Topic thief! http://www.bitmob.com/articles/how-to-introduce-your-significant-other-to-games

Hah! Just kidding! You've got a unique perspective, being a girl and all, but I've actually found plenty of success by going completely against your first rule. Among the normal Harvest Moon and Cooking Mama games, my wife gets super addicted with Castlevania, Diablo, and RTS games.

I have to go the old-school route with my wife. She's a sucker for anything Sonic or Sega Genesis related.

My wife likes fable 2 and Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise

I didn't do any of that stuff to get my wife to start gaming. She hadn't played anything since Super Mario Bros. on the NES. Once she saw me playing Oblivion though, she wanted in on that. She's pretty selective. She usually just plays stuff where she can create or be a female character. Oblivion, Fable 2, Mass Effect, Tomb Raider, and she got way into Civ Rev when she was pregnant. She even speculates that she might break her female character rule to play Red Dead. "Going through the old west as some crusty dude is better then not at all," she says.

@Alex Mine's better! Just kidding!

@Toby See? Viva Pinata is a winner.

Well, the first tip is a very general statement. I just happen to know quite a few women who don't love violence or being competitive. But it never hurts to think outside the box!

I might have to give these tips a go. My wife hates video games. I usually just wait for her to fall asleep to get my PS3 time in...

@Travis

Try getting her to play littleBIGplanet for your PS3. My girlfriend loves it.

Okay. First: All women, even those who don't play games, are not monolith. We don't all like the same things... even if those things are cute and you can name them.

Gamers also don't need to pander to their delicate sensitivities. I know I didn't need to be patted on the head like a pretty little thing to get into gaming. I needed to be introduced to a fun game that I liked.

So here it is. How to get your partner into gaming. Man, woman, chimpanzee (not that there is anything wrong with that)

 Step One: Listen to your partner. What does she/he hate about gaming? What games/entertainment does she/he like.

Step two: Find a game that matches these likes and dislikes.

Step three: Repeat steps one and two. The game that you decided to try out doesn't work for them? Why not? Take that information and try to find another game.

Step Four: Don't condescend to your partner. We know it when we see it. Be honest and open, and communicate like adults.

Bottom line: This story was full of the worst stereotypes about women, and what keep women from playing games. As women gamers we have GOT to stop portraying other women who don't game as stupid creatures who only are interested in clothes, the colour pink and shopping.  Stop giving the impression that women's egos are so feeble that we can't handle a bit of adversity.

Again: if you follow my "Step One" you may find that your woman thinks that games are stupid cause it's all hyper-competative guys who will kill you within seconds. That would translate into "No Halo FFA"

What stopped me from playing for years? The horrible Resident Evil control system. The (mistaken) belief that there were only fast twitch based games. Nothing to do with pretty pink ponies and playing Barbie.  

So yeah: sexist ideals can come from woman. But if this was supposed to be tongue in cheek... well I guess I missed it.

I was being tongue in cheek. And I know plenty of women who don't need to be catered to. That wasn't my point.

Here is something I learned when almost everything I wrote that was tongue-in-cheek or an attempt at humor had comments that thought the complete opposite. I thought I must be terrible at delivering my humor, but then I read an article by Matt Clark over on 1UP. He detailed a fictional press conference in which Ubisoft announced the game "Imagine: Furries". At the end of the press conference, the giant cheetah took off his costume to reveal it was actually Tom Brokaw.

One of the responses to this was a defiant exclamation that it was fake. No shit, moron.

I guess what I'm saying is, keep at it, Melissa. There will ALWAYS be people who don't get it. Doesn't mean you aren't funny.

I wish I had this sooner!

@Alex Thanks! I needed that! Lol I have to go read that article now...

If you were being tongue in cheek, I don't feel like it really came across very well. Anyway, if that wasn't your point, what was?

Anyway, my girlfriend plays videogames just as much as I do, and we enjoy a lot of the same games. I wouldn't have it any other way.

@Tristan Eh, I wrote it because I felt like it! There was no point.

Playing cooperatively is a major plus to my girlfriend when it comes to choosing which games to play.  She knows I have my own set of games to play and I encourage her to find games she can call her own, but she gets much more into games if we can play together.

Games like PixelJunk Monsters, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Buzz Quiz World, and Boom Blox have been big hits with us.  She even likes us to play the smaller Facebook games like Family Feud together.

Even though she does have a pretty tough competitive side, when it comes to videogames it's all about the togetherness.

@Marc I definitely think that playing games together is a good way to spend time together. It's way better than sitting in silence watching a movie!

My wife played Sacred 2 with me -- and loved it. But she can't stand New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It's too hard for her, and we both get frustrated.

Too bad this didn't apply to me. The only reason why I'm a gamer, is because I'm single..

@Jason I've heard that it's hard. You can play Sacred 2 with coop? I might have to check that out.

@Chris Lol find a girlfriend who likes games. Then you can be a gamer and you won't need my advice!

I definitely agree that anyone in a relationship needs to listen to their partner especially if they perceive their time spent physically together as emotionally neglecting. I'm sure we've all seen a certain video clip of a neglected girlfriend wailing on her boyfriend's x box and would like to avoid such situations.

I feel very lucky to have a girlfriend whom enjoys games on her own. She has a DS with games like Cooking Mama, various puzzle games, and Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (which we both enjoy thoroughly).

We’re both in the helping professions (Social Work for her and Marriage Family Therapy for me) and one thing that definitely brings us together is great storytelling regardless of the medium. So as I play games like Uncharted 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2, she is as engaged as I am, usually as my "walkthrough advisor." The games that she will play on my PS3 include Critter Crunch and a variety of RPGs (Eternal Sonata, for example, allows for cooperative play). Other games that I thought she would enjoy have backfired however, like Flower since she had some difficulty getting accustomed to the six axis interface and found the whole experience more anxiety provoking than relaxing.

I cannot tell you how happy I was when my girlfriend surprised me with Heavy Rain a few months ago after a rough term in my graduate program. This not only brought us closer together because of the thought put into the gift, but because we spent the next few weekends experiencing the moving storyline together and were able to talk about our reactions afterwards.

Consequently, we’re both excited for Video Games Live when it comes into town. And while we don’t share all of each other’s interests, this is one that we can find ways to enjoy together.

That's exactly what I did.

Pokemon, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, then some Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance. She enjoys playing together, so that's how I share that with her. I let her fail at some games, so she can feel like playing with me.

I wouldn't advise trying to play anything competitive, because 1) you've had more gametime in general and will probably beat her and 2) women can't stand losing...in anything!

5. Get a Wii. Nintendo has a ton of great intro current-gen-games and has the most utility (for now). Wii-Fit

6. Go retro. One of my girlfriends loved playing games she had played as a child. She LOVES SMB 3.

7. Date a "3". Ugly girls put up with a lot more than cute ones (including sexually).  Just remember, Three "3's" make a "9" and you might get in a 4-way.

8. Date women that work in game/hobby stores.

9. Lie. Tell her you will marry her if she can get into it.

10. Sims and WoW. It is like heroine.

You ever notice that we are taking the same approaches to introducing games to people as drug dealers do with drugs?

I have tried to get my fiance to play video games on several occasions, but I have come to realize that it's something you can't force onto other people. Bribing people to play with you will only cause them to see gaming in a negative light, because they are only doing it to get something in return, not for the experience itself. From my own personal experience, you should only try to get friends and loved ones to play with you if they show some interest to begin with, or just let them come into it on their own. We've got enough negative stereotypes as gamers as it is, let's not add "forcing our views and interests on other people" to that list.

@Nick Lol It works doesn't it?

@Jonathan You thought that the bribery part was an actual suggestion?

Not all female gamers are alike. In addition, girls that are not self-described gamers may like different games than the "feminine side" would suggest. Katamari and Mario are not the end-all of "girl gaming", because maybe her feminine side can kick my masculine side's ass in a few games that I like... My girlfriend is not a gamer by any stretch of the word, but she loves (LOVES!) street fighter. If it were a choice between me and Ryu she would probably choose Ryu. Not to mention LOOM has gotten her attention, as well as Elder Scrolls IV. She is genuinely interested in why I like the games that I like, and sometimes she ends up enjoying them also.

And the pedicures are pretty much paid for by me already, no need to bribe the woman. She helped me install a new PSU in my computer yesterday, and I didnt even ask for her help. Maybe you "gamer" guys should find more understanding women!

EDIT: Oh, oops I just now read the "tongue-in-cheek" comment by the author. Well, there we go. It was not obvious enough for me. Viva la Girl Games, Viva La Pinata! The gamer-girl articles always make me think of my brother's girlfriend, she is a living stereotype; a game-loving japanese girl that dates a white guy. I got her a R4 for her birthday and she was very happy about it.

EDIT 2: just thought that I would add in the fact that I like katamari more than any girl I have ever met. I crack up every time the royal rainbow appears. And the soundtrack is hilarious

I thought, perhaps, that my note would help highlight the humor in this piece. For what it's worth, Melissa, I understood what you were getting at from the beginning and I enjoyed this article. Thankfully, I married a woman who already liked video games. To this day, she can still beat me in Mortal Kombat more often than not. She does also like Viva Pinata, though.

Thanks Jay! I knew that you understood it was meant to be funny. I'm not bothered, so don't worry about it. :)