I've been wanting to write this since the Jimmy Kimmel thing happened earlier this year. Please remember that this post is purely my opinion and my thinking, if you think something I have said is wrong, or you disagree, please post your thoughts in the comment section below!
But it's a good question, why do some many people watch other play video games online? Why do millions of people subscribe to Markiplier, Pewdiepie, Chuggaaconroy and Yogscast?
Well, I'm going say there would be a few different reasons to watch. Let me quickly list them, and briefly explain.
- Entertainment!
Yes. This is a simple one, you could watch some one play a video game, just for entertainment. Like watching one person interview another, for entertainment, because you like the host. Or even just watching movies, or just TV shows, it's for entertainment, some times you don't know what you like to watch until you say, "Fuck it!" and watch it. Simple.
- Reviews!
I feel a lot of us out there like to look at review and see other people's opinions before er decide to go out and buy a new product, like the new iPhone or a curved TV. We want to know that it will work, it's easy to set up, and we really want to know if there is a high chance we would like the product once we bought it. This also applies to videos games. Some, many, video games these days retail for $60+ each. Which may be a lot of money when you're young or you're just limited of spending money for the week. Also, if you only aford one game that week, you want to know you're making the right choice, even when there are 3 or 4 triple A titles coming out at once in a similar time frame. So you decide to hold onto your money for a little extra time, you go on YouTube and you find that someone has uploaded the first hour of the game. But not only one person, but many, You can watch these videos, see what the game truly is like, and you also get opinions from people, right as they are playing. Easy.
- Help!
Third reason is help. "But, what do you mean by help? That doesn't make sense!" I hear you ask, well, it's easy, Let's say you're playing the new Pokemon game, and you're stuck. You don't know where you're meant to go or what you're meant to do. Or you're stuck in a gym and you don't know how to get to the gym leader (still in Pokemon here). Well, again, you can easily just go onto YouTube and search something like, "Pokemon Snowbelle City Gym" or "Pokemon Omega Ruby help" and you'll find videos of people playing the game you are, and you can see how they got through your situation.Also, if you're having a bad time with a game because you arn't sure what you're meant to be doing and you want to give up on it, (trust me I've been there), you can go online, again, find your game get get help. There may be a chance you'll run into a video of someone having the same problem as you, but then they get though it. Trust me, if you see that, you instantly feel a bit better for having trouble, because someone else did as well. But they they got though it, and you think, "If they did it, them I can too!" Then you go back to your game, give it another go, and you're thought that though part. It does really feel nice!
But there are just some reasons on why watching people play video games on the internet can both be helpful, but also fun!
EXTRA POINTS:
- I'll also quickly add here, but there are times when you really want a video game, Fallout 4, but you can't afford it. The only real way to then experience it would be a place like YouTube.
- Also, there is a marketing / advertisement aspect to it as well. If you can get a big name like Pewdiepie to play your game, any of his subscriber may go out it buy it for them selves.
