Perhaps this is a weird hobby, but I really do enjoy watching other people play video games.

Ever since I was a young boy, I would always watch my brother play video games. I remember distinctly learning to read from watching him play Final Fantasy III on the Super Nintendo.

While I am sure I annoyed him to death hovering over him and asking the unrelenting stream of questions, I found from a young age that video games were my preferred nature of entertainment, watching or playing.

So imagine my surprise whenever I found a website that specializes in just that. A whole forum is dedicated to the creation of entertaining commentary over video games.

SomethingAwful, a forum based website has a whole section dedicated to this form of entertainment called Let’s Plays, or LPs for shorthand.

These LPs come in two different formats: screenshot or video. What makes or breaks these videos and screenshots are the commentators over the videos. Having a knowledgeable person speaking is always a delight.

I have learned many things about the development process of a game or some interesting tidbits of knowledge that I was previously unaware of.

Sometimes these commentators completely break old games, exploiting interesting glitches and explaining how each glitch works. Other commentators riff over the game and laugh at the horrible storytelling, atrocious controls, or other mechanics.

As a gamer, this invoked some nostalgia as I remembered growing up with my best friend across the street and doing the exact same thing while we played games together. While I enjoy watching LPs, I also enjoy watching another form of video game entertainment in the form of professional Starcraft II matches.

This game is a real-time-strategy game where players control armies and try to destroy one another. Often online tournaments are casted every weekend with large cash prizes.

What makes these matches so interesting to watch are the immense amount of strategies that can be deployed each game, as well as the immense skill level of the players. Also, the commentators are generally very outgoing, yet nerdy people who add to the experience on many levels. Another benefit of watching at the professional level is that whatever strategies these players use, I can adapt and use in my own game play.

This observation is not limited to just Starcraft II though. Other games such as Call of Duty and Halo have their own professional circuits with casted replays to watch. Watching these replays can not only be entertaining, but allow you to step up your own skills through observation and execution of strategies seen at higher levels of play.

So if you find yourself bored on a week night with nothing to watch on the television or everyone is busy, try loading up a LPs or some professional videogame replays. Sure, it might be nerdy but maybe you’ll find something new to watch and have a few laughs along the way.