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[cormack12]

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/2024071...laying-twitch-youtube-lets-play-no-commentary

I’ve come to think of playing and watching games as basically interchangeable.

Sometimes, I find it difficult to distinguish my memories of playing a game from seeing someone else play it.

I made it through only five bosses in Dark Souls with my pigtailed powerlifter protagonist before I decided that the game’s pimple-eyed basilisks were too annoying, and it was time to focus on what was for dinner instead.
But in the years before and after I decided I was quitting Dark Souls, I also watched one boyfriend, one roommate, and several YouTubers play the 40-hour game from start to finish. I had the pleasure of meeting Ceaseless Discharge only once in my abandoned playthrough, but, over my hundreds of hours observing other people’s games, the oozing boss became a familiar flame to me. I got so used to seeing Blighttown’s rickety, rotten wooden pathways that they might as well have formed the driveway leading up to my parents’ house.

So I’d discuss it as if I had played it, because my knowledge of the game matched that of its most dedicated players.

 

[Comandr]

Gross.

 

[winjer]

 

[kapshin]

No it basically isn't.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Reading a play by play synopsis of a movie scene by scene is the same as watching it.

Getting your lunch stolen is the same as eating it.

Reading a book is the same as getting read to.


Sownds jeanyus

 

[T4keD0wN]

I feel the same way about Olympic games.

 

[TintoConCasera]

A friend of mine refers to YouTube as the "console of the poor".

But yeah that shit the dude at Polygon said couldn't be farther from the truth.

 

[Markio128]

When we watch we all win.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

I want to know who put this moron up to writing this? It had to be a company, and if not... I am still not surprised. These fools keep sucking on the corporate tits, whenever they can.

 

[bender]

Mostly wrong, then again Hellblade 2.

 

[Bartski]

Spicy horse shit more like

 

[SmokedMeat]

Ah yes. I remember being in the arcade room as a kid having exhausted my quarters and watching people play. It’s was exactly as though I was playing.

 

[Northeastmonk]

Yuck. What makes it even worse is that it’s Polygon. If this was Kotaku I’d understand. Polygon has at least had very informative articles on a certain video game. Now every one with a Twitch account thinks they actually played a video game instead of watching someone. We sat around as kids waiting for a chance to play the game; “to play” the game.

 

[Putonahappyface]

 

[Three]

I get what s/he's trying to say in terms of gaining knowledge of a game but it is not the same as experience. It's like reading a cooking recipe vs actually cooking it.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I mean, sometimes I can watch a few minutes of a game, see its crap, and steer clear. That almost feels like I played it, lol.

 

[diffusionx]

It would be cool if videogame websites hired people that liked playing videogames.

 

[Nydius]

That's like every student who tried to cheat on a book report, claiming they knew the book as well as anyone because they read the Cliff's Notes™ version.

 

[Z O N E]

I guess watching a movie makes me the main character and I'm starring in it.

 

[Mownoc]

"I don’t think that playing is necessarily the most crucial aspect of gaming."

My personal favourite quote from this article.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

I know someone who is like this......they'll argue adamantly that because they sat there and watched an entire playthrough on youtube, that it means they've played it. Fuckin whackos...

 

[ReBurn]

Twitch is for when even holding the controller is too much effort. And boobie streamers.

 

[feynoob]

Guess this means Topher played starfield for me then.

 

[Naked Lunch]

Depends on the game.
Many modern games take absolutely no skill and the gameplay offers no way to flex.
Sony walk a thons come to mind.
Probably better off watching it - and itll save you some money.

On the flipside - you cant simply watch someone play Sin and Punishment, DoDonpachi, or Sega Rally.
Stuff like that needs to be played.

 

[Miles708]

I don't think this is completely wrong.
Not accounting for narrative-heavy games (where gameplay gets secondary and so yes, watching it is indeed similar to playing it), this can somewhat be true even for gameplay-focused games... albeit with one important caveat.

The fact is: most videogames rely on systems.
Combat system,
driving system,
ecounter system,
leveling system,
so on so forth.

At the same time, many games rely on repetition. Repeating one (or more) action over and over in different scenarios is the basic gameplay of most games. That's not a critic, I love arcade games for that matter.

Still.
Once you have played a game, for the sake of this example let's say an action game like Devil May Cry 5, you can have a pretty rough idea of what the game will be like after you have played and experienced the first 2 or 3 stages. At that point, even looking at videos detailing later stages can be a bit like having played it, minus the muscle memory involved, because you're not lacking the involved gameplay context.

Of course there are missing factors (immersion, satisfaction, and likely overrall enjoyment), but assuming you're watching videos of something you at least took the time to experience and understand yourself, i can see the OP's point.

 

[JayK47]

Written by a girl gamer of course.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

kinda true for modern "cinematic games". tons of cutscenes and easy gameplay.
i tried to lose in the beginning of spiderman 2 or whatever (the one with the sand boy) and the game wouldnt let me.

but dark souls?
you didnt play it, you took a guided tour through it.

 

[DGrayson]

No it's watching. Playing is playing.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I’ve basically banged like 4,000 porn stars

 

[Bloobs]

AI journalist mentality

 

[Topher]

Shadow of the Erdtree claims another victim

 

[SHA]

No, this is so wrong, how could they say that? with the controller it's a completely different experience.

 

[Fake]

When you thought the well was already deep.

 

[Bloobs]

Let me just dump this classic right here

 

[Guilty_AI]

i'd argue it depends on the game

 

[Wildebeest]

Humans are wired to mimic each other, and it has been shown by brain science that just watching someone do it activates similar parts of the brain to doing it. It isn't the same as doing it, but the brain is still testing its understanding of the game while watching. If people play competitive games, then watching vods of tricky games is considered to be a better way to improve than just grinding out random games.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I watched someone beat souls bosses with donkey kong bongos. It's just like if I did it really.

 

[Filben]

Only if the game has gotten very little aspects of the medium itself.

 

[Zannegan]

Her claim is idiotic. Games are a fundamentally interactive medium. You can be a fan of a game like Dark Souls without actually playing through it thanks to its art, lore, music, design, etc. And plenty are fans of watching games they could never complete or gameplay at a level they themselves can't achieve (personally, I'd rather get a toothpick in the eye, but that's just me).

But being a fan doesn't make you a player though any more than enjoying the Xgames makes you a skater. Why not just say you're a fan of X, Y, or Z instead of acting like you've actually played through the level? It's just weird.

Reading a play by play synopsis of a movie scene by scene is the same as watching it.

Getting your lunch stolen is the same as eating it.

Reading a book is the same as getting read to.


Sownds jeanyus

I'll fight you on that last one. Audiobooks are great. Now, saying watching me movie is the same as reading the book, that would be heresy. =P

 

[Robb]

 

[Švejk]

Bout the slowest most retarded Monday for journos yet...

 

[Last Hearth]

It's true for the games who's main draw is CGI cutscenes.

 

[Zannegan]

I watched someone beat souls bosses with donkey kong bongos. It's just like if I did it really.

Your name is too perfect for this post. Bwahaha!

 

[cireza]

And from the same author :

Watching people have sex is the same as having sex.

 

[MujkicHaris]

I've been working on a video game for several years now and when I am done developing it, I am supposed to be sending a review code to the press --- that think like that.

The take is not spicy, it's dumb. What is wrong with these people?

 

[SHA]

With those former mobile players, they're so out of touch with reality, they should have a different category, they just can't sneak into traditional gaming like that, and God forbid they shouldn't be promoted to positions like Phil Spencer to run gaming companies cause mobile is different.

 

[IDKFA]

No. Completely disagree.

This is like saying watching chess is the same as playing chess. Completely different.

More nonsense from Polygon

 

[MikeM]

Right. And watching porn means you had sex…

 

[Sushi_Combo]

There's barely any spice in this dumbass take.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I was thinking about that but with porn and within the context of generative A.I. "artist"