PC Gaming Suggestions for Console-like Fun?

jayminer writes "We are a relatively newly married young couple who enjoy spending our spare time at home. We don't own a console but have a gaming laptop with DVI output to play games on our TV. My wife is also a CS major so she's computer literate enough. She does not like strategy games, MMORG or any other role-playing game. Apart from "Find the Sausage" jokes, we need quality gaming advice, preferably games which we can play with a single laptop connected to a single large screen, with two gamepads, a console-like experience. What are your suggestions?"

Obvious answer...

[richy freeway]

Just buy a console.

Re:Obvious answer...

[Aranykai]

Simple and sweet. Its really the truth though.

Ive sat here and tossed around all the game I can remember playing over the years, and the ones worth the time all equate one pc with one player.

Consoles are the king of multi user gaming hands down. Like suggested above, nab an old console. PS 1 or Nintendo 64 or such should be had for under 75 USD with several games.

Second hand

[mwvdlee]

I've got a second hand Dreamcast at home for 50 euro's (roughly 75 US$) with a bunch of games. Consoles of around this generation (N64, PS, GC) onwards have all the types of games you'd want for a fraction of the cost of modern consoles.

gameamp

[poetmatt]

It's not that expensive and has a bit of games on the free side as well - gameamp is basically a glorified emulator but has some stuff up to the playstation 2 era (god of war, legacy of kain, some other stuff) and some PC games.

Re:

[The Great Pretender]

No kidding. As a parent of a two year old and trapped in the house most evenings because we're living in different countries from the relatives and not wealthy enough to bring in nanny. We "invested" in Rock Band and Guitar Hero. We have by far got our money's worth. We own no other games and it's been a fun thing to do with people who come over after the kid goes down. Just don't ask me to sing. Find a friend who has it and try it first to make sure.

Re:Obvious answer...

[0100010001010011]

The load it with Emulators. Most of my friends aren't the huge gaming type. When we get together to hang out we don't want to sit through a tutorial on how to play SuperHappyBallComando4. We want the games we grew up with (and some from before then).

Super Mario Bros 3, Pong, Frogger, PacMan. Plus they make excellent drinking games (One shot for every fruit you didn't get on a PacMan level.) The best thing is an xBox can store ALL of these games and more.

Or you could even get some classic looking controllers and play these on the laptop.

Re:

[0100010001010011]

Good Will. Garage Sales. Then download them. It's just a Media Shift, it's gray area. But you can feel nice and legal.

Re:

[Danse]

Pretending to follow the law isn't the same thing as actually following it.

Actually following it makes little sense when the law is as convoluted and ridiculous as copyright law is today.

Re:

[LunarCrisis]

That's debatable, and I'm not saying you're wrong. The GG...GP asked a specific question though, and that was whether you could do it _without_ breaking the law.

Re:

[twistedsymphony]

you can technically do it without breaking the law, it's just expensive and requires a high level of expertise to construct the ripping mechanism.

at that point it'd be easier just picking up some old hardware too. Obviously by ripping your NES carts you'd miss out on the enthralling experience of blowing on the connector to get the damn thing to boot.

Re:Remember my.mp3.com?

[tepples]

You can copy CDs to MP3s, but you cannot actually dump ROMs

Citation needed. And don't immediately bring in Atari v. JS&A; that case rejected 17 USC 117(b), not 117(a) which covers adaptations that are necessary for use of a program on a given computer system.

Turns out, ROMs are treated as "mask works" which disallow shifting to an electronic format.

A mask work is a set of images [copyright.gov]. Notice that exclusive rights in mask works [copyright.gov] don't include preparing derivative works. Moreover, they last only 10 years [copyright.gov], meaning the NES and Super NES libraries' mask work rights have expired, and the exclusive right that applies to those games is ordinary copyright.

Re:

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Perhaps his particular brand of morality says it's wrong to break laws - even though the laws themselves may be wrong.

Re:Obvious answer...

[orclevegam]

Damn lawful alignment. This is why we have a house rule of no paladins.

Re:

[Hatta]

Sure, that might seem obvious if your idea of ethics is doing what you're told. I suppose that if you were told that you were supposed to pay for oxygen, you'd consider breathing unethical.

Most of us though have our own consciences and prefer to use them. The simple act of copying a file in the privacy of my own home harms no one. Therefore, it cannot possibly be wrong.

Re:

[KillerBob]

Lost revenue does harm the publisher, which in turn harms the developer. For a wide majority of older software, the publisher either isn't still in business, or couldn't care less whether you pirate a game from 1987... that's what makes up Abandonware. Some companies actively enforce their rights on older IP, even if they don't still intend to profit from it: LucasArts, for example. Others will distribute older software along with newer software... Sid Meier's Pirates!, for example, came with a copy of the

Re:

[Hatta]

Sure, easy enough to demonstrate... assuming I would have bought the files I copied for free. And also assuming that I'm not more likely to spend money on classic games when I get to try them for free first.

But that's not really the point. The point is that copying a file is a private transaction between two consenting adults. The people who are behaving unethically are those who are trying to control voluntary consenting behavior. They're not losing any revenue because they're not ethically entitled to

Re:

[Goldberg's Pants]

You just went through all that to basically justify publishing the fact you have a girlfriend and have sex with her, didn't you?

Re:

[Sparr0]

I am sitting at home. I press a button to copy a file. Not pressing that button would not have generated any revenue for the copyright holder of the file, therefore pressing the button has not cost them any revenue.

The "lost revenue" argument is a joke. It may (and probably does) apply to people who produce illegal copies for distribution, but has zero weight with regards to individuals making copies for themselves.

Re:Obvious answer...

[ShieldW0lf]

I would suggest emulators.

For arcade games, you can use MAME

http://mamedev.org/ [mamedev.org]

Once you've got MAME, you need a set of current ROM files for it. You can find ROMs on BitTorrent or on any P2P application.

As MAME evolves, the ROM sets get replaced with new and better extractions, so you'll want a piece of software to manage them.

ClrMAMEPro is a tool that will use the data files from the latest version of MAME, and scan a big huge mess of old ROM files, extracting whatever is useful from them into a nice, neat set that works with the current version

http://www.clrmame.com/ [clrmame.com]

To get yourself set up, download any new or old MAME ROMs you can find, then use ClrMAMEPro to make a proper and current set out of them and burn it to backup.

There are also emulators floating around out there for Playstation, Nintendo 64, NES and Super NES. I've gotten good performance out of Project 64, an emulator for Nintendo 64. MarioCart plays quite well.

When you're choosing GamePads, you should look for something wireless that has as many buttons as you can possibly find. You want to be able to map the controller you choose to every possible controller from history, so you're going to need something that is flexible.

re: MythTV and MAME

[King_TJ]

Most MythTV distributions include a MAME emulator, as well as a SNES emulator, and support for several others you can optionally download, install and configure in their menus.

The nice thing about this is, it gives you a good excuse to dedicate an entire PC to your TV set, since it works as a very capable DVR, gives you a set-top web browser, and other goodies.

The downside? At least from all the knoppmyth distros I've used, I've always had some hassle getting MAME working well with it. (EG. You can purchase wireless gamepad type controllers from Logitech that use USB dongles and are detected just fine in Linux. But you'll have to do some creative stuff with the xmame config file so you have all their buttons assigned in a sensible manner. If you don't assign one to simulate dropping coins in, for example, you'll never be able to get a new game to start from your controller.)

Re:

[ShieldW0lf]

Pressing a button to put in a quarter is my favorite part.

When I think of the number of times my weekly allowance was ALMOST enough money to beat Double Dragon... now it's "Hahahah, fuck you Willy. Click, click, click, click..."

Petty I know. But very satisfying.

Atari 2600

[goombah99]

Here's a site [mightygodking.com] showing the best atari games ever complete with the awesome box covers. So real gems in there, many you probably never heard of. Get an emulator and enjoy the nostalgia.

Re:Obvious answer...

[trdrstv]

Its much cheaper to buy a game or two (maybe 30) than it is to buy a console and then buy games for it...

Only if you're talking "Current gen". A Used Gamecube is $30 at Gamestop, and a Used X-box is $60. There are a Ton of good Co-op games for cheap (NHL HITZ is an all time favorite). Hell instead of buying the extra controller, buy 2 Gamecubes and an extra memory card in case you both want to game solo at some point.

Buy a console

[the computer guy nex]

If you are wanting to play on your television opposed to a monitor, you probably have a pretty nice TV. Chances are your laptop cannot run at a resolution where you would even enjoy this experience.

The 360 and the Wii cost less than the original NES did if you count in inflation. Do some research in game libraries and pick one. Well worth the investment.

In terms of games, Guitar Hero is addicting.

Re:

[jellomizer]

The average video game of good quality new relaease can cost $80-$90 a piece. A Wii is about $250 and comes with Wii Sports (which is just fun alone) So at the price of 3 games you get a console that makes it easier to get games for the situation.

Re:

[Itchyeyes]

$80-$90? Maybe in Australia. In the states, Xbox 360 and PS3 games retail for $60 and Wii and PC games typically retail for $50 at launch.

Re:Buy a console

[Hoplite3]

Or even cheaper, buy a console from the last generation: xbox, ps2, gamecube. You can get them used for peanuts or new for a bit more. Best of all, there are GOOD lists of what games for the console are actually fun.

Reviews of modern games are often clouded by hype and irrelevant trends. Many nerds will retrospectively look at their video game library and wax poetic about the ones that are still fun (and they'll do it on their blog thanks to ego^w web 2.0). You can get these games used for $3-$10. A seven-year-old game can still be fun.

And if you haven't played it, it's new to you.

Re:

[somersault]

Guitar Hero is addictive yep, but I've completed about 75% of the songs (not counting all the bonus ones) on expert and I've only had my PS3 for under a month (if I'd played any of the rest of the series I'd probably be finished it all by now)! It would definitely be fun for them to play through in co-op mode though :)

DON'T get the PC version of Guitar Hero, apparently it has slow-downs in game even on a high specced PC. If you have a HDTV I'd definitely recommend the PS3 :) For a standard resolution TV the

Re:

[pipatron]

the Wii is okay, though could still do with some anti-aliasing. The Wii is obviously more designed for a multiplayer/'family' experience [...] If you're wanting to go through more 'serious' games that require more thinking and time to complete, then get the PS3.

How could anti-aliasing improve those types of games?

Perhaps you meant to say "If you want mindless racing around a track or run around killing people, then get the PS3."

Re:

[Itchyeyes]

I'm sorry, but this is just inaccurate. Most 15" laptops have a resolution of 1280x800, higher than a 720p television screen, and most 17" laptops have an even higher resolution. Some gaming laptops (which is what they said they have) even go as high as 1920x1200.

I would probably agree that just buying a console would be a better option for them, but not because of anything to do with the resolution of the screen.

If they don't want to spend a lot of new money on a console, a PS2 might be a great choice fo

Re:

[morari]

It's just too bad that you'd have to purchase a second controller for Guitar Hero to be truly fun for two people. With the guitars being a ridiculous $70, I don't see many people doing that... especially with the Wii version, where the guitar is just a shell piggybacking on the Wii remote's functionality.

Before buying a console just for one overpriced game bundle, try downloading Frets on Fire, Coffee's Ultimate Mod, and all of the ripped Guitar Hero songs. Load it up onto your PC and hook up some old, ch

Mario Party.......seriously.

[Aeron65432]

My friend is in virtually the same situation as you, and he and his wife love to play Mario Party, or ROMs from older console games in general.

Stepmania

[gatzke]

Get a couple of USB dance pads and try out Stepmania, a free DDR clone.

Or get a Wii. Tons of simple flash games through the browser. Fun and simple.

Emulators

[Oxy the moron]

Get some old-school console emulators and play some of the great classics.

I'm sure that what constitutes a "classic" will vary here on /., but I prefer some of the older Super NES games... Tetris Attack is awesome.

You didn't hear that from me, though...

Re:Emulators

[xtracto]

I have to second this idea.

Just get SNES9X and download some games. I used to play that with my GF:
- Mario Kart (SNES version is one of the best ones)
- Lemmings (2 player snes version quite good)
- TMNT (2 player cooperative)
- Top Gear (one of the few two player coop. racing games where even if one is good enough, both of you will be able to go through the game [and you can cooperate by trying to block the first place cars to make one of you win :P])
- Super Contra (a bit more "man" oriented, but fun coop too).
- Rock and Roll racing (another nice racing game).
- Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (two player kind of coop... a bit difficult [but quite fun if you enable infinite lives cheat])
- Bomberman (My girlfriend loves these ones. It is OK multiplayer)
- Joe and Mac (really funny caveman characters, multiplayer coop)
- Super Mario All Stars (I can never be left out! including Super Mario Bros 3, i have played it with my girlfriend from the beginning to the end)

- Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (not really multiplayer, maybe not really very good, but it is my favourite game of all time [Ninja Gaiden II for the NES] so I had to include it here =oP)

Those are all I can think of now. The reason I choose SNES is because such games are not as complex as todays' games; therefore you can just sit start it and begin playing without two hours of tutorial (I am looking at you Wii Zelda ).

Also, I think the SNES had the best kind of cooperative multiplayer games... these days it is very difficult to find such games in any console. The only cooperative games are FPS like "halo" but they are a turn off for most girls or other "casual" players.

And, the reason I don't choose Wii (even though I have one, which is in its box since I moved home 2 months ago) is because I hate mini-games, and all the multiplayer games from Nintendo are mini games (wiiware, mario party, rayman raymin rabbits, monkeyball banana... etc).

Oh! and the last one I would suggest is Worms. That is a really good game in which I have spent hours with my girlfriend and other friends (even a friend who never had used a computer had no problem playing the N64 emulated game =oO)

Re:

[Hatta]

Anyone who goes the emulator way is going to need a good frontend. I've found Wah!cade [anti-particle.com] to be an excellent multi-emulator front end on linux. It's designed mainly for MAME, but can be configured to launch any emulator.

BTW, if you're going to emulate don't just stick to the same old consoles. There were a some great games for the Mattel Intellevision, Atari 800, NEC Turbografx, Sega Saturn, etc etc.

Re:Legal ROMs?

[Hatta]

I recommend members of the general public relax and be cool. You're more likely to be hit by an asteroid than sued for sharing SNES roms.

Re:Legal ROMs?

[JosKarith]

Which isn't very reassuring if the ROM in question is Asteroids...

Re:Legal ROMs?

[tepples]

Roms for SNES are abandonware anyhow.

What makes you say that? Nintendo has not abandoned copyright in Super NES games. They are still being republished on Virtual Console.

Definition of copyright abandonment

[tepples]

However, the case of CherryRoms shows that most SNES roms are fine to download. To stay legal, just find a ROM site that complies with takedown notices.

So in other words, you say CherryRoms is in the same situation as YouTube.

Moving on, it's unfortunate that you added to the confusion over terms by inventing the action of "abandoning copyright". I'm pretty sure this is not an actual legal term

Wikipedia's article about abandonment [wikipedia.org] states the following: "In the domain of copyright, abandonment is recognized as the explicit release of material by a copyright holder into the public domain." Nintendo has not done this with its own titles, nor has Nintendo done this with the code libraries that were "licensed by Nintendo" for linking into each game.

However this reply fails to account for how business is actually done: video game companies often farm out development or other aspects of game making to third parties. Have you researched whether all these copyrights were transferred (and transferred correctly) to Nintendo?

The copyright notice displayed when the program starts should disclose whether

Re:Definition of copyright abandonment

[crossmr]

and you never cited any to the contrary. Do you have any evidence that a rom nintendo claimed copyright on doesn't actually belong to them or are you just trolling?
We can all sit around and spout theories all day, but since you proposed this line of thought why don't you provide some actual leg work?

"Hey everybody, look at me!"

[Anonymous Coward]

"Not only do I have a girlfriend, but we're MARRIED, and she wants to play video games with me! Oh, did I mention she loves Linux?"

Re:"Hey everybody, look at me!"

[crhylove]

Picture or it's fake!!

Re:

[berashith]

Ya, this and every other girl online can be believed to really be female.

Emulators

[Katchina'404]

Give a try to old console and arcade emulators. My wife is into SNES Mario and similar stuff.

Although it's usually played with a mouse, the old Worms series is great fun as well.

Speaking as a married husband with a kid...

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't mean to be presumptuous, but I would recommend you spend your spare time outside of your house exploring the world. You will have plenty of time to stay in the house if/when you decide to have children.

Re:Speaking as a married husband with a kid...

[Oxy the moron]

Speaking as a geek married with four kids, I say any time spent enjoying each other's company is good. You also make the assumption that they have the desire and means to get out and explore the world... I know we didn't early in our marriage.

Not saying that exploring the world is bad, but I think if they really enjoy gaming together, it's better than a lot of other alternatives. :)

Re:

[grommit]

I think the chances of the OP and his wife not having any legs and being unable to go outside to explore the world is a bit slim.

Re:

[evilandi]

You, sir, are entrely right.

I never really thought about access for public footpaths, until I tried taking a pushchair over a stile and onto wet mud and loose gravel. The next plan - carry the baby - failed miserably within weeks, since my wife made the somewhat inconvenient mistake of feeding the baby. Neither myself nor the missus are what you might call slight, so our baby grew quite heavy before she could reliably walk.

Furthermore, trying to walk from A to B with a toddler provides an experience similar

Re:

[jacop]

I am a happily married husband with several kids, play while you still can. I still play in my free time, but free time is a rare commodity in my home. When I was first married, I actually had the time to get out, and play videogames. Why would you stay in the house once you have children? I have never met a child that did not want to explore the world.

Re:

[berashith]

My sons bedtime is around 7 pm. After this we sit quietly, have dinner, and then continue staying at home quietly. We can go out and do stuff one at a time, or hire a babysitter if we want to leave the house and remain in each others company.

You are right that while the child is awake you can go have a blast, but there is a huge amount of my life that has become sedentary while waiting for the boy to become more self sufficient.

Re:

[Itchyeyes]

Aww, it's so cute when people think they know how to run other people's lives.

Re:

[ivan256]

You don't mean to be presumptuous, but why don't they skip doing what they enjoy, and instead do what you think they should be enjoying?

If you didn't mean to be presumptuous, but knew it was sufficiently presumptuous to include the disclaimer, then why did you bother posting? So that we all know that you go outdoors? Next thing you know we'll be hearing about how you don't own a television [theonion.com] either.

Wii.

[commanderfoxtrot]

Wii.

Much simpler- fewer wires.

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[account_deleted]

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Re:

[account_deleted]

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Re:

[elrous0]

Screw a PS2. If you're a couple looking to have fun, get a Wii. I'm a fan of the Xbox 360 and don't own a Wii, but even I must admit that there is no better console for family fun.

you're doing it wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

The best game to play is "HIDE the sausage"!

Re:

[grahamd0]

Best 2 out of 3?

Lego Star Wars 1&2

[PinbalI]

Lego Star Wars 1&2 can be played on PC with either keyboard or controller and has a good co-op function. You can probably find a torrent of it easy enough.

Gametap

[Anonymous Coward]

Gametap.com. I like that. Go to walmart and buy a controller adapter for usb and you can both play games, old and new, arcade and console, from your laptop.

continuum/ subspace

[circletimessquare]

a head designer was the guy who coined the term mmorpg. it is in fact the first (graphical, sorry mudders) example of an mmorpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubSpace_(computer_game) [wikipedia.org]

its like the original asteroids, without the asteroids, and instead a maze of a bunch of other ships (random people from around the world)

i think a lot of slashdotters messed with it 10 years ago, and forgot about it

however, i recently rediscovered it (its free now) and was surprised to find a lot of zones still heavily populated. each zone has a different variation on the basic ship types and their abilities. you can waste 5 minutes or half an hour on it, to great effect

nothing like meeting a guy in a tank from finland, dodging his mine, blowing him away, while a guy from china materializes out of cloak and shoots you in the back. its cheap and easy mmorpg fun without the massive time commitment something like WoW demands

Re:

[happyfrogcow]

a head designer was the guy who coined the term mmorpg. it is in fact the first (graphical, sorry mudders) example of an mmorpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubSpace_(computer_game) [wikipedia.org]

its like the original asteroids, without the asteroids, and instead a maze of a bunch of other ships (random people from around the world)

i think a lot of slashdotters messed with it 10 years ago, and forgot about it

however, i recently rediscovered it (its free now) and was surprised to find a lot of zones still heavily populated. each zone has a different variation on the basic ship types and their abilities. you can waste 5 minutes or half an hour on it, to great effect

nothing like meeting a guy in a tank from finland, dodging his mine, blowing him away, while a guy from china materializes out of cloak and shoots you in the back. its cheap and easy mmorpg fun without the massive time commitment something like WoW demands

Having played SS/Continuum for about 3 or 4 years, I can't in good faith call it a mmorpg. MMO, yes. RPG no. Even some of the more "creative" arenas were strategy based games.

It is however, highly entertaining. WZCTF, ftw.

Go green, neg.

Buy a Console

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

In all seriousness, the total hardware cost of two gamepads, a TV out connector and a laptop graphics card needed to run the latest games will more than likely overrun the cost of just buying a PS2 or a Wii, Your spouse's tastes scream console gaming. No strategy games or RPGs? What does that leave? FPSes? Good luck finding a co-op FPS title.

For Co-op play, console is King. There are a myriad of two player titles out there to cater for all tastes, and co-op is something that even gets included in some one [youtube.com] player [youtube.com] titles, owing to its popularity.

PCs are not designed for what you're looking for. Consoles are, and they are cheaper, faster, easier and offer a better selection of titles. Just buy the damn Wii.

Smash Bros

[FredFredrickson]

I have a subscription to Gametap, and I've been very happy with that and my usb game controllers. It's got some multiplayer games, and some single player games. A lot of games from older consoles too.

Aside from that I recommend getting n64 roms and playing smash bros till you pass out.

Re:

[satoshi1]

It's just easier to find the roms on a torrent site.

Ok this is what you do.

[jellomizer]

The issue with most PC Games even Multi-Player is they expect one person for PC, so they are normally networked for multi-player.
Get 2 USB Keypads, and a Copy of VMWare. Install 2 OS the VMWare and copy of each game on it. setup the virtual network correctly and Link one USB Keypad to each VM. Now Resize the VM Windows so you have Split Screen. And there 2 of you can play games at once (even 2 different ones if you feel like it) on your laptop all for the price of getting a console.

Never mind games

[Toreo asesino]

Jesus, if you've got to resort to games this early on in marriage, that's not a good sign.

Sexual deviance, man! That's what you need to try; your "find the sausage" game sounds like a good start. You're married, it's ok to do that now!

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[dreamchaser]

If anything it's better to share games than to sit idle and stare at a screen while a non interactive movie or TV show plays. Games require some thought and action, even if it is minimal.

Lego Star Wars

[Rhys]

Ep1-3 and 4-6 are both excellent and are PC-available.

I think guitar hero has a PC port, if you're into rhythm games. (ba-dum-ching!)

Re:

[Freedryk]

Seconded. My wife and I played through the whole thing together on PC, and she doesn't even like video games; she made an exception for this one.

Serious Sam

[HalAtWork]

Serious Sam is one of the few PC games that allows you to do split screen, so I would suggest trying that out, it's a great experience! Saves you from trying to set up a home lan just to play with one friend. Wacky Races by Apogee is another great game that allows split screen play on PC. There are a few Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games ported to PC as well. Other than this, unfortunately co-op and multiplayer console style games on a single PC are really hard to come by.

"Find the Sausage"?

[BUL2294]

Do you then make a sausage taco?

Buy a console

[Wylfing]

Really. Just buy one instead of trying to shoehorn a laptop into the role. As a new couple with (presumably) no kids yet, you can spare the change. In fact, if you're really price-conscious, go buy a 1st-gen Xbox for $25 or so and pick up some games at mom-and-pop used game stores for $5-$10 apiece. There are plenty of split-screen shooters and racers for the original Xbox that you two can spend countless hours on.

Console-like fun ey?

[MadKeithV]

For the console-like fun experience, you need a stick, a sharpening tool, and one of your eyes.

Nintendo-Hard, look it up.

(I kid, I kid).

Why not buy a console?

[ObiWanStevobi]

I'd say just buy a console or two. A Wii/360 combo may keep you both happy. My wife is not a gamer but loves the Wii. Personally, I really don't like the Wii. It will not satisfy the hardcore gamer. The 360 has many good titles worth checking into, Halo, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Dead Rising, Oblivion, and Orange Box, to name a few.

Genres

[Jaysyn]

I hope she likes fighting, FPS, sports or puzzle games, cause that's about all you have left multiplayer-wise. I'm not even to sure about the puzzle games.

Call the Freelance Police

[spyrochaete]

I'm sure I don't have to tell you to ignore all the calls to "buy a console" - there's more great co-op PC games than ever before. The only advice I will give you is to forgo your requirement to play on a big screen since your laptop's resolution is far superior. PC games assume you're playing on a monitor so downgrading to TV resolution will, among other things, likely make text unreadable.

One game my wife and I play religiously is the new Sam and Max adventure series from Telltale Games. It's an epi

YDKJ

[ab0mb88]

This is a dated reference, but try to find some copies of the different versions of You Don't Know Jack [wikipedia.org]. This is great for a young couple and really keeps the conversation and interaction going while you are playing... And the innuendo doesn't hurt either.

Games you can play together

[blindd0t]

Since the post talks about what games the misses dislikes, I'll do my best with that even though no insight about what she does like was provided. Worms Armageddon is a seriously fun game anyone can play. It's an old game, and I want to say there is some hacked version that can run at higher resolutions than it was originally capable of handling, so I would suggest buying the game and looking into that. Also, I would recommend looking into emulators for NES, SNES, and so on. There is a ton of stuff out there for that which could provide a wide variety of games that are tons of fun to play (even if the graphics are far from top-notch).

Even though you can't go spit-screen on this one, if either or both of you likes racing games, GTR2 is a seriously good racing simulator, but keep in mind that the average person might find its realistic physics to be frustrating. The Logitech Momo force-feedback steering wheel works exceptionally well for this and other racing games.

If the misses also likes diablo-style games, Titan quest is a game my wife enjoyed. Again, you can't go split-screen here, but it could provide some good entertainment for both of you. Of course, if you have another PC in the house, you could play together over a LAN. ^_^

Use an emulator

[kellyb9]

If you want the "console experience", use an emulator and grab a few ROM's. They actually have torrents that compile every SNES and NES ROM ever made.

Cortex Command

[Peganthyrus]

My boyfriend and I have had a lot of fun with Cortex Command [datarealms.com]. It's a really entertainingly adolescent wargame that supports splitscreen play and joystick controllers.

It's not actually finished but its active mod community makes it not matter - if one of you skims the forums now and then, you'll find all kinds of giggle-inducingly overpowered toys to play with. It's ultraviolent but it's on the border between 'obscene' and 'slapstick'...

Cooperate

[slim]

My partner and I have probably spent more time cooperating on single player games, than competing on two player games.

Classic point'n'click adventures like Monkey Island, Sam and Max Hit The Road and Day of the Tentacle, for example. We also played a lot of text adventures (Google "Interactive Fiction" and "Curses" for a fantastic one).

More recently we played the new Telltale Games episodes of Sam & Max on the PC, rigged up to a TV almost as you described. I got some joypad-to-mouse software, and we sat

modded Xbox

[aztektum]

I solved my need for pick and play gaming with a modded Xbox. ROMs, MAME and it makes a decent media streaming device.

If "Find the Sausage" doesn't do it for you...

[BitwizeGHC]

There's always Rapid Onset, Vital Passage, or Sudden Thrust.

Re:

[OS24Ever]

Coming soon too we have LEGO Raiders of the Lost Ark and such. It's amazing how fun that game is, especially with a competent second player.

However, play it with a five year old, my god, you'll go insane. It's like playing Contra all over again.

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[JeepFanatic]

I too really enjoyed the Lego Star Wars games and am waiting for Lego Indiana Jones. I thought I heard that they're also coming out with Lego Batman too.

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[JosKarith]

Am waiting for Lego The Breakfast Club now...

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[alta]

I play it with my 5 year old, he skips all the damn coins... drives me nuts. We're somewhere like 60% but the kids scratched it so there's 2 levels we can't play at all. Just got to the lego city, that was a disapointment... They've bought all the characters, most of the good power ups, only the 2x multiplier though... They keep spending the money on stuff they won't use. I think my favorite setup is the ewok with the explosive catapult and invincibility... Just walk up and kill everything. My son drive

Re:

[dintech]

Really the problem you're trying to solve here relates to the style of multiplayer gaming that girls enjoy most. Once you figure it out, I'm sure you'll be happy to fit along with that.

I play Super Mario 3 with my girlfriend since she grew up in Japan playing it with her brother and so it has fond memories of home for her. Often I'll miss a feather or be facing the wrong way to catch the mushroom and she'll shout, "NO!!! Are you stupid?!" hehe. She's super competitive and knows where all the secrets and f

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[Lisandro]

Ditto. MAME is a great choice for co-op games, there's a lot of classics available out there. A few weeks ago we played "Vendetta" with some friends and had a blast. It was like being 15 again.

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[somersault]

You just reminded me of one of the most awesomest 2 player games ever.. I should try to find this on an emulator, and I highly recommend it to others:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Islands [wikipedia.org]

Admittedly I was probably about 10 when I played this, but I'm sure I'd still enjoy it :)

Re:

[Dr. Eggman]

The Orange Box (HL2 series, Portal, Team Fortress 2) should also be a good choice (Portal Especially.)

EDIT: Ooops

[Dr. Eggman]

I missed the two-player, one laptop requirement from the question.

Re:

[foniksonik]

Who says you can't play games AND make sweet love? A good game could be like foreplay... get the tension just right then BAM! sweet sweet lovin'

The last thing you want in this scenario is to actually care about the game... so no RPGs or MMORG or even Team games... just good old fashion PVP action.

Re:a relatively newly married young couple?

[onion2k]

So what part of "No 'Find the Sausage' jokes" did you not understand?

This is Slashdot, so I'm going to guess "all of it".

What did I win?

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[slim]

You can get Lego Star Wars for PC.

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[FooAtWFU]

Seconded. Bazookas are fun in and of themselves, but exploding sheep and Holy Hand Grenades seal the deal. Plus all the roping around to try and drop dynamite on the other guy before your turn runs out.

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[slim]

The thing is, arcade games were not designed with home gaming in mind. If you love arcade games, then you can see past this (I do -- I have a JAMMA cabinet in my house).

This is why home ports of arcade games usually have extra elements bolted on. For example, something like Soul Calibur in the arcade has one game mode -- play until you die, see your score.

After all, its job is to take some money from you, give you a quick fix, then get rid of you. You might play a few more times. Most arcade games don't try