

2) Don't play versus games. There's nothing that will turn a new (male or female) gamer off like having their arse handed to them repeatedly.

3) Don't be a back seat driver. Let her play at her speed, and don't stand over her shoulder telling her what she's doing wrong (unless she asks, and then keep it short and to the point - and for pete's sake don't criticise what she's doing!).

4) The big one... be patient. "Play" is a natural part of the human psyche. I dare say that everyone likes to play games. But it's all about finding the right game (and yes, it might only be one), and not being pushy about it.

[Scooter]

I only wish I could get her to play a few games.

Getting the fairer gender into gaming is not difficult. There's a few tricks to it, but basically you can boil it down to:

1) Find a game that *SHE* likes. Don't plonk her down in front of Street Fighter 4 and expect her to get excited by it. For my wife it was Puzzle Quest on DS, and various Zelda games. There was much trial and error getting there too (it's not like she browsed gamer sites all day telling me what she wanted to play).

2) Don't play versus games. There's nothing that will turn a new (male or female) gamer off like having their arse handed to them repeatedly.

3) Don't be a back seat driver. Let her play at her speed, and don't stand over her shoulder telling her what she's doing wrong (unless she asks, and then keep it short and to the point - and for pete's sake don't criticise what she's doing!).

4) The big one... be patient. "Play" is a natural part of the human psyche. I dare say that everyone likes to play games. But it's all about finding the right game (and yes, it might only be one), and not being pushy about it.

Oh, I've tried. The last game she actually played was Ecco the Dolphin. This was back when the game was new....

I bought a number of puzzle games for the PSP before a long trip last summer thinking she might like them to pass the time since I do all the driving, she never touched them. Luckily they are games I've been able to get some enjoyment out of regardless.

The problem with my wife is that she fundamentally doesn't like video games (funny, she loves board games?!) and thinks they are a silly waste of time. I wish she would at least try them, I think there are a number of games that she would really enjoy if she just gave them a try. She loves movies so I'm sure a relatively easy story driven game would keep her interested.

[elvis]

The problem with my wife is that she fundamentally doesn't like video games (funny, she loves board games?!) and thinks they are a silly waste of time.

My best friend's wife is like this. Video games and anime are "for kids", and thus childish and/or a waste of time. I'm not sure how to convince someone with such deep-seeded preconceptions that both can be for any age group. I guess finding out where the preconception stems from in the first place is step one.

Ironically the lady in question can spend thousands of dollars a year on getting hair and nails done, and spending time gossiping with friends about the latest fashions and hollywood starlets. Each to their own waste of time (and money), I guess.