Late night host Jimmy Kimmel came under fire for his statements about gamers and YouTube Gaming.
For those who don’t know, YouTube Gaming is a live-streaming service and a direct competitor to Twitch.
Here’s the video:
Apparently, Kimmel can not comprehend the idea of gamers watching other gamers play video games. Just a simple opinion that some gamers themselves even share. Kimmel’s ignorance towards streamers and their audience was not the main cause for the backlash; it was his comments. For example, he referred to YouTube gaming as, “we should all be very ashamed of ourselves for failing as parents channel.”
The idea of watching streamers seems very archaic to Kimmel. When he was young, he would only watch people play games when he ran out of quarters at an arcade. However, to gamers it’s the opposite. Kimmel’s mindset is archaic due to his inability to grasp this new medium of entertainment.
His comments made it seem like he was trying to appease his older audience (a demographic he may be apart of). Yet, late night shows and gaming are definitely not mutually exclusive. Hosts such as Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien both use gaming segments within their shows successfully. Segments which also translate well on YouTube.
The video above became Kimmel’s most disliked video on YouTube with over a 106 thousand dislikes. Facing the backlash, he decided to address the issue.
Instead of engaging his viewers with a debate or discussion, he did what a late night host is suppose to do; entertain. Level-headed comments that mentioned, watching people play games is similar to people watching sports on television, were undermined. Kimmel responded to those comments by explaining, watching people play video games is like watching people play fantasy football. “It is one more step removed, from human activity.”
The commenters on his YouTube page didn’t do themselves any favors, either. They are portrayed even worse in Kimmel’s sketch. Making death threats and hoping someone gets cancer will never put a group in a positive light.
And finally, a third.
Here, the late night host shows more YouTube comments, calls the commenters 12-year-olds, and admits he likes making people mad. Of course, Kimmel could just be trolling his viewers for viral moments; which he has done in the past. He plans on giving gamers a chance to prove watching video game streams are fun. So this feud will continue on for the moment.
But for now, don’t expect Kimmel to embrace video games as a part of his show. Unless of course, he is doing his job, and making fun of it.
What do you think? Were Kimmel’s comments out of line, or are gamers being too sensitive? Let us know in the comments section.
