You can find almost anything on the internet to help you succeed. Even for video games, there are guides, cheat codes, walkthroughs and Let’s Plays to help gamers get through tough spots in a game. Let’s Plays are simply videos of someone or a group of people playing a video game with commentary typically for entertainment reasons only. Yet, why would you watch some else play a game when you could play it yourself? There are many reasons for this, the biggest being the cost of a video game console and the game itself, but still wouldn’t you want to get the full experience by playing the game or can these videos give viewers the full experience?

Personally, I think they can provide the full experience. From my experience watching Let’s Plays from YouTube channels like YoVideogames and groups like Rooster Teeth’s Achievement Hunter and Let’s Play channel, yet there are certain games that I would rather play myself or enjoy playing and find it hard to watch videos of those games being played.

Taking a look at watching videos first, I find that I mainly watch them for entertainment purposes or to have going on in the background as I work on something like folding laundry or cleaning. There are also times where I find myself experiencing the game and learning from what I see. One example of this is with fighting games. I enjoy playing the occasional fighting game but I can never pull off a successful combo so I end up mostly mashing buttons. About two or three years ago, I came a YouTube channel ran by a guy named Maximillian. His official channel is called Maximillian dood and he also runs the YoVideogame channel. Anyways, one of the things Max dose on his personal channel is play various fighting games to help bring awareness to the fighting game community. Not only was I able to get the full experience of what being able to play a fighting game the right way would be but along with how I could maybe get a bit better at the game through his tutorial videos “Assist Me!” While I’ve never attempted to put the things Max teaches in his “Assist Me!” videos to use, I feel like I would be able to quickly after watching, listening and practicing the skills mentioned in the videos.

Playing the games, however, not only allows me to experience it in person, but allows me experience the full effect of the game from the challenges it presents to the story and the bond one can form with their character.

Ultimately, it all depends on the type of video you find and how interested in the game you are. Some gaming videos are better than others so finding the right video could very well determine not only how much enjoyment you can get from watching but also how much you experience form the videos. If you are curious about a game but don’t want to pay the full price to determine if you really are going to enjoy it or not, watching a video or two of someone else playing the game could be the deciding factor on if you want to buy the game and maybe shell out the money to pay for the console to enjoy it on or not.