How to get your girlfriend into gaming

My husband and sons tried to entice me to game for years. Nothing ever appealed to me. Until WoW came along. The game has to have some appeal (beyond spending the time with your honey!) to keep you coming back and for me, this game delivers. I'll never be the uber player all of my guys are, but I can run with them and they love helping me get better gear, etc. It has become a family activity, and that certainly helps with the appeal. Would I rather do something else? sometimes, and I do...but it's really nice to be able to play as a group..so the interaction in a game is an important element.

I am a woman and I got my husband into gaming. I took cues from his cinema interests; Band of Brothers, MASH, Die Hard, and Firefly being the main four. From there, I just introduced him to games that were action packed and gave the player the 'lone hero' experience, as well as games that were humorous or had a significant social aspect to them. Now, he enjoys playing World of Warcraft with me, and then spends time working on the Prince of Persia series as well as the God of War games and his SOCOM set, while I relax and enjoy Rock Band and the Final Fantasy games. All it took was finding his personal taste and ensuring that we set aside specific times to zone out to the games rather than hopping onto them whenever we had free time. This allows us to peacefully enjoy each other, our gaming time together, and our separate gaming time, without jealousy or resentment.

The games are what matters more than anything. My wife resited games for years, never seriously playing anything any one game for more than an hour or two total. Then, allong came "We Love Katamari". Suddenly, I couldn't get the PS2 to myself for a couple months. Now, we play Rock Band together often as well as other games.

you need to find something you can both enjoy, and chances are your girl isn't going to be in to finding out how many other dudes she can shoot in the head with an assault rifle equipped with a red dot sight (speaking from experience), and she isn't going to want to play a game you've mastered and you just need somebody to beat up, it's not fun if you lose every time - this goes for anybody. for months my wife and I played multiplayer Tetris (worlds, I think) for PS2, it got very competitive and we'd even invite friends over to play against. I would definitely recommend starting with something that has simple gameplay. puzzle games - if well made - are very easy to learn, but after advancing through the game each level gets progressively more challenging, this is where you as a full time gamer can step in and assist (if she'll let you). If you have a REAL gaming machine (PS3, xbox 360) use the online stores, you can buy these great games for cheap ($10, more or less) and they're super addicting i.e. Echochrome, super rub-a-dub (both ps3). we've since moved up to the Lego series (indiana jones) which she can enjoy for it's simple gameplay, and I can enjoy as an Indy nerd!

There's always a happy medium - Guys, be patient. Ladies, don't knock it 'til you try it!

Sometimes joint gaming just isn't in the stars...

Despite all efforts to find a game she would enjoy it just wasn't going to happen for my wife. I, however, am a huge WoW fan.

There is a solution, she has hobbies that don't interest me so we have a hobby night where I save the world and she does her thing. We still have many nights of together time so all works out.

I am a woman, my husband and kids got into gaming with driving and flying games mainly, which I had absolutely no interest in. They also liked games that showed blood flying everywhere when someone was killed...YUCK!!

However, a friend of ours brought over a role playing game and I loved it. The trick to getting anyone, male or female into gaming is to find what they are interested in. Just because you like gaming and like to play certain types of games doesn't mean your spouse or significant other is going to like that same kind of game. Rent or borrow different types of games and see what he or she likes. There are a lot of RP-G's out there that you have to fight other people or creatures, and it shows damage to them and you, but there is no blood involved.

Also, don't be a "know it all" about whatever game she is playing. If she wants help she will ask for it. Nothing annoys me more than having someone tell me what to do and how to do it when I am in the middle of playing a game. Keep your hints and suggestions to yourself, unless asked, until after she is done playing. Then you can say something like "Did you know at that spot you could have blah blah blah." There are some people who really like and want the input...but don't assume that the one you are with is that way. Ask first then go from there. If you can't keep your mouth shut when you have been told she doesn't want any assistance then you need to leave the room.

The main idea is very simple: get to know your girlfriend FIRST before you start blindly throwing games at her.

At the beginning of our relationship, she did not like video games or computer games of any sort. I managed to take some of her interests and introduced her slowly to games that I thought she would enjoy. Note that I said "SHE would enjoy" and not necessarily games that I enjoy.

5 years later, she now plays nearly every type of game and even branches out into genres I don't care for myself! She plays the Guitar Hero series, Boom Blox, Okami, the Burnout Series, everything to do with Mario, Heroes of M&M, the Soul Calibur series, The Sims, and a laundry list of others for all systems. I don't care for the Sims, but I don't complain because I count myself as lucky that I found someone that will play games with me and allow me to play mine by myself when I want.
Basically, you gotta listen to your gal! What's more important to you? The games or the relationship?

Since I was a 6 year old girl, I kinda grew up being a tomboy. Never had a woman figure in my growing up years so I started to appeal to boys stuff. Games, games and more games! My first system was a Sega Genesis, and i played the cute games i'll admit, but i treasured the Sonic the Hedgehog series. I hit 14 ish, and got into RPG games, on my playstation, like Final Fantasy series and i've been hooked, i loved building my character and going through a story (only because i had an aweful amount of time to kill and my dad wouldn't let me go out and we never did do family things so staying home was my only option). I like shooter games as well, Halo is impressive and im addicted, but my current love is WoW. I have even gone as far as to curse when my character is weaker than another class just because in PvP as a healer i can't kill stuff to save me!

I am a progressive raider, i attend my scheduled weekly 25-man raids and expect to get cute new gear!!! Yes, I picked a priest because their gear is just too cute !!!! I am a girly girl now, but i wouldn't mind blowing people up because they get in my way!!

Since I was a 6 year old girl, I kinda grew up being a tomboy. Never had a woman figure in my growing up years so I started to appeal to boys stuff. Games, games and more games! My first system was a Sega Genesis, and i played the cute games i'll admit, but i treasured the Sonic the Hedgehog series. I hit 14 ish, and got into RPG games, on my playstation, like Final Fantasy series and i've been hooked, i loved building my character and going through a story (only because i had an aweful amount of time to kill and my dad wouldn't let me go out and we never did do family things so staying home was my only option). I like shooter games as well, Halo is impressive and im addicted, but my current love is WoW. I have even gone as far as to curse when my character is weaker than another class just because in PvP as a healer i can't kill stuff to save me!

Many people don't think i play video games, i go shopping, buy clothes, cute shoes, yadda yadda yadda, but, i love video games, good thing for GameStop in the mall! !!!!! My favorite person to play with? My brother! He plays wow also and sometimes we play together, next up, Warhammer !!!

I am a progressive raider, i attend my scheduled weekly 25-man raids and expect to get cute new gear!!! Yes, I picked a priest because their gear is just too cute !!!! I am a girly girl now, I spend just as much time playing with makeup as i do games, but i wouldn't mind blowing people up because they get in my way!!

My boyfriend played WoW before we started dating, and I always used to make fun of him for playing it. Then, one day, he told me to play for ten minutes. I started making my character, chose a pretty hairstyle, and leveled my character. My goal was always to find the prettiest "dress" because I didn't know anything about stats. I soon became addicted and actually learned how to play the game. The appeal at first for me was the hair and dress, making sure my shirt matched my robe, etc. (and I still feel that way). I also love that WoW is a game based on relationships. We love the guild we are in and have established some awesome friendships with those people. Now, my boyfriend and I both have a 70 or two, running T6 instances, and very much looking forward to the next expansion.

My wife always had some interest in video games, but usually a passing interest. When I got hooked on WoW back in February of 2007, thanks to a demo disc my kids picked up for me, I slowly worked my first toon towards 70. One night I was sitting there and she was bored out of her mind so I sent her an invite through the WoW website and within an hour she was hooked. Now along with my elder son we enjoy doing arenas together whether with our 2v2 team, our 3v3 team, or our 5v5 team and other fun level 70 stuff and her being a player has allowed me to have the time to get 4 toons to level 70.

WOW, did it for my wife as well. I got her to create a female warrior that she enjoyed however it was not until she created her warlock and picked up tailoring and enchanting that she really became a fan. For those of you who play WOW you know what I am talking about....... She is making the push to Outland and should be running Kara in no time :)

70 - Tauren Warrior (Prot)
56 - Tauren Shaman (Enhance)
Favorite fight - Illidan and Archi
Faction - Horde 4 life :)

My husband has often told me that Gamer GF's are a rare and precious thing. I actually met my DH 12 years ago on an RPG chat room and then amazingly, ran into him again playing Quake Team Fortress (back-in-the-day). Married 7 years, together for 10 years, we are Gamer Geeks; although we don't fit the typical gamer stereotype.

We have played Quake Team Fortress, Halo, Counterstrike, Half-Life, Ultima Online, EQ, EQ II, beta tested Ascheron's Call, played peer-to-peer Diablo, Diablo II, and more recently, WoW together. As for stand-alone PC games, I found "The Witcher" and got him hooked on it. Highly recommend it too!

Even console games and handhelds are a staple in our house. PS2, PS3, Wii, DS Lites etc. We have tried them and played them all together.

The point I am trying to make here is, find a game genre you enjoy together. Through the years, I have found that I don't really enjoy FPS as much as I used to, but I do enjoy playing co-op RPG games with my DH like WoW (Bring on the Lich King!)

I was a closet Tekkie Geek for years and years. That all changed when I found a man I was not only madly in love with, but who loved me for who I really was inside...a Gamer Chick, Tekki-Gadget Lovin freak LOL!!

Game on!!

As the girlfriend of a pharmacist who loves video games, I wanted to provide another piece of proof that the apples of gamers' eyes can be shown a good time with a video game and come out wanting more! The most important thing is to definitely listen to the lady's (negative) comments about games while you are playing (i.e. comments related to complexity, violence, sheer stupidity). Then try to introduce her to games that contain as little of those things as possible, while including things she might like/spark her interest. Obviously, you have to know your girlfriend...choosing the perfect introductory game is much like selecting that perfect meaningful birthday present! I was started off with a PS version of a Sega game that I had loved as a kid (ToeJam and Earl) and also was fed a steady diet of other "classics." I was then released into a small group of his friends in a Wii Sports Tennis challenge. Seeing as I am an avid tennis fan, this was a wise move. When I realized that I was having a blast...yes, with a video game...I was hooked. My next big adventure was around the corner. Being a rather medically-minded duo (me: medical school, him: pharmacist), he tried to appeal to my total inner nerd with a surgery game. Whoa! This girl was psyched and anxiously awaiting the day on her surgical rotations that, when asked where she learned a techique, she would be able to respond, "Wii surgery, naturally." To bring this conversion success story to a close, allow to me to say that I now really do like games. Perhaps not the let's-go-kill-everything-in-sight games or hard-core RPG's, but I've found my niche. Sports and Surgery. S&S. In fact, I'm such a complete convert that I've purchased my own Wii system and have a list of about 30 or so games to buy! And now, on some nights with the better half, rather than being the idle bystander in a war against zombies, I'm the one begging Dr. Gamer to play with me. The tables have turned.

I got my boyfriend into gaming with Doom and from there to every 3d shooter ( now called first person shooters ) since then. When I finally built a network, I got him into deathmatches and co-op play. We have an old Playstation, but it pretty much gathers dust, I guess we are just old-skool pc gamers and always will be.

My husband has been a huge WOW fan from the start and I have bought him all the games. I encouraged him to play the online WOW in March to give him a challenge. He asked me a few times to help him level since that usually bores him and I was hooked. I created my own toon and now I am usually one level ahead of him. We usually play together but he quits early and I continue on by myself or with others. He even acts jealous because I have become better friends with our guild members than he has! I now have 3 toons and I am having a blast. It's strange because I never would've thought I would be playing this kind of game.

I'd never played a game on a console until 2000 when my husband and I married. We went to his mom's and he and his brother were playing Syphon Filter on the original PS. I couldn't make the characters do what I wanted, but I could watch them play and tell them were to go and what to do (when left to their own instincts, they invariably got killed right away). Then my husband suggested a game his brother had called "Silent Hill". He knew I loved spooky stuff and thought the puzzle solving of the game would suit me. Well, I was hooked after that, but only on certain games: Survival Horror. Don't give me Resident Evil, either--it's just another shoot-em-up disguised as Survival Horror. I also played the Manhunt games and the GTA games. My husband won't even play those. His tastes are pretty tame compared to mine nowdays. So not all 'girl gamers' like the fluffy little games. And God save me from the horror that is Final Fantasy ...

I got into gaming when my then-boyfriend bought me a Gamecube. I had played the Sims excessively, but couldn't get into anything beyond PC simulations. He had me play Mario Kart as a team with him, and haven't looked back since. :P

Still don't like war games, but that exercise did force me to look at games I wouldn't usually try. I, for one, greatly enjoyed San Andreas when it first came out. (Didn't get the latest GTA because I thought a new laptop for school - I do online classes - was more important than a next-gen console.)

I must say when I first started dating my bf I didn't know what an Xbox was and then he showed me Halo and I fell in love. I would practice on halo's Matchmaking whilst he went to work just to learn the game and get better, heck I played more Halo in the first year of me and my bf dating than he did. What some people don't understand is that not all women like "girlie" games, I was happy that me and my bubby could play together and share a great hobby of his. I am now in a Gaming clan for women which I think is Awesome!! I for one stand of women rights to be on FPS and when I come across nasty boys that want to bring me down I show them that this isn't a mans game any more.

All I can say is I LOVE FPS!!

my main list of games: Halo 1,2 and 3
Call of Duty
Assassins Creed
Gears of War
Lost Planet
Mass Effect
Tomb Raider
Rainbow Six Las Vegas 1 & 2

I'll admit it, I've been a gamer for about 3 years now. It started very innocently with card games on Pogo.com, then a kids RPG called ToonTown (which I actually subscribed to!!) For me it had to be something that wouldn't make a fool of me in the first 5 minutes. I don't like to die in a game. ;-)

So if your girlfriend is like me, start slow. Non competitor games -->easy RPG games -->then if she's "game" start introducing the good old PVE games then PVP games. Took me 2 years to venture from PVE into PVP but now I'm a heartless B*#!h that lives for startiing guild wars in my current MMPORPG.

Good luck.

All I can say is Rock Band/ Guitar Hero.....

My husband and I are just the opposite of what the article talks about. I'm the gamer and he hates gaming of all types! Even board games that are played on a physical board and card games. Anyway, I've even tried to get him into Second Life where they have Big Band music which he loves, but he still won't budge. *sigh* He surfs You Tube though so go figure, lol. At least w/you tube, he doesn't have to try to navigate an avatar.

It really depends what kind of girl she is, these things can't be forced! Some girls love World of Warcraft, others love Ponys, these are pretty much never the same girls. I think it's really best to leave it to them to decide, if they know you are gaming then they will be interested most likely and try it out.

If all else fails, you can probably wean them in with Singstar, Buzz, Guitar Hero, these kind of things before you crack out the Baldur's Gate!

my boyfriend is definitely a hardcore gamer and i am more of the casual gamer. it wasn't hard for him to get me more into gaming because i had already been playing PC games since i was 14. my best friend and i would stay up until 5 in the morning playing Counter Strike and Day of Defeat, and that was the beginning for me. then i was introduced to Halo getting into highschool and my gaming skills lied dormant for a while until i picked up Half-Life2 (for the PC) and we love katamari on the PS2. then i met my boyfriend, and my skillzzz have definitely developed. my boyfriend says i'm the best gaming-gal he knows, and that's quite a compliment coming from him. it's only too bad there aren't as many co-op games out there.. we've already mastered halo3 a couple times together, and gears of war. call of duty4 and GTA:IV both don't have co-op, but i'm hoping activision and rockstar get on that quickly. you kinda have to be IN to playing video games to get really interested in improving your skills. i find a lot of girls won'y play because they will pick up the controller, get really confused, and banish it from their lives forever. oh well. more gaming for me!

I knew that my girl liked Tolkein and I turned her on to the team work aspects of WOW. She's been playing for about 3 weeks now. Last night she stayed up late playing after I went to bed... Last weekend was a game nerds dream come true. Even though we both go to the gym and eat fairly healthy food, on the weekends now we indulge in a little junk food, have sex and play WOW.

Not bad, eh? It was the tune like nature of WOW coupled with the team work aspect of the game that did it. Eat your hearts out, fellas!