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Jimmy Kimmel on Streamers/Let's Players

Animeboye

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So lately there's been a lot of buzz in the gaming community about Jimmy Kimmel doing a skit on Let's players and people who watch them. Having just watched the skit, I was (not really) surprised to find that it was actually pretty harmless yet you have idiots from Youtube sending Kimmel horrible comments going as far as to threaten his own kid's life (Youtube posters doing such a despicable thing? Why I never).

The video in question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji9KmXwrA5Y

Truthfully, I can understand why Kimmel is so surprised by how much this Let's Play fad has taken off. A lot of Let's Players are older than me but even then, however, I just don't see the entertainment value in a Let's Play. What is so great about watching some numbnuts scream and act like a five year old while playing a video game? That's the kind of stuff I did when I was little and growing up with the N64(Not trying to insult the N64, I still love that console). Walkthroughs I can understand watching because those can actually be pretty helpful especially if you're on the fence about buying a certain game or if you're stuck at a certain part but Let's Plays I just don't get. To me, they're pretty much the lowest form of entertainment.

As for the whole controversy with Kimmel, the way the gaming community has been handling this is truly disgusting. It's one thing not to find a joke funny, I get that. Not everyone is going to find the same thing humorous but when you start threatening the lives of the man and his children, then you're really crossing the line. These guys want to prove to Kimmel that they're not losers or anything of the sort yet that's exactly how they're acting. They are embodying the very stereotypes that surround gamers (easily angered, irrational, violent, etc). Kimmel is older than most gamers today so obviously he's going to be confused by this. It happens with every previous generation. Heck, it's happening with people from our generation. Many of us don't understand why kids today like a certain thing, kind of like how our parents were/are with our interests and kind of like their parents before them and their parents before them. It's a generational thing that will more than likely always exist in some way or another.

EDIT: I guess I should probably mention that even though I don't like most Let's Plays, there are some I do find some entertainment in. Kr1t1kal is just one Let's Player I do find funny and that's because 1. He actually has pretty humorous commentary and 2. He doesn't need to pretend to be someone else when playing a game. DSP, or DarksydePhil, is another one I like (ironically) because it's just so amusing watching him flounder around with even the simplest task in a game.


aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)

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I prefer Lets Plays of legitmately skilled players. Speed runs, pacifist runs, nude runs, people who solo multiplayer games, the sort of stuff that I could never do without lots of practise and dedication. But those are almost always void of commentary so I'm not sure if it even counts as a Let's Play.


WeirdRaptor

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And yet I will continue to enjoy what I want to enjoy, no matter how much you seem to want it to go away.

Yes, how Youtubers are reacting to Kimmels skit is moronic, but that does not make all Let's Players or their fans idiots. Also, the lowest form of entertainment is reality TV. Let's Plays are nowhere near that pathetic.
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." -Gandalf


Animeboye

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I had to scroll through my last post just to see if I said anything about wanting Let's Plays to go away. It's been awhile so I just wanted to make sure. Hmm...Nope. Said nothing like that. What I said was I don't see what's so great about watching somebody scream their head off like a child while playing a video game. Not even close to the same thing. Please don't put words in my mouth. Did you even read the part where I said there ARE let's players I do like? Kr1tikal, DSP (ironically), and to add one more, the Vinesauce guys. I watched a little bit of Vinny's MGS 3 playthrough and *le gasp* I actually enjoyed it. So no, you're not right about me wanting Let's Plays to "go away".

Unless you mean my saying Let's Plays are a fad, which, no offense I do stand by. However that's also not saying I want to them to "go away". I don't expect them to ever "go away". But what I do think is that in a few years, they're not going to be nearly as popular as they are today. Some other big thing will come along on the Internet and everyone will flock to that. Kind of like how angry reviewing was the big thing back in the mid to late 2000s. It's still around it's just not as prominent as it once was.

As for the Kimmel sketch, did I ever say it was just Let's Players and their fans reacting to this? One more checkaroo...no. I said the Gaming community, not the Let's Play community. And no, moronic is not the word I would use. Sickening is more accurate. Wanting a guy and his friends and family to die because he doesn't understand something you enjoy is beyond overreacting and downright ridiculous. The people who sent him death threats have only proven Kimmel's point as well as the points of the people who already didn't have a good opinion on gamers. The skit itself wasn't even bad so I don't get what the issue was.

I understand that over the years, people have said things about the gaming community that hasn't sat well with gamers. And I can understand why those things haven't gone over well. With that said, however, threatening these peoples' lives is not the right way to handle it. As much as I don't like say, Anita Sarkessian(don't think I spelled that right) and Zoe Quinn, I don't think they deserve to have their lives threatened either especially since these types of people thrive on that stuff (you threaten their lives, you just give them ammo to work with). I'm not saying I agree with their views or side with them. I just wish gamers and gaming sites would stop giving them attention. Heck, I don't want any Let's Players to die, I just wish some of them wouldn't be given so much attention.


WeirdRaptor

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It was in the tone of your post that I got I wish Let's Players would go away. not so much the words. I still think that there is an underlying inkling of that want.

In any case, I think you have rattled on about the topic of Let's Plays more than enough.
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." -Gandalf


Animeboye

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EDIT: Deleted everything I posted. I give up. I'm not arguing with you anymore.


Animeboye

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I was just going to leave this as is because quite frankly, I'm sick of arguing with you. We go through this just about every year and it's really gotten old. This might be my last post directed towards you, WeirdRaptor but I have to ask. Now I'm not trying to make fun of you or anything of the sort. I just want to know: why do you get so worked up when people don't like what you like? I really don't get it. Every time somebody posts something negative about something you enjoy, you take it as a personal insult and act like that person is out to get you or something. Remember the PS4 topic from a year or two back? I said nothing bad about Nintendo other than that I was more interested in the PS4 than the Wii U and that I was burnt out on some of their franchises and you made me out to be some evil Nintendo hater who wanted to see the company go out of business when 1. I said absolutely nothing of the sort. And 2. if I hate Nintendo, why was I on their side in Pokeplayer's topic about Nintendo copyrighting Youtube videos? Hint: Not because I hate Let's Plays. If I hated Nintendo, why have I drawn fanart of their stuff? Why did I mourn Satoru Iwata's passing and do a drawing for him in honor of his memory? I must really hate Nintendo if I've done stuff like that. Also, just because somebody's burnt out on something doesn't mean they hate it. Look how many people say they're burnt out on Assassin's Creed yet I bet most of them don't hate the franchise, just aren't interested in it anymore.

You say that I need to stop talking about Let's Plays yet to this day, you still hold a grudge against some Internet reviewer because he gave a movie you like a less than favorable review. When did that review come out, like seven, eight years ago? Almost a decade. The guy who made it probably either doesn't remember doing it or doesn't care anymore yet you still hold a deep seething hatred for somebody who doesn't even know you exist. I have nothing against any Let's Players. I don't know any of them personally and unless they've wronged me in some way then why should I care about them? I never said people can't enjoy Let's Plays. I never said you can't enjoy them. What I said was that I think Let's Plays are, for the most part, a fad. And that I don't think they're high quality entertainment. Nowhere did I say others couldn't enjoy them. I said that I don't get why some ninny screaming like a child is funny to some people. If I do watch a Let's Play, I'd rather see somebody give a genuine reaction to a game as opposed to shrieking at every little thing that happens. That's why I said I like people like Kr1tikal or even the Vinesauce dudes. Their reactions feel genuine and because of that, I find their stuff to be funnier than some of the big name LPers.

People are going to say negative things about stuff you like. Likewise, they'll say positive stuff about things you don't like. That doesn't make them stupid or idiots because they don't see value in something you do. People don't like things that I like and I don't care. That's their tastes, not mine. I don't think it makes them stupid or anything. If you can say negative things about what others like (James Cameron, Playstation, Sony, etc.) then why can't people say something not positive about what you like? Sorry but that seems pretty unfair and hypocritical to me.

That was quite a big post, I have to say. I'm glad I got all that off my chest. But what I said was not intended to insult you, make fun of you, or annoy you. I know I'm not the only one who's said this but you can be a pretty decent guy to talk with when you don't let your emotions get the better of you. You just get way too offended over such trivial and inconsequential things. I'm willing to have a discussion on LPs with you, maybe even see things from a different perspective but if you're just going to get angry at me and put words in my mouth so it seems like I'm saying things that I didn't, then our conversations, as well as this topic, might as well just end here.