Video Games: Console War Never Changes

[Kalbear]

It's taking a lot less time. Twitch is one of the biggest properties out there. Kids constantly watch others play video games. The main difference right now is that most people don't have the context of what is a good play in esports compared to, say, football.

My kids don't know much about football or heroes of the storm, but both are pretty good for them to watch.

[Shryke]

The appeal is watching someone who is exceptionally skilled at something do that thing. So yeah, I'd equate it to watching professionals play sports when you could just play the sport yourself.

It only seems more ridiculous because it's newer. I'd be willing to bet that people thought the idea of professional sports was just as laughable when it was first proposed.

"Who would pay money to watch people play football?"

 

Because you've picked a side. ie - tribalism

 

Plus it's not like all streamers are actually super-good at the games they are playing. And it doesn't cover let's-plays.

 

Watching people play video games is a rather separate phenomenon from sports.

[Magnar of Skagos]

In Canada, xbox one games are released at $69.99, and with tax comes out to about $80. Which is ridiculous. I remember when you could just buy a game for like $60 and put it in and start playing. Nowadays you spend $80 then wait 2 hours for the game to install.

[KiDisaster]

Plus it's not like all streamers are actually super-good at the games they are playing. And it doesn't cover let's-plays.

 

Watching people play video games is a rather separate phenomenon from sports.

 

Fair enough, but even with Let's Plays I'd maintain that people only think they're weird because they're new. 

 

To the people who grew up with them they're totally normal. Social media, online dating, kids having cell phones, shit even video games in general...all of those things were "weird" at one time or another (or still are) to a lot of people because they haven't existed for their whole lives. I'm sure I'm guilty of having the same attitude to at least a couple of things. 

 

Older generations tend to hate the new generation's music and all that stuff? I dunno, maybe I'm talking out of my ass.

[Inigima]

FF1 replay update: a couple of random encounters away from Kraken. This hasn't really been bad so far, even though I haven't really done much grinding since the Earth Cave. I wonder at what point I'll fall behind the curve. I'm around level 20 right now.

Of course, I'm dreading the Kraken fight. I'm pretty sure he can still one-shot my white and black wizards if he feels like it. I can't even imagine what level I'd have to be to prevent that from happening, though, which is why I haven't been grinding levels. If that happens hopefully my Master and Knight can tear through whatever's left.

[Rhom]

My step-daughter is turning 12 next week. Watching others play games does not seem to be a thing she's into, however the boys she knows and my friends' sons are all into it. My friends don't get it either... :lol:

FF1 replay update: a couple of random encounters away from Kraken. This hasn't really been bad so far, even though I haven't really done much grinding since the Earth Cave. I wonder at what point I'll fall behind the curve. I'm around level 20 right now.

Of course, I'm dreading the Kraken fight. I'm pretty sure he can still one-shot my white and black wizards if he feels like it. I can't even imagine what level I'd have to be to prevent that from happening, though, which is why I haven't been grinding levels. If that happens hopefully my Master and Knight can tear through whatever's left.

You can probably beat the game in the low 20's. You may never have to level grind. Kraken isn't much to worry about. A couple of Lit3 spells and he's a goner.

[l2 0 5 5]

 

To be fair, you likely don't have the capability to play, say, professional Starcraft either. Playing that game even at an above average level does not equate to the types of things the pros can do. 

 

But like I said, it's new so it's weird. That's how things have always worked. E-sports gets bigger every year (pretty sure LCS games are getting more live viewers on average than NHL and MLB games now or so I heard). Give it time, eventually no one will even bat an eye at it anymore because everyone will have grown up with it already being a thing. :dunno:

Yeah it's just not for me. I've seen my friends sit in front of a computer screen for hours and watch people play fighting games (EVO is a big thing to them). Of course, I don't like fighting games at all so that's really not appealing to me. If I'm that interested in watching someone play a game, I'd probably like to play it even more so I'd dedicate my time to that. Maybe my opinion will change if I see ESPN2 broadcasting a live Fallout 4 playing in November. 

 

In regards to streamers and being professional, I'd like to think that a lot of them receive a ton of viewers because of how affable and entertaining they can be and not so much of their actual gaming abilities. Most people who play video games can be somewhat proficient at it, but I think the personality is what keeps the viewers coming back. The majority of professional football players aren't affable at all, and people still watch.

[Corvinus85]

I only watch other people play if I want to see a game's features, or I'm stuck in a game I'm playing and need some guidance. But I do not have the patience to sit through an entire "let's play" session, let alone all the episodes of a "let's play" series. 

[Melphis Amekia]

Well, I understand why they can get into it - I myself love watching football(soccer, not american football) and I love watching WCS in StarCraft cheering for my favourite player TLO(or any good protoss player if he's eliminated) and if there's a game I can't play I like to watch someone intelligent do a walkthrough, or even watch a walkthrough of a game I played already from someone who might play it differently(and intelligently), like Life is Strange.

[l2 0 5 5]

I only watch other people play if I want to see a game's features, or I'm stuck in a game I'm playing and need some guidance. But I do not have the patience to sit through an entire "let's play" session, let alone all the episodes of a "let's play" series. 

Yeah if I wanna check out some features for a game to help me decide if I want to buy it or not, sure I'll watch for a bit. I seriously think my friends get their nut off when they watch some guy with a rad stage name do a quadruple ultra to finish a match. I just can't feel that.  :dunno:

[KiDisaster]

 

Yeah it's just not for me. I've seen my friends sit in front of a computer screen for hours and watch people play fighting games (EVO is a big thing to them). Of course, I don't like fighting games at all so that's really not appealing to me. If I'm that interested in watching someone play a game, I'd probably like to play it even more so I'd dedicate my time to that. Maybe my opinion will change if I see ESPN2 broadcasting a live Fallout 4 playing in November. 

 

In regards to streamers and being professional, I'd like to think that a lot of them receive a ton of viewers because of how affable and entertaining they can be and not so much of their actual gaming abilities. Most people who play video games can be somewhat proficient at it, but I think the personality is what keeps the viewers coming back. The majority of professional football players aren't affable at all, and people still watch.

 

 

Fair enough. I don't enjoy fighting games either honestly. 

 

Really I don't follow e-sports much anymore. Got really into LCS for the first couple of seasons but the volatile nature of it for the players made it hard for me to stay interested very long. There's no such thing as a "home team" in e-sports really, so you kinda have to follow specific players in terms of who you support. The way players bounce around to different teams constantly and the incredibly short length of careers means every couple of years your team is comprised of an entirely different group of players then it was when you started cheering for them and the players who you loved to watch are retired or playing on B-league teams. It's kinda sad honestly. This only applies to team games really, and LoL is probably the worst because of the way Riot has tried to organize LCS like a real pro-sport league but without any of the protections for players that should have come with that. 

 

I'll watch The International, the WCS Finals and the LoL World Championships when they come around but I don't have the interest to follow any of them year round anymore.

 

I watch a shitload of Hearthstone streams though. :lol:

[The Anti-Targ]

There are 2 ways I enjoy watching game streaming: 1, where the streamer is engaging and talkative with the viewers, as well as competent at the game, watching someone play a game in total silence, or where they are only reacting to the game, is very boring; 2, official pro competitions with commentary. I watch the Smite pro-league quite a bit. 

 

Certain types of let's plays are interesting if they are all about the people playing as opposed to the game. The React channel on Youtube is good with this. Elders React to The Last of Us for instance. Entertaining not because of the game but because of who is playing and how they react. The React channel is more than just people reacting to games of course.

 

On a related matter I see some people are aghast at the news that Pewdiepie has earned $7 million from his youtube videos, which are mostly (or entirely) playing video games. Good on him I say. You can't become popular on youtube or Twitch by being boring while playing video games, you've got to be entertaining in some fashion to get people to come back and keep watching. 38 million subscribers, 9 billion views (over all his videos), obviously some people are enjoying what he does a lot. Never watched one of his videos myself.

 

Rocket League is heaps of fun, but it has a high skill cap which means many many hours of playing to reach a reasonable level of competency. Time I simply do not have. But I do have time to watch very skilled people play it, and at a high skill level the game is every bit as entertaining, exciting and tense as regular football. I can understand people not really being into watching games like Starcraft, or Hearthstone or LoL, or Smite, or Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. Because these are not akin to sports in people's minds. Rocket League differs immensely to all of these "traditional" e-sports in that it is immediately recognisable as "football", so it has the same spectator appeal as real football sports because you can immediately recognise the skill involved. I think a lot of gamers who are dismissive of watching video games, but who like watching regular sport would enjoy watching Rocket League played at a high skill level.

[RumHam]

I just loaded up Rare Replay and while I haven't even played anything yet it is already amazing. 

 

Edit: ok wow controls are going to be an issue. Enthusiasm dampened. :(

[Jace, Extat]

KotoR II has achievables now. Oh, Obsidian I haven't much. But for the mere promise of a KotoR sequel would tempt me to give you all of my money.

[The Anti-Targ]

So, did anyone see that the Gears ultimate edition now comes with the complete Xbox 360 Gears series for free? Quite a nifty way to make use of the b/c capabilities of Xb one, though not quite sure what use there is of giving people Gears 1 original version when they're buying Gears Ultimate edition.

 

Gears is one of the few Xbox franchises that pique's my interest, though not quite enough to justify investing in a Xb one. I always thought about getting a used 360 after the start of the 8th gen to play those few games I always wanted to try out, but I'd have to find a place to hide it, otherwise I would get in trouble for having 3 consoles in the house at once (PS3, PS4 and 360).

[Inigima]

FF1 replay update: Kraken down. Now going for the CUBE and then if necessary grinding money for magic and maybe a couple levels before the Mirage Tower and the Floating Castle.

You can probably beat the game in the low 20's. You may never have to level grind. Kraken isn't much to worry about. A couple of Lit3 spells and he's a goner.

You weren't kidding. 372 from one LIT3 spell. He got off one nasty attack, bringing my black belt to critical condition, and one INK that didn't do much. Dead in two turns.

[Shaun Snow]

KotoR II has achievables now. Oh, Obsidian I haven't much. But for the mere promise of a KotoR sequel would tempt me to give you all of my money.

 

If you haven't played Star Wars: the Old Republic, you might like to check it out. It's basically KOTOR 3. I'm not really that into MMOs personally, but you can play that one as though it were a single player game while missing out on very little. I liked it alot more than I was expecting to.

[Magnar of Skagos]

 

If you haven't played Star Wars: the Old Republic, you might like to check it out. It's basically KOTOR 3. I'm not really that into MMOs personally, but you can play that one as though it were a single player game while missing out on very little. I liked it alot more than I was expecting to.

TOR did not feel like much of a sequel to the KOTOR games for me. I'd prefer an actual sequel, though I have little hope we will ever get one.

[Inigima]

FF1: Am I right in thinking that there's no stronger healing potion than HEAL potions? I generally roll with 99 of them, but Jesus healing 30 HP at a time is tedious. I know I can use spells, but I'm a bit of a hoarder in RPGs -- I hate to use up my healing spells on trash on case I need them for the boss. I should probably get over it since bosses only seem to take two to three rounds to kill.

[l2 0 5 5]

So, did anyone see that the Gears ultimate edition now comes with the complete Xbox 360 Gears series for free? Quite a nifty way to make use of the b/c capabilities of Xb one, though not quite sure what use there is of giving people Gears 1 original version when they're buying Gears Ultimate edition.

 

Gears is one of the few Xbox franchises that pique's my interest, though not quite enough to justify investing in a Xb one. I always thought about getting a used 360 after the start of the 8th gen to play those few games I always wanted to try out, but I'd have to find a place to hide it, otherwise I would get in trouble for having 3 consoles in the house at once (PS3, PS4 and 360).

I'm a huge Gears fan and made the rash decision of buying the xbone for Gears. After playing the beta, I feel like the purchase (for myself at least) was justified. The game is Gears 1 but with all of the updates I've always wanted (which weren't many). No hosting anymore (obviously), and they got rid of the sniper body shot active down. Yeah, a pretty small list of corrections for me. What impressed me the most is the number of things they didn't change. The Coalition didn't incorporate any big weapons (mulcher, mortars, one shot, etc) into the game. Even the amount of ammunition in each of the power weapons mirrors its original Gears counterpart. And yes, the gnasher is its beautiful and amazing self. All original 19 maps are on the playlist with 4 Gears 2 maps sprinkled in; also a new map. The Coalition did put TDM in the game. I have no problem with it. That's what kept people playing Gears 3, but I'm assuming that all the original Gears players will be sticking with Execution. I certainly will be.