Video Game Voyeur: What Do You Like To Watch?
I am pretty awful about neglecting my Gamefly queue, so I'm constantly getting titles that I thought I wanted to play eight months ago. Most recently, The Simpson's Game showed up at my door a good half-year after I've had any desire to play it, but I decided to give it a shot rather than just fold it back into the envelope and send it away again. It's not a bad game, it's got moments, and if I didn't have about a dozen other games I should be trying to finish before the fall rush hits in earnest, I'd probably be more willing to collect all those little damn tokens and play through the levels three or four times. At some point I realized that while I was feeling a little apathetic about actually playing the game all the way through, I wouldn't mind watching someone else do it for me. The game's cut scenes are extremely well done, about on par with the blu-ray version of last year's film, and while the writing is slightly rougher than even a mediocre episode, it still provided enough chuckles to make it worthwhile.
There are a lot of games that sometimes I'd just rather sit back and watch. Survival horror tops my list, particularly a few of the Silent Hill games, in part because I'm a scared-y cat, but also because I like to see how others react to the games. I'm lucky to pull off even a single combo in fighters, let alone a flashy special attack or counter, but I love watching a well balanced match between trained players. On the other hand, when I had a roommate with an Oblivion addiction, most of the time I would have rather stared at the wall then watch him play. Ditto with first person shooters, which is a genre I usually enjoy quite a bit on my own. Watching someone else play an FPS is slightly disorienting and, at times, can make me a little sick. Nintendo games like Mario and Zelda often provide a lot for the viewer, presuming the player isn't constantly falling down pits or forgetting the controls. Most RPGs are sort of the best of both worlds, as constant menu hopping is never fun to watch, but the battle effects and cut scenes are usually enough to keep me on the couch, even if I don't have my hands on the pad.
Are there any games that you just want to watch, maybe for the art, the story, or just because you're not any good at them on your own?
Dawdle
Posted to Miscellany, Video Games on 7 September 2008
· Comments (14)
Other stuff like this: question, voyeurism, watch
My boyfriend likes to watch me play games. He likes to watch RPGs and survival horror (though he won't play the latter himself).
Unfortunately, he is deaf so he is always disappointed when I play a game without subtitles.
I will occasionally watch him play RPGs but he is a completionist so I get bored when he is grinding or doing EVERY side quest.
I don't get many chances to watch other people play games, but I cannot watch anything with fast motion. I kinda get sea sick, much like if I play an FPS. I do enjoy watching my partner play Puzzle Quest on the 360, and tossing him hints if I see a good move. I don't watch him play much, though, because I tend to "help" too much... The only other game he really plays is World of Warcraft, and we play that together, so not much gaming voyeurism for me. :)
I love watching people play through the newer Final Fantasy games, they're so damn pretty! I have a friend that likes to find infinite combo's in all these obscure japanese fighters, so that's pretty fun to watch. But, I think the best games to watch someone play are the games they used to have when they were kids.
I love to watch a skillful player run through shumps and bullet hells. Plowing through Ikaruga or anything by Cave with one life is performance art according to me.
This guy I saw sometimes used to watch me play the silent hill series, he couldn't play himself, he was too scared. Made me feel manly :]
I am not as patient as I should be when watching other people play games - especially considering how often my extremely kind boyfriend will sit and watch me play. I get fidgety and want to have my hands on the controller!
I love love LOVE to watch my friends play Resident Evil 2. I don't know why, but that game fills me with nostalgia. We always jump at the part when the licker jumps through the double-sided glass in the police station, even though we've seen it a million and a half times. Mario Galaxy is a game I could watch someone play for hours, especially when inebriated. Good times.
Me and my brother love to play GTA IV and God Of War 1 and 2. If I'm playing he likes to watch and see if I can play better then him. I watch him just to see if he can match me!!! Ha
I love watching people play Bionic Commando Rearmed for some emergent properties. Sometimes I catch a move I never knew was possible... and a couple level secrets.
Many times I get a little frustrated watching other people play games. I want to jump in and help. I did however, get my boyfriend (self-proclaimed as a 'non-gamer') hooked on "Pikmin 1 & 2", "Katamari Damacy", and "We [heart] Katamari". I really love to watch him play these games. Almost zen-like really. Plus, the music from the Katamari series is so infectious! Can't get it out of my head!
So I have a question to pose: How many others who play games with controllable point-of-view 'cameras' {like the "Spyro" series, "Legend of Zelda: Windwaker", "..:Twilight Pincess", "PAIN", etc.} tend to control the camera to the point it seems like you are filming a movie? Am I the only one? Please tell me I am not alone. :)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
I'm terrible at the gunplay, I sat and watched someone play the entire game last Christmas.
My guy likes to watch me play. Really gets in to the stories of some (Mass Effect, Bioshock). Me on the otherhand can't watch. I, like others have said, HAVE to have my hands on the controller and am not to old to snatch it out of a pair of hands if I don't like what I'm seeing.
I love watching other people play video games. I stopped playing games back when they jumped to 3-D, but still have a soft spot in my heart for them. I have fond memories of watching dormmates play thorough Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear: Solid, & Kindgom Hearts. Of course, that vid-voyeurism continues by lurking 'round these parts.
When I read here all the hubbub about Portal, I went out at once to YouTube to watch the full walkthrough--twice. It was incredibly rich and fun. Way more fun than if I'd tried it.
I call it the unskilled, cheap man's way to enjoy an expensive and complicated hobby.
The only game my boyfriend could tolerate watching me play was Shadow of the Colossus. That game is one of the few that is as beautiful and fun to watch as it is to play.