For the past few years I’ve been pressuring my wife to pick up a controller and play games she wouldn’t ordinarily try with me. I doubt I’m going to get her into an abstract game like a real/turn based strategy, simply because there really isn’t many introductory games in the market. I got into Strategy games through The Settlers II, where there was a minimum of combat for the first 6/7 levels until you was squarely into how to plan and coordinate. I then got into C&C Red Alert shortly after. My defining moment, like most RTSers, was the sheer immensity of Total Annihilation.
I also doubt I’ll ever get her to play an RPG. There’s too much journey. Final Fantasy 7, Zelda, Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights and OMG Fallout 1 & 2 that epitomized the awesomeness of the genre for me, and TES: Morrowind.
So I wasn’t fully expecting my wife to ever pick up a controller and play Halo with me, but I was delightfully surprised that she actually did exceedingly well for a first timer (well we won’t count Golden Eye on the N64). We played the original, and it might become a regular occurrence to coop them as we play through the series.
