Let's Players Explosion

If you've been an avid user of sites like Youtube and Twitch for any decent length of time, you will probably notice the almost complete take over of the sites by channels relating to gaming. People love to watch games as well as play them. Many channels are perhaps dedicated to reviewing games, detailing lore about the games, talking about trivia relating to them and so on. One style of channel however that's become rather dominant now is the Let's Play channels.

Let's Play channels are essentially channels where one or more persons will sit down and play a game while their audience watches. Some of you might be scratching your head at this idea but it has actually become this widespread entity that appeals to many different people both playing and watching. Unlike movies, video games can be experienced a multitude of ways and each player can have a slight or drastically different experience from another player. Let's Play channels have grown in popularity for a number of reasons relating to this. Currently the most subscribed channel on Youtube is a Let's Player called Pewdiepie who as of writing this has over 43 million subscribers.

One of the main reasons is simply to see what a game is like and what better way to find out than to watch someone else play it. Some people will think it wise to look up a game they are perhaps considering buying but don't know if it will be any good so will choose to look at someone else play it and see if they enjoyed it or if the content is something the potential buyer might be interested in. It can be a good way to gauge how the game actually functions when in the hands of an actual human player and not simply some perfectly choreographed sequence of events produced in game trailers or as promotional material from the game publishers. The human aspect also extends to simply being able to hear that players opinion on the game as they experience it.

Another reason is likely just the actual people themselves. Many viewers enjoy simply listening to the personality of each gamer come forward, what they think, how they feel and how they react to certain things. Let's Play channel Game Grumps has boomed in popularity from it's multiple different hosts (Primarily Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan) just to listen to each of their interactions and on the spot banter they throw out. Making for some hilarious improv humour and genuine reactions to surprising things that occur in the games they play.

Even without the player actually showing their face or seldom speaking, sometimes merely watching the players way of playing the game and how they respond to everything or edit the video in a humourous manner is enough to get viewers invested. People love sharing experiences and watching someone play a game, whether it be with a friend on the couch raging at being repeatedly stumped by a difficult boss, or watching a complete stranger on the other side of the Earth screaming in terror at video game boogeymen jumping out at them and enjoying their reactions, there is a certain charm to Let's Plays that has kept them going for so long and inspired others to share their experiences.

Share :

Tweet

✚

Related Post