Interesting, I've actually been an appreciator of "observational gaming" (or is it really just classic spectating?
) for quite a while, but never really knew many (any?) other people who were. It doesn't seem to be particular to one type of game necessarily either, there's something just enjoyable about seeing people in the act of overcoming challenge, which is fundamentally what games are (or attempting to overcome it). Just "exploring" and moving through a story like the Final Fantasy series can be interesting too. However I'm not sure just watching a movie of it is quite the experience that interests me. I suppose I would say it's a more personal thing for me, I want to be sitting behind the person, a friend of mine preferably, and watching them, sharing their moments of achievement and commiserating with their failures. The personal connection is relevant to me in the enjoyment factor. Still, this is an interesting thing, the pure spectator enjoyment of games. I believe Xbox's "1 vs. 100" is kind of like that, and lots more spectator functions are making their way into games with the massive connectivity of the mighty interwebosaur.
- Oshyan