Playing games and gaming culture: Two different hobbies?

[Daria]

This is actually a big part of why I started my Youtube channel. I found myself "wasting" more and more time online bullshitting about the hobby instead of actively enjoying the games I have. I decided that needed to change, plus I wanted a new creative outlet. The review videos force me to play through my library, I still get to talk about games, only now I get to be super indepth and analytical about it, and interested conversationalists come to me.

Win/Win!

[BoringSupreez]

I feel that in order to talk about gaming culture you should be playing games. I can't comment on a game or use examples in an argument I'd I have never played it. I am always a person that like to experience it before I can criticize it. You are talking to the guy who watched every twilight film in order to say that it genuinely stinks.

I think that can depend on a lot. Someone that never has played games at all may have reasons behind that, which could make for valuable or interesting conversation as well. I don't mean overly-simplistic "it sucks" kind of talk, but exploring the lack of appeal/etc.

It's a natural thing, since nobody has the capacity to play/listen to/read/watch/etc every piece of media out there. Long as someone is open-minded, and accepts that their opinion is just that, then I wouldn't dismiss them. I'd just take what they say with a grain of salt.

I don't think it's necessarily two different hobbies, especially given how common it'd be for someone to play something regularly, even if it's not at the forefront of discussion. I'd put it all under an "enthusiast" type label. If people enjoy collecting and organizing and all, then that's fine too.


I see Let's Plays as more akin to, say, a talk show or something. The streamer(s) are kind a pseudo friend for the viewers. I think it's less about replacing playing the games, and more about a social/communal thing. Kinda like if you hung out with friends as they played through games.

Now that's depressing.

I do enjoy some let's plays myself, though not the big ones like PDP or Game Grumps. The running commentary is always welcome, and I've actually found myself compelled to buy a game or two I wouldn't have bothered with just because the guy seemed to be having so much fun with it.

At the same time, I think the rise of let's players is, at the very least, indirectly responsible for the decline of written gaming media over the last 7-8 years. Obviously magazines had their names on the wall the same way newspapers did, but I never expected to see online written gaming analysis, commentary, and reviews to fade the way they have.

[Exhuminator]

I think the rise of let's players is, at the very least, indirectly responsible for the decline of written gaming media over the last 7-8 years

I definitely agree it's been a contributing factor.

I find most written game reviews today to be so vapid that I'd rather just watch (muted) video of gameplay online instead. I can get a much better sense of what a game is like in a couple minutes of watching its gameplay, than by reading two or three pages of badly written, biased, and likely payola infused "review" material.

[Erik_Twice]

At the same time, I think the rise of let's players is, at the very least, indirectly responsible for the decline of written gaming media over the last 7-8 years. Obviously magazines had their names on the wall the same way newspapers did, but I never expected to see online written gaming analysis, commentary, and reviews to fade the way they have.

It's the logical result of better marketing.

Many people are not interested in analysis or reviews. There's people who only want "the news" or to confirm their own bias or to hear about what everyone else is playing. There's people who want clickbait or just seeing the game in motion. And all these people were following the game press because, well, there was not much else.

Now there are many more methods of distribution and a bigger diversity of palces to talk about games, there's less of a need for the game press or for generalist forums and gaming communities than used to be.

TL;DR: I don't think there's a decline of written media as much as a decline of generalist publications.

[Key-Glyph]

Something that interests me about participating in the culture around anything is that there are at least two subgroups of people I generally notice: the people who are motivated by staying on top of what's trending, and people who are driven by a personal experience to seek out the thoughts other folks who have had the same experience.

There's definitely something magical to being a part of the first wave, going through something unknown with a ton of other people who are just as clueless as you are, at a time when absolutely no one can know where things are heading. In fact, I know people who get into fandoms primarily for the excitement of their surrounding communities, as opposed to the actual content of the media the communities are centered on. They absolutely love to ride the wave. That atmosphere of unfolding adventure, unending speculation, and shared reaction is deeply meaningful to them.

I tend to be in the latter group. I'll play a game (or read a book, or whatever) and want to talk about it, and I'll know that at least someone on this board, if not a lot of someones, will be able to talk to me about it and share their personal experiences. So I log in and say "Metroid!" and wait for the responses to pop up. In this case we're free of time constraints; I can hypothetically mention Metroid now or ten years from now and still get the kind of connection I want over it. I don't have to hit a particular window of relevancy. Also, personally, I love the dynamic of having a bunch of people nod knowingly and tell me, "Oh man, you have no idea how much fun you are going to have," or say something cryptic like, "Be prepared for this particular stage but that's all I'm gonna say about it, hahahaha." I find that super intriguing and motivating.

And both aspects are brought together in this:

I see Let's Plays as more akin to, say, a talk show or something. The streamer(s) are kind a pseudo friend for the viewers.

What's amazing about Let's Plays is that you are forever able to experience the First Wave along with somebody you like, or at the very least witness their First Wave and enjoy it sympathetically as someone who's Been There Before (as long as their footage exists). And as for the connection, it's just as real a phenomenon as the way people feel "connected" to a friend whose Facebook updates and photos they peruse but whom they don't communicate with directly anymore. The difference is that Let's Plays are just honest about the fact that there is no direct friendship; it's about being comrades in arms, in a temporal-anomaly kind of way. Like reading the autobiography or poetry of someone who resonates with you.

I... don't know how on-topic this was. At all. Apologies.

[MrPopo]

Interestingly, I hate video reviews. I think a well done Let's Play can be entertaining or informative (with the commentary at the GDQ marathons being particularly interesting) but I don't see them as a source of reviews. I generally only seek out Let's Plays of games I already am familiar with as a way to see someone else's experience with it. But video reviews infuriate me. I read very fast and a video review ends up being a glacial pace by comparison.

There's a few exceptions and I don't really consider them reviews. Zero Punctuation is just comedy under the veneer of doing a review. And Ancient DOS Games I see as an opportunity to be exposed to games I wasn't aware of before. I don't go into an episode of ADG trying to find out if I should be interested in title X; I'm just looking for history, and if that history interests me I'll acquire it for myself.

[Marina0403]

If I play game - I'm living it. I don't understand how can someone play just at once??

[Nintendork666]

I used to bitch about video games online. Now I just bitch about movies.