Extra Punctuation: Let's Talk About Let's Play

[lolmynamewastaken]

im not sure if its a lets play, but i watch Mack and Mesh play a load of games inc doom 3, HL2 and F.E.A.R. and its some of the funniests and amazing videoness i've found on the internet.

 

[jamesbob006]

All in favor of calling Chip & Ironicus "The 50 cent guys" from now on say I.

 

[Garfy]

LP's are usually really fun. The point about them showing the game as it really is is a good one. Which is why I really love the Quick Looks over at Giant Bomb [http://www.giantbomb.com/] as well. Kind of tiny LP's of just 15-60 minutes of a game, to show how it plays. They are usually making the videos before the games come out as well, so I find that to be the best way to see how new games look before buying. You will have to sit there and be annoyed when the players don't get things, or overlook things, but that happens in LP's as well.

Not forgetting the endurance runs, they really are full LPs of Persona 4 and Deadly Premonition.

 

[Xman490]

At first, I thought "doesn't make their monitors explode" meant disliking those camcorder/watermarked videos. Indeed, those tend to have only 5 or so views each and dislikes because of blinding quality and/or a speechless kid behind the bad microphone.

As for me, I do go for the comedic (though sometimes irritating) effect of a-capella tunes and jokes, but I also comment on level design, like how Super Mario Sunshine's Pachinko machine's physics are terrible or how the jetpack adds to the experience.

 

[Xman490]

All in favor of calling Chip & Ironicus "The 50 cent guys" from now on say I.

I... just remembered it was them. As is the main retsupurae team, their duo is hilarious.

 

[Jamous]

I watch a fairly decent (In my limited experience) LP'er on Youtube called Mangaminx. She only LPs horror games, and it's fairly amusing to watch. I find it really useful actually, because it lets me get someone else's take on the game and it also helps me get my fix of gaming whilst I can still, ostentatiously at least, do work at the same time. Good stuff.
Mangaminx's Channel for those who might wish to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/user/Mangaminx?blend=2&ob=1

 

[Lightcycle]

One can't say enough about Deceased Crab especially as he did Lets Plays of several of Yahtzee's own games, and yes I know Yahtzee has seen them I've seen his comments on youtube.. also I know DC from college and he really is like that in real life too...

http://www.youtube.com/user/DeceasedCrab

 

[Jamie Thomas Durbin]

I got interested in the LP scene some time ago, first with Boatmurdered (A phenomenon many DF players try to reproduce... but there is only one Boatmurdered so far!), then other LPers, like ProtonJonSA, DeceasedCrab, Slowbeef and Diabeetus, most of the old LPers, along with newer peeps like Mangaminx, Northernlion, Michaelfox, etc etc.

And then, of course, there's myself (although I have to take a hiatus, for reasons I won't go into). I try my best to LP the games I play with at least a measure of humour and respect (or, if I find I've lost all respect for a game, like Dragonshard (not shown on YouTube), I'll snark at it over the cutscenes), and, as such, I've basically tried to avoid everything I've ever disliked about YouTube LPs. So I follow these informal rules (mostly)

1) Thou Shalt Not Faff About Too Much.
2) If there is voice, Thou Shalt Not Talk Over It Incessantly.
3) If a game is hard, it's hard. Don't be dissing the section you spent almost an entire video dying on.
4) The game is the important thing. Your opinion is secondary. You, yourself, are tertiary.

As to commentary over post-recording? I honestly prefer commentary. You get to show honest reactions to the game, and, while you do miss stuff sometimes, any LPer will look back over their vids, and mention any cockups they may have made. If not, their fans correct them, and if they ignore that... well, that's no good!

Anyways, TLDR: I LP, of the YouTube LPers, I like lots, including newer guys like NorthernLion and michaelfox, I LP , Runaway Guys and Freelance Astronauts rock, don't be a big wally when LPing yerself, prefer commenting "live".

 

[Spacehouse]

im surprised you got around to mentioning SA LP forum AND youtube LPs without mentioning RETSUPRAE

http://www.youtube.com/user/retsupurae

 

[Animyr]

Wow, he actually said something, anything was good and of worth. You don't see that every day.

 

[Jamie Thomas Durbin]

im surprised you got around to mentioning SA LP forum AND youtube LPs without mentioning RETSUPRAE

http://www.youtube.com/user/retsupurae

Heh, the number of times that name has been invoked among LPers as a boogeyman, whether among friends or to describe videos we dislike... Thing is, it's Slowbeef and Diabeetus, and they know their shiz.

 

[Scorpio3002]

Didn't have time to read the whole thread, so sorry if these have been pointed out before:

One of the "50-cent guys", General Ironicus, is black. His collaboration with Chip Cheezum has produced some of the best LP's ever (my personal favorite is their LP of Metal Gear Solid 3, due to Cheezum's dedication to showing off EVERY easter egg in every game he plays).

The lack of quality control on youtube doesn't mean there aren't any good LP's on there (I see DeceasedCrab has been mentioned on this page), and it also opens the door for the MST3K-style "Retsuprae" (which mocks the low-quality LP's that youtube is flooded with).

A good resource for finding good LP's is the TV Tropes page: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitle8zx0nomxzqc5?from=Main.LetsPlay

It has recommendations from not just the lp archives and forums, but from other sources like youtube, so you don't have to sift through all the crap yourself.

 

[Saelune]

Its not always effective though. My dad (who is a legit gamer) often spends the time my brother and I are at his house watching us play games. Thus his criticisms often are skewed. Some games that are fun to play, are no fun to watch.

 

[JodaSFU]

All in favor of calling Chip & Ironicus "The 50 cent guys" from now on say I.

I... just remembered it was them. As is the main retsupurae team, their duo is hilarious.

Chip and Ironicus don't run the YT Retsupurae channel (Slowbeef and Diabetus do.) What're you on about?

 

[Xyless]

My two favorite LP's by far are Freeman's Mind [http://www.accursedfarms.com/movies/fm/] and UltraJMan's LP for I Wanna Be The Guy [http://www.youtube.com/user/MegaUltraJMan#p/c/9E1A214234255996/0/wWtsrPIgzvU].

Freeman's Mind is especially amazing because of the audio editing done to match situations, and the fact that it gives Freeman character development. Only downside is it takes him forever to put new videos up.

UltraJMan's LP for IWBTG is great because it shows the effect IWBTG can have on a person's head.

 

[rockydennis]

Obviously most people will be familiar with Spoony's Lets Play's of Phantasmagoria 2 and Ripper but if you have missed them, they're really some of the finest in the genre.

I also like The Heartless on YT, despite having a very different style. A lot more spontaneous and less caustic but genuinely funny throughout. http://www.youtube.com/user/666theheartless666

 

[safetyfirst]

Chip and Ironicus don't do THE Retsupurae channel, but they do have one as well.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChipCheezumSA#p/u/5/fxHcF9ePiQo

 

[Xman490]

All in favor of calling Chip & Ironicus "The 50 cent guys" from now on say I.

I... just remembered it was them. As is the main retsupurae team, their duo is hilarious.

Chip and Ironicus don't run the YT Retsupurae channel (Slowbeef and Diabetus do.) What're you on about?

Chip and Ironicus have ChipCheesumSA (or something like that), another channel with "retupuraes" separate from the channel "retsupurae" run by Slowbeef and Diabetus.

 

[safetyfirst]

Look at the post right above you.