Why is Phil so bad at games? - Is it on purpose?

[Yoda]

His ineptitude stems from a couple of sources, I think.
One, he's got a one-track mind and tunnel vision. He sees only what he focuses on, and nothing else. This is very evident in FPS games where he'll just run straight forward and shoot at his target, instead of stopping to take in his surroundings, and platformers where he repeatedly fails the same section instead of trying another method.
Two, his "business model" is built on him beating a game as fast as possible to keep up with new releases, meaning he does not take time to learn the intricacies of whatever he's playing. This has probably become at a habit at this point, which is why he blames literally everything else except himself for his failures.
His "business" also means playing the same game for hours on end, which would make most anybody frustrated. When he nears the end of a game he just tries to brute-force his way through the end or quits, because he's absolutely sick of it after playing one particular game for what could be weeks.

 

[Pubic Enemy #1]

Even back when DSP was just doing this for fun, and wasn't constantly checking streams, he still sucked at pretty much everything. I've mentioned this before but I really think he struggles to cope with analog sticks. The guy spent years playing pretty much nothing but a small handful of fighting games, which even using an arcade stick, don't require any precision in how hard you push the stick. Phil never really had much experience with games that require soft, precise or gradual stick movements, like 99% of modern 3D games. At least he didn't until he started playing for Youtube. So he jams the stick around like it's a d-pad and sends his character darting about, stumbling off ledges or around corners into enemy fire and of course blames the controls.

It's why he's better at games like Cuphead which are very old-school and more focused on timing rather than precise movement. Of course DSP is too stupid to unlearn his years of playing with d-pads and arcade sticks, which is the other half of the problem. DSP is, and always has been, very, very, very stupid, and isn't capable of adapting or updating the way he plays games.

Combine that with a fuckton of other issues - such as the fact that Phil can't read because he's both dim and blind - and yeah, it's no wonder he's so shit at games. That's the least of his worries.

 

[(not) y2k compliant]

I believe it mostly comes from him just not playing games for fun, not taking some time to learn new mechanics, and being very impatient.

If he doesn't break a certain amount of views in a very short period of time, he doesn't want to play said game anymore, thus never improves on the mechanics.

I do believe it's mostly this. There is little to no real personal investment so he'll just smash that square peg in to that round hole till it's over then move on to the next game because the whole thing is a job.
THAT SAID, the time it takes for him to pick up mechanics even if disinterested is pretty shocking all the same.

 

[Colloid]

I honestly think a big reason Phil fails at games regularly is because his eyesight is completely shot and he refuses to get glasses out of pride, laziness, or some combination of the two. The way he constantly misses things goes beyond tunnel vision, no attention span, and general idiocy.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

Even back when DSP was just doing this for fun, and wasn't constantly checking streams, he still sucked at pretty much everything. I've mentioned this before but I really think he struggles to cope with analog sticks. The guy spent years playing pretty much nothing but a small handful of fighting games, which even using an arcade stick, don't require any precision in how hard you push the stick. Phil never really had much experience with games that require soft, precise or gradual stick movements, like 99% of modern 3D games. At least he didn't until he started playing for Youtube. So he jams the stick around like it's a d-pad and sends his character darting about, stumbling off ledges or around corners into enemy fire and of course blames the controls.

It's why he's better at games like Cuphead which are very old-school and more focused on timing rather than precise movement. Of course DSP is too stupid to unlearn his years of playing with d-pads and arcade sticks, which is the other half of the problem. DSP is, and always has been, very, very, very stupid, and isn't capable of adapting or updating the way he plays games.

Combine that with a fuckton of other issues - such as the fact that Phil can't read because he's both dim and blind - and yeah, it's no wonder he's so shit at games. That's the least of his worries.

I really don’t think it’s to do with him not knowing how to use an analog stick.

 

[Wurstbrot]

I really don’t think it’s to do with him not knowing how to use an analog stick.

Sure? We speak about a person who apparently doesn't understand the concept of "hold down a button" and I would also say this has something to do with his fighting stick. When the pressed button does something different when hold down he will never use it, ever. Unless it's blatantly pointed out on screen or it's a direction key. He even ignores this concept when chat tells him the mechanic; he forgets it instantly.

I pointed that out during his Secret of Mana playthrough ragequit but now I will do the same after Sea of Thieves; he never hold down the attack button to make a charge attack and criticizes the game for it's basic "you can only swing your sword"-combat. This is exactly how Phil plays with the fighting stick: Tap a button and the move has to come out.

 

[Pubic Enemy #1]

I really don’t think it’s to do with him not knowing how to use an analog stick.

I'm not saying he'll just stare at it like an ape with no comprehension of it, but I do think his brain and muscle memory struggles to adapt to analog inputs. Watch him play a Mario game. Dickhead sends Mario darting about like he's been picked off with an air rifle. He jams on the stick and rarely uses any precision. Watch him play COD. He picks a full auto weapon and waves it around an enemy while unloading a full clip. Watch him play MGS. He runs full tilt everywhere, falls off ledges, can't sneak round corners. Maybe I'm wrong, but all signs to me look like he's jamming the analog stick like it's a fight stick.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

Sure? We speak about a person who apparently doesn't understand the concept of "hold down a button" and I would also say this has something to do with his fighting stick. When the pressed button does something different when hold down he will never use it, ever. Unless it's blatantly pointed out on screen or it's a direction key. He even ignores this concept when chat tells him the mechanic; he forgets it instantly.

I pointed that out during his Secret of Mana playthrough ragequit but now I will do the same after Sea of Thieves; he never hold down the attack button to make a charge attack and criticizes the game for it's basic "you can only swing your sword"-combat. This is exactly how Phil plays with the fighting stick: Tap a button and the move has to come out.

He doesn’t use a stick for fighting games though. He hasn’t in at least a decade. Maybe longer; we don’t really have much clear video of what he played on when he did tournaments. There are also fighting games where you absolutely do hold down buttons. Thats how buffering inputs in Tekken works for example.

 

[Phil Ken Sebben]

Phil just doesn't care about it anymore and that's the problem. Most people play games for fun or to unwind. I'll admit to taking some time out my week and playing some PS3, PS4 or PC game because I enjoy it. I try to improve my playing. I try to get better than I was and I try to get as close to 100% complete as I can get but that last bit might just be my autism speaking.

Phil on the other hand sees this as his "job". He's doing what we do for fun as his primary source of income and he hates it. He hates having to play PUBG but he's doing it because that's what brings in the cash. He's got no desire to get better at it because he knows that the same paypigs will come time and time again to throw money at him. He's got no incentive to "git gud".

He claims to be great at fighting games but we see that he's a scrub and barely competent at that. He claims to be great at Call of Duty and those types of games but again based on his playing of PUBG and other games he's always getting killed and when playing in a multiplayer kind of setting he never communicates with his teammates. He's in it for himself and nobody else.

 

[Overcast]

I can't help but feel like a large part of it is because he refuses to wear his glasses. How much on screen information flew by him that he could have used to succeed in the talks given to him?

Also the way he sits and looks at the screen suggests he has to keep his head turned the entire time. That can't be comfortable for him.

 

[Ruin]

From what I've seen he's alright at retro games and RPGs but sucks at anything that requires a quick reaction time like FPS games and Soulsborne games so I'm inclined to think it's mostly because he's significantly older than most streamers.

 

[Vault Boy]

A big reason for why he sucks so much ass at just about anything he plays is that he usually relies on one tactic, no matter if it's inefficient or flat out counterintuitive, over and over until he gets through a certain part. A prime example of this is this part from his Halo 2 Anniversary playthrough.

The game provides players with sniper rifles, rocket launchers, battle rifles, and shotguns to help them clear out the Scarab. You can either jump aboard ASAP and mow the Covenant down, or you can pick them off one by one until it becomes cornered. Either method should take no more than a couple of minutes if you're playing on Normal.

Phil, in what I can only imagine was an attempt to cheese the game, kept trying to use a Ghost (I'm not sure how he managed to get it to that area) in an area that wasn't designed to accommodate vehicles. He wasted over 10 minutes trying to force the square peg into the round hole, not once considering trying a different tactic, all the while whining like a bitch.

 

[Wurstbrot]

A big reason for why he sucks so much ass at just about anything he plays is that he usually relies on one tactic, no matter if it's inefficient or flat out counterintuitive, over and over until he gets through a certain part.

You don't understand. The developers literally want him to use his specific strategy, okay? They never - in all the games in existence - explain him other mechanics, dood. So he needs to use his streetsmartness to solve the problem *Burp*

The best example will always be his fight against The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3.
After playing MGS3 to this point I would never, even on heavy drugs or alcohol, think of this stupid strategy that shouldn't even have worked in the first place. And it only worked because he smashed his pighead ad nauseam against the wall in the given time frame. And he legitimate thought this is the intended strategy.

So this is old gameplay but Phil hasn't changed since then because he is the worst roleplaying-character: He has no experience-curve. The only thing that improves is his equipment.

So yeah, I totally agree with you. I just want to add: Lately he said in regards to Fortnite, he has no interest in crazy mechanics, he just wants to play a basic shooter (like PUBG). Yeah... without words. He can't handle more than "basic". Modern videogame player with a videogame-business.