The rise of video gaming as a spectator sport is very interesting. Platforms like Twitch have become enormous in their popularity. While some might think this is simply a matter of gamers watching other gamers, there is a demographic of non gamers who enjoy watching as well. It would be interesting to better examine the demographics of spectators for gaming and compare it to demographics for watching sports. For instance, are there more non gamers watching adventure based games or racing games? Do females gravitate to a particular genre of gaming over others? etc
For a lot of lets players it's not about the games at all (at least in my opinion). That's shown in the incredible popularity of Let's Play channels like Game Grumps or Achievement Hunters who change what game they play daily, but still bring in lots of incredibly dedicated fans. Sure there will always be people who only want to look at a game they're interested in, but for many its the people playing the games they like. They like the comedy, the way that certain groups interact with one another or the knowledge that someone has about something they're passionate about, and the gameplay is just something that gives those people a topic to be knowledgeable/funny about.
A good example of this is Two Best Friends Play, where 2 guys play a different game each time and argue back and forth in comedic ways about the game they're playing. Its funny, its fun and its entertaining, but its not a specific game that makes it so. Its the 2 guys laughing and being entertaining that keeps hundreds of thousands of fans coming back no matter what game it is. – Cojo10 years ago