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Reader Discussion: Helping A New Gamer
I recently met a woman who has never watched any of the Star Wars films. She is familiar with Lord of the Rings only because she read that Liv Tyler starred in them. And she can recall only playing two video games in her lifetime: Super Mario Bros. once with her brother, and thanks to a recent party in my home, Dance Central.
She doesn’t want to be mentioned by name in this article, but for the sake of nerd science, she is comfortable with me talking about her video game-free life.
She refuses to watch Star Wars, and laughs whenever I hand her a Lord of the Rings book, but her attitude toward video games has taken a huge turn. She recently asked me what games she should play, and what systems she should purchase. As crazy as this is going to sound, Dance Central made her a believer in video games.
And her excitement towards gaming isn’t just dancing. She wants to play the games with the best action, the most dramatic stories, and even wants to compete online against others. I’ve been reviewing games for 17 years, and have played almost every major release to hit the market dating back to the release of the NES. When she asked me what games she should start off with, I stared blankly at her, and responded with the longest “uh” of my life.
Should she start with the classics like Zelda and Metroid, or should she be introduced to the current hits like BioShock and Mass Effect?
I’ll tell you what I ended up recommending in the comments section below, but I would first like to hear your solutions to this situation. List your game plan below, and I’ll chime in with my thoughts.
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