Games to get your younger sister

I went to work today with a skip in my step, fresh from finishing Final Fantasy XII. I thought nothing could ruin my work day, until I heard this disturbing piece of internet news. Apparently Gamestop has a games 4 girls kiosk filled with questionable content.

Here’s the entertaining quote from a Kotaku report regarding the offending kiosk:

Apparently the powers that be at Gamestop are still under the delusion that girls actually enjoy playing crap like this. The roster of insipid titles is truly painful to take in with the exception of Cooking Mama, which rocks! I mean look at that line up: Strawberry Shortcake, The Little Mermaid, That’s So Raven, My Little Pony and something that I think is Hillary Duff.

Yes I understand that the games in the said kiosk targets girls, young girls, not women, and I am aware of the complicated and touchy subject that is “female preference regarding video game genres.” Since this writer is not a female, he chooses to not get entangled in that mucky (flame-baity) subject. Instead I will focus on a topic that is much closer to home and is still related to this disgusting kiosk.

I have a sister, and the possibility that she might fall victim to this odd aberration is not a welcome one. I assure you, I will never, ever, ever, ever, let my younger sister suffer through the insanity that that is Bratz. This article is about that.

If not Bratz, and games of their kind, what proper games will I get my sister? And, for all of you QJ readers, if you’d like to introduce your sister to the world of gaming, what games can you get her? Also, if your younger sister is already a gamer, what games will you recommend that she get?

Get the rest of this article after the jump!

I went to work today with a skip in my step, fresh from finishing Final Fantasy XII. I thought nothing could ruin my work day, until I heard this disturbing piece of internet news. Apparently Gamestop has a games 4 girls kiosk filled with questionable content.

Here’s the entertaining quote from a Kotaku report regarding the offending kiosk:

Apparently the powers that be at Gamestop are still under the delusion that girls actually enjoy playing crap like this. The roster of insipid titles is truly painful to take in with the exception of Cooking Mama, which rocks! I mean look at that line up: Strawberry Shortcake, The Little Mermaid, That’s So Raven, My Little Pony and something that I think is Hillary Duff.

Yes I understand that the games in the said kiosk targets girls, young girls, not women, and I am aware of the complicated and touchy subject that is “female preference regarding video game genres.” Since this writer is not a female, he chooses to not get entangled in that mucky (flame-baity) subject. Instead I will focus on a topic that is much closer to home and is still related to this disgusting kiosk.

I have a sister, and the possibility that she might fall victim to this odd aberration is not a welcome one. I assure you, I will never, ever, ever, ever, let my younger sister suffer through the insanity that that is Bratz. This article is about that.

If not Bratz, and games of their kind, what proper games will I get my sister? And, for all of you QJ readers, if you’d like to introduce your sister to the world of gaming, what games can you get her? Also, if your younger sister is already a gamer, what games will you recommend that she get?

There are the games you think you’re sister might like.
As hard-core a gamer as your sister might be, it’s very likely that certain games still have a mesmerizing hypnotic pull that could shame even the most serious, angry, and grungy, bad to the bone gamer.

I like to call those games smart games wrapped in layers and layers of stupidity. There’s a reason why a lot of females like plush-toys. That same odd mysterious reason applies to female gamers too. Especially the younger ones. (Again this is just my humble opinion, I really don’t want some righteous lady flaming me for stereotyping…)

Safe games to get your younger sister are nice pick-up-and play games that are endearing or funny. Loco Roco, Yoshi’s Island, Kirby, Zelda, and Nintendogs all fall into that pick-up-and-play, oh so smart yet oh so stupid cute category. By safe, I don’t mean safe for girls, no, let’s try to not put stereotyping into this; by safe I mean that there’s a high chance that she’ll like the game that you get her.

If your sister isn’t a gamer yet, smart-wrapped-in-stupid is a nice place to start. If she already is a gamer, it’s a safe gift to get her.

Getting them into gaming if they aren’t yet
I mentioned pick-up-and-play in the above segment, of course pick-up-and-play also include games like TTekken, Soul Calibur, and Dynasty Warriors. Although a bit more serious than say Kirby or Yoshi, these games have a system that is very welcoming to button mashers and at the same time very rewarding to those who move beyond button mashing.

Moving past button-mashing is a major achievement for most new gamers, and often times causes a paradigm shift regarding their opinion of games. Regardless of gender, once newbies start to get it, they start to like it, then like all new gamers they start searching for similar and better game experiences. You want to get your sister games that allow for that transition.

Say for example, your sister is really good at her simple pop-cap game, lend her a PSP that has Lumines in it, and I promise you you’re not going to see that PSP for some time.

The games that you’d like your sister to like.
A trusted acquaintance of mine once told me that in his humble opinion, the problem with female gamers is that some genres just plain bore them. He thinks that females tend to stick to trusted familiar genres and miss out on some gems in the other genres out there.

While I’m not entirely sure if he’s correct, his point does make sense. A lot of games just don’t cater to certain people’s (male or female) taste buds. It gets very difficult to find games that will interest some gamer because a lot of games out there just plain bore them. Some female gamers might get pissed if the game is just a tad bit too filled with curvaceous cheesecake and testosterone-induced stupidity.

This issue gets magnified if the female you’re trying to get a game for isn’t a gamer yet. As I’ve mentioned above, sure you can manage to get her to like Nintendogs, but she’ll probably laugh at you or raise an eyebrow if you get her Gears of War or some other macho title.

Tastes in games vary, some girls like solely bloody FPS games, some like only RPGs. What makes this guessing game annoying is that as a guy, it is a bit harder to predict what a girl will like. Naturaly you’re hoping she’ll get interested in a genre you’re interested in to, just so you guys have something in common to enjoy and have family time with.

So what’s an older brother to do?
Well, what you’d want to do here is expand her palette. Get your sister to like other types of games. Even if her tastes are wide already, there’s bound to be something new out there to try out. Get her nice cross-genre games. If you notice that she likes MMORPGs or menu-driven games with deep story-lines, get her an action-rpg like KH2. Maybe from there here sphere of interest will grow and soon she’ll try to steal Devil May Cry from you.

If she likes cutesy stuff and isn’t really into sports games, maybe Pangya will make her like new stuff. If she’s into simple platforming and she loves deep story, try getting her Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time, you’ll be amazed at how fast her proficiency and gaming-related reflexes will grow.

If she’s into anime-style RPGs, then get her anime styled beat-em up games like the Naruto games on the PS2, or the Bleach versus game on the Wii. Actually anime is a very nice indicator that she’ll love gaming. Chances are that if she likes anime, she’ll find a lot of Japanese titles interesting.

We’re working on the idea that they’re uninterested because they find it boring. They find it boring because it’s something unfamiliar to them. Find them things that they can associate with and maybe their interest will grow.

So after all this talk, what will I get my sister?
Well, I’m lucky that my sister is already a gamer. Also my sister is into anime. She already appreciates games like Ragnarok Online, so she probably gets those things on her own. She’s probably got some Naruto stuff in her room already, so no more Japanese styled stuff for her. I want to get her something new genre-wise. Something easy to pick-up but deep and rewarding.

I’m on a budget here. So I’m looking for something cheap. I’m going to look at the old-game bin. These two dated yet still good PC games come to mind:

No One Lives Forever 2
NOLF 2 is a well done mix of FPS and stealth peppered with oodles of comedy, fashion and 60 camp. A nice way to get your sister to like more competition-based FPS games like Unreal Tournament, or perhaps stealth-based games like MGS or Splinter Cell.

Syberia/Syberia II
Game review scores for this adventure/puzzle game series range from 7/10 to 9/10 so that’s a good indicator of the game’s quality. Plus the engaging story and healthy amount of puzzles in this game makes me feel like I just gave my sister a good book.

What about the next-gen?
Well, since a lot of the titles on the PS3 come out 2007, I recommend that you guys keep the PS3s to yourselves for now. Because the Wii is cheaper, maybe you could afford to give that to your sister. Wii Sports already comes in the bundle, so that’s a big bonus.

What next-gen title to get your sister? Watch out for this game: Rayman Raving Rabbids.

The number of genres simulated by the mini-games in this Rabbid-infested game gives you much reason to give this to your sister. That and bunnies I mean rabbids are oodles of “stupid.” What did I say about the plush-toy effect?

If you don’t want to get your sister a Wii, just because you’re short on cash, don’t fear, the game comes out for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PC, and the PSP, so platform shouldn’t be a problem.

This is just my personal preference though, what games would you guys get your gamer/non-gamer younger sister?