Let’s Plays and Sports


Chris Hallbeck

This hits a bit close to home.

For those who don’t know, a Let’s Play is a form of entertainment in which you watch another person or group of people play through a video game.

The closest comparison to something else I can think of is watching sports. Both involve a person watching other people do something, that “they could just go do themselves” as some people may say, and getting enjoyment out of it.

When thinking about why I seem to like Let’s Plays as much as I do, I kept coming back to that same comparison of the two.

1.) You’re in it for the player(s).

When watching either sports or video games, you feel a sense of pride for the one you’re watching. You want them to play well, you want them to succeed and win. You cheer when they complete a play and you feel down when they’re stopped just short.

You can also feel a sense of attachment to whom you’re watching, whether it be because they’re part of a team your family has supported since you were a kid or because you find them funny and find the moments they go through interesting.

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2.) Watching can improve your own skills.

Not everyone who watches Sports or Let’s Plays, play sports or video games, but for those who do, there is a lot to gain from watching others.

If you go online, you’ll see plenty of tutorials on everything from how to properly throw a tricky curve ball or how to improve your tracking, which can put you on the course of improving yourself and getting better at the thing you enjoy doing.

It doesn’t even have to be a specific video either. Having someone go through the plays that may seems difficult to comprehend, improves your ability to read those situations yourself, and soon you find that the commentators’ talk is unnecessary for you.

You can then take all of this knowledge when you next play. You throw a tricky ball for a strike out, knowing that a specific player’s batting style is weak to that certain pitch. In similar fashion, you can keep your aim on a flanker for a successful counter flank, while also knowing where the flank was going to come from initially, much easier after instruction, understanding, and practice.

League Worlds 2017
The League of Legends 2017 Tournament Finals. For those who think Let’s Plays are just for YouTube.

3.) That one moment.

If you’ve been watching long enough, you’ve probably seen everything. You’ve seen all the moments that occur each game, such as a touch down, home run, one hit run, and highest difficulty challenges, all of which are impressive, but become redundant as you see it play out over and over.

Yet, there always comes that one moment. The one moment where the odds are against them, but the player defies all odds and pulls out an incredibly hype moment. When a football player catches an interception at half field, barely keeps their footing, then pushes through every obstacle to reach that end zone in Over Time. When the player puts everything on the line, baits their whole team for the flank, then hype maxes out as they Ult. at the perfect moment to ace the enemy team and secure the objective at a 99% Over Time.

It’s those moments, I think, that we continue to watch sports or video games, for the highlights that’ll be talked about in your circle for years to come.