Best Videogames For Enthralling Non-Gamers?

Thanks to GameSpy for its article discussing the best videogame titles that appeal to those unfamiliar with gaming. The list of these 'gateway' titles, games which "...are usually quite easy to pick up and play and remain addictive", includes EyeToy: Play ("It's immensely entertaining to watch your co-workers move around ridiculously while trying to wash a virtual window or fight a virtual boxer"), Dance Dance Revolution ("sits in a strange purgatory between social awkwardness and coolness"), and The Sims ("...breaking boundaries that many thought impenetrable.")

Comments

Monkey Ball, every time.

[nicky_d]

Gots to be Monkey Ball for non-gamers - no buttons to push (in the main game), gameplay based around simple physics - everyone knows about gravity and inertia, even if only instinctively - a great learning curve, a simple goal, intuitive control with instant feedback... and all wrapped in a great package. I bought my GameCube into work at Xmas, and one non-gaming coworker had ordered one of their own within five minutes of starting Monkey Ball. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it at all; it's a perfect game.

Having said that, try explaining the Monkey Bowling mode to a novice...

"Okay, there'll be a bouncing line - don't press A yet, or... okay, you pressed it, no problem - there's the line. You have to stop it in the middle. Just press A.... you've only got a few seconds. Don't panic! Right, you've stopped it at the side, you'll start rolling in a second or so - you'll need to spin in the opposite direction. Use the shoulder button. No, the shoulder button. Before you cross that line! Oh, see, you span the wrong way. Your monkey's dead."

(Trying to explain it beforehand is even worse, by the way).