Watching people, watching people play games

Okay, one of the best things about my new Nook (besides playing Candy Crush) is I have a fast reliable tool to view YouTube videos (besides on my Xbox).  Because of this I've stayed up until 1 or 2 in the morning watching videos because they're just so hilarious.  And I'm not talking just on the weekends.  It's been hard to get up at 6 or 7 in the am when you only went to bed at 1 or 2.

What am I watching you ask?

Let's Play videos.  Mostly from Achievement Hunters, Rooster Teeth and TheRadBrad.  I love Achievement Hunters.  Their Go! and vs shows are my favorite.  I can't tell you how many times I have laughed so hard I've cried and had to run to the bathroom.  The only problem I have now is that I've caught up on all their back list of Go! and vs. videos so there are only new episodes to watch and they only come out one day a week (they do a different video type for each day of the week).  I started to go find their Let's Play videos for games. 

Like the 2 parts for the Titan Fall beta.  I love watching these guys play.  And I love hearing them play together.  It reminds me of the early days of my little group of friends before we all started to fracture apart.  The camaraderie, the banter, the teasing, the pleading for help, the laughter . . . all beautiful to my eyes and ears.  Plus I get to see real live action of games I that I might be considering getting, especially older games that I might have missed or over looked when they came out.

Because of these videos I'm thinking about picking up a copy of Red Dead Redemption.  When that game first came out I really didn't want to have anything to do with it.  But after watching some game play it looks like it could be really fun to play.  And I can't tell you how many games I do have that I've wanted to go back and play because I've watched somebody else play it.

It reminds me of what it was like when me and my brother would meet at our parent's house to do laundry on Saturdays.  We would sit and watch the other person play a single player game and it would also make me want to go out and buy that game myself.  I know a bunch of the gaming companies do like people putting videos of their game play online for some reason of copyright or such (Nintendo a big one of those), but their missing out.  I watch those videos and I immediately want to play that game (whether I have it or not).  And if I don't have it, I'm trying to find a way to get it.  Game developers are losing new players by not allowing these types of videos to inspire new fans.

If you haven't checked out any of those guys I listed above on YouTube, I suggest you give it a look to see what I'm talking about.  Some of these guys make a living by sitting around playing videos, filming it and then posting it online.  I'm jealous.  But I'm also inspired to play things I haven't because of what I've seen.  If you find other people or groups who make videos of people playing videos games that you like, tell me in the comments.  I might stay up late and watch them and make me very tired at work the next day, but so far it's been totally worth it to watch people, watching people playing video games.