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Has anyone ever substituted actually playing a game with watching a playthrough?

watched a good chunk of some playthroughs, watched endings, read whole plots on wikipedia, caught up on whole series through the game's wiki

felt just as satisfying as playing it imo
 
I don't think I've watched a playthrough of a game I've never actually played (or didn't play eventually) but I know that I've substituted replaying a game with watching LPs in the background while I did other things.
 
yes, and honestly i don't see the problem with it. i'd rather watch someone play a game i'm curious about than try and find something to watch on television or netflix.

same reason i enjoy watching SC2 and fighting game tournaments occasionally.
 
I watched Minerva Den DLC for Bioshock 2 since at the time is wasn't coming to the PC. I've also watched Gunstringer for the kinect since I will never be able to play it.
 
MGS4_North_American_Cover.jpg


Had/have no interest in buying a PS3. That said, I wanted to know how the story was going to end.

I didn't watch a walkthrough, though. I just watched all the cut scenes.
 
I'm doing this more and more these days. I have loads of great games sitting here unplayed that I can't be bothered with yet I'm always watching vids on youtube :/
 
I like horror games and the idea of playing them possibly even more. However, I can't play them. My hands get all shaky and I go nuts. I remember when I was younger playing Ocarina of Time. I couldn't go into the Dodongo Caverns because everyone that mentioned it told me how horribly scary Dodongos were. They hyped it up so bad I was too afraid to play any more. I'd go in and at the mere sound of an enemy turn off the screen. Fast forward to now and I have since destroyed the caverns, but I'm still left with a bit of that fear when playing scary games. Don't know why this is, because I can watch horror movies just fine. It's probably to do with me being in control and in such having a personal stake in what's going on. Whatever. So if there's an interesting horror game that I probably won't dare play I sometimes watch someone play it instead of playing it myself. I did this for Amnesia, even though I own the game. I partly did that for Dead Space to help myself get through it, but I somehow managed to play most of it in short bursts of pure agony.
 
Yes to Deadly Premomition. I have no interest in actually playing this janky game. Will probably do the same for Azura's Wrath, that is barely a game anyway.
 
Absolutely, if it's a game I don't give a damn about and just want to see it some of it played out (if it's a new game I won't watch all 30 hours or whatever I just skip parts)

I watched streams of entire games being played but sometimes they're games I already have played.
 
MGS4, HATED HATED the gameplay, but the story/cutscenes were so awful in both the best and worst ways that I watched the rest on youtube so I could see the old man boxing match and snake pussy out and not kill himself etc.

Almost did it with uncharted 1/2/3 hate the combat but even on normal/hard it's so easy that it would have taken more time to find a nice HD video of it than just play it.

I've watched all the endurance runs but bought the games right before the runs started so I could stay a few hours ahead each time.
 
Unless it's competitive (SC2, fighting games, etc) it seems like a waste of time to watch someone else play a game you're generally interested in. It blows my mind that so many people watched +100 hours of the P4 Endurance Run rather than, you know, playing it themselves.
 
Luminate said:
Unless it's competitive (SC2, fighting games, etc) it seems like a waste of time to watch someone else play a game you're generally interested in. It blows my mind that so many people watched +100 hours of the P4 Endurance Run rather than, you know, playing it themselves.
Click to expand...

Even though I was a few hours ahead of them in P4 the majority of the Endurance run I spent multitasking. Watching while on the treadmill, listening/occasionally watching when playing another game etc.
 
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. I loved the first game, but was kind of apprehensive about getting the sequel. Glad I didn't...everything about II looked like absolute shit.
 
A couple of the games I discover in the "great games you remember, names you don't" thread I've often tried looking up on Youtube. Too bad most of them are too obscure for anyone to have covered in video though. :(

I've looked up a couple of other games on Youtube that I've wanted to play, but given up on playing due to the realisation I'll not actually have the time to play them, like Dante's Inferno.
 
I usually only watch Let's Plays of games I've played or am playing, but sometimes I watch one of games I won't buy. Catherine, LA Noire, and Deus Ex HR are some.
 
Yep. I watched Giant Bomb play Deadly Premonition, instead of playing it. Heck, I watched both play through sessions side-by-side of Vinny/Jeff and Brad/Ryan because their commentary while playing the game were hilarious.
 
I'll usually spoil games that I know I shouldn't spend money on, thus negating the urge. Mostly the story, cut scenes and ending on youtube.
 
I've done this with the excellent Giant Bomb endurance runs. I've also recently gotten into the habit of leaving jtv/twitchtv streams on in the background while I work. I weirdly feel the need to have distractions around to be productive, which probably makes no sense. Though I'll often avoid a stream if they're playing a game I'm still planning on doing myself.
 
Alone in the Dark (2008) had foul padding near the end of the game. You were supposed to drive around in a park and burn trees or something. That's when I quit and uninstalled it.

I still wanted to see the ending. After great lines like "I don't have your stone and fuck you anyway," I had to see what came next.
I'M THE FUCKING UNIVERSE"
 
I actually like doing this for older platform based games (or NES/Sega games in general) that I know I'll never beat or play again
 
Heavy Rain and Uncharted 3.
I sold my PS3 with those 2 games as my free time is very limited and I prefer gaming on my 360.
 
Over a playthrough? Can't say I have. I've watched people play games of course, but never as a substitute to playing a game I want to play.
 
I'll watch the first few let's plays of older games to see if I'll like them, kind of like quicklooks of games no one would ever do quicklooks of. I've also watched the endings to a few games I got close to beating but reached a point I found too annoying to get over. I'll also watch competitive gaming. I can't imagine ever watching an entire let's play of a single player unless it was a very short game and the people doing it were very funny.
 
Uncharted 3, because I loved the first two games but don't have a PS3 anymore nor any realistic opportunity/desire to get one again.
 
Watched all the endurance runs (now watching P4, it's crazy long) and watched Super Metroid. Sonic 3 & Knuckles as well, even though I've played that a dozen times myself.
 
MGS4 for me.
I played MGS 1-3 on PS1+2, was lent MGS4 played for an hour and decided that it just wasn't worth it (even for free).
Watched it on YouTube one bored Sunday afternoon 12 months later... Thank fuck I didn't play it, lol :)
 
Watched all the Giant Bomb Chrono Brono Trigger Endurance Run. (Well, I fast-forwarded some parts, but I still watched every episode!) Never had played the game before, only heard about its greatness.

I'd maybe pick it up for DS or something eventually just to play through my own way. Multiple Endings and New Game+ would keep it fresh enough.

That's the only play through of a game I can remember completely watching from beginning to end though.

Other examples that come to mind are having watched a good bit of a Let's Play of Amnesia, and a decent bit of the original Deus Ex (game is a bit dated now - I do have HR in the backlog via Amazon/Steam Sale, but I may wait until I get a more powerful computer to play it - a bit unstable on my laptop.)

I know I've watched at least portions of other Let's Plays, and certainly smaller bits and pieces of various games here and there.

If a game is already out, I find that Let's Plays are a really good way to get a feel on whether I'd enjoy a game or not. Especially if a game doesn't have a demo (which aren't always the best indicators of final game experience/quality anyway.) Besides using Let's Plays to gauge a prospective purchase, they're also fun to watch for old games I'd be unlikely to get ahold of, or even play in the first place. Or just to revive some memories for games I have put away somewhere without dragging whatever system out of storage. And since you can fast forward, you don't necessarily have to play through dull sections just to get to interesting parts.
 
Yes, the last five hours of Skyward Sword I gave up and watched a playthrough. Game had become too unbearably tedious to play, but I wanted to see how it ended.

Was so much better to watch it and ff through all the padding bs.

Deadly Premonitions in the OP is another good candidate. It's a great game, but the driving is very tedious.
 
Speedruns and let's plays can be totally entertaining in their own right. The added novelty/commentary can make up for missing the heyday of marquee titles, or just titles you're just marginally interested in and don't feel like seeking out for yourself.

It also depends on the game, obviously. Many older games are suited because they're shorter and less complex mechanically, making them easy to follow, while some modern games - while longer - are just a bunch of cutscenes interspersed by gameplay bursts anyway.


Games well suited to watching instead of playing them are Ninja Blade and Asura's Wrath, for example. I don't think you're missing much there in the way of gameplay.
 
Perrin said:
I've done this with the excellent Giant Bomb endurance runs. I've also recently gotten into the habit of leaving jtv/twitchtv streams on in the background while I work. I weirdly feel the need to have distractions around to be productive, which probably makes no sense. Though I'll often avoid a stream if they're playing a game I'm still planning on doing myself.
Click to expand...

I do the same thing myself. I find if I don't have something in the background I get distracted easier. If I have a game or show or something in the background, my mind eases up and I can get a ton of work done. Weird...
 
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