Why do you want to might be a good question to ask. Some sort of fun, or a bit more (and I’m sorry it’s too late to think of a better term) intimacy. Someone else on the boards enjoyed teaming up for Metroid Prime with their SO, they fired the shots, their SO called them so to speak. Or do you want someone to play against in lieu of online opponents?
Speaking for myself, I would want my SO to be interested in some kind of gaming because it’s something entertaining that we could do together without leaving the house. Watching movies is fun, but you’re mostly just passive receivers of whatever is playing. Sure, you get to snuggle (nothing wrong with that at ALL) but if you’re playing Rock Band with your SO on vocals and you on guitar…that’s a whole new level of fun.
Let me try to recast your question in a different light; imagine if I said I wanted to get my wife into sports, and then suggested she take up full-on football to start? Be kind of silly, wouldn’t it?
If you want someone to play video games, it’s probably a good idea to find some video games they like. Nobody likes ALL computer games; I’ve been playing video games for 25 years, more games than I can count, and there are still many genres I’ve no interest in. First person shooters, especially on consoles, usually bore and frustrate me, but strategy games hook me like a fish. Fighting games bore me; MMORPGs fascinate me. Sports action games, boring. Sports management games, can’t get enough of them. Side scrollers? Boooring. Car racing? Give me car racing games every day and twice on Sunday.
If you want someone to get into computer games, start with ones that are easy to play and immediately rewarding, like World of Warcraft, or Guitar Hero, preferably along the lines of something they express interest in.
You may simply also have to accept that some people don’t like video games. Nothing wrong with that.
What does your GF like?
I didn’t become a more serious gamer until I was in middle school, but I had lots of gamer friends who’d play their favorite games while I watched over their shoulders. I would try a few myself, but quickly I discovered that I had no talent (or patience) for fighting games, but I loved the challenge of puzzle games and the story and character development of RPGs.
Every once in a while I’ll still rent a game outside my perceived comfort zone (that one f my other friends like) - this was how I discovered the Dynasty Warriors series, much to my surprise.
Your GF might be in the corner of the room doing her own thing while you play your favorite titles, but if she finds something that catches her is she the type to sit down next to you and ask you about the game? If so, that will help you determine what kind of games you can get her horribly addicted to.
I tried connect4 with my ex before we split up. I beat her too easily for a couple of games and then tried to let her win, which just made her even more mad.
Maybe try mmorgs? City of Heroes/Villians might be a good place to start. Relatively simple, with quite possible the best costume design feature in online gaming. Doesn’t require the kind of “twitchy” finger speed/control common to shooters. More storylines, less graphic violence.
From experience, I’d recommend “friendly” platformers that are more like puzzles and doesn’t penalize you for mucking up. Braid, for instance, has a very friendly way of letting you go back to before the muck-up and try something else. The Super Mario games are even better. The Zelda games are also good at this, but might be somewhat more daunting, since they involve actual combat. (Which, to non-gamers, is a pointless exercise) Once she gets accustomed to recognizing diegesis laws as “more” than pointless, arbitrary structure to lengthen gameplay, I’d suggest something light, fun and rewarding, like a good P&C adventure game. Grim Fandango has been an instant hit with almost all my friends who have tried it, gamers or not, male or female.
Left 4 Dead is a contested game, even among self-identifying gamers. Sure, it’s a good shooter with brilliant gameplay elements, but outside of that it’s really just a protracted and (to a degree) repetitive horror experience. Much like I’d rather not watch horror flick marathons, despite being a film buff, I don’t think games like that are a good entry point.
Episodical content, or games that have very clearly delineated missions, are also good. Games like Civilization, the Sims, Medieval 2, C-RPGs and such where you can put down the keyboard and walk away to do other stuff that catches your fancy. I find MMOs to be worse, where things happen in realtime and a lot of what you get out of it is the social interaction. MMOs always felt like a game’s game to me. (WoW, LotRO, Vanguard and Tabula Rasa for my part.) Though that might actually fascinate her, you never know.
I really don’t think you could go wrong with having her try Braid, though.
Been there, done that.
Try a variety of games in different categories. She might not like the type of games you prefer but you could find some that you both enjoy.
Stick to accessible games. Nothing with a steep learning curve, nothing with a lot of controls. She must be able to play right now, without a ton of explanations.
Be devious. If she won’t try a new game, just begin playing a number of different games in her presence, or just pretend you want to “test something” with some game or another so that she’ll see it, or just look at conveniently intriguing/attractive screenshots. When she looks over your shoulder and mentions that this looks fun or interesting, have her sit down and begin playing immediately.
If she has an interest in something, mention a game somehow related : for instance, I got a friend enamoured of all things south-American to play “Tropico” or to play a RPG because you can ride a horse in it. Can backfire (e.g. : hinting at how fun it is to create a face for your character can result in her spending a couple hours adjusting the shape of the chin and the colour of the hair of a new character every other day and never actually playing the game. The two hours still count as “quite enough time spent in front of a screen, don’t you think?”).
But don’t expect you’ll convert her to your favourite game. Even though I think I’m a rather hard-core gamer, you won’t make me play any FPS, for instance, regardless how hard you try. I just have zero interest in those.
Maybe you can’t get her interested and shouldn’t try to?
I love computer games and enjoy them a great deal. My wife doesn’t. I’ve tried getting her involved with various games, ranging from The Sims to Lego Indiana Jones to Oblivion (and countless others), all without success. It’s just not her thing.
Perhaps your SO is the same?