he doesn't NEED it. It would be nice, sure, but there's no reason that just trying the medium out would require or even justify that kind of expense upfront. Hell, there's no reason at all he can't start out with great games from a few years ago because it's all new to him, and that way everything will be super cheap to get a bunch of different things and try a little of everything to see what sorts of games he enjoys.
No genres are just easy terms for reviewers in gaming.
No, they are easy terms made up to describe different types of gameplay and are just as useful to players as to anyone else. "Action" or "strategy" is far too broad... it's helpful to get specific, and if a game crosses multiple genres no worries, we still can know in just a few words what it's about. Is it real-time strategy? 4X? base defense? puzzle? first-person shooter? driving? Flight sim? tournament fighter? Beat-em-up? 3d mass combat? point/click adventure? mmo? loot grinder? platformer? metroidvania? jrpg? fps-rpg? party-based dungeoncrawler? Rouge-like? sandbox? sports sim? rail shooter? scrolling shooter? top-down adventure? Arena shooter? survival horror?
...I'm sure I could think of more if I had more time right now, but I think you get the point.