Gamers VS. Jimmy Kimmel!!!! Fight!!!!

[Elfgore]

I'm surprised I haven't seen anything appear on this site yet about this, cause everyone else seems to be making news stories about it left and right.

Our tale starts with a video from Jimmy Kimmel late night talk show about his opinion on let's players.


To save ya'll who don't feel like watching it, he pretty much just says the whole idea of let's plays are stupid and does a little skit asking "how far could it go?". Leading to a chain of five people watching each other watching things, with God almighty watching them saying "I've created a race of idiots!".

Gamers of course being gamers, were unable to just leave a civil comment of disagreement and a dislike(of which the video has a huge majority of). They decide to comment all the various "die from cancer", "die from being raped", and "die of cancer from being raped" comments. The comments were in such a volume that he was able to make two five [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZJHhM5uKlg] minute [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9oZplyzDKc] long videos about all he has gotten.

Deciding that maybe fanning the flames was not a good idea, Kimmel decided on a something of an olive branch. He invited famous YouTubers, Markiplier and MissesMae to his show to tell him what's the deal with let's plays... as you can see from the painful video below, it went about as good as expected when someone calls your very line of work stupid, accuses you of using your fans as easy means of sex, and continues to make cracks at you and your fans for a solid six minutes.


The video above sadly ends without us hearing anything from Kimmel about if his opinion has changed. Either way, this olive branch succeeded somewhat, as the comments have become a lot more tame. But the dislike of Kimmel is still there. People have said that he used the "using fans for sex" joke because some YouTubers have been accused of doing that or just starting this whole thing out of jealousy that more people watch let's players than his show. I think Kimmel may have bitten of more than he could chew.

So, thoughts? Is Kimmel right that let's plays are stupid and a waste of time? Who's the asshole in this situation, the gamers or Kimmel? Is Kimmel's idea of gamers outdated and offensive? Do you think this is the end of this whole situation? Is Elfgore the most sexy Escapist user?

 

[DefunctTheory]

So, thoughts?

Well... I think some 'Let's Plays' are silly. But its certainly a valid form of entertainment.

Is Kimmel right that let's plays are stupid and a waste of time?

Well, I think Kimmel is stupid and a waste of time (Truthfully, I never really thought he was that funny. This has not made me change my mind). So I suppose his opinion is as valid as mine.

Who's the asshole in this situation, the gamers or Kimmel?

Well, its always a safe bet that gamers are usually being a bit of an asshole. But in this case, I think the back lash is a bit justified.

Is Kimmel's idea of gamers outdated and offensive?

Duh.

Do you think this is the end of this whole situation?

Probably. I mean, it's Kimmel. Its not like Conan or John Oliver were this stupid.

Is Elfgore the most sexy Escapist user?

I can almost guarantee you're sexier then me, so sure. Why not?

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I can't tell if the whole uproar is hilarious or really, really pathetic. Probably both, but leaning more towards the latter.

To me, it was just a dumb joke. It didn't really come across like he was straight up insulting Lets Players and the people who watches them, at least not as insulting as people are insinuating. Hell, South Park made a similar joke, and no one batted an eye. Also, it's a valid question, why do we watch Lets Plays? Seems like something gamers can ask themselves to get a better understanding of their tastes, rather than throw a temper tantrum and getting mad at people for getting facts wrong. It's just making yourself and your group look bad. I mean, is this even worth getting angry about? Who the hell gives a crap what some talk-show host thinks? Also, I like watching some Lets Plays, but it's not worth this kind of vitriol.

Also, whether or not I agree with either side, I'll be on the one that's at least not harassing people and making death threats.

 

[Lilani]

While I think it's cool that Markiplier and Misses Mae got the chance to be on national television, I think the segment was extremely awkward. BUT, I think it was all Jimmy's doing. Let's players have a very spontaneous and situational kind of humor, that's what makes them good at what they do. While they are entertainers of a sort, their performance and presentation is quite genuine and unscripted. They might have gimmicky setups and maybe some jokes they've thought up in advance, but otherwise they don't operate from scripts or rely heavily on pre-written jokes. Jimmy's humor, on the other hand, is that very scripted and pre-written kind of humor typical of many late-night TV hosts.

So here you've got Mark and Mae trying to be their genuine and spontaneous selves, and Jimmy strolls in with his Power Glove and cringe-worthy jokes you can practically see being born in a writing room somewhere. The two styles just don't mesh very well. Mark and Mae seem to be finding it difficult to get into their comfort zones so they can do what they do, because Jimmy keeps trying to run the show and keep his jokes on top, not allowing them to perform and take control.

So in the end Jimmy still looks like a jerk because it's clear he went in there with a script, and didn't seem to be open to learning or seeing anything he didn't plan in advance.

Also, I think the reason his original jokes about Let's Players were received so badly is because making fun of something you don't really know anything about just kind of makes you look like an asshole. Unless the audience is equally ignorant on the subject (as is the case with certain things such as Scientology or other cults), when you make fun of something you don't know anything about it just comes across as very mean-spirited. When you know about something, making fun of it works out better because by knowing about it, you are in a sense a part of it. Which means you are making fun of something you are a part of, which means you are also being made a bit vulnerable by the joke, and that makes you relateable to those you're mocking. Many web sites and even let's players such as Markiplier do a lot of jokes and skits that make fun of games, gamers, and gaming culture. But these are received well because the people who are making the jokes are themselves gamers, which makes them more relateable to the gamers in the audience who are also being mocked.

The only reason Jimmy got so much flack for this is because the people who made fun of about a thing he didn't know about happen to all reside on the Internet. On top of that, he seemed to underestimate the size of the group he was mocking. He felt he was making fun of a small group of basement-dwellers, but he was actually mocking a very sizeable chunk of generation Y, and basically an entire medium of entertainment which has the potential to swallow his own medium. Instead of making him look like the wise-cracking host he thinks he is, it just makes him look really old and out of touch with where the winds of entertainment media are blowing.

 

[totheendofsin]

Well the initial jokes were stupid but he certainly didn't deserve the level of hate that he got. I'm not that into Let's Play stuff honestly but I can see the appeal

as for whose the asshole here? I'm gonna say both, the gamers who sent him threats and wished cancer on him, and him for not really making a good effort to learn about the subculture he was making fun of

captcha: hit the sack. YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO CAPTCHA

 

[Kae]

The guy made a joke, it was stupid and not really all that funny but it was just that a joke, why do people even care about a joke?!

I don't get it at all, when I saw the joke I just rolled my eyes and left it at that and I don't even watch Let's Plays, well for the most part, that's all everyone should do, there's nothing to be offended by it's just a dumb joke like all those jokes about Jews and Pollacks and stuff.

 

[tm96]

So, thoughts? Is Kimmel right that let's plays are stupid and a waste of time? Who's the asshole in this situation, the gamers or Kimmel? Is Kimmel's idea of gamers outdated and offensive? Do you think this is the end of this whole situation? Is Elfgore the most sexy Escapist user?

I don't if he was right about let's plays being stupid but just it looks stupid to him. In this situation I think the asshole in this situation were the gamers who sent Jimmy those comments. The thing for me mostly fell rather flat I didn't laugh but I chuckled at the YouTube Almighty part of it. Can we put the last question up to a vote?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well, he does have a point. There's something very silly and farcical about this industry of vicarious enjoyment.
He's just awful at making the point, let alone getting laughs out of it.

 

[Casual Shinji]

So, thoughts? Is Kimmel right that let's plays are stupid and a waste of time?

Well... yes, but so are most popular things, especially on Youtube. The idea of watching someone experience a piece of entertainment instead of experiencing it yourself is kind of topsy turvy.

I stopped watching that Kimmel bit when he came in with a Power Glove though, cuz get it, that was a silly thing like twenty years ago. It goes to show how out of touch the writers of this show likely are with current gaming media. But this is what usually happens when mainstream television media interacts with gaming... It gets super fucking awkward. Conan o' Brien is one of the rare exceptions to this, he makes fun and has fun.

No reason for anyone get all pissed over, it's how it's always been.

 

[BrokenTinker]

So, thoughts? Is Kimmel right that let's plays are stupid and a waste of time?

Well... yes, but so are most popular things, especially on Youtube. The idea of watching someone experience a piece of entertainment instead of experiencing it yourself is kind of topsy turvy.

I stopped watching that Kimmel bit when he came in with a Power Glove though, cuz get it, that was a silly thing like twenty years ago. It goes to show how out of touch the writers of this show likely are with current gaming media. But this is what usually happens when mainstream television media interacts with gaming... It gets super fucking awkward. Conan o' Brien is one of the rare exceptions to this, he makes fun and has fun.

No reason for anyone get all pissed over, it's how it's always been.

Maybe this is nostalgia talking, but I remember quite fondly of watching other people play games, especially when it comes to certain fighting games (it took me YEARS to get to the point to pull out a decent combo in Street Fighter II Turbo before kicking ass in 3rd strike, MvC, Tekken, Rival School, etc...) I usually play strategy games and rpgs, others would watch me do some of the impossible shit (xcom ufo defense having a flawless run, beating shit like Fire Emblem, and winning in mahjong/go against the "cheating" computer.)

Let's play resembles it quite a bit, sure, it isn't a group of friends gathered around the PC/console/handheld staring at it that only children could, but it's oddly familiar. That said, I only watch LP to learn mechanics when I fail at something (like when I first got into RSD in minecraft years ago)

But yeah, that was an obviously badly panned out joke, the amount of rage is

 

[Casual Shinji]

Maybe this is nostalgia talking, but I remember quite fondly of watching other people play games, especially when it comes to certain fighting games (it took me YEARS to get to the point to pull out a decent combo in Street Fighter II Turbo before kicking ass in 3rd strike, MvC, Tekken, Rival School, etc...) I usually play strategy games and rpgs, others would watch me do some of the impossible shit (xcom ufo defense having a flawless run, beating shit like Fire Emblem, and winning in mahjong/go against the "cheating" computer.)

Let's play resembles it quite a bit, sure, it isn't a group of friends gathered around the PC/console/handheld staring at it that only children could, but it's oddly familiar. That said, I only watch LP to learn mechanics when I fail at something (like when I first got into RSD in minecraft years ago)

But yeah, that was an obviously badly panned out joke, the amount of rage is

I'm sure everyone who does has their own reason for watching let's plays, but for me it's somewhat similar. There's an aspect of sharing in the geek mood and references. This is why whenever I watch a let's play, it'll be of a game I already played myself and I want to see this individual's take on it. For example, Two Best Friends Play Resident Evil 2 is probably my favourite let's play, and that's because that game was my baby back in the day. And watching two guys who's sense of humor I share greatly and who are just huge geeks themselves play it is great fun.

I don't know how different this would be if I actually had people around me who were into gaming.

 

[RedRockRun]

Why don't gamers react like this to all the stupid, insulting shit that Conan does? Honestly, his "Clueless Gamer" bit is less about him being clueless and more about him being a smug cool kid and making fun of his producer for knowing things about video games. That kind of post-modern cynical humor has always gotten on my nerves - the kind where you make fun of someone for knowing things as opposed to being ignorant; you're the cool person for having ignorance.

 

[Nazulu]

The guy is allowed to make a simple joke and have controversial opinions like the rest of us, so it's not like he's wrong at all. Though that sex joke (if it was a joke) was abrupt and didn't work (and rude).

No matter what, anyone telling others to die are the real losers/bastards/assholes/dickheads/shit-stains that should be controlled because you just don't fucking do that. It doesn't matter that a community is known for sending threats, it's no excuse at all. This behaviour is worse than childish and they really should be punished.

 

[BrokenTinker]

Maybe this is nostalgia talking, but I remember quite fondly of watching other people play games, especially when it comes to certain fighting games (it took me YEARS to get to the point to pull out a decent combo in Street Fighter II Turbo before kicking ass in 3rd strike, MvC, Tekken, Rival School, etc...) I usually play strategy games and rpgs, others would watch me do some of the impossible shit (xcom ufo defense having a flawless run, beating shit like Fire Emblem, and winning in mahjong/go against the "cheating" computer.)

Let's play resembles it quite a bit, sure, it isn't a group of friends gathered around the PC/console/handheld staring at it that only children could, but it's oddly familiar. That said, I only watch LP to learn mechanics when I fail at something (like when I first got into RSD in minecraft years ago)

But yeah, that was an obviously badly panned out joke, the amount of rage is

I'm sure everyone who does has their own reason for watching let's plays, but for me it's somewhat similar. There's an aspect of sharing in the geek mood and references. This is why whenever I watch a let's play, it'll be of a game I already played myself and I want to see this individual's take on it. For example, Two Best Friends Play Resident Evil 2 is probably my favourite let's play, and that's because that game was my baby back in the day. And watching two guys who's sense of humor I share greatly and who are just huge geeks themselves play it is great fun.

I don't know how different this would be if I actually had people around me who were into gaming.

Ah, our IRC+TS chat was buzzing with references, with some of us desperately holding ourselves back when FFXIV heavenward came and a few more of our friends decided to join us. The silly giggling, the out of the blue "WTF" and the "squeals" are freaking great, we had to REALLY hold each other in check to avoid spoiling for the newbies. The Star Trek reference made one of the new guys stop playing a bit while smiling like an idiot.

The guys allowed to make a simple joke and he's allowed to have a controversial opinion like the rest of us, so it's not like he's wrong at all, though that sex joke (if it was a joke) was abrupt and didn't work.

No matter what, anyone telling others to die are the real losers/bastards/assholes/dickheads/shit-stains that should be controlled because you just don't fucking do that. It doesn't matter that a community is known for sending threats, it's no excuse at all. This behaviour is worse than childish and they really should be punished.

Actually, it could VERY WELL be children. I can't say this with any sort of certainty since this is merely anecdotal evidence (something I don't trust, so I don't expect the same of others) with no actual, but I've noticed that the more vulgar and blatant threats come from teens 10-17. This is specific to XBLIVE and PC games like Transformice + other action games catering to a younger crowd. This is mainly because I was able to to trace quite a few accounts to people I know through acquaintances since I recognized the names of the ppl mouthing off to my niece. The more creepy stuff simply can't be from kids (disturbing shit from club penguin and I think maplestory), but there have been only 2 cases for me to draw experience from.

Removing anonymity for gamers would actually solve a lot of problems (ground the kids and get them help, catch the sickoes), but that might go too far into invasion of privacy.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

This is very much a "modern internet society" issue. Social networks, comment sections and whatnot have given antisocial creeps plenty of room to be antisocial in a social environment via inflated sense of importance. It's a cancer and we needs to cut it

 

[Nazulu]

Actually, it could VERY WELL be children. I can't say this with any sort of certainty since this is merely anecdotal evidence (something I don't trust, so I don't expect the same of others) with no actual, but I've noticed that the more vulgar and blatant threats come from teens 10-17. This is specific to XBLIVE and PC games like Transformice + other action games catering to a younger crowd. This is mainly because I was able to to trace quite a few accounts to people I know through acquaintances since I recognized the names of the ppl mouthing off to my niece. The more creepy stuff simply can't be from kids (disturbing shit from club penguin and I think maplestory), but there have been only 2 cases for me to draw experience from.

Removing anonymity for gamers would actually solve a lot of problems (ground the kids and get them help, catch the sickoes), but that might go too far into invasion of privacy.

I expect it to be children, but I have no idea as well. Either way, I'm surprised someone can't trace these IP addresses or something. SOMETHING!

Removing anonymity will make me uncomfortable being honest when sharing my opinion, honestly.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

but it will also make you think twice before posting random toxic hateful stuff so it would in a way balance itself out. Anonymity is partially why everyone on the internet can be a complete bellend because no consequences

 

[BrokenTinker]

Actually, it could VERY WELL be children. I can't say this with any sort of certainty since this is merely anecdotal evidence (something I don't trust, so I don't expect the same of others) with no actual, but I've noticed that the more vulgar and blatant threats come from teens 10-17. This is specific to XBLIVE and PC games like Transformice + other action games catering to a younger crowd. This is mainly because I was able to to trace quite a few accounts to people I know through acquaintances since I recognized the names of the ppl mouthing off to my niece. The more creepy stuff simply can't be from kids (disturbing shit from club penguin and I think maplestory), but there have been only 2 cases for me to draw experience from.

Removing anonymity for gamers would actually solve a lot of problems (ground the kids and get them help, catch the sickoes), but that might go too far into invasion of privacy.

I expect it to be children, but I have no idea as well. Either way, I'm surprised someone can't trace these IP addresses or something. SOMETHING!

Removing anonymity will make me uncomfortable being honest when sharing my opinion, honestly.

Yeah, hence the quip about the invasion of privacy. There are some good solutions (HotS solution is one I've been harping on for a while for FFXIV and goldsellers), but the problem is early adopters have to pay for being pioneers (chat features requires programming despite how easy it looks). Best would be a heuristic algorithm combined with a manual oversight, but that costs $$$, $$$ most company would cut to "reduce expense".

 

[Nazulu]

but it will also make you think twice before posting random toxic hateful stuff so it would in a way balance itself out. Anonymity is partially why everyone on the internet can be a complete bellend because no consequences

I gather you are responding to BrokenTinker or me. If you are wondering, the quote button is at the right of the grey bar above our posts.

Anyway, you are right, but at the same time, I don't want a bunch of lunatics online knowing anything about me.

 

[Sarge034]

So, thoughts?

I think I don't care what he thinks about it. Why should this be news? So one very public jackass pokes at something you like, darn. Guess you better stop enjoying that thing. Or, ya know, just not give a fuck about him and go on enjoying the things you like. I pose a counter question. Why is everyone so obsessed with external validation?