Leveling Down

Everyone knows Rock Band is a huge hit, but what else appeals to non-gamers?

Last week I started the conversation about the types of games non-gamers (specifically, wives and girlfriends) could enjoy or at least tolerate. After laying out some general principles and looking at some broad areas of gaming, this week I’ll be narrowing my focus and talking about some specific genres that might appeal to non-gamers. I’ve organized the games from most appealing to least, in general. As always, your mileage may vary, and I’d love to hear others’ ideas as well!

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Is the Wii the only answer to getting non-gamers interested in games?

Any gamer who lives with a non-gamer (generally, the Mrs., but I don’t want to assume) knows the inherent tensions that can arise in the household. “Do the dishes!” (Five more minutes…) “It’s time for bed!” (Let me finish this level.) “We’re going to be late!” (I’m fighting a boss.) “I’m going into labor!” (Let me get to a save point!) These tensions exist in my marriage as much as they might in any other and are compounded by the fact that my wife dislikes glowing rectangles in general. Thus any game that Mrs. cmfl3x and I can find a common interest in is like pure gold.

In this two part feature, I’ll be looking for some of the general principles that a gamer can use to try to find a game that can be enjoyed with a non-gamer. Obviously, your mileage may vary, and each individual user knows their significant other the best, but since I have a particularly difficult to please spouse, I figure I’d share some of my experiences. In Part 1, I’ll be looking at some general guiding principles and some general types of games, while in Part 2 I’ll discuss some specific genres that might house these diamonds in the rough. With examples!

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Some of the already announced E3 2010 titles I’m looking forward to – can you guess what they are before the jump?

E3 2010 takes place this week starting tomorrow from June 15 through Thursday June 17, so there should be a lot of notable gaming news and announcements that we’ll be very excited to talk about. While most of the good stuff is probably under lockdown until E3 when they are announced, some publishers have already revealed their (partial) E3 2010 lineups. I’ve gone through and pulled out a few titles that I am definitely looking forward to hearing more info about in addition to any other crazy potential surprises!
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Seeing the Peace Walker bundle everywhere in Tokyo definitely didn’t make things any easier.

This past weekend, my wife gave me the permission to buy the PSP Big Boss Bundle! Good thing too, since I had already secretly pre-ordered it last weekend (was worried they would stop the pre-orders too close to release date). Originally I thought I would hide it from her, but that’s no fun – I don’t want to play my PSP in secret…so I made some strong arguments: told her that my commute to and from work every day is basically an hour long on the subway, and I’ll probably be on this commute for the the rest of my working career and I need as much stuff as I can do on the train. Plus, Gamestop is having various trade-in deals (50% bonus trade-in credit on anything through the end of this week) so I was able to trade in some older 360 games I’m no longer playing to minimize the cost of my new PSP. That and she got a new job, so I was able to ride off her happiness by sneaking in a request for this purchase.

Now that I’m going to be a PSP owner tomorrow, I’ve sat down and put together a list of games I plan to pick up for it. And like the DS and its classic franchises: Advance Wars, Phoenix Wright, and Professor Layton, the PSP also some excellent titles. Read on to see what titles I am finding noteworthy enough to start tracking down…

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Getting married isn’t Game Over, but you have to take advantages of your nights alone

I love my wife. I especially appreciate her patience with me when I’m playing video games, a habit she’s not fond of, but one that she accepts nonetheless. We’ve come to a balance, I limit the time I spend gaming while she limits her grousing about the matter. As anyone who is married knows, there come those rare times when you get the house to yourself and you need to make the most of it. So, here is cmfl3x’s Aging Gamer’s Guide to a Night Without the Mrs. (or Mr.), designed for maximum enjoyment!

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Is the Alan Wake Collector’s Edition worth $80, or can it go through the one month test?

I’m a very practical person, but I have to say that my weakness is buying games. Anything else I will easily wait for an amazing deal on before I buy it – food, electronics, tickets, etc. Yet with video games, something just sort of takes a hold of me and in several cases, I must get the game asap and I’ll pay the full retail price. I don’t know if I pay retail price on anything else in life!

After I bought my PS3 and had to go through that whole month+ long wait to finally get it, I have been self reflecting as of late on that wait and the amount of time I’ve played the system since I got it. Could I have waited longer to buy it? Sure. But now I’m going through the same mental anguish with the upcoming PSP Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker bundle. Will my “One Month Test” help guide my potential purchase?

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Over a decade old, Starcraft still comes out on top and will have its pennant hung from the rafters at Leveling Down for 2010.

What is left to say? At this site that caters to older gamers, Starcraft is the cat’s pajamas. After running through the Sun-Tzu (RTS) Region with a couple of scares, and after barely beating Bioshock to make it to the finals, Starcraft won the championship by a score of 60-40. Perhaps this is fitting, considering Starcraft’s sequel is (finally) being released this year. And maybe if games hadn’t been going head to head with one another, Starcraft might not have ended up on top. As it is, Starcraft endured all five of its matchups and is Leveling Down’s 2010 Video Game March Madness champion! After the break, some final thoughts about the tournament and a look forward to next year.

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It’s been a long road, but we have weeded 32 games down to 2, and it’s a fight to the death to find out who will be the winner of Leveling Down’s Video Game March Madness 2010! Hit the jump to see the last two standing (although I suppose you could just look at the above image), and let’s take a look at how the Final Four shook out in two results that were as close as humanly possible. For some reason, the polls didn’t close at 6 PM so the results are as of 6 PM. And voting is now open, so vote for the CHAMPION!

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With only a few games left in the running, cmfl3x and I have decided to combine the results discussion from Round 3 along with the starting the polling for Round 4.

Round 4 polls will close Monday, April 5th, at 6pm EST. cmfl3x will announce the two games moving into the Finals and open the voting on Tuesday. Hit the jump to see some commentary on the results and to vote for the Final Four…

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