You meet someone who hasn't played a single video game before...

[Modphase 1,271]

I would do what WheatleyCore said, and give them a variety of different genres to play. Here would be my list:

 

-Team Fortress 2. Shooter. Great classic. Free to Play.

-Call of Duty 4. Another great shooter, involving more realism than TF2. I would recommend MW2, but for the sake of story, MW must come first.

-The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. A great introduction to the Zelda franchise, and motion gaming as well.

-Metroid Fusion. The best platformer I've ever played. Great story, great fights, great everything!

-Portal 2. Got to have some puzzle games in there!

-Half Life 2. An awesome linear game, with a great story. A classic in it's own right.

-Metal Gear Solid 3. Another linear game. Espionage based. Easier to pick up then the other MGS games, and won't interfere with the story order, being a prequel and all

-The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. One of the best role playing games to date, and a simpler game than Skyrim.

 

And that's about it, in terms of genres. If I were to recommend more games which are popular/classics, then that would be a whole other story.

Edited August 15, 2013 by Modphazon

[PercyThePony 15]

-Team Fortress 2 (TF2)

-Gary's Mod

-Pong

-Portal

-Minecraft

-Mario

-Something along the lines of Call Of Duty

-Sonic

-Scribblenauts unlimited

 

[Spartan 433]

ive had this happen once, and it was recently.. I let the person play Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.. they didnt stop playing for a few days xD now they play regularly, but they enjoy it..

 

Why Skyrim? because it wasn't a FPS, which can ruin gaming for people, and i feel that Skyrim is a good starting point for people, since you can do pretty much anything and its not hard to learn everything

[Rockymoo 2,137]

Depends, really.

If they seem sharp enough and would appreciate puzzle-solving or other mental stimulation, I'd recommend Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Super Metroid, or any Fire Emblem game.

If they were a little on the thicker side, I'd start them out with a Marry-o game.

[Katskratch 59]

League of Legends. 

 

lol no they'd die and hate games forever

 

Something relatively simple but addictive, say the easier RPG like KOTOR or Baldur or something. 

[Tails_155 68]

Well, if they'd never played a game before. I'd probably suggest something like Scribblenauts: Unlimited or something that at least trains the ability to play games without being too demanding. A shooter kind of suggests you already know the ropes of how games work.

[Zygen 6,066]

Well, i think i'd personally either start them with mario, or with pokemon. I've actually played Super mario bros wii with my parents before, so if they can sorta play it, i'm sure someone whos yet to play could figure it out.

 

As with pokemon its basically the first game i remember playing, aside from some random titles and education games, and its not incredibly difficult to learn, i'm sure someone could enjoy it.

 

Zeldas a good game, but its a bit more skill demanding, so not sure i'd pick it personally.

 

I dunno if i'd go for a super simple game like pong, since well, thats a game you'd probably get bored with pretty fast.

 

Mario party is a pretty fun and easy game for the most part, but its only fun really with others, still my parents have played it and if they can do it i'm sure someone could learn to, just wouldn't be as fun if they didn't have friends to play with.

 

I guess those are my choices, all the other games i can think of are either to easy or to hard.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

I'd say Galaga.  I think it's one of the greatest games ever and pretty challenging once you get past 10.  I would also show them Tetris, because it is (in my opinion) the greatest puzzle game ever made.  They are also games that have stood the test of time.  They don't show their age, because they are truly timeless games.  If they are into adventure, I'd say Ratchet and Clank.  Ratchet and Clank is a very good game with a very good story.  

[RubyVesper 100]

I honestly have no idea, it depends on the person. I am a born speed demon. Got a PS2 when I was 5, got a few racing and rally games. One year later, I was blazing through everything with ease, the games, while fun, offering little of a challenge. I was seriously demolishing games adult gamers had issues with. 

 

I kept playing racing games, and got interested in Pokémon in 2008, when my two brothers were obsessively playing the game. I learned two things then: Pokémon is fun to watch and Mystery Dungeon 2 definitely has one hell of a story. Didn't get into playing the games myself until late 2011. 

 

Got into TF2 in late 2012, as well as Minecraft. I am also apparently a natural born Scout.

 

Gaming is dependant on the person mostly. Some get into it easily, some don't. Simple.

[Lunas Husband 2,777]

HOW! how could you have never played any video games.. are you mad? or just been living under a rock... or maybe you been living with the Amish... anyway lets get you in front of a TV with a good old game!

[Megas 27,699]

Pac-Man, Tetris, the original Super Mario Bros., they're very simple to understand, but can still be difficult without being cheap

[Sweet Dreams 1,893]

I bet you already know what I'm gonna say.

Haha, in all seriousness, I'd say Mariokart Wii might be a good start. The controllers are simple and the game is easy. I would recommend Pokemon, but maybe they'd find it complicated. :s I dunno.

But I was playing pokemon at the age of five, so...

[Inactive01 5,299]

Hah! Been there, done that!

 

My crush hasn't played a single video game, although she's aware of different video game franchises through her brother. I would definitely recommend Civ 4 to her because she loves anything to do with history. I'd also recommend it because it's great for improving multitasking skills and to improve critical thinking based on acting against your opponents! It can also improve memory skills because it forces you to memorize the benefits of certain wonders and benefit tiles from resources.

 

I'd also recommend her the Oregon Trail series because she loves anything to do with nature. 

[Slaigh 118]

I wish I had seen this thread back when I moved into college this year... I met my room mate for the first time that day, I walk in with a big ole' gaming pc, my 360, and a 32 inch flatscreen, ask him if he plays video games and he says no. So I ask if he's played any video games, he's says no, he can't remember, and that if he did it was when he was little. Me:   I think no way, so I invite him to play AC Revelations... (I just happened to be making my way through it while waiting to get my Live account back up, so it was just what was in the console) He starts to play and is literally less coordinated than my dad when I got him to play. Now Me:   Oh god he wasn't kidding! So I teach him the controls; and for the next 2 weeks or so every time I walk into the room he's glued to the tv playing Revelations like it's the best thing ever! He got pretty good at it, then he just kinda stopped playing about halfway through and hasn't played for a couple months... now I think he just plays a couple flash games every little bit on his laptop...  I just don't know what went wrong?

 

Tl;Dr: I pretty much had this experience, and apparently AC Revelations was the wrong choice for a beginning game!