Twitch Plays Pokemon

In my last article on entertaining websites that you may have not heard of, I listed Salty Bet as my favorite. In case you have yet to visit it, it is a Twitch live stream of M.U.G.E.N fights that allows the viewers to bet on who they think will win each fight and "make money". Ever since then, I've been interested in finding Twitch channels that offer more than just live streaming and instead incorporates the viewers into the action. I haven't found anything that involves the viewers quite like Salty Bet until a friend of mine linked me to Twitch Plays Pokemon.

Twitch Plays Pokemon

A friend of mine linked me to this channel without saying anything else about it. After loading up the channel, I saw live gameplay of Pokemon Red, with Red just walking around aimlessly in Vermillion City. I quickly figured out that the only people controlling Red were the viewers of the channel, who did so by typing in a, b, up, down, left, right, or (God forbid), start. At the time I began watching, the game has been streaming for about 3 days (they have a clock counting the days). They have already beaten the first two gyms and were working on getting on the S.S. Anne to learn Cut. At 3 days of streaming, when I began watching, they had about 15,000 viewers watching and playing.

Now they are at 5 days of streaming, 75,000 viewers and rising every day.

Since then, Red has learned Cut, solved Lt. Surge's trash can puzzle and got his badge, beaten the 4th gym, and is working on beating Team Rocket in the Game Corner. All while being controlled by tens of thousands of people all at once, which is pretty impressive

Of course, Twitch as a long road ahead of them. The Safari Zone, the boulder puzzles, training Pokemon to Elite Four standards, and Sabrina's gym puzzle are just a few of the challenges they must overcome to beat the game. And there is the occasional heart break, like accidentally releasing their Charmeleon (nicknamed ABBBBBBK ( ) and their Rattata (nicknamed JLVWNNOOOO, or "Jay Leno") into the wild.

One day, Twitch's adventure with Red will end. However, this channel will definitely be remembered. It is funny as hell and growing at an alarming rate. And for good reason. The idea of the viewers controlling Red is just genius and is an example of the sort of creativity I think Twitch, and other live stream sites, can achieve.

So, whether you want to partake in the chaos that is controlling Red, or you want to just watch the viewers "consult the Helix fossil" and attempt to do the improbable, stop by Twitch Plays Pokemon and witness greatness.