September 24, 2005

• The GameCube is definitely good for these sorts of things, or any Nintendo console (but then again, I'm a Nintendo fangirl from way back, so, grain of salt and all that...) Unfortunately I don't have a lot of games for our GC. You might want to try Pikmin - it's terribly cute, though I found it dull and I don't like RPGs either, so I have a feeling your mom would feel the same way. That said, I did adore Animal Crossing, but there is a lot of tedium involved. Still, both are bright, fun games that have a lot to attract players right away. In a very different vein, we've played with Donkey Konga before, which is terribly amusing, you get bongos with the game and smack 'em along to the beat. The novelty factor wears out quickly, though. And if you can wait a while, there's a Mario DDR game coming out in October, packaged with a pad and everything. I'm super-excited about that, and it looks like it'll be a very good game, and definitely a fun party-type one. Personally, my favourite games are still on the NES and the N64; if you could pick up an old N64, Mario Kart for that is awesome (a zillion times better than Double Dash, which I hate the look and gameplay of), and Mario64 was a very good, very fun game that's quite easy to play right away (some levels require more skills, but you don't have to master the whole game to win it, or win the game to have fun at it). There was also Banjo-Kazooie, which I really enjoyed playing with my sister. For the PlayStation 1, if you like the rhythmic game suggestion, we've played lots of really cute ones - UmJammer Lammy, PaRappa the Rappa, etc. - though personally I find them quite hard to play, especially since I'm pretty unfamiliar with the Playstation console as compared to the Nintendo ones. Now if you can get your hands on Vib Ribbon (or as we called it, the Dancing Crack Rabbit), that's a huge score, it's the best music-based game out there, though I don't think it was ever released in the US, we have a Japanese PlayStation to use it on.
• If she likes the Mario series at large, she may enjoy Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It's an RPG, but not in the dungeon-crawl vein; Ms. Helper and I found it adorably cute. It controls like a platformer-with-depth, the battles are turn-based, and the character-building system (while present) is reasonably simple for a first-timer. There's (almost) no boring "gotta build my character" time involved, and the Ms. and I were both able to play for a comfortable 40ish hour game. Overall, a nice stepping-stone for someone who likes the Mario series at large, but isn't ready for a full-on RPG.
• The biggest winner with my mom and mom-in-law has been Animal Crossing. It has tons of bonus NES games hidden inside and its peaceful yet addictive gameplay will have you coming back day after day. My wife and I logged over 500 hours combined. Electronic crack.
• i was just going to suggest katamari damacy, but you already have We Love Katamari....i'd suggest the sims, but i can't remember how long it takes to learn the console versions. my mother beat super mario world before i did, back in the day. now she's addicted to some version of breakout from the pc bargain rack. karaoke revolution's a lot of fun, unless you're tone-deaf or hate singing in front of people (i have to be drunk, which means not playing with the parents).
• While the long term useage may be questionable, Dance Dance Revolution is sure to be fun at a party where you can watch people sit back and say "that looks easy! You suck!" and then try it and suck horribly themselves. I know there is an XBox version or two (make sure you buy the dance mat for it!) There are aslo lots of "Midway Classic" and "Atari Treasures" and "Intellivision Lives" colections out there that have lots of old games on them, so there's a good bet at least one will be a hit. There are a billion Mario Party games, so if one was popular, perhaps another will be. (I think they are up to at least 6 now). SuperMonkeyBall is fun (you control a monkey rolling around in a ball!) While it might be hard to get someone to try it, the Tony Hawk games can be good for casual gamers because you can get points pretty easy so not feel like a complete failure (the secret to sucess lies in stringing together moves and so once you learn one move you can move on to others) and the levels are typically laid out in such a way that you can explore it and find funny, cute, or interesting things. Also more out on a limb might be the Twisted Metal games where you have a crazy vehicle with guns and drive around shooting at each other. Mindless fun. On the golf front there is also Mario Tennis which got some pretty good buzz There are also lots of Mario Kart ripoffs. I'm pretty sure there are some for Sonic, Crash Bandicoot and probably others. The Simpsons Hit and Run is supposed to be fun too.
• A recent gathering in a friend's house, with nothing but grown-ups and a couple seniors got quite lively when a game using a gizmo called iToy was tested. It's a camera that integrates the player into the action; in this case, your on-screen persona has to pop ballons and 'touch' things in the air. A step up from controller-only games and a step down from DDR action. Of course, the amount of alcohol in participant's bloodstreams might have helped. With older gamers, those like 3D pool or simpler driving and flying ones (not the full-fledged simulators) have been succesful, in my experience.
• I will pass on to you what Amazon passed on to me: a recommendation for GTA3. Never mind that she'd find it deeply offensive - Amazon obviously didn't care about that at all.
• there's also poker and chess for the x-box, and something like 'The Sims' is also a lot of fun.
• GTA3 does have really fabulous, easy-to-learn gameplay. However, picking up prostitutes and running them over to get your money back isn't everyone's cup of tea. You can carjack an ambulance or a police car and do missions though...
• Relatively easy to learn. I still suck at it, but I can drive around and run people over for hours. Much like Crazy Taxi. *back to packing*
• thursday is right in that GTA3 may not be everyone's cup of tea, but GTA:SA is more like hot coffee (NSFW). I agree that Crazy Taxi is real fun -- I purchased a Dreamcast and steering wheel/pedal controller just for that game, which is also available for the GameCube now.
• Because GTA isn't for everyone is why I suggested the Simpsons game. It is a lot like it and has the Simpsons. If your mom doesn't like the Simpsons then give up all hope because she's already dead inside!
• Ico for the PS2. It's a beautiful game and reasonably easy to play for a non gamer. For the GameCube, I would recommend Animal Crossing and Pikmin. I thought Pikmin was great but it actually seems to be one of those love it/hate it games.
• DrMoxie is completely right, Animal Crossing is the best game you could get. you've got a town full of these cartoony animals, and if you do favors for them, they give you presents. and you've got a house you can decorate.
• Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (for ps1). You have a farm where you raise crops, chickens, cows, sheep, etc. and interact with townspeople. You're also trying to court one of the young ladies in town. Unlike Animal Crossing, the NPCs are not pissy and self-centered (which was my main problem with Animal Crossing).
• Sounds like the GBA's HM: Friends of Mineral Town, although I haven't played it in quite some time. Very cute, easy for the non-gamer and still fun.
• Thanks, everyone! Lots of great-sounding suggestions. Woohoo. My sister and I love Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon to death and beyond, but I think our mom would be bored. Which is a shame, because I love plugging both of them. But again, who knows. I've been meaning to play Ico myself for the longest time, so I will probably pick that up myself and see what it's like firsthand. (My PS2 gets lent out sometimes too - should've mentioned that in the mix.) I've always heard good things about Pikmin and Super Monkey Ball, so those are possibilities (heck, I want to play those myself). We definitely want to get Donkey Konga sometime, and the new DDR is possible too - we have DDR Ultramix 1 and 2 for XBox already. I hadn't thought of an N64! We skipped that platform entirely. I'll have to look into that, thank you. Which would bring the console count in the house up to six. They'd like that. haha, Karaoke Revolution. I'm the non-singing idiot savant of Karaoke Revolution for some reason. I've never tried playing it with my family, though... that could be annoying and fun. Thanks for all the ideas, everyone! Very much appreciated! (And more are welcome, if anyone thinks of anything else.)
• Tracicle: Friends of Mineral Town is almost exactly the same. They made a few tweaks to the game, actually improving it in some areas (and adding the ability to connect to a Gamecube). I'm currently playing Friends of Mineral Town on the converter that converts Gameboy games to the Gamecube, and it's just about the same game! I found the other games in the series to be a lot less interesting, though. Wurwilf: another thought was Fantavision, the fireworks simulation game. It's basically a big puzzle game where you trigger reactions and make beautiful fireworks shows. Very pretty, and very cheap.
• I'm surprised no one recommended any of the Oddworld series. Very keen stuff.
• patita: yeah, I read a review of FoMT that raved about how much better than the others it was, and bought it to play on a trans-Pacific flight. It's a great time-waster. I didn't know Gameboy had added Gamecube compatibility to their games. Interesting but not surprising. I love the characters and imagery of the Oddworld series, but I couldn't get the hang of the complicated button combinations you needed to use to do things in the game. That said, it was the first ever game I played on PlayStation, back in 1998, so it's probably second nature now. What about a console version of Myst/Riven, or would that be too slow-moving?
• Probably too slow-moving, yeah. I liked them myself, but a) they were lulling/soothing to an extent that not everyone would dig, and b) Riven was the first game that sent me screaming away to the internet for help with puzzles. I don't know about unleashing that on a newbie. They have an interesting pace, though.