after clicking play, game attempts launch, crashes and reopens launcher

like the description, logged in, click 'play' game attempts to launch, crashes and reopens game launcher

What I expected to happen was...:
the game should play as normal

What actually happened was...:
it didn't even launch past the logo screen

Steps to Reproduce:
1. click on minecraft icon
2. once launcher loads, click 'play'
3. error mentioned above occurs.

yes, i have re-reinstalled java, minecraft and restarted my machine.
yes, my machine meets spec.