Jumping the gap

[Tomara]

As for other casual, cute, sim-type games, why not Animal Crossing?  However, I don't think the Animal Crossing games have same-system multiplayer. 

You can't play at the same time, but you can live in the same town and send eachother messages and presents.

... Aw, now I remember this ;_;

[Starmongoose]

As for other casual, cute, sim-type games, why not Animal Crossing?  However, I don't think the Animal Crossing games have same-system multiplayer. 

You can't play at the same time, but you can live in the same town and send eachother messages and presents.

... Aw, now I remember this ;_;

That is so sweet and so sad :(

Well, I guess that's set the tone for my day now.

[CastNuri]

Tomara's link made me all teary-eyed. >_<

I second Professor Layton. If you want to start her off on multi-player games, I'd say take a stab at one of the Lego series. Their Star Wars game is probably the most popular and fun but the Harry Potter one is crazily adorable.

[MeshGearFox]

Seconding super meat boy.

[MindCandy]

She's not hardcore guys. I agree meatboy is awesome, but when we play new super mario, I spend half the game carrying her, and that game is cake.

Harvest moon or animal crossing might work. She has a wii, I have a 360, and the boys have ds systems. I also have a psp and a psone with a great selection of games.

Honestly, I would like to see if she could get into RPGs. She's not much into action games, but she's bright, so I think she'd enjoy the challenge.

[Wild Armor]

Get her Katamari Damacy. You get to roll up cute things...

[Yoda]

I just like SMB that much.

And I bet she could play.. the first few levels! :D

I didn't think it was a horrible idea. There's no elaborate set up. No boring cutscenes. The first levels do a good job of getting you used to the controls. Decent music.

[Yoda]

If someone isn't really into videogames, they're not going to want to put up w/ most of the setup modern games have.

Esp if they're into farmville. Cheap and quick XBLA style games are a nice ease into the bath that is the world of videogames.

[kyuusei]

Get her Katamari Damacy. You get to roll up cute things...

Not a bad idea. It's cute and not a difficult concept.

Unless you get motion sickness super easily.

[MindCandy]

Yeah, I know it's a longshot, but I still want to give it a try.
Katamari might work, plus it would give me an excuse to play it without having to make another entry in the 'embarassing video game things I've done' topic.

[Dincrest]

She's not hardcore guys. I agree meatboy is awesome, but when we play new super mario, I spend half the game carrying her, and that game is cake.

Harvest moon or animal crossing might work. She has a wii, I have a 360, and the boys have ds systems. I also have a psp and a psone with a great selection of games.

Honestly, I would like to see if she could get into RPGs. She's not much into action games, but she's bright, so I think she'd enjoy the challenge.

Guess Little Big Planet's out of the question then?  

As for games that stimulate the grey matter over reflexes, I'll second graphic adventure games like Trace Memory.  It has clever puzzles and a very good storyline.  Or when you want to go toward more "advanced" graphic adventures, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut on DS or Wii works.  It's my favorite in the genre with great puzzles and a fantastic storyline.  

I wonder, in a case like this would Recettear be a good choice?  It has some dungeon crawling elements, sure, but they're totally optional.  In my playthrough, I almost never went in dungeons, preferring to do the shop sim.  There's a downloadable demo so you could definitely try it.  

EDIT: I don't know.  Perhaps I'm completely missing the je ne sais quois of FarmVille or any of her other interests outside of gaming that totally grip her.  On the other hand, sometimes something completely unexpected can grip a person...

[Fadedsun]

Animal Crossing should be a sure bet. Maybe the Cooking Mama games?

[GrimReality]

My wife was a Farmville addict up until recently, when she dropped it cold turkey.
She is the perfect example of what you are talking about.
Game#1 that everyone loves - Mario Kart. I'm not terribly fond of it, but we can play it together, and that counts for something.
Other games that she enjoys/has enjoyed:
Puzzle games! Tetris, Bust-a-move, Dr. Mario, Boom Blox, etc.
Katamari Damacy! She loves these. Simple and fun.
Harvest Moon - She played the Gamecube one a long time, before getting bored with it.

Basically, the same stuff everyone else is recommending.
Good luck.  

[sandiny0ursh0es]

Professor Layton is a great suggestion. I'd go with those games.

[Prime Mover]

KIRBY!

Seriously, I'm shocked noone's mentioned this. Kirby's Epic Yarn is super cute, really easy (you can't die), and really fun coop. I'm playing through it with my girlfriend now, and there's so many "Squee!" moments, it's just adorable.