Kotaku
Those of you who have been following the site regularly probably know that my wife isn't a gamer. In fact she's slightly an anti-gamer, but she puts up with me. She doesn't, however, ever have any interest in playing games, or watching myself or my son play games, or even talking about games. So we don't, at least around her. And it's really not a big deal. I have plenty of other things going on in my life, so gaming doesn't have to be a part of every bit of it.
Over the weekend Tristan and I decided to play through more of Super Mario Galaxy. About 30 minutes into our session, my wife wandered down to fix herself a drink at the bar. Then she sort of wandered over to the couch where we were sitting to play. Then she sat down!
What the hell? I thought, but tried not to show my surprise. The last thing I wanted to do was have her walk off.
She watched for a little bit, and then started asking questions. What do you have to do? She asked. And Tristan explained. We were on one of the boss battles, one that we kept losing at. Tristan, who was playing shotgun, was helping out quite a bit by freezing the things being thrown at me.
After we beat the boss, Trish sat through a chapter of the story and then both of us went upstairs to start cooking dinner.
What was that? I asked as we sorted out the meal.
What?
You hate games?
Yeah, but that one was really cute.
If Miyamoto can make a game that my wife not only refers to as "cute", but is willing to watch then he's really found the key to mainstreaming gaming. The question is will that translate to more people playing his games? It's probably too early to tell for my wife, but it seems to be the case for quite a slew of gamers.
What is it about the Wii, do you think, that makes gaming less, I don't know, threatening, or perhaps boring? Is it the control scheme, the graphics, the subject matter. Does it time release opiates into the air?
Comments
You need to proofread!
@mywhitenoise: no he doesn't
I had the same experience with my ex-girlfriend.
It's just like he said in his GDC keynote last year, he makes games that his wife will enjoy.
I think Nintendogs, WiiFit and a majority of SMGalaxy can be attributed to Mrs. Miyamoto.
thats was lolz worthy
Nintendo Wii: Now with Heroin!
Hah. Agreed.
Beautiful story! You should tell her about...yaknow...having seperate files for different people. ;]
@mywhitenoise: ...Sigh.
It's fun to watch others play the Wii. The facial expressions and flailing of the arms... it makes me laugh every time.
Very cool for you.
Not sure I'd be married if my wife weren't into gaming of some kind. Video games, RPGs, war games, board games and card games are my LIFE. Hell, we MET at a game.
@mywhitenoise: XD I no, right?!
I don't know what it is about the Wii either, but that's why it's printing money! I think they're doing this to pull in a bigger crowd then to ease them into the hardcore stuff. It's working as far as I know.
My girlfriend is an anti gamer as well but she made me beat halo 1-3 so she could watch the story. She also likes watching me play team doubles for some reason.
Wierd choice of games to watch I know but..its one of the few. She also liked watching Zelda OOT and TP, as well as The Legacy of Kain series.
"We were on one of the boss battles, one that we kept losing at."
You're fired.
I know i've been wondering the same thing! my parents would never go near games but once we got a wii they actually seem interested! my mom is keeping up with the release dates and set-backs for wii fit. but i dont think this phenominon is only on the wii, because we also got Scene it for the 360 and about once a week they turn it on or make me get off and play a round or two. so personally, i think it is more the subject matter and the accessability that can make grandparents pick up a controller.
@blehh: Try reading again, you might "know"-tice something.
I think I must be the only person in the world who though SMG was a bit overrated. The unbridled orgasmic enthusiasm that came from most critics (and forum posters) just didn't prepare me for the "meh" feeling I got.
Cool about turning your wife onto gaming (a bit) however.
@blehh:
Know, he doesn't.
^Fixed
:D
I think it pretty much is a combination off all that. The controls, the similar 'cute' art styles most Wii games have, and the timed released opiates. But seriously I think it may have alot to do with simply the presentation of the Wii and it's games. This clean cut family image of a console that also happens to have a really fun way to interact with it.
Miyamoto's wife-o-meter strikes agian
I have to say that it is the commercials. It shows the whole family around the couch playing games like mario and wii sports. Normal people and gamers alike like to come together and have parties. This is what a pool table of ping pong table was at one time to nongamers. It is the next step towards everyone having fun.
Remember the Miyamoto's "I want to make games my wife likes" speech he held at last GDC, Brian? Guess he was right and succeeded, huh?
@Cloral: Don't you mean "Nintendo Wii: Now with Heroine!"?
@KaneTaker: I'm with you on that one mate. If she isn't nerdy in the slightest, I ain't interested. I think games are a great way to understand the mind of another person anywho. Will they fold on your all in bet? Will they try to sneak in a low attack to take down your last morsel of life, or will they expect you to see that coming and instead stick with a high attack? Will they sacrifice their bishop for your knight? Will they blend? (I usually only resort to that question when the friendship isn't going too well)
I love learning about people through such interactivity.
Hell, even a game designer who doesn't even like Mario Galaxy had his wife fall in love with Mario on the Wii. [lostgarden.com]
SEE THIS?!?!
[youtube.com]
Crecente, get Trish in on the whole co-op thing. It'd be fun :D
all that means is that she just has to be drunk to be able to put up with them, my wife's the same way with 3somes.....
@DiSTiNCT: lol... hahah so awesome.
Geesus peeple dont pail on for the guy pointing spelling out bad.
But I do agree Crecente, nintendo just has that appeal for all ages, races, gender, etc.
My gf has ordered a Wii almost entirely for this game. When we started going out 2 years ago video games were probably something she encountered maybe once a year, but she's ended up getting really into them, going so far as to buy herself a copy of Cooking Mama for my DS and often demanding that I play games for her to watch. (Which is a demand I am usually quite willing to oblige.)
Nintendo games do have a way with the ladies though. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but then it doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's something there that isn't in your typical FPS. If I play Halo online with some guy buddies, she will zone out or start poking me because it's "boring." Which, to watch when you're not playing, I can't really deny. Nintendo games don't seem to have that problem. Of course it's not exclusively Nintendo that manages this, but they do seem to have the most consistency.
First sentence.
"no" should be "know"
You got a basement bar? That's badass!
I could never be with a person who did not at least like SOME games. Games are too big of a part of my life.
I'm proud to say my GF can kick my ass in Smash Brothers. She also owns me in the Phantom Hourglass multiplayer Minigame, Mario Kart, and a few other things.
Glad to hear it. My wife likes games but due to her inner ear, can't play FPS's ("Which is really annoying, 'cause I'd love to join in on Halo and shove a rocket launcher up one of you boys' asses"). Most of the time, she just likes to watch me play because, when she does play, she gets really obsessed. Diablo II came out and she'd play for hours.
@jrjoe: Uh...what does that have to do with anything? Go advertise on youtube comments, not here.
A lot of people noticed the 'no', but there's also this part "She doesn't, however, ever have any interesting in playing games".
I'm just nitpicking, I like Crecente, he's my favorite Kotaku writer. It'd be cool if he deleted one of his friends on PSN and added mywhitenoise.
Excellent story Crecente! :D
@mywhitenoise: whoops forgot to proof it. :(
It's a combination of the cute graphics and active controls. But yeah, Miyamoto has unlocked the holy grail of mainstream gaming. Just out of curiousity, what boss was it. I'll be it was Bouldergeist.
@jrjoe: Stop spamming your video, thx.
As a lifelong gamer who is living with a lady for the first time as of, say, last week, I found Crecente's tale of non-dismissal pretty inspiring.
My lady's not a huge gamer by any means. But she's a graphic designer, so she'll be really impressed by stuff like Bioshock's well-thought out commitment to the whole art-deco look. It's actually pretty awesome playing games with her watching (or, in the case of katamari damacy or star wars lego, participating) because she notices stuff I wouldn't. And she loves to sing in Rock Band. I'm a happy dude.
@KaneTaker: What type of game?
My missus is big on games too, casualesque I spose but y'know.. she's clocked Puzzle Quest, not sure many girls have defeated Lord Bane before!
That's really cool. My girlfriend doesn't like video games (or boardgames), but after we dated for awhile I got her to play some board games ("they're social!").
Then she revealed that she loved Mario Kart 64. Naturally I showed her Double Dash and Mario Kart DS. The next phase was RPGs: I showed her Paper Mario on the Gamecube. She played through the whole game with me.
Then I told her that the Wii was going to get a Mario Kart game. Score, she actually helped me get the console on day one.
She watched me play through Twilight Princess. The whole game. I wasn't allowed to play without her. It was awesome.
Then SMG came out. I thought it would take us our standard three to four months to play through a game.
WRONG. We played for around ten hours straight one Friday. Ten friggin' hours! It was pure bliss, mixed with bell peppers and and cheese and crackers. The next day she wakes me up early, Wii-mote in hand.
My friends, I knew that day that my battle was won. She was a gamer. <3
Your wife did no what you did for a living when she married you, didn't she?
My brain is breaking because I forced myself to type that.
It isn't just the Wii, and it isn't just Galaxy that keeps non-gamers entranced. Isn't playing "Open Season" on the Wii much like filling a lovely, decorative bowl with Tuna Helper? And wouldn't a Gamecube Galaxy have induced just another yawn from our wives, parents, and non-gamer friends? The Wii + The Playful Eye And Firm Hand of Shigeru Miyamoto paints an electronic field of white poppies, their edges glowing blue. Won't you come a little closer? Aren't you sleepy? Won't you join me in a waggle?
Hanna Barbera cartoons are mainstream as well. but in a bad way.
@Wyld:
I don't understand.
I can't wait until the day that crack dealers are shuffling you off to dark alleyways for a little bit of "Wii time."
Similar thing with my wife.. she started to play games bec of Super Mario Sunshine. I was kind of surprised. I just got WII few days ago and I told "warned" her I am getting Mario Galaxy in March.
The Wii and in no small part SMG has made my better-half more interested in gaming as a whole. She's now nicked my DS and copy of Phantom Hourglass and has proceeded to complete it and max out all her rupees... an astounding feat for someone that cant even play Mario 64 because "it looks too hard and the stick is funny to control"
I think nintendo have always made games and that engage people to watch others, back in the day my mum would sit for hours watching me play Donkey Kong on the SNES because she loved the music and the underwater levels.
Yes nintendo has that golden touch when it comes to niche and to a lesser extent cliché - you either love them or hate them and with consoles like the SNES, DS and Wii you gotta love them, don't you :D
My ex is the exact opposite of that. She only got interested when I was playing stuff like FolkLore, Metal Gear, and, oddly enough, RTSs.
She loved portal and Team Fortress 2 though.
She was anti-gaming prior to my play through of MGS3 partially because of stuff like Mario.
Once again mario beats all the other gaming franchises togheter...
@Korby: Crecente wasnt always a game writer. He used to be a Police writer / worked for the Rocky Mountain News Paper before was it Crecente? Sorry if I got the facts wrong. D: