Hang On, Watch This

As I wrote last time, I don't have much time. Gaming is more of a privilege than anything else. It's difficult to balance all of the things in my life and still be able to sit down and play video games. I still like video games, and I wish that I could play them a lot more than I do now. I know that I'll be getting some free time in the future to play video games and such, but that's a story for a different time. However, right now, working six days a week with ten hour shifts is kind of grueling. In order to get my fill of video games, or at least something video game related, I watch Let's Plays.

Let's Plays are a kind of video on Youtube that have taken the internet by storm. People record themselves playing video games, and post it up on the Internet. This is a stupid concept that should not be as popular as it is. Instead of actively playing a game for myself, I, along with many others, watch people play video games.

When I was younger, and still not all that great at video games, I would watch my older brother play video games. He didn't much care for it, but I would watch him anyway. There was no commentary, and there were rarely moments in the game that got all that exciting, but I still enjoyed watching him play. There was something to that. A certain kind of feeling of fellowship with my brother, and bonding over video games. This is what Let's Plays remind me of, in a very minor way.

My favorite Let's Play channel is Game Grumps. I really enjoy their conversations that they have over the games that they play, and Danny always has a good story to tell it seems. I've learned a lot from listening to them talk about life and experiences. They also play a lot of games that I've never tried, or even heard of before. It's a good way to find out about new games that came out, or old ones that have faded into obscurity. Their show is always entertaining to me, and it makes me smile even on bad days.

Video games are more fun to play, to be sure, but they can also be fun to watch. It may not be the same as watching the game with the person in the same room, but it's still enjoyable.