5 Games to Introduce Somebody to Gaming

[Smooth Operator]

Waaay too complex game ideas going on, you need to remember people need to first learn the controls to action coordination.

I would start a first timer off with:
- Tetris, very simple controls and enough of a simple goal / challenge that it pulls everyone in
- Pacman, a bit more complicated controls, introduces the concepts of you as the character, bad guys, pick ups and power ups
- 2D platformer (can't put my finger on which one because Mario sure as hell isn't easy or forgiving), another step in control / navigation complexity, and bringing all the previously learned concepts together into a semi continuous world
- Minecraft, navigating a 3D world is always a ***** for a newcomer, so an open environment with no demands on them is perfect to get a grip on things

- and to solidify all the concepts in a proper game GTA: San Andreas, it's open world and let's you mess around while having a story and characters, actions and consequences, you got customizing, walking / running, driving, flying, swimming, shooting,...
It's a bit of everything in one very nicely polished, still arcadey and with it nicely manageable environment.

 

[Kalado]

Really guys ? Dragon Age ?
Have you ever seen a non-gamer pick up a game?
They have problems moving the view to a door and open it and you want to give them a game with stats,inventory,a bunch of skills and control over more than one character ? Thats lunatic.
As other people pointed out, the simpler the controls the better.
Mario, Portal, Racing games, Indie games.
The next step would be imo hack and slay games like DMC or GOW.

 

[Stealthygamer]

Tetris

Portal

Jak 3

Super Mario World

Kirby Superstar

Persona 3:FES

Wait are you suggesting that someones first game should be P3:FES? They would get their ass handed to them on a silver platter even on easy

 

[Avalanche91]

Wii Sports. Literally anyone can play it, and if the person I want to introduce to gaming is slightly competitve it's always a good time.

Portal would be a great opener to get someone into gaming. Hell, it was the opening for one of my friends.

Mario Galaxy. Good learning curve, Colorfull and catches the attention.

GTA (or Bully for the underage), is also a good game to get people into it. The freedom and asshole potential make for a good and relativly easy to get into sandbox.

If they show to be interested in games after those, show them something a little more challenging, or story driven. Assassins Creed, Devil May Cry, Prince of Persia, Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

 

[Bvenged]

There's no two ways about it, the best games to get someone into gaming would be:

[HEADING=3]Call of Duty 4 (Console) / SWAT 4 (PC)[/HEADING]
CoD 4 is stupidly easy to get around. You walk and shoot and you wont die over and over. SWAT 4 has AI that pretty much holds your hand.

[HEADING=3]Assassins Creed (console)[/HEADING]
Is a 3rd person platformer. Once someone is used to the controller on console they should find this a blast as all you need to do is run in one direction.

[HEADING=3]Oblivion[/HEADING]
Is excellent for RPG newbies. PC or console, it does not matter, just the whole deal of exploration and questing and bettering your character, not just yourself; with a quest marker that tells you exactly where to go. You can't fault it for someone new to gaming.

Extra:[HEADING=3]Total War games (PC)[/HEADING]
If the newbie is a PC player the total war games are excellent for edging someone into micromanagement.

[HEADING=3]Portal 1/2[/HEADING]
It's an FP puzzle game and very, very few people dislike it. It's simple and yet addictive.

Anything else instead and you lose the interest of the newbie. What makes my opinions so valid? I used those games not in that order to ease my father back into gaming after he had a 20 year break to work like a horse. He used to play the original Doom and Shogun Total War.

I did get my mother playing Skate 2 hall of meat with me once...

The best order was Total War(PC), SWAT 4(PC), CoD 4 (360), Oblivion(PC) & then a little Assassins Creed(360).

 

[Starik20X6]

I've had to introduce a few of my friends to gaming, and these are the ones I've found most successful:

LittleBigPlanet 2, by far, has been the best one. The sheer scale of it seems to blow minds, and they'll spend hours just seeing what they can do.

ICO & Shadow of the Colossus are also really great, both simple yet some of the most engaging games I've played. Now available in HD!

Anything Mario, probably New Super Mario Bros. (DS or Wii) Can't go wrong with Mario, his games brought most of us into gaming, and will always bring more. I've never met a person who doesn't love to play Mario Kart.

Animal Crossing, with its complete lack of stress or ability to 'lose'. It's not for everyone, but those who do like it, love it.

Sorry I've only got four, but everyone else have put up plenty of other great suggestions.

 

[Bucky01]

1: portal (like pretty much everyone else)
2: kingdom hearts (id prefer 2 over 1 but the story will be confusing to those who start on 2 >.>)
3: fallout NV, gives them the ability to roam over and explore and pickup and putdown the game as they please
4: Saints row 2
5: pokemon Ruby/saphire/emerald as its still old enough to have the original experience and not deal with the gimmicks they're pulling in the newer ones yet graphically decent

 

[Ubermetalhed]

Well if we're setting the standard for games then you have to go for older games.

So...

Final Fantasy VII - RPGs covered.
Tombraider 2 - 3rd person Action adventures sorted.
Half-life/System Shock 2 -FPS sorted
Red Alert 2 - RTS done.
Street Fighter 2 - Fighters done.

Play all these games and then become bitter and jaded about all new releases and dumbed down rehashes *cough*Bioshock*cough* of these games.

 

[JohnDoey]

Most of these suggestions are like deciding to take someone that doesn't know to swim and throwing them into the ocean it's best to start with games like pac-man, maybe a easy beat em up and a2D platformer.

 

[Truniron]

I would give them 5 games, all from a different genre, and then let them decide what kind of games they would like to play more of.

- Strategy: Warcraft III. Amongst the best strategy game of all time.

- RPG: Final Fantasy VI. Introduces you to a great RPG which is also easy to learn and play.

- FPS: Call of Duty: Black OPS: If they are new to FPS-games, then this is a OK place to start without being to punishing in difficulty.

- Driving: Gran Turismo 5. Has a great multilayer and lots of different cars so you can pick your favorite.

- Fighting: Soul Calibur III: Has characters for everyone and they are easy to learn but takes time to master.

 

[TJC]

jeez, all very unique choices which take a bit of experience in gaming to actually appreciate them as gamers do. So, your personal fav games shouldn't really be in there
and yeah, if you choose to introduce someone, make them games new-ish and also co-op based to be able help them, without wrestling the controller away.
Also: keep it 2D at first. Moving a gaming figure in a 3D environment for first timers is difficult.

Rayman Origins: Co-op platforming with gorgeous aesthetics and unique characters? Why yes, I would like to play that with newbies. Too bad it's not out yet. Until then, I guess Little Big Planet or Super Mario Bros Wii do the job just as well.

Metal Slug: again, co-op platforming but with lotsa guns and some gory humour. Not as beginner-friendly but you can literally taking the bullet for your friend. He or she will thank you by playing at least through the level. Requires the appreciation of Rambo-type movies tho.

Mario Kart: A racer doesn't get much simpler than that and it's still fun. The items might be confusing at first but at 50CC, the game is pretty merciful even for the newbiest newbs.

If they dabbled into 2D gaming or casual games before and actually do know to use an analog stick without killing themselves I'd also suggest:

Zelda Windwaker: decent difficulty curve and introduction to lock on targeting. Quirky aesthetic to cover the violence behind cutesy curtains. Important is, you're not playing, nor are you acting as a living game guide. Just enjoy the newb enjoying the game.

 

[lumenadducere]

To The Moon. An indie adventure game styled like the old JRPGs. Think Memento + Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind + Inception + The Notebook. And then make it into a game.

Yes, it's that good.

After that/if you're going for bigger-budget titles:
Portal, Bastion, Braid, and something sandboxy...like Red Dead or Skyrim. Actually, maybe something a bit older like Arcanum, where you've got more options in terms of how you play. Only catch with that is that the older games like that become nightmares to explain to people who have never played a game before.

Also, Felstaff's post is good. Rock Band and New Super Mario Bros. - any game like that where there's multiplayer and it's a more "conventional" game is likely to win over fans. Even non-gamers likely played the original Mario once or twice, so New SMB is close enough to where they won't feel alienated or like they're in over their heads.

 

[Joccaren]

In RTS we have civilisation 5

I'm going to be nitpicky here: Civilization is turn based Strategy, not Real time strategy.

That said, here is my list:
1. Portal. Easy to learn and use, not too long, simple story, puzzles and not a lot of violence.
2. Halo: CE HD remake. Excellent difficulty curve, solid story, not bad gameplay. A slight step up from Portal in complexity, but you don't want to give them only simple games.
3. Prince of Persia Sands of time. Not that Forgotten Sands or W/E crap, but will show them where the movie came from (Even though its plot is completely different and far worse with the exception of the hot chick). Puzzles, time trials, combat and story all in one. I wouldn't force them to finish the game, but it is a good game to get about 30% of the way through. After that it just starts to get too difficult for those who aren't used to gaming.
4. Civilization 4. Turn Based strategy at its finest IMO. With BTS expansion, there is a lot to take in, but by now they should be able to handle it, and the problem most non gamers I know have is that they think all games are shooters like CoD or Battlefield, and the more tactical side of it will appeal to them if they like tactics.
5. Dragon Age Origins. Simpler than many older RPGs, yet more complex than many new ones. Cliched but solid story, and will introduce them to an interactive story. Tactical third person gameplay is something not covered on this list thus far, and the inventory and level up menus are something they need to be introduced to.

Now, I have noticed some people saying 'Don't give them hard stuff, they won't know what to do with it. Easy stuff only!' or something along those lines. That is utter Bull. The easy stuff is what I wouldn't want to show them, as it often loses entertainment value for most people I know after 10 minutes of playing, or they will just see it as childish, and thus gaming as a whole as childish. Things like Mario Cart and such might be good for introducing younger players to games, or elderly players, but in between I find people often want something deeper than these types of games.
I believe my list, if played in order from one to five, will display a lot of what gaming has to offer, whilst working up on a reasonable difficulty curve for them to adapt with. The biggest jump IMO is from Halo to PoP, due to the massive gameplay style shift, but it is necessary for them to discover more than just the shooter genre.

 

[Sieggy]

Portal

Persona 4

Shadow of the Colossus

Dark Souls

Battle Field 3

 

[LilithSlave]

1. Superman 64
2. E.T.
3. Duke Nukem Forever
4. Final Fantasy XIII
5. Busby 3D

 

[Dresos]

Just begin with Dark Souls XD once they're done with that everything else will feel easy.

 

[Nazulu]

Yeah, I reckon Portal is a really good one to ease yourself into (even though some of the challenges can be really hard for beginners).

Also, You Don't Know Jack got me more into gaming with the family and friends since it's so easy to access and it's just a really clever, sometimes funny, questionnaire game with simple controls.

Half-Life 2 since it's a pretty basic shooter with a whole heap of interesting elements and a epic adventure. However, if they don't want to use the computer, then I would recommend Metroid Prime in it's place.

Lylat Wars was a really good beginner game for one of my friends. Easy to adjust to the controls and can be really addictive.

Then something else interesting but simple like Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country or one of the later 2D Sonic games would be good too.

Now I don't like that many RPG's, but I reckon I should recommend one of the earlier Final Fantasy games or possibly one of the Pokemon Gameboy games since thats a good easy one as well (unless Pokemon is too childish for 'em).

I'm quite aware that's more than 5 but I'm just being honest.

 

[LookingGlass]

Anyone who doesn't mention Mario Kart 64 is doing it wrong. It's impossible not to like that game, hardcore gamer or first-timer.

 

[Nazulu]

1. Superman 64
2. E.T.
3. Duke Nukem Forever
4. Final Fantasy XIII
5. Busby 3D

Finally, someone taking this subject seriously

 

[Crazy]

Pong
Doom
Pac Man
Duke Nukem
Galaga

Gotta get the classics!