How to Get Your Girl to Grab Your Joystick (To Play Video Games)

Enjoy playing video games by yourself? I do, but there are times that a little company while playing video games is welcome. If you have a woman in your life, be she a girlfriend or spouse, you have the ideal candidate to join you in your pixelated pursuit. What, however, are you to do if your girl turns up her nose the way a fan of a bottle of 1870 Lafite Rothschild would when presented with a bottle of Night Train Express (even if it was bottled during the peak time of last Wednesday)?

Rather than just sulk back to your console and take out your frustration on the game, you need to get clever. With a little persistence, you might be able to show your girl the similarities between Halo and a bottle of fine wine. Here are five suggestions to get you started:

5) Variety Is the Spice of Games: If your girl thinks that all video games are fighting dragons or battling space aliens, broaden her horizons. Show her casual games that deal with things like singing contests, cheerleading, dancing, or whatever she is into. Also point out the vast number of games with chat features, many that deal with nontraditional gaming genres targeted directly at women.

4) Don't Make it a Competition: If you want your girl to share your enjoyment of video games, stay away from games where your inward competitor could make things ugly. Fighting games, racing games, and team sport games can test even the most patient of souls. Screaming, "I should have so totally kicked your butt! You got so lucky on that game!" will probably turn your girl off of video games (and maybe off of you too!).

3) Consider Multimedia Options. If your girl won't touch a video game controller with a 10-foot pole, perhaps you could interest her in the non-gaming features of a console. The latest generation consoles can surf the internet (some better than others), stream movies instantly on Netflix (with a subscription), and display digital photos. Once she has seen that your game console is not (strictly) a nerd machine, she might be more open to playing a game on it.

2) Put Some on Her Cell Phone: Many, many girls like talking or texting on their cell phones. Since she's on it all the time already, why not download a few games on it for her? Then, when she is bored and unable to get a hold of her friends because they are all busy, she might just look through her phone menu and say, "Hmm, games. I do need something to kill a little time. Maybe I'll just give it a shot."

1) The Trade: If all else fails, trade for something you know she absolutely craves. Has she been begging you forever to go see a movie starring Hugh Grant? I know, it's painful, but if you want to get her playing video games you have to be willing to make severe sacrifices. Maybe she wants you buy her a toy dog she can get pedicures for?

Whatever her delight, dangle it in front of her in exchange for playing video games. Attitude here is very important. Whatever your experience with her demand, make it sound as though it wasn't as bad as it actually was. Saying, "Hugh Grant and everybody associated with that horrible movie should be disemboweled and fed to hungry lepers!" will make your girl resent you and look for ways to not enjoy video games.

Be gentle, be patient, and be considerate. Even though you may have been born with a joystick in your hand, it takes some people time to warm up to video games. Who knows? You may just even find yourself warming up to Hugh Grant (though admitted it is something entirely different).