Be Excellent To Each Other

Hello.

So here's the deal. I've persuaded my g/f to plunge into the glorious world of 360 gaming, and she's getting one for Christmas. She's not a natural gamer, let's say, but I also got her into the DS a couple of years back, which she adores (as do all women, as we know).

One game she loves on the DS is Mario Kart, and basically she would love to get some racing game or other for the 360, but I'm not too certain which to advise her to swoop on, seeing as racing games aren't really my thing.

I think the main themes are that it would need to be fun and kind of easy, so i.e. I don't think Forza would suit her as it's probably too complex and serious. But I'm thinking maybe Outrun could do the job? Or a Burnout?

Any pointers would be appreciated, ta.

Is she competitive? Burnout is great fun, but the real entertainment is in the co-op challenges rather than the competititive play.

Flatout:Ultimate Carnage. Great fun and plenty of minigames if you fancy arsing about too.

Now I found the main game element of Flat Out to be utterly hateful.

Strange - that was my favourite part.. I only did the minigames to unlock them all and some achievements.

Lest we forget Test Drive: Unlimited which might appeal to 'birds'. One of many titles which are available for fuck all in Blockbuster et. al these days, along wiht Flatout, Ridge (Ridge racer) Racer 6, Sega Rally (ooh, get that), Outrun Live Arcade and so on. Midnight Club: LA is about £20 new in a lot of places, and veh good for anyone who likes open world racers and the 'feel' of Rockstar's open worlds in particular.

I'd also wager Pure is worth a pop, but download the demo of this and (m)any others if possible, just to get some idea.

Unless you go for the earlier Burnout (Revenge maybe?), which my pal Maria* loves to bits despite not being interested in proper racing games. Oddly she never got into Burny P.
*or Punkrock Elite as some of you know her.

Your gf sounds a lot like my gf before I corrupted her with her games consoles. She is still quite picky about the games she likes and the only racing game she is a fan of really is Need for Speed Most Wanted. Her main reasons for liking it so much seem to be that she can spend ages making the car look pretty and then she can drive around getting into trouble with the police and then trying to escape them. She enjoys Burnout Paradise as well but I think that is mainly for the reasons mentioned above-the online play is excellent when playing with fellow forumites.
As for other games (and again I'm just going to say what Jen likes) Fable 2 is a good choice and women who don't really play games seem to love it. Saints Row is another favourite here as well but I think that again the customisation must come into it, I swear my girlfriend could spend hours playing it and all she'd actually be doing is driving from one shop to another buying different clothes, guns and hairstyles and walking about the streets trying to wind up rival gang members.

the only game thats even slightly like mario kart on the xbox is mad tracks, but its a proper rubbish and small game for single player. really 4 if you can get 4 people in the same room though.

Whens that free avatar racer one coming out? does that have weapons?

Oh two racing games that are coming out which is both racing and shooty weapons kind of thing is blur and also split/second.

I'm not surprised at all really. I think Burnout Paradise is actually not a good recommendation for someone who hasn't played loads of racing games, it's quite a hardcore sort of thing really. Odd as it may sound and despite its "sim" aspects I reckon Forza 3 with some assists on is probably a much less fearsome proposition for a n00b. But, as Gov't Yard says this is what demos are for.

Cheers, all, and much good stuff to consider there.

I think a handful of demos are gonna be the way to go, then we can make a more informed decision.

Oh and I agree about the earlier Burnout games - I actually love these myself, but I only play the Crash Mode, which is fun and daft and really a game in itself.

[quote="GovernmentYard"]... Sega Rally.../quote]

Does anyone else find Sega Rally difficult or is it just me being crap? I can only do the first few sets of races

The new one you mean? I just find that it's not all that great and I'm quite sure that if it weren't called Sega Rally then almost nobody would ever have played it.

Yeah, sorry the new one (I'm not much better at the original actually). At first I was coming in last all the time as I was treating it as a proper rally game and braking too much but even after a bit of practice, I still can't do well.

Outrun is excellent for Mario-style bright visuals and unrealistic-but-fun handling. Other than that the two games have next to nothing in common, but obviously Outrun is awesome in its own right.

The last few games that my wife, who's generally not much of a gamer, really got into: Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Viva Pinata, Resident Evil 4, Endless Ocean, The Maw, Spore, Plants vs. Zombies, Rock Band series (especially RB: Beatles), Tomb Raider Underworld, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

She's eclectic. Also: awesome.

Don't forget there's that free Avatar Kart racing game coming soon(ish) to live. That might be perfect for her, Agent Starling.

http://kotaku.com/5274698/xbla-getting-free-dlc+supported-racing-game

My wife also loves Mario Kart and the only racing game she plays on the 360 is Burnout Revenge - Road Rage mode because you get a reward for weaving from side to side at speed.

Definitely consider Viva Pinata as well though as for a good month or so I couldn't get the wife off it.

CoD4 in split screen is always a laugh as well. We make up our own rules so have a "stab fest" where me and the boy run around on shipment only allowed to stab while she has full access to ordnance. Or "crawl fest" on the same map where we can use weapons but only crawl while the missus can run around with gay abandon. If I'm winning by a big margin I then just run around the map offering a free target until the game gets close.

Being patronising = the key to a successful marriage

I would disagree with this. Burnout Paradise is the one and only racing game of any kind that I have played in the last 5 years because find them tedious and hateful, and it was a grudging purchase made because a guy at work kept hassling me to get it and play it with him... and I really liked it, even without the online stuff factored in.

For a while I would refuse to go easy on her as it felt patronising but she would just get in a huff and refuse to play anymore.

Now she enjoys it more, has got better and we end up laughing a lot more at me running around like an idiot and screaming like a girl when I turn a corner, spot one of them and Benny Hill it back in the other direction.

If it's the only racing game you have played in five years then how are you making any kind of valid comparison?

I'm not comparing it at all, am I? You said it was "not a good recommendation for someone who hasn't played loads of racing games", and I'm just saying that I am someone who hasn't played loads of racing games and it was recommended to me and I loved it. Simples.

Thanks for the latest suggestions, chaps.

Puzzle type games are a sure thing in any case, as she laps these up as much as any woman (what is it with women and puzzle games?! We're all the same I think).

There are certainly plenty of decent puzzlers.. I've sunk far too much time into Hexic

You can get secondhand copies of the Arcade Unplugged disc for about a fiver which gets you -

Geometry Wars
Texas Hold'em
Outpost Kaloki
Wik: Fable of Souls
Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
Hardwood Backgammon

i.e. Bejeweled 2 and some other stuff.

Oh Hexic is ace, yeah. I also love the second one, and might even prefer this.

Theres another disc like that with uno, pacman CE, luxor 2, feeding frenzy and boom boom rocket.

Ebays pretty good for buying them disks, you should be able to get both of them for less than a fiver each.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?LH_BIN=1&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A2472&_nkw=xbox+live+arcade&_dmpt=UK_PC_Video_Games_Video_Games_JS&_sop=2&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

So would it be fair to say that Burnout Revenge is in pole position?

Hexic 2 makes my eyes bleed. It's single player has some improvements on the original but I can't stand the battle mode, but then I've already moaned about that

I know what you mean - for me, I found it an easier game overall, but yeah, it does do your eyes in. I would say that the first game is certainly the better game, just that I liked certain aspects from the second.

Again, just to thank everyone for their comments in this thread, as it's all been extremely helpful.