Good ps2/Gamecube games for my mom?

What would be some good games to introduce to my mother? She's in her forties and has no real history with games at all, but I'm interested in getting her to play some games with me that she might enjoy.

She likes Pac Man and tennis on the Wii, but I only have a ps2 and Gamecube currently… are there any good old school Pac Man games or other games in general on those systems that would be a good bet?

Hmm...Mario Kart might be a good safe bet, although the mechanics of Double Dash (especially the dashing) might not be immediately accessible. But I bet you can both play in the same kart against the AI in that? If she likes Tennis, then Mario Power Tennis might be another good choice.

There are some arcade/retro collections for the PS2 that are quite good. My favourite is the Mega Man Anniversary Collection.

Insert mandatory Persona 4 recommendation here.

My mom fell in love with Luigi's Mansion, almost exclusively because of how charming it is. Your mom may not make it far (my mom certainly didn't), but she may get a good laugh out of it.

Animal Crossing might be a good choice. She'd probably have fun with one of the Mario Partys.

My mom and I used to play a game called Strike Force Bowling together, though mostly because we'd laugh at the skeleton dude.

can you get your hands on a dance dance revolution matt for ps2 or GC?

@super2j: They sell those games at a Goodwill near me all the time, I'll try to look around for the mat next time

Guitar Hero 2 might be a decent bet.

Tales of Symphonia, maybe? Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Kingdom Hearts, Ico, Zelda Wind Waker, Mario Sunshine.

Best bet would possibly be just to ask your mother what she thinks she would like to play. She needs to make her own history.

Can't go wrong with Animal Crossing!

+1 for ICO.

It's not overly "demanding" in Controls and such, has a simple yet beautiful and effective Plot (although it's vague and somewhat long intro could be offputting)

There is also some kind of Lumines Game, i think Lumines Plus, available for the PS2, that's also pretty great, one of the best of it's kind of Puzzle Games outside of Tetris.

If she's into/okay with "Tales of Arabian Nights" kind of stuff, the first Prince of Persia (Remake) is also a nice game that while slightly demanding, is also very forgiving and pretty clear cut in terms of objectives and design.

And there's always a bunch of Lego Games if she happens to like one of the Franchises that has Lego Games.

But i mostly agree with others here who said it's important to figure out what kind of games she's interested in. That said, with trying to get anyone into games who doesn't know a whole lot about them, it's always important to pay attention to whether or not a game fundamentally depends on "Basic Gaming Knowledge". There's a bunch of mechanics and standards in Gaming that are very common to the point that not even tutorials don't explain them much, yet may be completely foreign for people who don't play a lot.

Also, avoid First Person Games and Games where you have to control the Camera yourself for now. Navigating both Character and Viewpoint simultaniously is one of the most difficult things to get the hang of for people who don't have experience in it, and that is commonly something that many people quickly get frustrated and/or overwhelmed with.

Also, although you did not ask for Wii Games, consider getting Boom Blox for her, preferably the first game. It's one of the most fun party games around, has a bunch of variety, controls pretty intuitive and makes for great laughs in Multiplayer

Super Smash Bros. Melee is a must. I played that with my mom once. It was a strange experience because she doesn't have a nerdy bone in her body, but she got so curious that she decided to try it out. We laughed and had a good time.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is another fun, accessible game.

Super Mario Sunshine is another fun one. It gets difficult in some places, but I think your mom could have fun with that.

Tales of Symphonia could be fun to play with your mom. She can participate in battles, and when friends play in the battles with you, it's actually a lot of fun. Plus, it has a great story with an awesome cast of characters. It's a little pricey on the GameCube now, but it's totally worth it. You could also try Tales of the Abyss on the PS2, but I like Symphonia a bit more.

The correct answer is Metal Arms: A Glitch in the System.

ANIMAL CROSSING

My mom barely spoke english, was in her 40s, and had only ever played mario 1 before. Loved it.

Katamari Damacy? Just two thumbsticks and rolling things up.

New gamers using two thumbsticks at once is murder, my friend. MURDER.

Gotta learn somehow I guess though.

Super Monkey Ball 2? I'm looking through my own library and it's the only game that seems appropriate for the situation.

My mother was put off by mario kart on the wii because she lost constantly.

Animal Crossing would be good for sure and with a ps2 you have the option of looking at original playstation games as well. My mother really enjoys the remake of space invaders and was really good at it.

It is probably a good bet that people not used to video games will struggle with a 3D space. Heck even when I was familiar with games as a youngin' I easily got lost in the original Halo and only played on the easiest difficulty for years.