[Scott KL]

I posted this here as I felt it was most applicable. I am looking for a recommendation for a console and games for ‘pick up and play’ are fun with good graphics.

It is for me and my girlfriend who is not a hardcore gamer so I am looking for a console which has games which can easily be picked up and with relatively little time she can be fair competition. I have been ‘out of the market’ for some time with my last consoles being the SNES and Dreamcast (I still have back in UK) but have gotton back into multiplayer gaming with the DS and Mariokart

I was looking into getting a 360 but impression so far has not been great with the game selection and am happy to wait to see how things pan out with the 360/HD-DVD, PS3 and Revolution. I am leaning towards a gamecube but am wondering what the graphics will look on a 50” plasma TV. I work in Asia so will be buying a Japenese console, so for gamecube this should output progressive via the component lead. Does anyone have experience with theirs on a 50” TV?

Would also consider a PS2 but don’t have a clue what games would consider ‘pick up and play’. For gamecube I was thinking Mario kart/tennis/golf, Monkeyball, any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

Scott

[DancingJester]

I've never used my gamecube on a giant screen, but it way better then my ps2 in terms of wife friendliness and a more pick up and play sort of console.
So one vote for gamecube here, and Pikmin is a great game as well.

[bu5ter]

Plus Mario Party 4 is a great laugh if you have 4 people around even the wife loves it!

[Tejstar]

For value for money it has to be a Dreamcast!

[Tetlee]

If you plan on playing ona big screen then you'd do well to either get a NTSC Gamecube, or a PAL Gamecube + a Freeloader disk, then get all NTSC games. Make sure the console has a digital A/V out socket as you need that to be able to use a component cable(with this cable and most NTSC games you can run them in proggresive scan which gives a superb picture, even on a massive screen). I use my Gamecube with my Sanyo Z1 projector and the games look amazing

As for games, the ones you mention would be a good start, my girlfriend is also a non-games player(apart from a bit of DS). The only console games I can tempt her into playing are Super Monkey Ball 2(favurite due to variety of the mini-games), Mario Tennis, Mario Strikers(footy), she also used to like Mario Golf although we now prefer Hot Shots Fore on the PS2(the putting works better).

There are loads more fantastic games for you to get for single player fun(Resi4, Pikmin2 etc.) but those are my recommendations for you & your girlfriend.

Great thing is you can probably pick up all those including the console for less than the cost of a 360 Core

[addyb]

Resident evil 4.. one of the greatest games ever released and easily the best game for the gamecube!! Looks amazing on my 92" hi def projector screen!!

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by Tetlee

The only console games I can tempt her into playing are Super Monkey Ball 2(favurite due to variety of the mini-games)

Definitely recommend SMB2, the range of minigames and fun-factor is unparalleled. It's one of the best MP games on the system imo.

[Scott KL]

Thanks for the recommendations guys. However, finding a gamecube [in Malaysia] is more difficult than I first thought. It simply is not popular here compared to the PS2 and Xbox, mainly due to the fact that pirate copies are widely available. I found one japanese gamecube at full price but it was the newer model with no digital AV out. Even play-asia.com only has the newer models for sale. I remember being in Bangkok and they had pirate copies for the gamecube available [for chipped consoles] but I do not support pirated games.

The Xbox360 Asia version (I think same as Japan) was released today so am thinking this will be more suitable for HD gaming but am wondering what 360 games are any good for multi-player gaming, again those which can be picked up fairly easily by a non-gamer?

Thanks again.

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by Scott KL

Thanks for the recommendations guys. However, finding a gamecube [in Malaysia] is more difficult than I first thought. It simply is not popular here compared to the PS2 and Xbox, mainly due to the fact that pirate copies are widely available. I found one japanese gamecube at full price but it was the newer model with no digital AV out. Even play-asia.com only has the newer models for sale. I remember being in Bangkok and they had pirate copies for the gamecube available [for chipped consoles] but I do not support pirated games.

The Xbox360 Asia version (I think same as Japan) was released today so am thinking this will be more suitable for HD gaming but am wondering what 360 games are any good for multi-player gaming, again those which can be picked up fairly easily by a non-gamer?

Thanks again.

That's a shame, the Cube has some of the best "pick up and play games" out of all the consoles IMO. I also have a 360, love the console but at the moment I would say most of the games are alot more in depth so a bit less "pick up & play", if you know what I mean.

Anyway, if you want Xbox360 games then head over to the Xbox360 Games forum, plenty for you to read on all the games there

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by Scott KL

The Xbox360 Asia version (I think same as Japan) was released today so am thinking this will be more suitable for HD gaming but am wondering what 360 games are any good for multi-player gaming, again those which can be picked up fairly easily by a non-gamer?

Pretty much most of the Xbox Live Arcade games are pick and play so you can't go wrong there!

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by Tejstar

Pretty much most of the Xbox Live Arcade games are pick and play so you can't go wrong there!

Oh yeah, that's a fair point actually