Ladies and gents, I, Eventides, have a confession to make: I like to watch.

No, seriously. I like to watch people play video games, almost as much as I like playing them. My earliest introduction to the wide world of video games was as a young girl, when my brother, 6 years my senior, was a fervent NES fan boy. I had just learned to read, so he decided to employ me as his own personal way-point. I would sit next to him, in awe of what was going on in the game, and he would shove a Nintendo Power magazine in my hands at moments of peak frustration. “Here,” he’d say, “help me out.” In the days where I absolutely worshiped him (and still do), a chance to be the Goose to his Maverick, the Sacajawea to his Lewis or Clark, was both an honor and a privilege.

My love of video games began there, as I watched him take on Hyrule’s “mosquito-looking thingies” and expanded to the bowling alley arcade scene, where I would gaze in awe at those who could take down competitor after competitor in fighting games. Saturday morning bowling leagues would culminate with at least an hour and a few quarters, playing a bit myself, but also watching others master the latest and greatest in arcade technology.

When my brother got Devil May Cry years ago, I was older and wiser, but I was still happily content to sit next to him with the manual in hand and just watch. Unfamiliar items became translated into NES code: “Oh. Red stars are Zelda hearts. Yellow stars are, well, Mario stars,” and I’d sing the accompanying invincibility theme. Through watching people play, I picked up on common tropes that made games familiar despite their technological innovations---I became a mini-scholar in the industry.

I found myself in the same seat this past weekend when my Xbox disc tray took an unfortunate dive. This lead me and my husband to revisit some Wii games from this past Xmas haul (including Donkey Kong Country). We never had an N64 growing up, but my husband practically identifies with the Donkey Kong character. I sat down and watched, and I had an absolute blast doing so. I cheered him on during a particularly harrowing journey through a mine and got frustrated along with him during boss battles. If responsibility and an early wake-up call hadn’t reared it’s ugly head, we could’ve stayed there for hours discussing the “Boss Battle Rule of Three” (where you bop ‘em on the head three times---phase two---bop three times---rage phase three---end).

I personally think it’s a testament to how interesting a game is if you don’t mind sitting there, taking it in and just watching. What games did you or do you still like to watch and play?