To those with wives / girlfriends... (1 Viewer)

[James D S]

What a timely topic!
I am currently having problems with my better half. Well, not problems per se, but I feel that this situation will come to a head any day now. I've recently picked up a lot of RPG's I missed out on earlier and am finding myself in front of the tube far more often than I used to. Couple that with what seems to be a universal belief held by women that if a man chooses to do something else, then something must be wrong with the woman. That's far from the truth.
Pray for me guys, it's going to get a bit worse before it gets any better. :frowning:
P.S. Damn Sony for GT3 and Damn Konami for MGS2.

 

[Chris Beveridge]

Like some of the others here, I'm one of those exceptionally lucky ones that has a wife who does enjoy gaming (and HT and anime and SF/fantasy. woo!). She's not heavy into it, but she's got favorites. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), the games each of us likes aren't the same.

She's a huge Zelda fan and I can't stand it. But she logged a ton of hours on the N64 one as well as things like the Episodes 1 racer. On Dreamcast, she changed gears a bit and *really* got into Soul Caliber since there was a lot of stuff to unlock. And while she is a bit of a button masher, she got pretty good at it that she was able to give me some decent competition (I admit it, on games like SC and Project Justice, I just set the level to the hardest on the first game I play and never look back). DC was great for her though, as she got really into Samba de Amigo, Space Channel 5, Seaman and a couple of others. Lots of cool things.

She's not been as big on the PS2 but there's been little to really entice her. The only thing she's really actively played on it is the PS1 game Dance Dance Revolution.

Xbox is only a bit better at the moment. We picked up Fusion Frenzy after checking out the demo on Halo and she loves that since there's so much variety to it. If she had more time (i.e. not playing with the 2 year old and quilting for other peoples unborn kids) she'd probably play more. She's surprised me in watching me play a lot of Halo, particularly to here the marines comments as I go about the missions.

We tend to not buy a lot of games but have games that we like to play a lot. The DC was an exception of where we bought a lot of stuff, but Sega really wowed us. And with games on the cheap now, she's like "just buy it, we'll probably like it". Telling her some of the best sega games are showing up on Xbox made it easy to purchase. She can't wait for the next Crazy Taxi.

 

[Romier S]

Couple that with what seems to be a universal belief held by women that if a man chooses to do something else, then something must be wrong with the woman. That's far from the truth.

You nailed my woman to a tee!! I love my girl to death and would do anything for her but she drives me up a wall when it comes to gaming. I spend ALLOT of money on games and home theater and she is very understanding of that and doesn't give me too much hassle money wise (The x-box and G-cube took somemajor butt-kissing). The problem is that she thinks I dont want to spend any time with her because I'm playing games.
I do most of my gaming during the late night while she is sleeping (I work until 11:30 and dont have to back into work until 3pm the next day) but if I even touch a game for 15 minutes while she is around, I have to recieve the inevitable "Am I not as important as those games you play" speech.
*SIGH* Its the price I pay for falling in love.
In the end they are just games and nothing could ever replace my wonderful Sara.........but damn if I cant put that controller down!

 

[Mike_G]

My wife likes to watch me play console games like GT3 or Halo or Rogue Leader, but when it comes to Tekken or DOA3, watch out because she knows the controls as much as anyone .
When it comes to PC games, she has zero interest.
Mike

 

[BrianB]

I'm a very lucky guy - my wife 'tolerates' my gaming habit very well, and is happy to play certain games for hours on end. She likes to play only a few genres though, and there's certain games she just cannot stand, so much so that if I want to play them, I'm relegated to the computer room. She played games before we married - mainly Nintendo with her nieces & nephews.
She's a longtime Pacman fan. She's a huge fan of puzzlers like Tetris, Mr.Driller, Sega Swirl. She loves certain fast action 'pick up & play' games, like Crazy Taxi, 18 Wheeler. She kicks my butt at DOA2 - my neices & nephew were over, and she consistently handed defeat to use for over an hour. She loved watching me play Grandia 2. She *hates* Shen Mue with a passion - "Boring" "All he does is wander around". She absolutely adores Samba De Amigo. We've spent many many hours playing Samba & Mario Party.
She loves the DC's graphics, controller & the 'extras' like the Maracas & fishing rod. She *hates* the PSX, the graphics are just way way to pixelly & grainy compared to the DC's crispness. She loves the GBA.
In fact, I mentioned this thread to her & asked her thoughts.... Basically, she said she's happy with me gaming as I put up with her shoe fetish (her words!). She doesn't like me neglecting spending time with her to play crappy games instead. She's got no problem with me spending cash on games, as long as we can afford it. It's usually me that says NO to game purchases, not her - she bought me a GBA & I know she was going to buy me a GameCube for Chrimbo too.
I know I'm getting a bunch of DC games from her as part of my Christmas pressies - I had to print out a list of what I owned last night I love my wife!
Some 'significant others' just don't get it - they see it as a sad reclusive 'habit'. They're missing out on a lot of multiplayer fun.

 

[Mike__D]

I tried to get my girl into gaming, but so far she isn't interested. We played Worms World party on DC and she though it was cute, and got her to play a gmae or two of Wave Race on GCN, but that's it. She does like to watch Luigi's Mansion, says it's more fun to watch that Rogue Leader.

Also, I take my GameBoy Advance to her house and she asked me a few times if I do that becasue I'm bored. I tell her no, but I don't think she believes me...

 

[Jason Handy]

Amy is warming up more every day to the DC. I think she realizes that its not going away and she might as well get used to it. Hey, at least it doesn't leave dirty dishes in the sink
Seriously - I think that us men need to make sure that our wives / gfs don't feel like they need to compete with our gaming passion. One of my least favorite things to hear from my wife is "I wish we would spend more time together". That instantly tells me that I need to TURN THE CONSOLE OFF! and usually take her out to do something.
Those of you guys lucky enough to have women that share your passion for gaming - I hate you
Jason

 

[Dave Falasco]

Hey, I just thought of four little letters that helped my wife accept my gaming passion; maybe it will help some of you fellas as well. H-G-T-V. As in, Home and Garden Television, the cable network.
You see, I hate that stupid network. I hate every single show on it. But my wife can't get enough of it. So a couple times a week, she will make some comment like "Say, it's 9 o'clock already, why don't you go play a little Xbox for a while?" And I'll know that one of her dreadful home improvement-type shows is coming on, and I'm free and clear to blow up a few Combat Flood or Covenant Elites for the next hour or so. Yay!
So, all you have to do is bellyache and moan about one of her favorite shows, and then work in a compromise where she can watch her show while you go play video games! Unless, of course, you only have one TV...:frowning:

 

[Derrik Draven]

When I met my present girlfriend, her idea of videogames was Atari. At that point in time, the PSOne was big and, I introduced her into Doom.

...she was addicted.

Now, I finally bought her a new computer. She absolutely loves the Thief series, like myself.

So, I spend quite a bit a time every week playing games and, there's no fights about it around here.

Only problem is I HAVE to get my downstairs finished. Halo is killing alot of my time!!!!

 

[Calvin Watts III]

Like some of the others here, I'm one of those exceptionally lucky ones that has a wife who does enjoy gaming (and HT and anime and SF/fantasy. woo!)

My ex-wife hated these things. In fact,the 1st thing that I did after we seperated back in 1996,is that I went out and bought myself a PS.
But,fast forward to today,and my fiancee' LOVES these things! I have to make some small sacrifices,such as playing Dynasty Warriors 3 with her,but I can tell you,having been on both sides of the fence,is that it is soooo much better when the other half likes what you do!
Calvin

 

[Derrik Draven]

My ex-wife hated these things. In fact,the 1st thing that I did after we seperated back in 1996,is that I went out and bought myself a PS.

Damn man, you stopped me in my tracks with that one!!!!

My ex-wife despised them too. We separated in '95 and I went out and bought a Playstation as well. Playing the original Destruction Derby was the 1st time anything had brought a smile/laugh to me since we split!

 

[Chris_Anders]

I bought the Xbox with my girlfriends support. (Mainly I sold her on the DVD aspect of it)
I got munchs oddsey and she plays that all the time!! Also, we rented Fusion Frenzy, and that is a really easy game to get into with simple controls and gameplay. Either of these I would recomend to the Xbox owner with a wife or girlfriend in tow. Or, better yet, buy the Sims for her, and when she plays on the PC (And she WILL play, I gauruntee it) you just hop on the good ol' console and game away. Trust me, the Sims for your girl is a sure fire way to get some good, wholesome video game time without the hassles.
IMO.

 

[Romier S]

Chris,
Truer words were never spoken! The Sims is the only game I have ever gotten my woman to play....and boy does she play it. She just about bullrushed me out the door to go get Hot Date for her when it came out

 

[Jason Handy]

My wife never batted an eye towards the Sims. She likes the Myst series of games, but since they are a genre unto themselves, it doesn't leave much room for getting a new game.

Jason

 

[Chris Bardon]

I ended up getting my girlfriend hooked on Civ 3-she's better than I am at it. Another game that doesn't really have any "twitch" components to it, is easy to get into, but REALLY hard to stop.

 

[Jared_B]

My wife plays right along with me. Before our X-box, she actually played more. Since I finished up Gran Turismo 2 I've had no interest in any PS1 games, but she has been playing Tomb Raider III the whole time.

Now that we have an X-box, we are both hooked on Halo. We play mulitplayer and co-op all the time. It's a blast always having someone to play with.

Jared

 

[Dave Poehlman]

My problem is, I can't play games with my wife. I mean, she is so inexperienced at games in general, I can't help but kick her ass. She does sit down to play Parappa once in a while, thats about it.

Also, she gets too excited playing 'em. I mean, if theres a monster chasing her or something, she screams and can't work the controls... it's very frustrating. I keep thinking "how would she ever get past the dinosaur in Crash 3?"

 

[Christina_K]

this is Chris As girlfriend. games that girls like: any nintendo/super nintendo/atari game, the easy stuff makes us feel good when we can beat it. i have recently pulled myself away from the sims, tho, and im quite addicted to amped for the xbox. also fusion frenzy and munchs oddysey is great...hm, theres some racing one that i like....chris and i both have been working on amped together, now that we finally figured it out! so, to those of you with non video game girls, just keep working with em, your bound to find something you two can play together!

 

[Ryan Peter]

My ex-wife despised them too. We separated in '95 and I went out and bought a Playstation as well. Playing the original Destruction Derby was the 1st time anything had brought a smile/laugh to me since we split!

let me guess, you pretended your wife was in the other cars?
Super Smash Bros. is easy to learn, my wife plays it with me but she actually doesn't like it much :frowning:

 

[Dan_D]

this is a funny topic. my gf started out playing marioKart on n64, she loves that game and is actually very good at it. she got me the xbox for christmans and weve been playing a lot of Fusion Frenzy ( a very fun game i might add w/ beer and friends ). recently i brought home DOA3 and was somewhat hesitant to play the somewhat female degrading game. she watched for a few minutes and kept refusing to play. finally i talked her into it and she loves it. i bought this game at Babbages where they have a 7 day return policy if you open it. i wasnt sure i wanted it, i just got it to try it out, but shes making me keep it
good times