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Are There Too Many "Let's Play"s on Youtube?

Should I do my own Let's Play of a Zelda game?

  • Yes, I would be a fun way for us to get to know you better as a person.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, it's been way overdone on Youtube, and most likely no one would watch it.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Location
Las Vegas, NV
I just recently discovered the magic of free Camstudio, which finally allows me to record events on my computer screen for the whole internet to see. I've considered starting a "Let's Play" for OoT and MM on my emulators or something, but I kind of get the feeling there's already too many of them. Like it's been done before and is getting to be kind of an old idea. However, I'm completely new to the world of Let's Play, I'd never heard of it until about a month ago (ZE's live stream event) and have still not gotten around to actually watching any. This all changed with ZD's own Dodongobomber starting his own, but it's still the only ones I've ever watched. The point is, I'm new to the genre and know little about it.

So, if I were to try it myself, the question is: would it be a unique opportunity to introduce myself to the internet community, or would I just be an un-inventive tack who can't think of an original form of Youtube video and resorted to going with the crowd? What are your guys' thoughts?
 

athenian200

Circumspect
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Location
a place of settlement, activity, or residence.
Well, I have to say it's not really an original idea, but I still think it's a good idea. We can get to know you, and how you play your favorite games. I might watch a Let's Play just to watch someone's play style... to see how competent they are, and how difficult things are for them.

People who watch Let's Play for the walkthrough, however, would probably complain that yours wasn't anything special. Such people are missing the point of Let's Play, and confusing it with a video walkthrough, however.
 
D

DungeonDarknut

Guest
I was looking on the interweb the other day I found so many Minish cap some although quite good I saw one posted in 2006 which had 23 views and It was quite good to be honest. on the other hand there are two many and most of the are badly filmed swear feasts
 
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Haha thanks for the feedback guys. Well I'd totally agree with Athenian that people seem to misunderstand the point of the Let's Plays (at least from what I've seen), in that they watch expecting a walkthrough-type video. If you want a good walkthrough, and actual website dedicated to doing those (like Zelda Dungeon) would obviously a much better place to go. I think the reason for doing them is like you said, to get to know other people's playing styles and kind of get a feel for who they are. But like DD mentioned, a lot of them can end up being poor quality and a "swear fest" that, I have to admit, made me chuckle a little (I'm already guilty of this in the few tests I've done).
If I actually do this, I'll probably end up doing OoT, because I'm at least decent enough at it to make it work. But the quality of filming would be an issue. I'm having some lagging problems with the original 8-bit LoZ, so I'm wondering if the 3D 64-bit game would even be watchable...
 
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Location
Folsense
I love Let's Plays, and it'd be great if you could get started. I've been subscribing to multiple LP channels for years now, and I love them!
 

Jetter

Type to myself in silence
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Location
Washington, USA
I am only talking about Let's Plays in General. Well a game that has been Let's Played on Youtube isn't always a good way to start LPing. Chuggaaconroy started with Earthbound, a game that was hardly or never Let's Played on Youtube. People started calling him a Master at the game. With his skills and commentary Chugga became a well-known LPer and is a Youtube Partner right now. You should also get a theme if you want your LPs to be Fresh. Chugga says in the description on his channel that he plays games that you have probably heard,but not have played and black sheep(the game that people think is the worst game in a VG series) games. He also plays his favorites. Blind Let's Plays are also popular and people always do them for fun. It's fun to hear the reaction of the Gamer. You don't have to have a theme,but if you want to make an MM or OoT LP original you need to make it perfect. Maybe a three heart challenge. I hope this helped you.
 
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Yeah that's very true. I was kind of thinking about, if I did do OoT, if I should do 100%... but I hadn't thought about 3HC. I already finished one before, so I know I can do it no problem. Sounds like a good idea, and can probably even set me up for some cool bloopers videos down the line haha
 

Zero

The Vanished
Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Location
Ontario
If you're just doing it for the fun of doing it then there's nothing wrong. If you actually are serious about becoming a Let's Player, you are not going to permeate the masses with such a popular game. The best way to start off as an LPer is to unearth a gem, dig up a great game that flew under the radar.

Of course, there's no need to do that off the bat. Even if you wish to become a full on LPer, you can still go ahead and do OoT or MM first and then move on to something that will separate you. Ideally you'll want to keep a healthy mix of fairly obscure games to draw the attention of people who hadn't heard of them, and more popular games simply to increase more traffic to your channel. After all, people won't be searching for videos about an obscure game.

That being said, no matter what game you do, you'll want to make sure you're fulfilling some conditions to create a good LP that a lot of people fall victim to:

- Sound quality. Don't even bother LPing if your sound quality is poor. You need to be clear, not muffled and audible. Many, MANY people fail as successful LPers for this reason alone.

- Voice. Make sure you keep yourself upbeat and cheerful, without getting annoying. Try and be funny but don't reach too far for jokes or do anything to obscene. Your main goal is to entertain the audience to hold their attention and make them like you. And that all comes in the voice and the way you present yourself. I suggest against doing videos late at night, when you are tired or when you are ill.

- Detail. Detail. Detail. This is what is often the dividing line between a mediocre LPer and a fantastic one. Cover sidequests, go 100%, post enemy bios, equipment requirements, anything you can think of that a player might want to know going in. For a better reference, check out Chuggaaconroy's LP of Pokemon Crystal. On every route he gives a list of all the Pokemon that can be found along with the time of day and the percentage of finding them. For a Zelda game, maybe just list how many bombs, arrows, rupees, etc you would need minimum to complete the area. That's just one idea.

- Tediousness. A lot of games have some section that is very long, difficult or boring. If during these sections you are not actually advancing in any way (think: level grinding in an RPG) then it's best to cut it out all together. If you do keep moving forward in the game but keep doing the same activity for a long period of time (think: the stealth section early in Windwaker) then it is probably best to speed up the video and add a music track over it, rather then keeping it at normal speed and running out of commentary.

- Live Commentary. Some LPers prefer to record a video and then add the commentary in after. While there are various reasons for doing so, in my experience it is best to just do the commentary live so the experience is more legitimate. For example, if something scared or surprised you, a live commentary would capture your reaction where a commentary done later would either require acting or just mentioning how scared you were. However, part of what makes an LP different from a walkthrough is that it's a more legitimate experience, you're supposed to get the feeling of watching someone right next to you play the game, with all of their emotional responses, good or bad.

- Spoilers. Even if a game is decades old and extremely popular, it is still not advised to discuss spoilers, as there may be people who missed the game and want to experience it through an LP.

- Audience participation. One great way to hold the audience's attention is to allow them to interact with you. Allow them to post challenges for you to attempt, such as the three heart challenge. Obviously you aren't obligated to do it, but if you can, and you feel like it, do so. It is a good idea to make your audience feel important.

- Don't Sing. Don't. At least, not for more than a few seconds at a time. Disregard if your voice is good, like really good. Even then, it's not a great idea.

- Voice acting. Some LPers will voice act the lines in the game. This can go either way depending on the quality of your voice work as well as the amount of dialog. It may be best to summarize unimportant dialog or to simply forgo voice acting all together. Another option is to just read the text aloud in your own voice and not try to act for the characters. This factor really varies depending on the specifics of the game.

Hope this helped in any way.
 
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Wow Zero, thanks for all the advice! I'll try to keep it in mind when I actually start this thing, which I've decided to do. About the obscure games thing though, I quickly realized this would be an issue after about five minutes of searching OoT at Youtube, and getting 100s of Let's Plays on it. I know I need to avoid falling into the mainstream too much, but I don't keep up much with the gaming world and don't really know what's wildly popular, or obscure and over-looked. I though about doing some of the Gameboy Dragonball games, since those were always my favorites growing up, and the only Dragonball LPs I see on Youtube are of the console games. If you guys have any suggestions for games, feel free to let me know. I also really liked the idea of accepting challenges from my viewers, I plan on making my experience as interactive as possible. Lastly, I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism you guys can offer me, especially when I start off (as to not develop any bad habits...)
 

Master Kokiri 9

The Dungeon Master
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
My ship that sailed in the morning
Wow Zero, thanks for all the advice! I'll try to keep it in mind when I actually start this thing, which I've decided to do. About the obscure games thing though, I quickly realized this would be an issue after about five minutes of searching OoT at Youtube, and getting 100s of Let's Plays on it. I know I need to avoid falling into the mainstream too much, but I don't keep up much with the gaming world and don't really know what's wildly popular, or obscure and over-looked. I though about doing some of the Gameboy Dragonball games, since those were always my favorites growing up, and the only Dragonball LPs I see on Youtube are of the console games. If you guys have any suggestions for games, feel free to let me know. I also really liked the idea of accepting challenges from my viewers, I plan on making my experience as interactive as possible. Lastly, I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism you guys can offer me, especially when I start off (as to not develop any bad habits...)

You could try the Earthbound games. They're obscure enough that most people will want to know more about them (IE, search for Let's Plays of them) but well known enough around the internet for people to know that they exist. Also, maybe you could try games like Pikmin and Pikmin 2: most people know about them, but have never played them and thus will want to know more about them.

Basically, I think you should try games people have heard of but never played and occasionally go for something like a Zelda game. Heck, maybe even try doing black sheep games or underrated games (EG Wind Waker, AoL, SMS, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, etc. etc.).

Also, NintendoCapriSun has a nice little playlist of advice for LP'ing in general (getting noticed, choosing games, recording things, the works), so look him up (and while you're at it, watch some of his LP's too: they're fantastic).
 

TheGreen

is climbin' in yo windows
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Location
San Antonio
DO IT. But unlike most of the people here I don't think it needs to be done 100%. I think that you could say "This is a repeat of my first game," or "This is my first attempt at a speed run, but I have to plan," or just say, "I'm going to play through OOT and MM so that all my friends at ZD can watch" and I think that would make it legitimate.

Screw detail. I won't be watching your LP as a walkthrough; like it's been said there are hundreds of 100% walkthroughs and personally I couldn't care less about running around to find the last two or three golden skulltulas. It think playing it your own way is in fact preferable.

Live commentary fo sho. There's no reason not to -do this. Some of ZD's walkthroughs are recorded afterwards and for a walkthrough that's cool, but I'll be watching your videos to be entertained (and yes i will be watching them :xd:) and if you are reading from a script I'll be less inclined to listen. If you curse, well, some younger people might not want to watch, but I'll still watch. The voice commentary tells us what kind of personality you have and all that jazz, so don't censor yourself.

I like these things to be rough. I like to hear about your dog being a total jerk and barking during the commentary/you brother erasing your game files/ etc. My favorite LPer's are always getting distracted/telling the audience about their plans and that sorta thing.

I hope you do one. It would be really fun!
 
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Location
Las Vegas, NV
What's Earthbound? I'll have to look that up. I would do games like Pikmin (I remember when it first came out, I really wanted to play it but never got to) but the problem is I only have a N64 controller so far so I can only play games that can be converted to that. So I'm thinking SNES/Gameboy games are good because they're not a whole lot of buttons and stuff. I don't think I'd be able to pull off any of the next gen consoles like GC or Xbox.. that would require buying a new adapter and controllers which I'm not sure yet if I plan on putting any more money into this little project than I already have.
I'll have to see if I can make a special section of my Youtube page where people can request games/challenges for me. And I'll definitely check out this NintendoCapriSun guy; I see his name all over the place and all I seem to hear are good things haha.
And I totally feel ya Green, I don't see why people would want to sit through a Let's Play and watch someone collect all the useless junk they already know how to get. It just gets tedious; I'd rather have my LPs be about difficult challenges like Speed Runs, 3 Heart Challenges, w/o upgrades or shields (I usually do my 3HCs w/o a shield anyway), or maybe play through an RPG type game w/o grinding for exp, just using what the game gives you. Stuff like that.
 

Juxtor

aka. musician_4_life
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Location
Melbourne, Australia
There have been a lot of Let's Play videos on YouTube, and for games like Mega Man 1 - 6, there are MANY!!! It does take a while to get through them just to find one that is worth watching....and if they actually know what they are doing.

I'm 50-50 with this poll, it would be awesome to get to know someone, but then again..some are just weird and dont make any sense.
 
W

Wolfang31

Guest
Some "Let's Play" are a waste with the comments... I'm making some "Let's Play" myself, known as playthrough, on my Youtube account.
 

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