Jan 07, 9:00 am
Once upon a time, I was a non-gamer… I know it’s hard to believe, but, I was. I didn’t start getting into gaming until 2004. Sure, I played a few games as a kid. I hadn’t played a video game in 15 years when I picked up an Xbox controller and fumbled my way through a game that would change my life forever. I have Sam Fisher, Master Chief, Rico Fuerte and God to thank for my life now, as we know it.
Since my re-birth as a gamer, I have converted a few of my non-gaming friends and family members into gamers. They may not game as hardcore as I do, but they are gaming and that’s what’s important.
We all have people in our lives that we would love to see pick up and play. Here are a few games that you might find helpful when trying to convert your non-gamer friends into gamers. Remember, there is a gamer inside each of us. We just need to find the right game to bring it out.
Picking the Right “Gateway” Game
The perfect gateway game needs to be, at the very least, interesting to watch for the non-gamer. That’s how the seed is planted. If they don’t find it entertaining to watch, they will never want to play. Next, the controls need to be easy to pick up and the game also needs to reward the player with the feeling of achievement rather quickly. Here are a few games I feel are good “gateway” games to get that special someone on the road to becoming a gamer.
Portal is a game that warms your heart with the perfect amount of cleverness and humor. When you solve your first puzzle you’re hooked. It’s a simple game that makes you feel brilliant and everyone likes to feel like a smarty-pants. It’s almost impossible to remain a silent spectator while watching this game. The desire to take control is as equally strong. This game has a very broad appeal; everyone who’s played it loves it.
The games in the Fable series have easy combat controls. No one likes to get their ass handed to them, especially a noob. The controls are simple and the auto targeting system makes fighting easy. These games make it fun for non-gamers to build a character and quest w/out getting frustrated from dying over and over. The Fable series offers compelling stories, beautiful graphics and loads of humor.
Assassins Creed 2 and ACB – The controls are very forgiving and easy to get use to. The camera adjusts for you so you don’t always have to look and move at the same time. The game auto targets so you can feel like a bad ass even if you have little gaming experience. The main character Ezio is so cool. You learn to become a master assassin as the game progresses. You start off with simple moves and as you play the difficulty increases. AC2 and ACB are beautiful games.
CSI Fatal Conspiracy is a great game for a non-gamer even on Xbox. It is really easy to play and has simple controls, perfect for someone who has never played a video game in their life. The CSI games are based off the hugely successful TV franchise. Fatal Conspiracy has you working along side the characters from the show searching crime scenes for clues and playing mini games to process evidence. Who doesn’t love solving crimes?
Stealth Games like Hitman or the old Splinter Cell games are real noob friendly because the slower you move around the better. It’s all about being sneaky and taking your time and the games prompt you with the correct button to push at the correct moment. Both the Hitman series and the Splinter Cell games have compelling stories to follow, iconic characters, great graphics and or are entertaining enough for non-gamers to just sit and watch.
Lego Games – I have yet to play a Lego game that I didn’t love. They are so much fun and can be played co-op. A non-gamer can jump in and opt out at any point. They are perfect games for everyone, young and old. The controls are easy and the learning curve is huge.
Just Dance and Just Dance 2- these games are so much fun and are an over all good time. Young and old, gamer or non-gamer they are fun for everyone. I love that I have family members devoting hours to these game in the hopes of getting good enough to battle me. They are also an easy sell to the parent who wants their kids to be more active.
New Super Mario Brothers – This game is a classic. It offers up to 4-player co-op and looks easy enough for even the greenest noob to think they would be able to play it. I wouldn’t say it’s easy but anyone can pick it up and have a lot of fun.
Game Show games, like The Price is Right, Family Feud, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire are always good at getting people involved. They are just like the shows that most people watch while they yell answers at their TV. The only difference is now they can actually get a score for their participation.
There are a lot of classic board games and card games available as video games to play, like Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, and Uno. Even my Dad sat down to play some Trivial Pursuit on Xbox with us last Christmas. That’s a big deal; he doesn’t even own a cell phone.
I wouldn’t recommend games that have a lot of button mashing, like fighting games. Button mashing to a noob is fun until your fingers get tired, and it’s not very rewarding since you don’t know what you are doing. Unless they feel compelled to invest the time to learn combos, their participation will be fleeting. However, this type of game has won many people over who have gone on to welcome a lifestyle full of games. So you never know.
I also wouldn’t recommend starting someone out with a First Person Shooter if they have never played games before. Learning to walk and look at the same time may overwhelm the average beginner. Even a campaign set to an easy difficulty will be too much for some non-gamers. Playing an FPS online is and even worse way to start a non-gamer. Having people running circles around you while you are on a spawn-and-die-cycle sucks.
With that being said, tons of people every day pick up a shooter and never put it down. Your noob would have to have a really strong desire to want to master the controls in order for this type of game to stick. There are a few ways you can help introduce someone to their future as an FPS gamer.
Pick a game like Halo. You can do an easy co-op campaign with up to 4 people. Help them get kills and cover them while you move them through the story. If they can learn to play Halo, they can play any other FPS. Before you go online you need a FPS game that allows you to have a private match where you and your noob friend can roam around, learn the maps and play with people who are interested in teaching someone how to play instead of just pwning them into the ground.
The new Call of Duty Black Ops has a great place for beginners to get the hang of online game play in their Combat Training game mode. Then again, it’s always fun to start a private match and fill the teams with noobs and watch them laugh and fumble their way to a kill.
Almost everyone I know is on facebook so introducing a friend to a facebook game is easy. It’s all about finding a theme that they will respond to. For example, I had a million requests from friends wanting me to play this game or that. I always turned them down. It wasn’t until I started to play CSI: Crime City did I start to really get into games on facebook. There is a facebook game out there for everyone so just keep trying.
Phone games are a great way to get non-gamers gaming. Our current cell technology is turning regular people into gamers by the thousands. Gaming on your phone when and wherever you want is one of the greatest advantages to owning a smart phone. There are some really great game apps available for cheap and even for free. Some of my favorites are Plants vs Zombies, Angry Birds, Field Runners, Doodle Jump, and Ragdoll Blaster 1 and 2. There are a lot of popular console titles that you can play on your phone as well.
I asked our followers on facebook what they thought were some good “gateway” games and how they converted their non-gaming friends into gamers? Here is what some of them had to say about the issue.
Chris Plumley: I converted my wife by using the less-than-typical video games such as Rock Band, Family Game Night, and now the Kinect. Now she uses the Xbox almost as much as I do!! Now if I can only shift her over to my FPS ways (e.g. Black Ops combat training) I will be a conversion god!!!
Brittney Nicole: My roommate was having a bad day, and I asked her if she wanted to kill sh*t. She said yes. Now we murder zombies together. (: I have her hooked on L4D1 & 2 and Kinect is never hard to get a girl to play!
Shelby Lyn Dobbs: Legend of Zelda (the first one) or Animal Crossing. I started my mom off on those! :]
Jaylon InReverse Jenkins: geometry wars, street fighter, minecraft, or like I did my ex, make them get intrigued with a game, buy it, boot camp them in it, and profit with a good partner until you break up lol
Jessica M. Green: Puzzle games and music games
Tunesha Davis: My dad plays that centipede game on his cell phone so that I would consider him a “gamer”, I thought it was cute! My mother in law bought a wii and plays wii sports. I just need to find a gateway from wii sports....
David Frankel: Wii fit for my mother, feeding frenzy for my 3yo daughter and COD:BO for my wifey
Shelby Leatherman: Kinnect games for sure. Also any of the fable, oblivion, or Sims games. Arcade games are also fun zuma or Bejeweled. Oh and don’t forget zombies on call of duty black ops.
David Scarrow: My mother used to enjoy playing Tomb Raider 2 on the computer and she was never into any kind of gaming. She didn’t play the story. She just liked to get Lara to run around her house. It was quite funny.
Chris Plumley: Black Ops does an awesome job with their combat training for those who WANT to try an FPS… otherwise Kinect and Family Game Night are good starts
Laura Ann Rinehart: Diner dash!
Taneora Ryall: It probably depends on the person and what interests them. KINGDOM HEARTS FTW!!!
Lori Blashaw: rock band! Any party type game really, my non-gamer friends are always asking “can we come over and play rock band!!” LOL ♥
Adam Crowl: Little Big Planet 1 or 2
Mark Buckingham: WoW for sure. Peggle, Castle Crashers, every Mario, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Co-op allows a veteran to ease a newbie into the experience and teach them along the way, like Borderlands, R6 Vegas, or Gears.
Miranda Schnell: I took my non-gaming friend to this past PAX Prime after I won 2 tickets and converted her!!
Stephen Francis: Start with a fun game with lots of unlockables. Any of the Lego games will work. I have used that tactic a lot. But make sure it’s somebody that can afford to buy their own system or they will try to hijack yours.
Megan Lavespere: After almost a year of poking fun at my boyfriend for his WoW playing, he got me to do a trial account and I now have all the expansions and a level 80 druid that I love to raid with!
I wasn’t born a gamer I was converted. I had no idea how much fun I could have, how many friends I could make and how rewarding a life playing video games could be. It just goes to show, you are never too old to become a gamer. I had no idea how playing video games would effect me and I could not have guessed where it would take me.
That being said, the best way for us to multiply is to share our passion and our favorite games with those around us. Let your passion for gaming inspire those around you to pick up and play.
