Surprisingly enough, the problem I'm going to discuss is not how bad some let's players are because of some ridiculous stuff they've said. This critique can be applied across all media and we all know it brings in more money and popularity than harm for the person. It's an obvious problem that doesn't really need discussing.
The problem, or potential problem, I want to discuss deals with the videogame market. A question, or concern, I see time and time again is, why would people buy a game when they can see the whole thing played through online? Now I watch a handful of let's play channels and I've seen them play through entire games, normally games I personally wouldn't have wanted to spend my money on in the first place. If they play a game I'm really interested in, however, I only allow myself to watch the first hour of gameplay before avoiding the series because I plan on buying and playing through the game myself. Sometimes, I'll become interested in a game they play and become encouraged to buy it when they drop it by the wayside just so I can see where it goes. Even though I watch let's players, I'm still spending money on games and I can imagine others are as well, so is there a problem?
I can go two ways on this topic. On the one hand, I think let's plays are great, especially for those that don't have $60 to spend on every single game that's popular or piqued an interest. Before, if you lost out on a game, you lost out on being a part of the conversation around it or the community. Your economic inability forced you to be an outcast in yet another way. Now, even though games are still insanely pricey, computers and the internet really aren't in the long run. You can even use them at the library for free. Let's plays allow for these people to still be a part of the conversation and community surrounding games even when they cant buy them for themselves. They also allow us kind of feel out a game before buying it. We are all aware that trailers are made to hype us up and show the best they can offer. But not every game ends up offering everything they promise. With let's plays, we allow one person to spend money to show us that we shouldn't.
On the other hand, we are a generation that relied on LimeWire, shamelessly uses other people's streaming services, and are dedicated to our best site for getting free movies. These kinds of things hurt the people behind the media, so it's not crazy to think let's plays are hurting those that made the game. We no longer buy games hoping their worth the money; we can thoroughly vet the games first. And while Nintendo and Sony aren't exactly hurting as a corporation, the people we know are behind the scenes that had to work 100 hour work weeks who may have family or are in need of a well-earned vacation are hurting. It could be argued that they can't be hurting by much, but can you honestly say, you've never been one to do this before? I would love to hear your opinions on this.
Your point about Let's Play culture affecting the videogame industry, particularly indie companies, is definitely a valid, but I tend to view Let's Plays as a more double-edged sword. Let's Plays can bring to light many games a person may not even be aware of in the first place and can work as advertisement, especially if a famous youtuber and/or streamer endorses it. In fact, there are many companies that purposefully give free copies to these people precisely because it attracts a large audience.
I also think that beyond considering that point, not only can Let's Plays revive older games, but keep a game life running longer than usual. There are streamers that pick up games several years old that…
I think a major thing to consider is how games compare as a medium to something like films and music. Streaming a movie or a song lets me experience it in the same way as I would if I were to purchase the movie/song, but that's not true about Let's Plays. The experience of watching a Let's Plays is very different from actually playing the game. As Hayley mentioned, I also often watch Let's Plays for the Let's Players themselves. I don't see Let's Plays as a replacement for me playing the game. This is true even when I watch Let's Plays just for the game and not the player. I think this is because Let's Plays aren't interactive in…
I found your perspective in this post really interesting. I've been watching Let's Plays for a long time. For most of that time I was a teenager with only one console (a Wii) and a PC that struggled to play any games at all. So for me, Let's Plays allowed me to watch games that I had literally no chance of ever playing. I constituted no loss to the gaming industry: buying games was never on the table. I may even have been a net positive, as I recommended games I watched plays of to friends who did have the consoles necessary to play them.
The one thing I think your analysis might be missing, especially in regards to the…
As someone who had never seen a "let's play" video (or even heard of the term) before taking this class, this post has really opened my eyes to the possibility of watching an entire game instead of playing that. Prior to this class that's something I never would have fathomed doing. I think you make a very good point about trailers (for videogames and films alike) only showcasing the best of what a particular piece of media has to offer. I think illegally streaming films and music is also an apt comparison (and one that I can personally relate to). That being said, often when we discuss the issue of consuming entertainment without paying for it, we focus on films…
I hadn't thought about let's plays in that perspective before. I can totally see the reasoning that by viewing all or a majority of the content within a game, individuals tend to avoid the purchase as the experience has been devalued and consequently the corporation loses sales while employees suffer the consequences. However, it seems that let's play culture hasn't had that much of a detrimental impact upon sales as I haven't heard of many copyright claims on such videos by the respective developer/publisher (Nintendo just has a short fuse). Also, let's plays can also serve as advertising, which is very beneficial for small indie games, so many developers give game keys to popular let's players. Yet, that can also…