2player games for the wife and I
After pooling the Best Buy and Visa gift cards from Christmas this year we are sitting at enough to pick up a console.
In order to sell this to the wife I am going to have to pick up the system with a good game we can play together.
She kicks my butt at fighting games so that may not be a bad option, but are there any other good co-op games floating around that are worth picking up that will help me on this quest to avoid building her a computer that she can game with me on?
Now I have not played console games since my super Nintendo. Needless to say I am a bit out-of-touch when it comes to what is hot and what is not. I know the ps3 isn't the most popular system right now, yet I am leaning towards it for the blue-ray and the blind hope that the titles will flow soon. I have not ruled out the 360 so if you have suggestions that are 360 exclusives toss them at me as well.
I was hoping ratchet and clank would have co-op or 2 player as that game seems right up her alley and it looks like a lot of fun. But alas it is single player only. (or at least that is what the Best Buy sales page says.)
Pharacon wrote:
DIE DUMBO DIE! I NEED A NEW CHESS SET AND CUFFLINKS!
Super Mario Galaxy: my wife approves, and she has kicked my butt in Mario Kart on more than one occasion. She's actually the one who asks ME to go play, more often than not. She saw the term 'Star Bit Bitch' brandied around her and has since adopted it herself, and we've had so much fun playing co-op through that game that it was well worth picking up.
24.24.1.342 dhaelis [Executed]
If you get a PS3, make super-duper sure you get one of the ones that can play PS2 games.
I can't really argue in favor of a PS3 though.. heck, I almost wanted to type out an argument for a PS2. You'd save a ton of money versus any current gen console, and while there won't be many new games, they'll all be 'new' to you, and you'd have tons to choose from at likely cheap prices. (Well, okay, I guess I *did* type out an argument for a PS2.)
Seconding Mario Galaxy because damn if that game isn't good.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
There's about half a dozen decent co-op experiences to be had on the 360, including
Gears of War
Halo 3
Rainbow Six
Kameo?
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance or X-Men Legends Series
Rock Band (coop is good, but 3-4 is even better)
Rainbow Six and Rock Band can be enjoyed on the PS3. Except for Rock Band, those all sound pretty hardcore and might not interest your wife.
The Wii gives you Super Mario Galaxy. The co-op experience here is completely different for the two parties involved, so I can see how so may like it while others won't.
However, I believe the PC/Mac provides the longest lasting co-op experience:
World of Warcraft
and Other MMOs
In Ultima Online I used to poison hams and leave them on the ground in cities for people to pick up and eat. I can't believe how many people thought street ham was a good thing to eat. -Elliottx
In Ultima Online I used to poison hams and leave them on the ground in cities for people to pick up and eat. I can't believe how many people thought street ham was a good thing to eat. -Elliottx
Rock Band is awesome, a universally loved game if there ever was one.
I can't tell you how many times I've been burned by that blind hope. Assume that the current releases are the only titles you are ever gonna get.
The Wii is the only exception to the rule - you'll get all the great Nintendo franchises and they will most certainly be good games. Lots of party/co-op games, plus Wii Sports and Wii Fit, which your wife might like. Rock Band will on the Wii, too. I'd say the Wii is the safest bet for the wife-friendly casual gamer. The big 3rd party games will be gimped on the Wii, though.
The Xbox 360 is the home of hardcore games - shooters, lots of male-oriented stuff, although most 3rd party games will appear on the 360. Halo is usually popular with any woman who is willing to play a shooter. The only other co-op 360 games I can think of are all shooters, and mostly dark. Gears of War is a lot of fun, but has extreme if cartoonish violence. There is Viva Pinata but that isn't co-op, just cool. Lots of great Live Arcade games which are very lady-friendly.
The PS3 is looking extremely barren right now. I haven't seen too many new titles announced yet. If you like fighters it's probably the best console simply for Tekken (it's the only PS3 exclusive), plus there is Playstation Home and Little Big Planet. Little Big Planet is a cute little co-op game with little dolls that roam through levels and work together to solve physics puzzles. Home is like Second Life on your PS3.
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
That's a load of crap, but Rock Band probably would go over well in your household, Wired Asylum.
Danjo Olivaw Lives
My opinion: PS2 or Wii are your best options.
Wii multiplayer has:
Super Mario Galaxy
Wii Sports
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Warioware Smooth Moves
Trauma Center: New Blood
Zack & Wiki
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Mario Party 8
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Mario Strikers Charged
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
PLUS all the multiplayer GC games that are backwards compatible like:
Mario Party 1-7
Zelda: Four Swords
Metroid Prime 2
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
X-Men Legends 1&2
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance
etc.
PS2 has:
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 1&2
Champions of Norrath
Campions: Return to Arms
Katamari Damacy
We Love Katamari
Lego Star Wars 1&2
Ratchet: Deadlocked
Adventures of Cookie & Cream
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
And then there's these games and these ones as well. Then there's all the fighting, racing, and sports games, but those would depend on if your wife cares for that style of game.
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I'd second this, the Star Bit Bitch is an awesome role for the non-serious gamer. Also dhelor's post about is pretty exhaustive but I'd lean to the Wii (if you can find one) as the ultimate gateway drug for non-gamers in your whole extended family.
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Earth Defense Force 2017 is an absolute riot in coop.
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle.
Nicholas Cage is my hero
My Gamercard
Trauma Center. It's not really co-op, but the sequel will be, and it's tons of fun.
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Favorite puzzle: Grim Fandango -- the metal detector
I'm going to agree with the Wii/PS2 comments. Unless you have an HDTV and want to show it off (which you might considering you mentioned Blu-Ray as a factor) the PS2 is a great option with a bunch of good cheap games, both co-op/versus and single-player, and will save you a pretty penny. If you want to go more trendy and/or are willing to work for a system the Wii is a great choice for multi-player goodness and will at least scale to widescreen on most games, even if it won't be as eye-glaringly beautiful as a PS3/360 game.
If you really want a next-gen system the PS3 60GB model isn't a horrible idea if you can find it. Full backwards compatibility with PS2 games and upscaling means the games would look better on an HDTV than a straight PS2 and those usually run $400 retail if you can find them. Same problem as the Wii really, finding a 60GB PS3 seems like it'd be a lot of work and the 40/80GB models won't give you the PS2 games you'd enjoy. But I'd avoid getting it as a Blu-Ray player; being an early adopter in a format war is iffy at best.
Others suggested more games than I can think of. One thing to consider with the PS2 is you can easily get Guitar Hero I and II (and III if you really want) for some cheap multiplayer party goodness.
Edit: I should mention one of the side benefits of having a Wii is that you can download a lot of your favorites from the SNES era of gaming. I know my Genesis is long gone so being able to replay some of my favorites for four to ten bucks a pop is worth it for me.
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Yes, it does co-op, you just have to go download the free add-on from Marketplace.
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"Never know when you might need a tank." -Johnston Green, Jericho
Another endorsement for the Wii, assuming you can find one. Nothing brings a tear to my eye faster than my wife turning the Wii on, picking up the controllers, and shouting "TAKE THAT YOU LITTLE BITCH" at the screen as she pummels another boxing opponent. Wii sports alone makes that console worth buying. We also have Mario Party 8, though I'll admit that it doesn't beat Mario Party 5 in my opinion. Still fun though. I'd like to pick up Galaxy, but it gives my wife vertigo to watch it.
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Considering that you said your wife beats you at fighting games, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and wonder if a more hardcore system is appropriate. Everyone seems to be operating under the wife=casual gamer assumption. Personally if she is at all hardcore, I'd go with a 360. The list of coop games mentioned above is decent, plus there's a huge variety of coop and competitive 2 player games available on marketplace.
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It is an oddity, when we go to game works she will smoke me hard at Tekken/virtual fighter even 1 time at mortal combat (i redeemed myself with it the next round all hail Sub Zero)
When her gaming rig (my old pc) was still in decent shape she got into WoW pretty hard core and was doing well, but all she would do is run around killing stuff.
From what I am reading about the Wii, is that it is generally geared towards the casual gamer, that is her in some aspects but not me at all.
I think I am going to go with the 360 even though I am going to have to pay for the wireless and we won't get Tekken. Blue ray would be nice but like it was said the format war is still not close to being settled so cant make the call based on that.
Thanks for you help guys!
Pharacon wrote:
I'd highly recommend co-op lego star wars. I've had fun playing it co-op with several different types of gamers. The more hardcore types can drink while they play and have a ton of fun. The OCD gamer types have tons of specials and extras to work on. And the casual types can just run around whacking stuff, constantly dieing and coming back, and help move through the game. Enjoy it!
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The 360 is definitely the one must-own console this gen. I have a 360 and a Wii, and the Wii never gets played.
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
I can't recommend Rock Band highly enough. We got it for Christmas and it has pushed all other games to the back of the drawer, including the awesome Mass Effect. Several people have come over just to watch it and they all wanted to join in. My throat is hoarse today after a 6 hour jamboree last night with friends. Its just a tremendous party game.
my vote cancels out yours
I completely agree with souldaddy on this one. What's wrong with you, Danjo?
Last night, again, I had some friends over that are not gamers, and we had a blast playing Rock Band for hours while enjoying beers and snacks. I haven't found someone that didn't love the game yet.
And Wired Asylum, here at home I have all 3 consoles and the one that my wife and I play the most is the 360. The Wii was a very cool toy at the beginning but I'm not sure why we don't think about playing most of the games we got for it, like Wii Play, Mario Party 8, Wii Sports... Most are family casual oriented games and I'm not sure my wife really dig those kind of games and that's why we get to play the 360 games a lot more. If your wife is not that casual, like you said, I think the 360 is the way to go!
XBL/PSN Gamertag: KillTrash
PS3:
--Eye of Judgment. The two player card game works well with a spouse.
--Rock Band.
--Guitar Hero III
--Blu-Ray Movies
My wife won't stop playing Carcasonne on Xbox Live Arcade. Literally. She won't stop. I wish she would, cuz I want to play Call of Duty 4. Sometimes I play against her. But usually she's already in a game.
The new Snarling Badger Games, makers of fine microgames.
snarlingbadger.com
Thank you all for the recommendations. The wife and I had a blast playing Gears of War last night. Our enjoyment went up greatly once she realized how to chain saw face. I can't tell you the last time we stayed up that late gaming together at least. Nothing like graphic violence to bring the family together.
Pharacon wrote:
Excuse me, I forgot. It's not innovation unless it involves another texture pass. - Tycho from Penny Arcade
Game journal - Infinite Ego
My Rock Band profile
I'll increase the recommendation quantity for Rock Band. My wife loathes games and, without (much) hyperbole, considers them the disease vectors from which all the world's ills flow... and yet she played Rock Band longer than I did last night, continuing a streak that has extended almost a week now. "Just one more song!" is the new refrain heard in the household which, I'm sure you'll agree, is a vast improvement over "shut that goddamn thing off and do something productive you useless tit monger." This may not be a direct quote.
Rock Band Name Generator!... too funny to merely be coincidence.
"Truly, this mishap has set back the swamp sciences several years." - H.P. Lovesauce, lamenting a tragedy.
I think its safe to say that she is not a casual gamer. Congrats on getting your wife to play Gears!
Xbox Gamertag: Armchair Jockey
Thanks it helps that it is the only game I bought with the system
Pharacon wrote:
A friend of mine lost his fiance to Uno on XBL for two months. Be warned!
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What exactly is a tit monger? Also, your wife sounds smart.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
I entirely comfortable saying that Earth Defense Force 2017 is my favorite game of all time right now. If you've got a 360 and a friend, go play it. EDF!
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