worst ways to introduce gaming

[Wapox]

Put on a classic that you absolutely LOVE and know inside out!
Then tell them what to do, and when they miss by a hair.. take the controls and finish the game for them.. xD

 

[ChaoticKraus]

Give them a real number-crunching RTS/Sim. An hour or two with Hearts of Iron, Europa Universalis or Dwarf Fortress should make them avoid gaming for life.

 

[HDi]

In any game...

1- Get frustrated when they are having difficulty with a simple task.
2 - Take the controller away from them to show them how to do said task.
3 - Laugh at them for being a stupid newbie.

Done and done - that person will never want to play a game ever again.

 

[Techsmart07]

Introduce them to I wanna be the guy. Lock the door, run away laughing.

 

[Zhukov]

Trying to start them off with the "classics".

 

[hawkeye52]

Give them dwarf fortress to play /thread

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

For this generation i'd say Portal and/or then Portal 2
Most of the game is tutorials, there's only a few controls, yet its still challenging enough to be interesting but easy enough that anyone with the ability to think logically can beat it.

I let my sister play Portal. She's played some games before but I think that's the first game she's actually completed, because of its intuitive solutions and highly focused pace. So it really is a great way to introduce people to games.
This is about the worst way to introduce gaming, though...

Europa Universalis is likely to put people off for life, or at least discourage them from gaming for a long time, because of its complex interface, immense details, and considerable difficulty. I love EUIII, but I wouldn't use it to introduce a friend who hadn't first played something like Civilization or Total War.

I agree with you about EU. I've been playing the series since i was 10 (so almost 9 years now) and it was only maybe 2 years ago when i switched to EU3 that i stopped playing with cheats and actually figured out how to play the game... even now theres stuff im still learning. Probably the only reason i kept playing was because i loved games like Civ and Total War, aswell as being a bit of a history geek. But yeah its definatly not for everyone.

I was introduced to strategy with AOE really, then I moved onto Civ, Total War, and all sorts. Then Europa Universalis III after I learned about it. I've not played EU3 since the summer because of how much time it takes up, though. I'm also a history geek. Can we be friends?

Sure :3
I started PC gaming when i was 7, my first 2 games where Commandos and Civ 2. Both not very good games to get started on come to think about it. I used cheats in both of them because Commandos required a level of strategy and timing i wasnt capable of back then, and Civ 2 had a really complex interface that i didnt know how to use.

But i'd spent all of my "being allowed on the computer" time playing these 2 games because they were so much fun, because you felt like either a badass commando or an awesome emperor who could spawn a stack of 50 tanks outside of ancient Rome.

Now im getting all nostalgic D:

 

[WaffleCopters]

Dont give them zelda.

Hey listen!
Hey Listen!
Hey Listen!

 

[loc978]

Toss in your favorite fighting game and beat 'em mercilessly at it until they give up. That is the worst way... or apply that theory to any genre where 1 on 1 competitive play is possible and a newbie has essentially no chance against a veteran player. Very, very cruel to do with an RTS.

 

[epikAXE]

Any of the older Civ games.I think the newer ones are more beginner friendly, but I was thrown into Civ 3 without any clue of what to do. Three hours later I still didn't know what to do, so i got pissed off and played something else. Had this been my first ever gaming experience, I don't think I would have ever gone back.

Id say the best way to start someone gaming is to have them play something narrative heavy, tight controls, fun gameplay, and (optional) something popular. If they have head of it, that half the battle id say.

So yeah something like Red Dead: Redemption, Portal/Portal 2, Halo, Assassins Creed 2 (Assassins Creed 1 is a BIG no no) or even something like Resi 4 or Bioshock depending on what they are into as a person.

 

[diebane]

I wanna be the guy. They won't want to play any game after that.

mfG diebane

 

[TheGreatAndPowerfulZOG]

Trying to start them off with the "classics".

Ha, Im trying to get my brother into gaming (he just bought a Wii) and I'm fighting the urge to buy him all the most badass old Gamecube games; Eternal Darkness, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, etc... Or, worst of all, Chrono Trigger from the virtual console. Even as a hardcore gamer I got completely lost in that game many times.

 

[midknight129]

Two words... Bullet Hell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZu2O_JQ4vs

 

[putowtin]

give them a copy of any anti virus software for PC and tell them that's the game!

 

[CommanderKirov]

Deus Ex Human revolution on "Give Me Deus Ex" difficulty.

Good luck.

 

[Artina89]

I once gave my horror hating friend Resident Evil: REmake on the gamecube. It was everything she hated, zombies, and she found it hard. It kinda backfired on me when she would call me at on an evening crying about the crimson head zombies, even though I told her multiple times to try and burn the bodies, shoot them in the head, or just avoid killing them. She managed to play it through to the end with the help of her brother, myself and a bunch of friends.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Oh, yeah. Any of the Total War games. Especially Empire. Any 4X games that still feel more like an Excel spreadsheet than a game.

Which brings me to EVE Online. A buddy of mine tried to have that be my introduction to MMOs. Suffice it to say, he failed. He failed horribly. The purdy spaceships were purdy, but the scope of all the decisions and micromanagement you have to make?

Ohmigod. It's like a browser-based game à la Mafia Wars, with actual graphics and the same overall boring routine of clicking a button a few times, watching a progress bar go up, go play something else for twenty minutes, come back and issue more orders."

I just - *groans*.

That brought my esteem of MMOs down several pegs. I can't imagine liking EVE Online unless my brain suddenly short-circuited and I developed a troubling fascination for numbers and efficiency and empty space and PROGRESS BARS, OH THE SWEET, SWEET PROGRESS BARS, UNF-UNF-UNF.

So. That was my failed introductory experience.

 

[somonels]

"Hello, little nephew! I bought you a really neat game, it's called EVE Online. What? No, it's only in english but don't worry, you are already two years old, it's about time you start learning it. Don't worry, I'll help you out until you can make your own money there. Ah, you see you need the money to keep playing, don't worry, I'll show you how you can do some odd jobs for me. I have a little... factory in a pretty little cloud and the bad ships want to take my things away. I need you to fly from point A to point B and bring the stuff..."
Lost interest, bye.

 

[direkiller]

there's been quite a few threads lately about how best to introduce a person to gaming and what are the best games to do these things. however what i haven't seen, is how to do it wrong. what are the worst things you can do to a newbie that will most likely put them off gaming?

for arguments sake, lets not include anything about "put game X on a high difficulty", it's really obvious and a redundant point.

personally i think there are 2 pretty bad ways. firstly, introduce somebody to a competitive multiplayer game first. now they can be useful for tactics and such, but when you're only just learning controls and the basics, you're gonna die a lot. dying a lot is not fun, it will put people off.

secondly i think it is quite a bad idea to introduce gaming through horror games. this is because they are usually pretty hard, and will put you on edge. if you are only just getting to grips with the controls and how your character works, as soon as you encounter an monster or whatnot, you are gonna freak and probably forget the basics pretty easily. horror games are fantastic, just not so much for beginners.

so i hand it over to you escapist, how can you mess up an introduction to gaming?

show them any game
get frustrated when they don't get it as fast as you
take controller away
make them watch

 

[Scow2]

Actually... I find RTS games to be quite intuitive to introduce people to: They generally have intuitive (if clunky) interfaces and simple navigation - Point + Click whatever button you need. They also feature every-handy "Pause" features.

The games you don't want to use to introduce gamers to are those that require high coordination right from the start (Most First-person 3-d games)