I'm curious how many of you have ever just watched a friend or significant other play through a game?

Would you let someone watch you play? Having another body in the room does have it's uses.
After all, when you're defeating the last boss of the internet, how else are you gonna get that bag of chips in the kitchen? Or when you tag in a friend to level you up while nature is calling. Having friends over and showing them your new game can be truly... awesome?



So have you or your friends ever "watched" a full game from start to finish? Or maybe just a few levels/chapters? I've "watched" quite a few games. Does this mean I have a valid opinion on the gameplay and story?

I think for story, yes. Watching the story unfold and characters develop does not need the use of the controller. For gameplay, that can probably be debatable depending on the game, I think. You could probably understand the combat in a Kingdom Hearts game rather than the controls in Halo. The game could also just be pretty to watch, but a pain to play.

Friends can also contribute to to whether or not you put the title in your "Complete" pile. Going through puzzles or minigames, sometimes having an extra set of eyes can be a great asset. (I helped someone through the demo of Portal because they were stuck and didn't notice the importance of the moving platform.)

And besides, gaming has always been a social event, despite what the media says. From arcades - watching your friend beat high scores - to MMOs - in watching a large group of people downing a boss. We have LAN parties and Tournaments - even watching finalists battle on a huge screen for all to see. We look forward to events like E3 - where we get our first looks at gameplay and stills from games of the future. (And is this using the same concept as just 'watching from afar'?)


Some Examples:

Age of Empires



I never really played this game, but I saw it played probably a few million dozen times. I had never seen the RTS genre before this game, and it intrigued me. It was interesting how you had to build up your empire through the 'Ages', and thought it was insanely cool.

But I had never actually played it, and it wasn't until I got Age of Mythology that I realized... I really suck at RTS games. :D I play way too defensive/slow in general, and I don't keep up with all the various elements of the games well. (bad micro, hurrr) I was even worse with Warcraft 3, I just suck at paying attention to what to do with all my different peasants and building up an army efficiently.

Of course, with practice I got a lot better, but I never understood the controls or how it worked until I sat down and tried it myself.

FFXII / Final Fantasy 12



I watched this game from start to finish, enjoying the story as it happened. But some of the characters irked me, including the main character, Vaan. I just didn't understand why he was even there half the game. As soon as you have Ashe in your party, your mainly helping her as a lackey and following her around on this grand adventure. You didn't even make that many decisions or shared thoughts in cut scenes, except maybe to make a bad situation more positive, even if Vaan was a bit naive. But for the most part I felt like Vaan was in my shoes - watching stuff happening but not having much part of it.

As far as gameplay, it wasn't too hard to pick up the controller and continue farming some mobs. The gambit system was easy enough, and "seeing monsters on screen" is something familiar from MMOs. But overall, it wasn't that difficult to be 'tagged in' at times.

This is a game I'd like to replay myself sometime though. I do like to replay RPGs even if there isn't much replay value. Whether I wanna do it because I didn't actually play it the first time around or not, I don't know. Might be because while playing Revenant Wings, I'm getting tired of the cutesy sprites. D; But seriously, I think some characters turned out better in Revenant Wings, with some characters having more motivation. But I'd like to see those personalities again before it, because I seriously just didn't see it the first time around.

~

So, does game experience always matter? Or does being the Snack Slave sometimes work?