Game streaming, the massively popular online phenomenon where gamers watch their favorite online gaming personalities play a game live, is not for everybody. A sizeable chunk of netizens, especially the elderly, can’t simply fathom why someone would spend a big chunk of his time watching someone else play a video game rather than play it himself or herself. At least Jimmy Kimmel wonders about that.
The comedian and talk show host drew the collective ire of gamers and YouTubers last week when he spoofed the launch of YouTube Gaming, a new platform for video game streamers. On the site, which serves as a rival to Twitch.tv (a company bought by Amazon for a billion dollars last year). This clip then got uploaded to YouTube, and that is where it all went south.
In the bit that aired on ABC, Kimmel shames people who watch video games and generally comes off as an out-of-touch: “When I was a kid, the only time you watched other kids play video games is when you ran out of quarters.” Kimmel then states that he fails to comprehend the value of this form of entertainment, which is particularly ironic given how badly traditional TV is struggling to retain viewers.
The entire thing sounds pretty out of touch, when you consider that we now live in a world where ESPN airs video games and PewDiePie is on the cover of Variety. And, as you’d expect, the video was received poorly, to put it rather mildly. The segment garnered nearly 55,000 downvotes on Kimmel’s YouTube channel, making it one of the most disliked videos the ABC late-night show has ever uploaded. Gamers responded in predictable fashion, which includes some shocking and creative strings of insults. Some people responded to the bit by calling Kimmel a “stupid fat boy,” “a stupid bearded gorilla,” and a “f—ing egg.” “I like eggs,” Kimmel joked. “I’m all right with that.” Another YouTube commenter wrote, “So I guess watching football is dumb because I could be playing it instead.”
On Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host responded to the backlash. “People got so very fired up about this,” he said. “Why? I’m not sure, but I am an open-minded person. Maybe I am missing out on something, maybe it’s a lot of fun… so if one of you wants to invite me over, we can watch people playing video games together, and who knows? Maybe I’ll like it.”
Kimmel ended his response by doling out some advice to the angry commenters: He recommended they “go outside and play” or at least “watch a video of someone going outside to play.
We also have some advice for the host: Kimmel, always remember the golden rule of YouTube: don’t read the comments.
