I remember the first time I saw the X Games on TV. Snowboarding? On TV? It just seemed odd. But now snowboarding has become mainstream, a big draw in the Winter Olympics.

Turns out, this same thing is happening with video games. Though I shudder to think that video games will ever make its way into the Olympics, there is no doubt that watching other people play video games has also gone mainstream.

Ever hear of the term Let’s Play? Let’s Play videos allow you to watch someone else play a video game. To get a sense of how huge Let’s Play has become, go to YouTube and search for Let’s Play. Scroll through the many, many videos and check out the number of views. More than a million views for a single Let’s Play video is actually quite common.

To me, the linked article is just the tip of the iceberg. In other words, I think the 71 million number is way low.