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This week we decided to answer questions from two of our readers, thats double the fun for everyone! The first question this week is brought to us by Derek: Hi, my name is Derek.

I'm 17 and my girlfriend of 2 years claims she likes to play video games, however, whenever I offer to play she would rather do something else. I don't get it. She will play old school games and she will play Spyro-esque games. We have both beat all the Spyro games(the good ones at least) and I don't know what else she would play. I want to involve her in my biggest hobby, but I don't know how. I'm friends with a lot of female gamers and they're no help cause they all play halo and other bloody games. I need help.

Sounds like your girlfriend is just a casual gamer. Nothing wrong with that. Looking at the games you said she played I think you are better off sticking to what you know she likes at least to start with. I would not suggest you get her to try and play Halo with you...that doesn't seem like something she would be into. Give Mario games a try, if she likes Spyro she may like Mario. For co-op I would suggest Lego Star Wars. Try to stick with what you know she likes, find games that are a lot like Spyro as in platform games with a lot of collecting. I-Ninja, Pikmin, Viva Pinata, MySims...games like that. They are a lot of fun and she may enjoy them. Just b/c she might not like the same games as you does not mean she can not be involved in your biggest hobby.

I'm guessing off the Spyro games that you have a PS2. So I would suggest the Ratchet and Clank series, Jak and Daxter series, or the Sly Fox series. All three are not all bloody games. They are geared towards a wide genre and have a good story to them. I like the Ratchet and Clank series, as well as the Jak and Daxter games. They are fun and easy to figure out how to play. They can also be challenging at certain parts, especially for beginning gamers.

I am little curious as to why you used the word "claim". Do you think she is pretending to like video games? That aside, if you want to play with you try playing things she already likes. You mentioned she likes retro games, well Wii's Virtual Console has numerous great multi-player games to choose from. Some titles that have multi-player include Yoshi's Cookie, Super Mario Bros and Ice Climbers. Games like Donkey Kong let you take turns playing. But again this is another question asking "How can I change my gamer girlfriend?" and the answer to that question is: you can't. Spyro and similar games are single player and maybe it's just a hobby she likes to play by herself.
If she is into only RPG's and puzzle games then multi-player isn't an option for you. But again, if this is really important to you why not invite her over for 'Game Night', where you have dinner and play games together. When you ask her to come over tell her to pick a game for you two to play, and you can pick one too, like movie night.


Derek it seems the your girlfriend likes the simple and fun games which is not bad at all. So instead of trying to get her into your type of gaming why not stick to what she likes? The simple fun games like Lego Star Wars are a great way to play together and still have fun. I think if you want her to get into your biggest hobby then just stick to what she likes for now. Trying to pressure her into liking what you like won't really get you anywhere. Also if she likes the old school games then why not invest in getting a Wii? They have tons of co-op games to choose from including: Mario Kart and Super Mario Galaxy. Check out Crash of the Titans and Spiderman: Friend or Foe.

Try not to be pushy when getting her to try the games you like. I'm always telling people in such situations that comprimisation is KEY. Ask her if you guys play one of her choices, would she be willing to play one of yours? Have gaming sessions where each of you bring one game to play... Both MUST be played! You can even turn it into something bigger. Have a day where you each bring a game, and some other things eachother has to try... ie: You're specialty peanut butter, Cream Cheese meat sandwhich that she has to at least have a bite of! While she brings some type of strange food she enjoys, that YOU have to try... You see? You gotta try to make it as fun as possible, then she wont be hesitant to try a new game. She may be a little nervous, since you are probably pretty good at the games you like, she may not want to look like a n00b trying them out in front of you.

Our next question comes from Moose:
Hey girls:
i own a psp and ps3...but recently the wife convinced me to buy a d.s....and I'm looking for a couple good games for me and her...zelda was cute but i quickly put it away, harvest moon got old fast. since I'm in the military i would like a game that doesn't have to be continuously played but has a strong enough story that if i did want to kill a couple hours i could..once again any suggestions?

The BEST DS game that is pick up play for just a few minutes or one that you could play for hours is Animal Crossing. I know, it sounds and looks like a total "chick" game, but believe, it's crazy addictive and you lose no cool points for being caught playing it. The best part about it, is if you and your wife both have it, you can play together and go to each others towns. It's a great game, you can play for a few minutes, or you can play for hours...whatever you are in the mood for. Another great game that does not require you to spend a lot of time all at once on it is Professor Layton; it's a fun, quirky puzzle game that can be just picked up played. I recommend both of those above anything else on the DS. There are plenty of GREAT games on the DS (the New Super Mario Bros is one of them) but for what you are looking for, a game your wife might enjoy, and a game you can play on your own time schedule and at your leisure, those are my two nominees.

I love Mario Games. Simply because to me they never get old. There is always ways to go back and beat the level, and get more coins/stars/whatever that you didn't before. But it also gives you the ability to leave off for a while and not be lost when you come back. I think the New Super Mario Brothers for the DS would be a great game to try. It also has mini-games that you can play, if you don't want to play the story mode all the time.
Another game I would suggest is a racing game such as Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, or Need for Speed. It is something that you can keep going back to. It doesn't have a story mode, so you don't have to worry about forgetting where you were at.

My favorite DS game was Phantom Hourglass, so if you didn't like that too much then maybe we just have different tastes with games. As long as one of you have a ds game and are within 100 feet of eachother you can link up via the ds wifi, in case you didn't already know. A fun game for the two of you to play together might be Mario Party or Mario Kart. A more adult game, and by 'adult' I mean it's really hard, is Ninja Gaiden DS. It has a story of course but it's not pivetal to gameplay so not playing for awhile and forgeting the story won't really affect the gameplay. If you want a game that's more into action maybe you should try something like Contra or for more story FF Tactics. A different kind of gaming experience can be found with games like Brain Age. There are two Star Wars games coming out later this year that I hear are going to be really good, The Force Unleashed and Clone Wars(Jedi Alliance). I plan on getting Clone Wars on the ds for myself since I'd prefer to get The Force Unleashed for the X360.

If your looking for a game to kill sometime I would say Guitar Hero On Tour, it doesn't have a storyline to follow so if your just looking to pass sometime this is a good way to do it. Another game that I really enjoyed was Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales it has some fun mini games throughout the game and the storyline isn't that hard to follow. You could also try Assassin's Creed: Altairs Chronicles, it wasn't a bad game and you don't even have worry about knowing the storyline from Assassin's Creed since this one is set as a prequel. Here are some other games you could consider: Brain Age 1 or 2, Flash Focus, Children of Mana, and The World Ends With You. Just remember to not judge a book by its cover. If anything go rent some DS games from your local video store to try out some games you might be interested in, if you end up not liking it at least you only spent the rental fee for it and not the full retail price.

Got a question of your own for the GameGirls? Send an email to them at Tips4GameGirl@gmail.com. Your question may appear in the next segment!

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