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[Bree]

As I've mentioned before, I have tried a variety of games with my parents, to varying degrees of success. I chose Portal not just because it was a game that I liked (not denying it, though ), but that the game is, as the creators described it, "a very long tutorial". Every single level in the game introduces exactly one new concept to the player (assuming that the control scheme itself is not a new concept), and the majority of the game can be completed at the player's pace, with no time limits and very few dangers.

Both of my parents understand 2-dimensional games very well, so this was my first attempt at introducing them to a first-person game. They've also had a small amount of experience with Mario Galaxy- as Mario, mind you; I just waved the second pointer around to collect Star Bits.

That Birdmen piece is still a damn good one, even after all this time. Nintendo needs him to be their marketing director.

A few days ago, my grandmother came over because my parents thought I would need someone to help me write the check for the repairman who was fixing our fridge. I asked her if she would be interested in playing a game called Portal, and she accepted. I booted up the first level and watched her play, occasionally offering a helpful hint. She picked up on the WASD controls fairly quickly (she still side-stepped most of the time, though), but she got through the first four chambers in less time than my dad spent trying to solve the first one. She figured out the solutions to the puzzles after watching the screen for a bit, only being stumped by the second chamber.

In this section, the player begins in a room sealed off from the rest with an orange portal behind them. Three parts of the room are also segmented off with a cube, a button, and the exit in each, respectively. The blue portal cycles between these three locations, in an attempt to make players aware of how portals can be moved. As my father did initially, my grandmother tried to simply walk to the exit, bumping up against the glass wall, clicking on it several times. This is interesting because even though she made it through the first puzzle just fine, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. I don't just mean that she didn't understand how she needed to use the portal; she didn't understand what the goals were. She didn't understand that she needed to get to the exit, or that the switch was somehow connected to the exit. My father did this too, and I suppose this is another case of gamer logic versus 'real' logic. Let's face it, how many games have we had to deal with switch puzzles?

In any case, she did a better job than her son. Granted, she's actually pretty decent with computers; she's the one who taught me how to use Photoshop, although she mostly uses it to tweak and crop her pictures for printing, but still.

My next subject in my grand social experiment (insert evil cackles here) was my eight-year-old cousin. He had quite a bit more exposure to video games, owning both a DS and a Wii and playing a small amount of games on his PC. Due to his young age, his parents did not allow him to own any first-person shooters (as it should be until he's old enough), and if he had played any at his friend's house, he never mentioned it- he seems to prefer Zelda anyway.

As he began the game (with the blood turned off), I watched with curiosity as he blazed through the test chambers. After I showed him how to use WASD, it only took him three minutes to get used to it. He made it all the way to the thirteenth chamber before he got stumped, and even then I only had to drop a few hints before he got it. Once he figured out how to fling himself, it became his favorite trick. Whenever he got stuck, he'd see how far across the room he could toss himself or one of the cubes. Interestingly enough, he didn't seem to notice GLaDDOS at all, except when she scolded him for removing the security cameras.

[agj]

That's still very interesting, so keep us updated.

That your grandmother performed better than your father is kind of mindblowing to me.

[Bree]

BREAKING NEWS: MY FATHER READ A GAMING MAGAZINE OF HIS OWN FREE WILL.

...SORT OF.

According to him, he was stuck in the doctor's office this morning when he happened to see the August '08 issue of Game Informer. He picked it up, and flipped through it, stopping briefly to look at the History of Video Games article. He didn't read it, just skimmed the piece and looked over it briefly.

Nevertheless, I consider this a small victory. Now if I can get him to put his glasses on and actually read the darn thing.

[Craig Stern]

It's funny, my parents play games occasionally and I sometimes offer them suggestions. Just recently they were playing Shining Force and I suggested that they try out Final Fantasy Tactics. The thing is they were completely content with just playing Shining Force rather then the much more fleshed out FFT. I think a lot of why many in earlier generations don't "get" the whole idea of games is because they are perfectly contented with what they already have experienced.

Oh, snap--don't diss on Shining Force, dude! That was by far my favorite game when I was a kid. Final Fantasy Tactics was pretty good too, but I always found the control scheme cumbersome, the battles poorly balanced, and the general pace of the game much too slow. I don't blame your parents--I still prefer Shining Force to this day.

[Alevice]

BREAKING NEWS: MY FATHER READ A GAMING MAGAZINE OF HIS OWN FREE WILL.

...SORT OF.

According to him, he was stuck in the doctor's office this morning when he happened to see the August '08 issue of Game Informer. He picked it up, and flipped through it, stopping briefly to look at the History of Video Games article. He didn't read it, just skimmed the piece and looked over it briefly.

Nevertheless, I consider this a small victory. Now if I can get him to put his glasses on and actually read the darn thing.

Whats the point? He just skimmed it probably out of sheer boredom, not particular interest on the articles.

[Bree]

Heh, probably, I just thought it was amusing for some reason.

[Cymon]

BREAKING NEWS: MY FATHER READ A GAMING MAGAZINE OF HIS OWN FREE WILL.

...SORT OF.

According to him, he was stuck in the doctor's office this morning when he happened to see the August '08 issue of Game Informer. He picked it up, and flipped through it, stopping briefly to look at the History of Video Games article. He didn't read it, just skimmed the piece and looked over it briefly.

Nevertheless, I consider this a small victory. Now if I can get him to put his glasses on and actually read the darn thing.

Whats the point? He just skimmed it probably out of sheer boredom, not particular interest on the articles.

The point is there were probably other things he could have chosen, and he chose to read a gaming mag. Granted that means gaming ranks slightly higher than year old national geographics, but still.

[GregWS]

Yes!  Old school PC adventure games were the shit!  I was definitely worse than you though when it comes to console gaming; my first non-PC gaming (excluding friends' houses, and their portables, of course) was when my brother bought a DS right around launch, and our first console was the Wii (for those really great Gamecube games as much as anything).  Now, a few years later, and I've got my own DS, PSP, Famicom Style GB Micro (OMG, a portable that actually fits conveniently in my pocket!), and my brother recently got a PS3.  I'll still play PC from time to time, but almost all my PC gaming now is indie, emulation, and RTS (console RTS is the worst idea anyone ever thought of; those games need more precision than an analog stick can provide, and I don't even know if Wii IR would be good enough either).  Anyway, good luck with your experiment, but yeah, don't force it.  Maybe he'd like a more explorey game like Knytt Stories where the only real point is just walking around enjoying the landscapes; maybe I'm just way off though.   

[Mentalpatient109]

Yes!  Old school PC adventure games were the shit!  I was definitely worse than you though when it comes to console gaming; my first non-PC gaming (excluding friends' houses, and their portables, of course) was when my brother bought a DS right around launch, and our first console was the Wii (for those really great Gamecube games as much as anything).  Now, a few years later, and I've got my own DS, PSP, Famicom Style GB Micro (OMG, a portable that actually fits conveniently in my pocket!), and my brother recently got a PS3.  I'll still play PC from time to time, but almost all my PC gaming now is indie, emulation, and RTS (console RTS is the worst idea anyone ever thought of; those games need more precision than an analog stick can provide, and I don't even know if Wii IR would be good enough either).  Anyway, good luck with your experiment, but yeah, don't force it.  Maybe he'd like a more explorey game like Knytt Stories where the only real point is just walking around enjoying the landscapes; maybe I'm just way off though.   

Knytt Stories is a bad choice. Jumping challenges can be ridiculously hard for beginners, even simple ones.

Anyway, great topic. I'd start them out on something casual, or even a simulation (Chess or something) would be suitable. Another good choice would be Ben There Dan That! because of it's simple and easy pointy clicky gameplay.