from jackasses to superstars: a case for the study of “let’s play” (september 2013)

DRAFT COPY – NOT FOR PUBLICATION/REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION

1 Thomas Hale – Media, Culture & Identity MA, University of Roehampton

From Jackasses to Superstars: A Case for

the Study of “Let’s Play”

Thomas Hale

Media, Culture & Identity MA, University of Roehampton



Table of Contents

3 Introduction – The origin of “Let’s Play”

6 Definitions

9 Chapter 1 – The problem of preservation: Let’s Play as an archive

16 Chapter 2 – Some jackass, a ROM and a microphone: The early days of Let’s Play

and the pleasures of participation

31 Chapter 3 – Sandcastles and Superplay: Innovation and Experimentation in the

Let’s Play Subculture

46 Chapter 4 – Monetisation and Stagnation: The Rise of YouTube

61 Conclusion

62 Bibliography

66 Let’s Play Videography



Introduction – The origin of “Let’s Play”

One of the most important and complex facets of fandom is the wealth of possible

interactions an individual can have with the object of their affinity. Practises such as fan

fiction, fan art, tribute videos and cosplay have been interrogated, praised and analysed for

the intricate, bizarre and often contradictory intertwinings with media texts. However, one

of the fastest-growing and least-studied kinds of fan production is known as Let’s Play (LP) –

a method by which videogame players record themselves commenting on gameplay for an

online audience. I believe that LP and its associated fan communities can offer us an

engaging new way to think about fandom and the interactive media of videogames and the

Internet. In the following chapters, I shall be illustrating this by showcasing not only

individual LPs and LPers, but also the ways in which these games and players are included

and engaged in discourse and discussion.

(N.B. Due to the frequent anonymity of Internet users, bloggers and content creators, I shall

be referring to such individuals by their preferred pseudonym to avoid confusion.)

Let’s Play has been defined in various ways, but at its core it is often described by those in

the communities as “playing videogames for the Internet”. Beginning on the Something

Awful forums in the early-to-mid 2000s, with archived projects dating back to 2006 (and

threads even earlier), LP began in low-tech “screenshot” format as a way of sharing a game

experience with other forum users. Videogames such as Oregon Trail were played in

collaborative efforts, with updates posted through a mixture of screenshots of the game



and descriptive text; characters were named after forum users and gameplay decisions

made by popular vote:

one day, on the Something Awful forums, some goon [Something Awful forum user] made a

thread titled “Let’s Play Oregon Trail." He invited other goons to join the wagon and five

random forum members (or their namesakes) made the virtual trip across country.

(Slowbeef, 30th January 2013)

It was not until January 5th, 2007 that Something Awful user Michael ‘Slowbeef’ Sawyer

decided to augment his screenshot LP of SEGA Genesis game The Immortal with video

footage of himself playing, while commenting. This experiment was groundbreaking, but

video LP did not properly take off until Slowbeef’s second project:

Dr. Doji Suave had started a screenshot LP of [SNES game] Super Metroid. He’d abandoned it,

and people started downvoting the thread…I started making videos in his thread and asking

goons for help, since I was terrible at it. The response was fairly overwhelming.

As he describes, the Super Metroid video LP became a near-instant success, full of fan

participation – ‘People sent me maps, gave me gameplay tips, made fun of my terrible

reflexes, and would go out of their way to submit images of items I’d missed’. Further

innovations happened during this project, and due to some help with software and video

streaming, Slowbeef’s Super Metroid video LP was

not only the second VLP, but the first to feature guests. You could barely hear them because

I had no clue what I was doing with audio, but there they were.



The trend of video Let’s Play became so popular that it was soon given its own subforum on

the Something Awful message boards, which Slowbeef now moderates. Since then it has

spread to video sites such as YouTube and streaming services such as Twitch TV.

While the form and function of Let’s Play varies from player to player, and from audience to

audience, at its core, the simplest description remains “playing videogames for the Internet”.

Generally, the expectation is that the entirety of a game will be showcased, or at least the

duration of a single playthrough from the opening title screen to the end credits. Many LP

projects are considered ‘abandoned’ if the Let’s Player (LPer) fails to complete the game.

Even with “bad game” LPs (addressed in Chapter 2), the expectation is for the game to be

beaten. As digital media theorist James Newman describes:

In the case of the ‘Let’s Play’ or ‘LP’ phenomenon…we see not only recorded gameplay

footage but also hear the commentary of the LP player who narrates their performance

thereby annotating their gameplay in real time…their very existence ensures that we get a

clear sense of the range of potential playing which a given game might support and,

importantly, gain insight into the performances, observations and techniques of others.

(Newman 2013: 62)

With videogames as of late becoming a mass medium that rivals blockbuster films (Chatfield

2009), it is essential that we explore one of the most popular and fastest-growing fan

phenomena surrounding them.



Definitions

Over the course of this project, I shall be using several terms to describe and categorise

different types of LP project. LPs will be pinpointed (where germane) according to levels of

player/commentator expertise and the type of playthrough being undertaken.

Levels of player expertise:

“Blind” – in which the player has no prior experience or knowledge of the game,

excepting perhaps reviews and reputation as well as previous instalments in the

series

“Semi-blind” – in which the player has some prior experience of the game;

alternatively, where a blind player is assisted or guided by an experienced player

“Experienced” – in which the player has ample experience of the game, and has

likely beaten it previously.

“Expert” – in which the player has extensive knowledge of the game extending to

secrets, tricks, glitches and outside information (e.g. the content of developer

interviews, changes from earlier versions of the game etc)

Types of playthrough:

“Casual” playthrough – The loosest format in terms of completionism and

documentation of the game text, the casual LP features the player with number of



friends (usually between two and four) joining in on the commentary. The style is

more relaxed and informal than more serious LP projects, with the primary aim

being to entertain, especially through comedy.

“Purist” playthrough – An LP in which the player may have considerable experience

of the game, but chooses to focus on the gameplay experience; this includes

forgoing secrets and shortcuts in order to preserve the “natural” flow and pace of

the game.

“100% run” (also “Completionist”) – Using the skills and knowledge of the expert

Lper, this format aims to showcase every part of a game. Implicit in the name “100%”

is that the player will complete every challenge in the game: defeating every enemy,

collecting every item, exploring every area.

“Expert run” – Often an extension of the 100% run, this uses the “expert” Lper’s

textual and metatextual knowledge and proficiency to not only completely

document the game experience, but also contextualise the game. This can include:

content cut from the final release; comparison of the game with other titles released

before or since; regional differences (e.g. aspects changed in translation and

localisation); release differences (e.g. between a game’s original release an an

updated “HD” version).

“Challenge run” – Designed to show off the Lper’s expertise and skill, these are

nonstandard playthroughs of the game. The “challenge” can range from a “no-death”

or “no-hit” run (where the game is completed without the player dying or being hit

once, respectively) to “low percentage” runs – the latter being the opposite of an



100% run, in which the Lper aims to complete the game while collecting the bare

minimum of the items or abilities available (often using glitches, shortcuts or other

tricks).

o “Speedrun” – A subset of the challenge run, but one of the most famous and

ubiquitous kinds of LP. Using every trick available, sometimes even utilising

purpose-built software, the Lper completes the game as quickly as possible.

None of these subgenres of LP is mutually exclusive: several projects combine two or more

elements over the course of one or more playthroughs. Additionally, there is often a mix of

experience and skill within a group of LPers.

Kris Ligman (2011) describes two main groups into which LP audience members can be

categorised:

‘The Spectator’ – an experienced player with prior knowledge of the genre,

interested in ‘seeing a game performed well by skilled players’.

‘The Passenger’ – may not fall within ‘typical gamer demographics’, happy to

‘ride shotgun’ and be immersed vicariously in the story or world of the game.

However, as we shall see, there are much more nuanced and involved methods of viewing

LPs and participating in the surrounding culture and communities.



Chapter 1

The problem of preservation: Let’s Play as an archive

A mixture of colorful sights, nerve-racking sounds, and more painful attempts at humor than

you can shake a stick at. And this is just the type of game that needs to be shown off but

never actually played (which was also the case when the game came out considering that no

one actually played it).

(Niggurath 2011, ‘Painfully 90's: Let's Play 9 and Bad Day on the Midway’)

One of the more long-term goals of LP is that it serves as a way to archive games and

gameplay experiences. As Newman (2012) explains, it is increasingly difficult to procure

older games. As such, the experience of playing many of these games is much more difficult

to come by. Price and accessibility are also an issue: while films, books and music are

available in a number of different formats (through television, radio) and priced as

affordable luxury items, videogames are often released exclusively for one or two consoles

in a generation (on only the PlayStation 3, for example, but not the Xbox 360 or Wii), and

prices can be several times that of other media. Another difficulty is that several games are

never released at all in certain regions – a recent result being online campaigns such as

Operation Rainfall, which lobbies for Japan-only games to be localised for international

(particularly American) markets. These factors add up to the unfortunate truth that, unlike

catching up on a television programme or a book one has missed, videogames are harder to

experience first-hand.



So, LP offers a way to document these games and archive them for posterity. The name of

the website that collects notable completed LP projects, The Let’s Play Archive, implies a

scholarly goal of preserving these texts:

In early 2009, the internet archive approached the LP archive with an offer of alliance. To aid

in keeping videos safe from tumultuous and fickle video sites, the internet archive would

host all video LPs in perpetuity, making LPs a small part of internet history.

(‘The History of the Let’s Play Archive’)

Thus, we can see how it is important and useful for projects such as Let’s Play recordings to

be archived, and to themselves provide documentation of a game.

However, this is not unproblematic. Ligman (2011) notes that more personalised and

atypical playthroughs run against the grain – arguing that ‘there is a push for a dominant, all

encompassing record’ of games, ‘not conducive to these smaller and more personal

performances’. This results in what he terms a ‘tendency toward canonization of particular

gameplay paths’ – thus, officially, there might only be a handful of possible playings of a

game, contrary to the freedom with which many LPers subvert or even ignore this ‘canon’.

For illustrative purposes, for every video series that explores every inch of a game while

using subtitled commentary to preserve the atmosphere and audio design (such as

Brainamp’s archived LP of Bioshock (PC)), there is a bizarre challenge LP where the player

attempts a 100% run using just their feet to manipulate the controller (Vicas’s infamous

Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) LP). The latter specifically describes his intent is to document

the simplicity of the game’s design, but by playing it in a way that was clearly never

intended by the developers:



As it was one of the very first games on its console, the controls are very simple. But for a

few key parts, you can almost beat the game with nothing but the control stick and the A

and B buttons. The gameplay is straight forward: collect stars. And frankly, if you know what

you're doing, this game is very, very easy.

In fact, I'm going to tell you that this game is so easy that I can beat it with my feet.

(Vicas 2011, ‘Let’s Play Super Mario 64, a feat of… welp.’)

So we see how LP is a way not just to document games – Vicas’s project does indeed show

off every part of Super Mario 64 – but to add a new possibility to the ‘range of potential

playing’ (Newman 2013: 62).

Older games are, to some theorists and game consumers, still inaccessible. This is not

merely due to them being out of print – several online game services such as Nintendo’s

“Virtual Console” (for the Wii console) or Valve’s “Steam” platform (primarily for home

computers) have constant re-releases of old titles. But the experience of play is often

changed from its original incarnation, from small aspects (updated graphics and music

fidelity, the hardware used) to major omissions and alterations – Newman cites the Virtual

Console release of the arcade classic Donkey Kong:

Indeed, as it is a conversion of the NES [Nintendo Entertainment System] incarnation,

replete with omissions and limitations (however well implemented on the Wii), the Virtual

Console Donkey Kong is treated by many reviewers as necessarily flawed. ‘Don’t download

it...it’s only 75% complete’

(Newman 2012: 5)



Such emulations, as he describes, currently offer ‘‘acceptable’ but significantly lacking

recreations’ (153). Several LPs use emulation to play older games, in part due to it being

easier to record from a computer than it is to capture game footage “raw” from a home

console or arcade cabinet. Thus, these projects cannot be said to be the “purest” form of

documenting a game. And so, Let’s Play must exhibit a documentary worth beyond mere

technical preservation. To this end, we can invoke Newman’s assertion that

The capturing of games in and at play could and, I would contend, should be the core

objective of game preservation.

(155) [Italics Newman’s]

However, the traditional methods used to document these interactive texts are, ironically,

‘decidedly non-interactive’ – simple linear video recordings or text-based walkthroughs.

Indeed, the simple fact that a game cannot exist in isolation from its particular methods and

structures of play is one of the key reasons that, as we shall see, Let’s Play is such a diverse

genre.

I would argue that, while an imperfect solution to the challenges described by Newman (see

also McDonough & Olendorf 2011, Vowell 2009, Guttenbrunner et al. 2010 etc.), a good

Let’s Play captures the most important aspects of a game: the technical details (graphics and

sound, cinematics) coupled with the player’s own anecdotal experience of gameplay. In

discussing gameplay, Newman summarises its social and subcultural importance:

Gameplay is invariably socially and culturally situated, informed and shaped by discussions,

practices and cumulative knowledges that are at once integral to and external from the

game.



(Newman 2012: 157)

As such, it is not only Let’s Play projects that exhibit games and gameplay, but also the

metatext: the commentary threads, the Lper’s own discussion around the topics. The Let’s

Play Archive allows a glimpse into some of this metacommentary: several LPs are archived

with contributions from other posters kept intact, particularly pieces of fanart and

occasionally other Lpers’ playthroughs of the game. In addition, the introductory post of

each LP thread is preserved, allowing the Lper to introduce the game and describe to the

audience what they can expect to see and hear over the course of the project. For example,

Slowbeef’s LP of the Metroid Prime trilogy (Nintendo GameCube/Wii) includes playthroughs

by co-commentator Diabetus, as well as veteran Lpers Vicas and Pokecapn:

In this thread, you will see:

- Slowbeef bumbling through Metroid Prime: Corruption with only his pal Diabetus and a

rotating guest to save him!

- Pokecapn 13kilfully recording a stream of Metroid Prime Trilogy

- Diabetus exploring the wilderness of Metroid: Fusion

- Vicas showing us how competent people play video games

(Slowbeef 2010, ‘Let’s Play Metroid Prime: Corruption’)

This metatextual preservation is particularly useful in capturing the context of the LP and

the game itself. Since a game in isolation cannot ‘communicate the lived experience of

gameplay’ (Newman 2012: 158), the addition of player commentary and fan discussion

breaks down the imagined barriers between product and consumer – between text and



audience. As such, we not only see and hear the game and the gameplay experience, we

also are allowed a “time capsule”-style snapshot of fan opinions and discussion of the game

itself. To use the above example, Slowbeef’s thread and LP videos not only capture the

experience of playing through Metroid Prime and its sequels, but also reveal the ways in

which the games were discussed, debated and criticised contemporaneously in 2010.

Additionally, the metatext of full forum threads can be found in the archives of the

Something Awful Forums, albeit behind a paywall.

Another helpful aspect of LP’s documentary potential is the tradition of the “completionist”

or “100%” LP – a project in which the LPer sets out to show off every single aspect of the

game, from secrets and hidden areas to glitches and “Easter eggs” (see Wolf 2012). These

aspects, often easy to miss entirely in a regular play session, are reminiscent of the “special

features” featured on any DVD releases (Bainbridge & Yates 2010). By showcasing them, the

LPer is not only displaying the full variety of gameplay challenges and secrets (many “100%

runs” involve the exhibition of great skill and/or perseverance on the part of the player) but

also documenting aspects of the videogame text that many players and observers might

miss. In addition, there is the fact that the LPer can explain through commentary not only

how to reach these secrets – through skill, cheating or otherwise – but also demonstrate the

significance of said accomplishments. As with the preservation of metatext, this documents

the contemporary response to the game’s minutiae as well as its overall experience.

On the other hand, the responses documented can be negative. If one major aspect of LP is

to showcase and preserve games that the LPer believes are worth experiencing, then the

opposite is also true: games that are considered terrible, shameful or impossible. In these

cases, it is both textual and metatextual discussions that combine to give a full picture of



why the game in question is considered “bad”. Wateyad and Pork Lift’s LP of Final Fantasy

XIII (Playstation 3) and Pokecapn’s LP of Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 (Playstation 3) both

document a casual playthrough of each game:

What gave him this idea, you may ask? Well, he had heard many things about Sonic 2006, all

of them negative. A game universally panned by the gaming press, its GameRankings score

of 45% was supported by tales of terrible controls, a terrible camera, an even worse story,

and the longest and most pointless load times this side of the new millennium.

Yet, as a Sonic game fan…he thought to himself, maybe the reviewers are exaggerating like

they did for the previous games. Maybe this game is simply mediocre….

Hopes were high as the quest began, but it soon became clear that the goon wasn’t dealing

with a mediocre game, he was dealing with a trainwreck of the highest calibre.

(Pokecapn 2008, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 2006: A Modern Epic’)

These LPs showcase the many flaws in game design, glitches, and most importantly the

visceral frustration and confusion of the players. Through live commentary, the viewer is

afforded not only a recording of the game text but also a mediated discussion on its flaws, in

real time.

So we can see how, while Let’s Play projects are imperfect in terms of full documentation,

the metatextual content adds significant value. For a medium so rooted in communal and

social discourse and discussion, it is essential that this sociality and subjectivity be

documented. As such, archiving, preservation and discussion of Let’s Play can be useful (and

in some cases essential) for augmenting the historically-situated text of corresponding

games.



Chapter 2

Some jackass, a ROM and a microphone: The early days of Let’s Play and the pleasures of

participation

“This is player’s commentary…If you’ve seen a DVD, you know how they do like, director’s

commentary and stuff? Well imagine if some jackass, who was not involved in the creation

of the movie at all, decided to just comment on what he thought watching the movie would

be like. Well that’s kind of what we are here now.”

(Slowbeef 2007, ‘Let’s Play The Immortal’ – Level 1)

As mentioned in my introduction, Let’s Play has its roots in participatory game threads on

the Something Awful forums. From these humble beginnings, through into the first years of

video LP, we can see several trends and tropes of fandom, participation and play. In this

chapter I shall be using established frameworks of fan production, and “play” to illustrate

these trends, as well as noting the places where perhaps this particular phenomenon diverts

from established assumptions.

Sociologist Sherry Turkle (2011) describes how, through online interactions, users of social

networks are situated in ‘a continually growing community of acquaintance’ (Turkle 2011 :

161). As a sizeable online community of this sort can offer connections beyond the physical

plane – as she describes, ‘No matter how parochial the culture around them, they are

cosmopolitan’ – it is within communities such as the Let’s Play forum on Something Awful

(or more dedicated and narrowly-focused fandom on other sites such as Tumblr) that users

‘are surrounded by enthusiasts’. As the online/offline boundaries become increasingly



blurred with the march of technology, so the possibilities for emotional connection

mediated through the Internet. As such, the anxieties, pleasures and emotional gymnastics

one might experience “in real life” are replicated in online interactions and communities.

Turkle spends much of her book Alone Together exploring the concept of artificial

intelligence and robotic partnership:

The computer’s reactivity and interactivity – it seemed an almost-mind – made

[programmers] feel they had “company”…Online agents and sociable robots are explicitly

designed to convince us they are adequate companions. Predictably, our emotional

involvement ramps up.

(124)

It is not difficult to transpose this framework of imagined mutual companionship onto the

negotiated relationship between, for instance, a Something Awful poster and her favourite

LPer(s). Herein lies the most visceral appeal of these casual LP groups: the authentic

experience of enjoying a game with a pair or a “posse” of friends is translated through the

raw, seldom-edited recordings. As a result the viewer becomes familiar with the players,

their differing play styles and skill levels; beyond this, their sense of humour and even their

own anxieties. For our hypothetical LP fan, her emotional connection to the individual

members of the LP group is unrequited – however, the pleasure inherent in sharing this

companionship vicariously is, to use Turkle’s words, ‘“real enough”’ for her continued

viewing. The most successful LP groups and partnerships often manage to cultivate this

illusion of companionship.

One of the most notorious early LP projects is Pokecapn’s marathon playthrough of Sonic

The Hedgehog 2006 (Playstation 3). Presented as an almost unedited, live recording, the



videos follow Pokecapn, Medibot, Kung-Fu Jesus, IlluminatusVespucci and NoTimeForSocks

(the latter peels off from the group during the course of the game) as they play through the

game semi-blind. If we return to the introduction post preserved at the Let’s Play Archive,

we see a narrative of camaraderie foregrounded as one of the key features of the LP:

So, our intrepid goon set off on his adventure, gathering the necessary items to begin his

quest. A borrowed PS3, a rental copy of Sonic 2006, and a posse of 4 daring goon

adventurers. Hopes were high as the quest began, but it soon became clear that the goon

wasn't dealing with a mediocre game, he was dealing with a trainwreck of the highest caliber.

The posse pressed forward, sequestering the necessary nutrition that would give them ideas.

Ideas that they could use. One member left the quest party at this point, but the remaining 4

would not give up until this game was completed.

As time went on, hopes were repeatedly crushed. At several points, it seemed that all hope

was lost, and that this project would come to an early demise. But the posse pressed on.

(Pokecapn, 2008)

It is not only the ironic bardic prose describing the group’s ‘quest’ that evokes a sense of

kinship, however. While it is a throwaway adjective, noting the PS3 is ‘borrowed’ implies a

favour: a friendly agreement has taken place before the game is even taken out of its box.

There is a promise of significant emotional experience: ‘press[ing] on’ in the face of

adversity and hopelessness seems a generic reassurance that yes, the game will be finished,

but more than that, the viewer is told that hopes are ‘repeatedly crushed’. This not only

offers a glimpse as to how frustrating and poorly made the game is (indeed, there are a few

sections which are particularly infuriating, some of which must be replayed multiple times)



but also the extent to which the audience will be able to sympathise with the individual

players’ (and the group’s collective) emotional flux.

Much of Turkle’s theorising on the emotional side of new media technologies forms the

basis of a rather pessimistic worldview: one in which the real and tangible is left by the

wayside in favour of the fleeting ease of the online and synthetic. Unquestioning embrace of

these new social dynamics, she argues, may lead to a loss of identity or a numbing of

“genuine” emotions:

In the half-light of virtual community, we may feel utterly alone. As we distribute ourselves,

we may abandon ourselves…. In all of this, there is a nagging question: Does virtual intimacy

degrade our experience of the other kind and, indeed, of all encounters, of any kind?

(Turkle 2011: 12)

By the end of Alone Together, she paints a dystopian picture of contemporary technology

use, concluding that ‘we have agreed to an experiment in which we are the human

subjects…seductive simulations that propose themselves as places to live’ (296). While again,

this description is likely too severe to impose on the phenomenon of Let’s Play, it does

resonate with an underlying trend among LPers to discuss their projects (and often

videogames in general) as a “weird”, inconsequential pastime. From Slowbeef describing his

concern about taking LP ‘too seriously’ (2013) to the ironic tone endemic in the Let’s Play

subforum and ancillary discussions (such as blogs, podcasts etc), there is an anxiety about

the “legitimacy” of LP as a hobby:



Doing a Let's Play to show off a game to other people and practice some technical skills can

be pretty nice, but then you have some people who dedicate a huge chunk of their life to it

and turn it into a sort of obsession, and then it just gets weird. – Mega64

Yeah, fine, LPers can be creative and funny and interesting on their own, but I don't want

anyone to lose sight of why we're here in the first place. – Slowbeef

(2012, ‘The State of Let’s Play – A different Viewpoint’)

LP's are a fun project to do, nothing more, nothing less. – Missing Name

[LP] existed for years as a dumb little pseudo-hobby and I think the only reason you can

make money on them now is because Youtube (and to a lesser extent, Blip) are the first

video hosts who have been around long enough to get this whole monetizing thing off the

ground. – OatmealRaisin

(2013, ‘This thread matched third party content from Nintendo’)

Diabetus: Does it freak you out that [your first Let’s Play] was eight years ago?

Slowbeef: [sighs] I don’t like to think about it.

(Retsutalk episode 1: ‘Pilot’, 2012)

This dismissive attitude is even codified in the Let’s Play subforum rules, to an extent:

Don't tell people you are an accomplished LPer from YouTube or another LP forum. No one

cares and it just makes you look weird.

DO NOT TAKE LET'S PLAY VERY SERIOUSLY.



It won't make you rich or famous or popular to members of your preferred sexual

orientation or gender. Your reputation here, good or bad, does not translate to the real

world. You should be here because you have a funny, silly, or just plain good idea you want

to try out or even just because you want to show people a cool game they missed.

(Slowbeef 2012, ‘The Let’s Pay Rules Thread’)

But at the same time, this is contrasted with a large amount of genuine passion, enthusiasm

and effort on the part of individual LPers and their audiences. Particularly in discussing the

potential of Let’s Play as a process, several posters highlight the ways in which it can be a

positive experience. In reference to the Let’s Play subforum community, LPer General

Ironicus touts what he sees as a great social potential:

We’ve always had the ability to play together, what LP gives us is a new way to make

communities together. Let’s Play not only shows all gaming is social, but that it’s social on a

level beyond playing with other people.

(General Ironicus, 10th September 2012)

Reflecting more optimistic theorists (such as Jenkins and Sandvoss, whom I shall address

later), Ironicus sees the LP community’s passionate embrace of new media technologies (for

specific technologies see Chapter 3) as a way of re-democratising the medium of

videogames:

Maybe it’s just that we’re desperately social creatures….For most of the history of games

they were primarily shared experiences. A deck of cards can play solitaire but also about a

thousand other games for 2+ people. Videogames are really the odd man out that way,

maybe that’s against human nature and LP is helping us correct it?



Indeed, the concept of LP in general is rooted in the social and the desire to share

experiences. In the early days of LP and the Let’s Play subforum, the atmosphere was lax

relative to the level of moderation and encouragement of critique we see today. The vast

majority of early LPs were casual affairs, with minimal editing and several gameplay or

commentary mistakes left intact. Linking to Ironicus, the action of selecting a game to LP

and thus showcase it for one’s peers is an exercise in consciously choosing an experience to

share. Particularly in these early days, many of the games chosen by LPers were older

releases, particularly spanning from the late 80s to early ‘90s – the reasons for this are

twofold: first, these titles were already widely available in emulated format, and thus easy

to acquire and record footage of; second is the nostalgic value. These games, especially

celebrated classics such as Super Mario World (SNES) or The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The

Past (SNES), could be seen as ideal choices for the LPer seeking to encourage discussion of

nostalgic game experiences. Just as the “nation” is imagined through shared history (see

Anderson 1991), fan communities are maintained through nostalgia: in this case the linked

experiences of past and present gameplay. It is through this kind of LP and fan discussion

that the individual Let’s Play audience member can immerse themselves in the community

and engage more fully with their passion for the medium of videogames.

In his works on fandom and participatory culture, Henry Jenkins describes the pleasures of

engaging with a piece of media as a fan:

When you see that look of sublime pleasure on the face of someone listening to classical

music…it’s about being awash in it, being affected by it, that’s when that classical music

consumption is connected to fandom in a very real way….it’s about having control and

mastery over art by pulling it close and integrating it into your sense of self.



(Jenkins 2006: 23)

While perhaps the experience of a Let’s Play fan is not as ‘sublime’ as that of Jenkins’s

classical music listener, the aspect of mastery and being ‘awash’ in the object of one’s

fandom is not hard to recognise. The earliest instances of video Let’s Play are predicated at

least in part on showcasing the LPer’s mastery of their chosen game. As mentioned

previously, widely considered to be the first VLP, the appeal of Slowbeef’s playthrough of

The Immortal relies not only on the novelty of seeing the game in action but also on the

LPer’s own narration. By describing the action as or before it happens, Slowbeef functionally

creates a casually-formatted walkthrough for the game (see Jenkins 2008; expanded on in

Chapter 3), demonstrating his own mastery and consequently representing himself as part

of the game’s fandom. Compounding this, his commentary wavers between second person

and first person plural narratives, addressing the audience directly and as part of a “we”

that includes Slowbeef himself. Discussing the game’s foibles during play is almost entirely

directed at the viewer:

And what sucks is, if you slash, then you start getting fatigued, you get slower and the guy

gets a hit in, basically. So, the idea is: you just keep dodging left and right until finally you get

to get to slash the shit out of him…

(Slowbeef 2007, ‘Let’s Play The Immortal’ – Level 1)

This has its roots in the notion that this video project, like previous screenshot-illustrated

text LPs, is predicated on the communal experience of play. As Slowbeef himself describes in

discussion of the classic Oregon Trail LP,



The reason “Let’s Play” is kind of a misnomer (nowadays, it’s really “watch me play”) is that

the Oregon Trail LP harkened back to a time where the person playing the game would

actually attempt to include the audience. It was actually “let us play”.

(Slowbeef 2013b)

Again, this notion of the community getting involved in the LP echoes Jenkins: fandom

manifesting through integration with the fan text. While the rise to dominance of video LPs

has largely shed the notion of fully democratised audience participation, there is still a

strong tradition of integration in screenshot LP. One of the most popular game series to be

used for this purpose is the best-selling The Sims games, described by Jenkins as ‘the world’s

most popular dollhouse’ (Jenkins 2008: 169). Using the character creation options, several

Sims LPs have included representations of Something Awful users, often based on their real -

life likenesses. While almost all of these threads have been abandoned and thus not

properly archived, the ‘AusPol House’ The Sims 3 LP (authored by poster Quantum Mechanic)

is, at the time of writing, still being updated:

The Australian Politics thread has seen them all, and come out the stronger for it,

complaining about the North Shore and demanding Nandos. What happens though, when

the pile of belligerent, genocidal misanthropes of AusPol are forced to undergo the ultimate

challenge...

Living together?!

This will be a Sims 3 Let's Play starring the superstars of the Australian Politics thread, and

their trials and tribulations in a world too dark for their light.

(Quantum Mechanic 2012)



As the LP progresses, Quantum Mechanic reveals that not only are representations of the

Australian Politics thread featured in his playthrough, but so are avatars of current

Australian political figures such as Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard. Consequently, the thread is

awash with in-jokes and satirical discussion of these simulated politicians (and activists, in

the case of the ‘misanthropes of AusPol’):

‘How will Tony Abbott’s vampirism affect Kevin Rudd’s leadership ambitions?’ – Shadeoses

‘It’ll suck’ – Lizard Combatant

‘It's a long bow but reckon this could add to the federal destabilisation’ – Quantum

Mechanic

As a result of this, while the thread is often opaque to outsiders (‘[Confused emoticon] As

both an Australian and someone who doesn't venture outside this sub-forum, this thread is

already all kinds of bizarre’ – Yapping Eevee), the experience is very much a communal one.

Immersed in the in-game drama and ridiculous situations (alien abductions, werewolves,

ghosts, the aforementioned vampirism), the ordinary Something Awful users are eagerly

drawn into, and become part of, the narrative of the LP and of the game itself.

However, while this personal immersion is impossible in most games – generally,

customisation is limited to renaming characters or changing the appearance of a solo

protagonist – there is an ongoing theme of community discussion within LP. Here it is apt to

note Henry Jenkins’s early definition of fandom:

Organized fandom is, perhaps first and foremost, an institution of theory and criticism, a

semistructured space where competing interpretations and evaluations of common texts are



proposed, debated, and negotiated and where readers speculate about the nature of the

mass media and their own relationship to it.

(Jenkins 1992: 88)

Similarly, Sandvoss (2005) describes how one of the key aspects of any fandom is ‘the

multiple ways in which fans intensively rework the texts upon which their fandom is built’

(Sandvoss 2005: 123). It takes only a cursory glance over any thread in the Let’s Play

subforum to see this discussion and appropriation of both videogames and LP projects

themselves. One of the most common themes on display here is that of ‘intertextuality’,

which ‘allows fans to relate different popular texts to each other in processes of inclusion

and exclusion’ (134) (see also Jameson 1991). Returning to the Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 LP,

we see this intertextuality in full effect from the very first video:

[Princess Elise appears onscreen]

Kung-Fu Jesus: Who’s this?

Medibot: What the hell?

KFJ: What’s her name?

Pokecapn: Mary Sue?

M: Mila Jovovich?

KFJ: Fuck yeah, Mila Jovovich! Can I get an “amen”?

[…]



P: So this game starts out exactly the way that Super Mario Galaxy starts out: with a

lakeside party and stars falling.

KFJ: So are we playing Final Fantasy X? Because that’s what it looks like to me.

[Elise is shown lighting a ceremonial torch]

P: Okay, so the Olympics have started…this is the Olympics.

M: Oh, we’re playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympics?

KFJ: “Mario and Sonic Galaxy at the Olympics”.

[The city is now in flames, under attack from an airship]

M: “Mario and Sonic at the Olympics: Berlin”.

Not only do we have seven intertextual references woven into the first four minutes of

audio commentary, but they range from literary tropes (the “Mary Sue” is a highly idealised

version of a fan fiction author, written into the story as a “perfect” avatar for the writer

(Segall 2008: 26)) to historical events. There is clear comparison within the medium of

videogames, also: it is pointed out that Sonic 2006’s opening cinematic is thematically linked

with Super Mario Galaxy (Gamecube) and Final Fantasy X (PS2). In the latter case, it is not

only the “grand celebration” opening that is similar, but Elise’s character design is

reminiscent of the art style of FFX. I list these references to illustrate the wealth of

intertextuality on show in only the first few minutes of a twenty-hour LP. In addition to the

in-video chatter, there is direct interaction between the LPers and the audience through

“thread challenges”: at one point in each video, a challenge is proposed; the posters active

in the thread then compete for points. The nature of these challenges varies between trivia



(e.g. ‘Name the colors of the seven Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 3 & Knuckles’), skill (e.g.

completing a stage of an old Sonic game as fast as possible) and the most interesting

category, ‘creativity’:

18. Creativity: Sonic 3 & Knuckles shows that in a straight up chase, Sonic still can't catch

Eggman. Give me a short answer essay (250 words suggested maximum) explaining how

Eggman can run as fast as Sonic. Entries judged on overall creativity; humor optional.

Here we see the LP not only consciously engaging in intertextuality, but also drawing the

audience in to participate in gameplay of their own. This particular ‘Creativity’ challenge

actively encourages the thread to offer their own ‘interpretations and evaluations of

common texts’, as Jenkins puts it, for direct debate and negotiation (Jenkins 1992: 88). Not

only are the audience’s intellect and memory challenged, but also their own gameplay

ability. Thus, the maxim of “let us play” is encouraged through this viewer participation.

These early LPs and their associated threads are characterised by a casual, egalitarian and

distinctly amateur aesthetic. Looking back, it is amusing how easy it was to impress the

average user, given how many common LP elements which are now standard (post-

recording commentary, showing off alternate gameplay routes, guest commentary) were at

some point novel and creative. In fact, there is even nostalgia for these early days. In 2009,

Something Awful user and veteran LPer Proteus4994 started a community project called

‘Devolution’. The thread, subtitled ‘Tonight we’re gonna LP like it’s 2007’, is both a

celebration of and an attempt to recapture the ‘genuine’ “spirit” of the early days of LP :

The problem is that it's become work to make an LP anymore, and to do a really popular LP

it requires technical proficiency…. But there was a time not that long ago when making an LP

was just sitting down, playing a game, recording it, and just saying whatever was on your



mind. You might talk about the game, you might drift off into some other area, but it was

usually entertaining and genuine…. But there's still a small part of me that misses the lower

standards of the old days, because there was a lot of truly hilarious stuff that came out of LP

back then.

(Proteus4994 2009)

This yearning for a ‘genuine’ experience implies that some of the original allure of LP has

been lost. Indeed, there are several posters in the thread who lament the loss of this

“devolved” aesthetic, particularly the nostalgic elements – one user, Athropos, comments

‘I'm tired of bullshit LPs about obscure games nobody cares about’. Proteus himself

describes the main goal of the project as ‘just having a good time making a video without

having to worry about ironing out every detail. You know, the way things used to be’. This

was also an interesting experiment for a handful of veteran LPers who revisited some of the

earliest titles they made videos of: Slowbeef undertook an LP of the NES version of The

Immortal, while Psychedelic Eyeball showcased the SNES game Prince of Persia (having LPed

the original PC version two years prior). The latter echoes Proteus’s nostalgia for

amateurism:

This is what striked me in 2007 LPs, it was essentially just a bunch of people playing through

a video game with their honest reactions, something you could relate or compare to,

without really trying to impress anyone. You would just have fun playing a game and

hopefully invite people to have fun as well.

(Psychedelic Eyeball 2009)



So we can see how not only was this early period of LP a thoroughly community-centric

experience for many LPers and game fans alike, but its relaxed attitude created an

egalitarian playing field that offered expert and casual LPs, regardless of prior knowledge

and experience. General Ironicus (2012a) eloquently sums up the sociality of Let’s Play, and

the ways in which it creates a subcultural coherence:

Creating a 50+ video series about a game makes folks sit up and take notice more than a

nostalgic forum post. The addition of voices, and even tiny faces in the corner, brings a sense

of familiarity, as if you’re back in time, sitting on your friend’s living room carpet as they

blow your mind by finding both warp whistles.


The notion of interpersonal connection has been part of Let’s Play from the start, and in the

next two chapters I shall be exploring the ways in which this paradigm has shifted over the

intervening years.



Chapter 3

Sandcastles and Superplay: Innovation and Experimentation in the Let’s Play Subculture

General Ironicus: I know some people are really concerned with the way women are treated

in this game, so I did some research, and there’s a perfectly grounded sociological

explanation. It can be found in American Apartheid by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy Denton

– a landmark work in urban political sociology. This is from pages 174-175…

[…]

Chip Cheezum: In that time, I killed two hundred people.

(2009, ’50 Cent: Blood on the Sand #7: Take My Breath Away’)

One of the most enduring socio-political concepts is that of cultural capital. As described by

sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, cultural capital is the knowledge and insight of culture,

particularly so-called “high culture”, acquired over the course of one’s life; dependent on

such factors as the conditions of one’s birth, their social stratum and their education

(Bourdieu 1986). This, in turn, ‘confers social status’:

Cultural capital is the linchpin of a system of distinction in which cultural hierarchies

correspond to social ones and people’s tastes are predominantly a marker of class.

(Thornton 1995: 10)

Cultural sociologist Sarah Thornton draws on Bourdieu’s work and relates it to youth

cultures and culture outside the intellectual and ‘privileged domains’ (11). In her book Club



Cultures, Thornton defines what she terms ‘subcultural capital’ – the cultural capital that has

social currency within the realms of youth culture, particularly clubs:

I would argue that clubs are refuges for the young where their rules hold sway and that,

inside and to some extent outside these spaces, subcultural distinctions have significant

consequences.

(11)

Much like its ‘adult equivalent’, subcultural capital has serious ramifications: it ‘confers

status on its owner in the eyes of the relevant beholder’ and ‘affects the standing’ of those

who subscribe to its legitimacy. Most relevant for our topic of discussion is how Thornton

condenses the complex social practices associated therewith:

Just as cultural capital is personified in ‘good’ manners and urbane conversation, so

subcultural capital is embodied in the form of being ‘in the know’, using (but not over-using)

current slang and looking as if you were born to perform the latest dance styles. Both

cultural and subcultural capital put a premium on the ‘second nature’ of their knowledges.

(11-12)

If we translate this into the language and practices of Let’s Play, the individual rich in

subcultural capital would demonstrate their skills and knowledge “as if born to showcase

their chosen game(s) in the most engaging fashion”. Through participation, fans exhibit their

own subcultural capital by reproducing accepted practices: within an LP thread, for example,

much of the discussion included sharing in-jokes and intertextual references, contributing

theories and anecdotes about one’s own experience (or lack thereof) with the game being

shown off. Echoing the semi-anonymity of online communities, Thornton describes how



‘subcultural capital is not as class-bound as cultural capital….In fact, class is wilfully

obfuscated by subcultural distinctions’ (12). This is because much subcultural activity and

participation takes place in the realm of the ‘extra-curricular, as knowledge one cannot

learn in school’ (13). This is certainly true for LP – outside of nascent career paths in game

design and certain narrow kinds of higher education, critically engaging with videogames is

far from the syllabus of any school (Newman 2013: 1-7). Even then, acquiring and honing

the necessary skills to play through such games is an exclusively hobbyist pursuit. When this

subcultural capital is conspicuously flaunted by game players, it is a demonstration of their

skill and knowledge, what is often described as ‘superplay’:

A range of gaming practices that differ significantly…but that are bound together by a

common desire to demonstrate mastery of the game through performance.

(Newman 2008: 123)

As Sandvoss notes, the conspicuous consumption and social performance of fandom

‘becomes a generally understood language through which one’s identity is communicated

and assessed’ (Sandvoss 2005: 3). This assessment is both conscious and unconscious, but

the typical fan or fan producer is constantly aware of this scrutiny. Just as Turkle describes

the judgemental nature of the ‘online clique’ (Turkle 2011: 243), Thornton identifies the

ways in which this scrutiny of subcultural capital is used to apportion popularity and define

which individuals ‘belong’ (Thornton 1995: 98-99). We have seen this in previous discussion

of intertextuality, in which LPers and fans have eagerly, sometimes unconsciously, used

references to other media texts, both closely associated with the game(s) being played and

tangentially linked to the circumstances, tone and/or content on display. The most

interesting forms of intertextuality, as far as subcultural capital is concerned, are those



displays of metatextual knowledge that are volunteered (or, sometimes, encouraged) by

LPers and their audience.

The most overt evaluations of individuals’ subcultural capital and embodiments of superplay

comes in the form of “challenge” LPs. As described earlier, these playthroughs see the LPer

tackling the game while adhering to a set of imposed rules to make the experience even

more difficult. These added stipulations are often agreed upon before the LP begins, but

some LPs (such as the Tipping Forties’ casual group playthrough of GoldenEye 007) use

specific challenges submitted by fans. Challenge runs generally imply a pre-existing

knowledge of the game, as the appeal is in the variations on traditional gameplay – echoing

what Newman describes as Let’s Play’s ability to locate ‘gameplay, even apparently single -

player gameplay, within a complex web of inter-related players, playing and ludic strategies’

(Newman 2013: 62). These are usually done to show off the LPer’s skills, particularly in the

case of “speedruns”:

The practice…is concerned with completing videogames in as speedy a time as possible.

Typically, the games that speedrunners tackle do not include time as a primary factor in the

game design...speedrunning concerns itself with games such as First Person Shooters (FPS)

and even Role Playing Games (RPG) that were not designed with speedy completion in mind.

(Newman 2008: 129)

Newman attributes a great deal of pleasure to this form of mastery and superplay,

suggesting that speedrunning even ‘represents the ultimate expression of gamers’ mastery

of the system and of playing with videogames’. In extreme cases, there are even “tool -

assisted speedruns” which use modern emulation technology to not merely complete a

game as fast as humanly possible, but as quickly as mathematically possible (Newman 2013:



149). This differs significantly from most forms of LP in that, while Let’s Play is concerned

with preserving the human element of the gameplay experience and the subjectivity of play,

tool-assisted speedruns are about “removing the human element” (this is discussed at

length in Retsutalk episode 27, ‘Live from Twitch’). However, it is notable as a part of

gaming culture that overlaps with LP – several established LPers also create their own

speedrun projects, such as CannibalK9’s current world record run of Grand Theft Auto: San

Andreas (PS2):

Hello, I won't waste much time here, all I can do is strongly advise you to download the

normal or high quality H264 versions of the run and listen to the audio commentary where I

go into huge depths about the most trivial aspects (but I hear it's quite good!)

(CannibalK9 2008)

Returning to the less challenge-oriented areas of LP, where does the aspiring Let’s Player

look when they are in search of advice, guidance or criticism? For the vast majority of LP

subgenres, from casual friends-in-the-room recordings to high-effort “expert” playthroughs,

the most significant and influential place has been the aforementioned Let’s Play subforum

on Something Awful. A community hub for LPers and fans alike, there are two key locations

where critique and advice are offered explicitly: the Let’s Play Sandcastle and the Tech

Support Fort. The latter exists primarily for answering LPer’s technical questions – these are

largely audiovisual, such as what video capture software to use, what processes the user

should go through when editing, how to synchronise audio and video footage. The Fort also

covers hosting issues and live streaming of footage to an audience (see Chapter 4). The

Sandcastle is the place for all-purpose discussion of LP that does not relate directly to active

threads in the subforum, but more importantly it is the venue for LPers to ‘make a test post’,



in order to test the water and troubleshoot issues with their LP thread ‘before posting it’ as

a new topic in the subforum itself. These test posts come in the format of a hypothetical

topic introduction, which is offered up for critique from more experienced users. An

example of constructive criticism from LPer Niggurath:

I really think this looks good in a visual sense, the problem is that you have a lot of

text on-screen and even outside the timing I think it's going to deter people from

trying to read out entire paragraphs worth of information.

(Niggurath 2012)

The instant-feedback format of these threads, and of the Let’s Play subforum in general,

calls to mind David Buckingham’s study of skateboarding videos. A youth subculture steeped

in self-awareness, technical skill and expressions of identity, Buckingham uses this

community to explore the ways in which participants engage in criticism and shared

narratives of fun and self-improvement. The style and skills on show echo closely Thornton’s

descriptions of cultural capital, as Buckingham describes skateboarding as ‘a co-operative

pursuit, in which participants themselves (rather than external authorities) define their own

criteria for judging excellence’ (Buckingham 2009). Just as in LP, there is a diverse range of

stylistic choices: videos can be ‘serious’ or produced for comedic value, with many video

producers seeking to establish their own unique ‘style’ or ‘signature’. Indeed, Buckingham’s

summary description of the ways in which skateboarding videos are received, disseminated

and critiqued by peers and fans alike is more than a little reminiscent of LP:



Through their online interactions, these video-makers are establishing and negotiating their

own aesthetic and stylistic conventions. They are using a variety of means and opportunities

to learn, both about technology and about the ‘language’ of video as a medium.

(Buckingham 2009)

This recalls Newman’s description of the ways in which demonstrations of superplay are

built:

All of these practices require great skill and commitment and involve meticulous planning

and the utilisation of…reference works that document the extent and scope of the game as

well as other documents and collaborative strategies that are devised and refined by gamers

reviewing and discussing each other’s work.

(Newman 2008: 123-4)

Also significant for Buckingham is the ways in which, in skateboarding videos,

Amateur practices overlap with the professional production and distribution of videos, to a

point where the distinction itself becomes quite blurred.

(Buckingham 2009)

The blurring of the amateur nature of a hobby such as LP with the professional production

values is demonstrated in an excessive amount of effort, research and even money invested

in the projects by some LPers. As previously described, “expert” LPs typically go above and

beyond a standard playthrough of a single game, incorporating a host of textual and

metatextual information in order to augment the experience for the viewer.



The commentary of many expert or 100% LPs – especially those with a single LPer providing

audio – can resemble that of a tour guide. More familiar and casual in language than the

standard imperative tones of the average walkthrough or FAQ (Newman 2008: 101), the

audience is led through the game experience by the LPer. When describing the actions of

the player character, overwhelmingly they are attributed to “us” ; this is embellished with

more direct gameplay advice typically phrased as “you should” or “you’ll want to”

suggestions. Occasionally, comments describing particular quirks or frustrations with the

LPer’s individual playthrough manifest as “I” statements. This is exemplified in one of the

most impressive early LPs, Jurassic Park: Trespasser (PC) by Research Indicates:

And the card reader is broken, so we’ve got to find another way to open this gate. Now on

the back of the sign there, we see a code: ‘1018’. But we need to realise it was probably put

there for a forgetful bus driver, who could look in their side mirror and see the code;

therefore we need to type it in backwards.

[Sound of T-Rex roaring; the screen shakes as it stomps the ground offscreen]

Did that T-Rex follow me all the way here? Christ Jesus, he’s right on the other side of the

bus. And as long as he’s shaking the damn world around, I can’t type in this code…let’s run

for it!

(Research Indicates 2008, ‘Level 5 – The Lab’)

Don’t waste your ammo on raptors who aren’t interested in fighting you. Don’t take on foes

bigger than you, and finally, when the environment presents itself with a defence against

pursuing dinosaurs, take advantage of it.

(‘Level 6 – The Ascent part 1’)



While this conversational tone is reminiscent of the “let us play” community-audience LP

style described in Chapter 2 – Trespasser is one of the most in-depth of the early batch of LP

projects – Research Indicates fills his commentary with interesting and useful facts,

strategies and metatextual information. This form of LP both fulfils and subverts Slowbeef’s

original description of the video format: the “player’s commentary” is offered in the same

way as a DVD director’s commentary, but instead of simply being “some jackass” with no

knowledge of the text’s development, LPers such as Research Indicates, Chip Cheezum and

Geop provide ‘critical and scholarly analysis’, similar to special DVD re-releases of older films

(Parker & Parker 2004: 14). This is also partially optional: several LPs feature the option of

“cut” or “uncut” commentary depending on whether or not the viewer wishes to hear the

LPer(s) talking over the game’s cinematic sequences and major plot events (General Ironicus

2012b).

Chip Cheezum’s LPs of the Metal Gear Solid games are notorious not only for their comedic

content (see Ligman 2011) but also for an excessive amount of time and effort put into

editing together disparate pieces of footage. His current (at the time of writing) LP of Metal

Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3) not only shows off every secret of the game and each

hidden enemy, but several possible gameplay strategies at once. For instance, Chip will

show a sequence in which Raiden (the protagonist of Rising) runs through an area, attacking

every enemy he meets. Then the video will “rewind”, accompanied by the sound of a VCR,

to a checkpoint, at which point it will “play” again and show a different sequence: Raiden

using stealth to bypass the fights. (This is added to more common “100%” editing tricks, in

which the LPer intercuts footage from different playthroughs in order to showcase, for

instance, every attack move a major enemy has.) This works to show off a far greater range



of gameplay options than a standard LP, and allows Chip to demonstrate his own capacity

for superplay, both in his considerable gameplay skills but also his technical expertise with

the technology of video editing. Chip and Ironicus also use their textual and metatextual

knowledge to comedic effect: one of the more infamous examples is their LP of 50 Cent:

Blood on the Sand (PS3). Described by Ironicus as “a game in which you play as [American

rapper] 50 Cent, and spill lots of blood on the sand”, the game plays out as a ridiculously

violent power fantasy. In one episode, Ironicus takes a break from the usual audio

commentary to read excerpts from American Apartheid (Massey & Denton 1994) discussing

misogyny in urban culture and rap music. The juxtaposition of his deadpan delivery with the

extreme violence onscreen climaxes with Chip remarking that, during his partner’s reading,

he “killed two hundred people” – the LP as a whole is now described on the pair’s YouTube

channel as ‘a fan favourite’.

Notably, several fans have cited a particularly successful LP as the reason for purchasing a

game for themselves (see Croshaw 2011). Indeed, with Supergreatfriend’s Deadly

Premonition LP, there are dozens of posts thanking him for bringing the game to their

attention, but also the television series Twin Peaks, by which the game’s production and

setting were heavily influenced (protagonist Francis York Morgan is particularly reminiscent

of Agent Dale Cooper). As such, the Deadly Premonition thread contains as much discussion

of the game itself as it does of Twin Peaks – appropriately, users are discouraged from

revealing plot twists from either text. On top of his 100% “expert” playthrough,

Supergreatfriend uses two interesting techniques to add novelty to his videos. During long,

repetitive combat sections, in order to keep the viewer’s attention, he pauses his own audio

commentary in favour of “LP Bot”, a computerised voice generated through a text-to-



speech program, which discusses theories surrounding the game’s supernatural murder

mystery plot. Another semi-regular feature takes place during the longer scenes in which

the player must drive across the town in which the game is set: during these drives, York is

often heard talking to his unseen companion “Zach” about their favourite movies, and so

Supergreatfriend offers reviews of these films in video format. This is not a simple display of

subcultural capital – he freely admits not being an expert in film, and not even

understanding titles such as Xanadu – but it does speak to the lengths to which

Supergreatfriend is willing to go in order to offer the most comprehensive Deadly

Premonition experience, as well as providing further topics for discussion within the LP’s

forum thread.

Another example of an LPer showcasing their metatextual knowledge of a game is Geop’s

LPs of Assassin’s Creed and its sequel. The games are set in an alternative history – the first

takes place in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, the second in Renaissance-era Italy.

As such, Geop uses his extensive knowledge and passion for history to not only discuss the

actual contemporary biographies, artefacts and historical events mentioned in-game (and

the inaccuracies, e.g. between the in-game historical figures and their actual real-world lives)

during the gameplay, but actually preface many videos with long documentary-style

descriptions of said historical information.

One of the most impressive uses of not just metatextual knowledge but the features

available with new media technologies is Kamoc’s 2011 LP of Silent Hill: Homecoming. While

on the surface his playthrough has all the hallmarks of the typical high-effort “expert” LP – a

100% completion, supplemental information in both thread posts and the text of the videos

themselves – enabling the ‘Annotations’ option on YouTube reveals a much more complex



construction. This feature allows viewers to click on hypertextual links within the videos –

usually manifesting as a clickable area overlaid onto an icon or post-video menu advertising

other uploads on the user’s channel. Kamoc uses this technology to construct his LP as a

“choose your own adventure” experience, with different choices on the part of the

individual YouTube viewer leading them along branching paths within each episode of the

LP. For example, one of the first choices appears in Kamoc’s introductory Homecoming

episode at a point where the protagonist is approached by the first direct threat in the game,

one of the series’ notorious “nurse” monsters. The video pauses and four choices appear

onscreen: ‘Offer to help the nice lady look for her pants’, ‘Knife fight!’, ‘Oh shit hide in a stall’

or ‘Run away’. Each choice takes the viewer to a different part of the video, in which the

chosen course of action is played through by Kamoc himself. Each “wrong” choice – options

which lead to the player character’s death – is shown in full, and an option to ‘return’ to the

previous choice or ‘continue’ along the correct path is displayed over the “Game Over”

screen.

In addition to this, Kamoc uses annotations to compartmentalise his metatextual

commentary. When a new monster, significant item or plot point arises, an icon appears in

the upper left; clicking it takes the viewer to a segment at the end of the video offering

relevant insight. After this segment, the viewer again has the option to return to the point at

which the icon was originally clicked. Also interesting is the fact that, while the vast majority

of Kamoc’s (and later fellow LPer Voidburger’s) commentary during Homecoming’s

gameplay is given through the use of subtitles, the metatextual segments are fully voiced

and even have their own background music. (This supplemental-video format was “stolen”

by Voidburger to augment her contemporaneous LP of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.) Not



only does this allow Kamoc as an LPer to showcase his subcultural capital in a concise,

scripted manner (often using a video montage of footage from other games or particularly

the Silent Hill movie), but by keeping this possibly distracting commentary away from the

gameplay itself, he accomplishes two things. Firstly, the atmosphere and authenticity of the

game experience are preserved uninterrupted. Second, and more significantly, the viewer

gets to select their own game experience and their own LP approach. A viewer who clicks

every annotation and watches through every possible recorded option and supplemental

segment will have a fundamentally different experience from one who engages only with a

single, straightforward subtitled playthrough and ignores all other distractions.

This is a much more involved and complex method of offering viewers different ways to

watch through an LP than the aforementioned “Dual Audio” setup, but both approaches are

symptomatic of a much wider cultural trend: the practice of personalised media (see

Sunstein 2009). Eli Pariser describes the ‘powerful allure’ of media personalisation as a tool

for filtering through the immense amount of information with which we as users and

consumers are bombarded (Pariser 2011: 10-11); he also asserts that it is a sometimes

invisible but always present factor in our experience of everyday life (13). However, while

Pariser mostly describes personalisation as a sinister and possibly deleterious new feature of

technology and consumerism, this pessimism is only partially applicable in these instances,

particularly Kamoc’s Homecoming LP. Discussing creativity, for example, he lists three key

ways in which the trend of personalisation (termed ‘the personal filter’ or ‘filter bubble’)

negatively impacts creative thought:

First, the filter bubble artificially limits the size of our “solution horizon” – the mental space

in which we search for solutions to problems.



(Pariser 2011: 94)

With viewer choice in LPs, I would argue that options are opened to the viewer where there

would otherwise be none. Instead of the wholly passive model where the audience simply

watches what is created, dual audio and particularly Kamoc’s “choose your own adventure”

format allow the individual audience member to make the conscious choice of what kind of

LP they want to watch.

Second, the information environment inside the filter bubble will tend to lack some of the

key traits that spur creativity. Creativity is a context-dependent trait…the contexts that

filtering creates aren’t the ones best suited to creative thinking.

On the one hand, this could apply to the genre of LP as a whole: instead of undertaking in

the skill challenges and problem-solving of an interactive game experience, the individual

chooses the more passive option of seeing it played for them. This links in with Pariser’s

third point:

Finally, the filter bubble encourages a more passive approach to acquiring information,

which is at odds with the kind of exploration that leads to discovery.

However, as we saw in the previous chapter, several LPs engage directly with their audience,

both in the videos themselves and the discussion surrounding them. With even the most

simplistic LPs in the Let’s Play Archive we can see a huge range of fanart, from manipulated

screenshots and comics to animations and even musical compositions . With more viewer

participation encouraged, LPs not only see a large amount of effort put into fan works, but

also drive users to become LPers themselves (veteran Something Awful LPer Diabetus first

became involved when sending Slowbeef advice on Super Metroid gameplay, for example).



General Ironicus in particular has championed the positive creative drive promoted by the

technical and social aspects of LP – in particular the Let’s Play subforum community:

LP is kind of a specific thing, but it can involve a huge number of skills. If I ever need

somebody to edit together and present a documentary I know a guy (or maybe two , okay at

least three) LPs get fanart all the time, so let’s look at one specific case. My friend Drakkel

made this [picture link] for his first D&D character, and this [picture link] a few months ago.

Art school probably had more to do with the improvement than LP did, but Let’s Plays have

been the constant source of inspiration he needs to practice his developing skills. Look at

our site’s design over the years to see how LP can push and inspire a graphic designer. Even

musicians get it on it.

(General Ironicus, 6th October 2012)

This paragraph alone is peppered with hypertext links to notable LP projects in the Let’s Play

Archive. It is creative output like this which, for many, is cultivated through the Something

Awful LP community much like the creativity and skills showcased in Buckingham’s skate

videos. The collaborative nature of much LP output indicates that these demonstrations of

superplay are not merely about self-aggrandisement and mastery (see Bainbridge & Yates

2010) but equally about self-improvement and sharing knowledge and advice with one’s

peers.



Chapter 4

Monetisation and Stagnation: The Rise of YouTube

Hello, my name is Stampy, and welcome to my small corner of the Internet. I make videos of

a bunch of different games and upload at least one Minecraft video every single day. I

always have fun when I make my videos and hopefully, if you decide to stick around, you will

too! Here is a short montage of some of the things I’ve been getting up to…

(Stampy 2013, ‘Stampy – Youtube Channel Trailer’)

In the previous chapters I have mainly discussed the community and projects of the Let’s

Play subforum on Something Awful. This is because, while LP was quickly adopted by other

gamers and spread to outside sites, it has not been until the past two or three years that

YouTube has become the dominant venue for LP and the home of its biggest “superstar”

content creators. In this final chapter I shall be discussing the schism between the

Something Awful and YouTube approach to LP, as well as interrogating the idea of the “LP

superstar” and the monetisation of LP content.

One of the most common criticisms of Something Awful as a messageboard is arguably what

makes it successful and enduring: unlike the vast majority of sites, particularly in this

modern age of social networking, it costs users $10 to register and be able to post in the

Something Awful forums, including the Let’s Play subforum. This, coupled with very direct

and sometimes draconian moderation and rule-enforcement, has led to Something Awful

gaining an “elitist” reputation (Zurschmitten 2012). This echoes Sherry Turkle’s depiction of

‘online cliques’: ‘characterised by its cruel wit, and you need to watch what you say. These



adolescent posts will remain online for a lifetime’ (Turkle 2011: 243). However, this is not

necessarily a reputation that is popular with the denizens of the Let’s Play subforum.

Slowbeef (2013) has described how the Let’s Play Sandcastle has unintentionally mutated

into a “gateway” for the subforum:

You shouldn’t have to post there before you want to post a thread on SA [Something

Awful] …There is sort of a culture in Let’s Play now where people kind of tend to say “Okay,

uh, here’s your problems with your video” – and if you just post a thread, “You should have

gone back to the Sandcastle and done it” – which I don’t like, because it’s like, you pay your

ten bucks, you’re allowed to post here.

(Retsutalk episode 29: ‘Live from Twitch II’)

He does, however, note that “the one blanket rule on SA is that if you’re funny, you get to

break all the rules” – exemplified in the small number of casual, low-effort LPs which

nonetheless have garnered much positive attention in the subforum, such as Maxpkmf’s

Doom LP or Wateyad and Pork Lift’s take on Final Fantasy XIII.

However, other LPers and commentators have opined that the restrictive ‘elitism’ of the site

is in fact the gateway to an invigorating community experience, particularly when compared

to less discussion-driven sites like YouTube:

The subforum has interaction, rules, audience input, and constant feedback. People who do

their work for the Youtube audience don’t have that, even though the audience is much

larger. Youtube is simply a hosting service and doesn’t have the structure of a message

board. It’s like keeping your sangria on the kitchen table instead of in a pitcher because the

bigger surface holds more; the boundaries are what make it work in the first place.




Game critic and writer Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, whose subcultural fame within gaming

began with creating LPs in the Let’s Play subforum, describes the site’s paywall as ‘about as

effective a shithead filtration system as you could ask for, really’. Like Ironicus, he cites the

community’s ‘strict rules for posting’ and an emphasis ‘on good technical quality’ as being a

potential inspiration to aspiring LP producers, and like many he reiterates the differences

between Something Awful and YouTube LP:

[These rules] might seem a little restrictive, but it's a damn sight better than the alternative,

which is the Let's Play community on YouTube. As is always the case with YouTube, and

perhaps the internet in general, its biggest detriment is its complete lack of quality control

and community of yes-men who are prepared to give mindless praise to anything that

doesn’t make their monitors explode.

(Croshaw 2011)

However, it is not just those rooted in the Something Awful community who have noted this

opposition. Sandvoss describes how ‘In fandom, as in other areas of everyday life, place

remains a fundamental point of reference’ (Sandvoss 2005: 66) [Italics mine]. So it is with LP:

there is a conspicuous schism between LP projects with their origin in the Let’s Play

subforum of Something Awful on one hand, and the ubiquitous YouTube “LP superstars”

and their imitators on the other. YouTube LPer MegamanNG, for instance, laments the

trajectory of Let’s Play on the video hosting site:

You know how YouTube is nowadays, right – always focusing more on the popular,

well-known people instead of smaller users.



(2013, Retsutalk episode 29)

If I was president of YouTube, I would make sure everyone gets a fair chance at being well-

known and being famous, because with YouTube it has to be a democracy – not a

dictatorship.

(2013, ‘Cave Story + Hard Mode Day 5: MegaJose Story+ (With CherryDoom!)’)

Indeed, through YouTube’s “partner” system, successful video creators can earn hundreds

of thousands of dollars through ad revenue and a steady stream of content. One of the most

significant recent phenomena in terms of YouTube content is the rise of large “multi -

channel networks” (MCNs), outlined by journalist Stuart Dredge:

MCNs are driving rapid growth for their stables of YouTubers, with subscriptions becoming

an ever-more-important spur for views on the service. YouTube has made a number of

changes in the last year to put more emphasis on channels and subscriptions rather than just

individual videos. YouTube now attracts more than 1bn unique users a month, who watch

more than 6bn hours of video – with 1m channel creators currently earning money from ads

placed around their videos through the YouTube Partner Programme.

(Dredge 2013)

He describes two of the most popular YouTube LPers and their respective MCNs: the

Swedish “LP superstar” PewDiePie (whose YouTube channel is now the most-subscribed

since the site began, with over fifty million views) is part of Maker Studios, and

SkyDoesMinecraft (35.5 million views, the third most-watched channel on the site) is

affiliated with Machinima.



As one can infer from the title of his channel, SkyDoesMinecraft primarily produces LPs of

the PC game Minecraft and its various user-created mods. The majority of his videos are

casual playthroughs of the game, done in multiplayer with live commentary from Sky

himself and the other people playing with him. On the surface it might seem surprising that

a channel could become so popular with such a small niche of content production, but in

fact Minecraft is one of the most popular independent games (if not games full-stop) of all

time (Plunkett 2011). As General Ironicus describes, the Let’s Play-ability of Minecraft is

itself a red herring:

Your character is alone in a wilderness without order, unable to see their own feet, and you

forge ahead doing whatever you please, building a lonely society out of tree blocks. Youtube

has literally millions of videos, some with literally millions of views, of people playing

Minecraft for the internet. There’s no narrative to experience, no plot twists or charming

characters for people to discuss, and no abusable mechanics for speedruns. It’s just one

person with a pixelated pickaxe and an audience larger than the population of New York City.

Each Minecraft world is randomly generated, so viewers aren’t even connecting on a level of

shared experience, at least not very specific experiences.


Imbued with the power of absolute creative freedom, it is no wonder that LPers of all stripes

have taken to Minecraft to flex their imaginations for an audience. PewDiePie tackled the

game early on in his LP career, and the accessibility of Minecraft makes it a go-to canvas for

solo and multiplayer play. If one is concerned with documenting a game’s ‘ludic strategies’,

as Newman puts it, then it is hard to find a more diverse set of in-game possibilities –

especially since the game is so easy to modify to create new enemies, crafting materials,



mechanics and even storylines. Minecraft has thus become, to many, a prerequisite for

success as a YouTube LPer – exemplifying this is Stampy, quoted at the start of this chapter,

who promises his audience “at least one Minecraft video every single day”. As such, it has

become the go-to game for content creators within the sphere of “gamer culture” as a

whole to dip their toes into the world of LP. Rooster Teeth, famous for their Halo fan series

Red Versus Blue, have incorporated Minecraft into their repertoire as a way of providing

unscripted group entertainment for fans. Other game reviewers such as PeanutButterGamer

and JonTron have produced their own Minecraft series, which are among the most popular

on the former’s “PBGGameplay” LP channel. The latter has been, until recently, part of the

LP duo Game Grumps, which I shall address later.

One of the most important rules of the Let’s Play subforum that sets it apart from YouTube

is the “three month rule”, which stipulates that an LP of a new game must not be posted

until three months after release. This is in deliberate contrast to the ubiquity of “day-one

LPs” (Slowbeef 2013) on YouTube, in which an LPer acquires a new game on the day of

release and records a blind run to be uploaded on the very same day. As Slowbeef describes,

this is often seen as a cynical ploy for popularity and attention:

I think some Let’s Players want to show off their first-time experience with a copy of the

game, but I get a weird feeling…that some people do it because they want to come up in the

YouTube search results. They say like, “I don’t really have an interest in Game X, but if I play

it, people will find me because they’re looking for that game”.

(2013, Retsutalk episode 29)

In fact, this practice is now so widespread that occasionally games are recorded by LPers

before their official release dates. For example, when PewDiePie uploaded footage of



himself playing the then-unreleased Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, the game’s development

team The Chinese Room voiced concerns:

In terms of things like the release of pewdiepie’s footage of #aamfp – this has nothing to do

with us. We weren’t involved in any way.

I’d actively say to fans to NOT WATCH IT. It contains spoilers and may wreck the immersion

and atmosphere. We weren’t part of that decision.

(Tweeted 29th August 2013)

PewDiePie in fact ended up taking down the video after contacting The Chinese Room

himself (despite contesting their decision, stating that the game’s publishers, Frictional

Games, had given him permission). This could be seen as a shrewd move, since PewDiePie

gained much of his fame through his incredibly popular LP of the first Amnesia game –

enough that his videos are (echoing Slowbeef’s above description) the first search results for

‘amnesia’ on YouTube. However, despite occasional upsets, day-one LP is alive and well on

YouTube, and particularly popular – for example, German LPer Gronkh uploaded footage of

himself playing Saints Row IV on release day, and within one week the LP videos were

nearing a combined total of twenty million views.

One of the most noticeable trends in YouTube LP is how certain games are played over and

over again by different LPers. On the face of it, this is often a clear attempt to piggyback off

the success of a prominent LPer’s playthrough of a game with one of their own; however

outside of the privileged few LP superstars with six-figure subscriber counts and MCN

salaries these attempts often fall victim to diminishing returns , both in quality and viewer

count. Despite this, it is common for commenters on YouTube to specifically request games



such as Happy Wheels or Amnesia: The Dark Descent because of their enjoyment of other

LPers’ videos of these games. One can draw parallels with the popularity of cover songs in

music, in which an artist records their own vers ion of a previously-released track in order to

gain more popularity than with their own original but less well-known material (see

Plasketes 2010).

Addressing both this and the differences between the YouTube and Something Awful

approach to LP, Croshaw describes what he sees as the problems inherent in the scramble

for video site popularity:

But I think the problem with YouTube LPs is that most of them seem to think LP should be

about the person commentating rather than the game. They all seem to play the same titles

(honestly, how many times can anyone watch Super Mario World being played), have little

editing and effect desperate attempts at hilarious personas in order to attract more

subscribers, the most valuable currency of YouTube. SA, I find, encourages its users to see LP

more as a hobbyist’s roundtable discussion about the games themselves.

(Croshaw 2011)

One of the more important aspects that Croshaw addresses here is the online persona.

Cultivated organically over time or deliberately mapped out from the start of their posting

career, several LPers brand themselves in much the same way as Buckingham’s

skateboarders. With the Internet granting users the ability to regulate what kind of persona

they display to their peers and audience (Chernev et al. 2011: 66), it is not surprising that

LPers regulate and cultivate their own ostensibly unique brand identity, in order to stand

out from the crowd (and paradoxically to make themselves more potentially marketable to

a mass audience). One of the more obvious facets of this branding is a short introductory



segment at the beginning of each video on a channel, often including a title card with a logo

for the LPer(s). Other recurring jokes, catchphrases and play style itself can become part of

this brand, and thus marketable intellectual property that can, as we shall see below, be

monetised.

One of the most common “branded” LP personas is that of the LP group. There exist several

LP groups, some now defunct, but many still active. Often they name themselves, such as

the Freelance Astronauts or the aforementioned Tipping Forties; others are assumed to be

part of the group through inference and prior projects – Pokecapn’s LPs almost exclusively

involve him and his friends, but they have no formal group moniker. These partnerships

often manifest as simple two-person player/sidekick pairings: for example, in the duo of

Chip & Ironicus, Chip Cheezum takes the dominant “expert” role while General Ironicus acts

as the inexperienced learner, often playing the part of audience surrogate. In the case of

Chip & Ironicus, the partnership is so well-established (they have been creating LPs since

2008) that in the occasion that Chip embarks on a project solo (or in the case of his Metal

Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker LPs, with co-commentators who are not

Ironicus) there is inevitably some discontent from fans who had hoped to see and hear more

from the two as a partnership. Arguably the most famous LP group to rise to prominence

recently is Game Grumps. Comprised of animator Arin “Egoraptor” Hanson and game

reviwer Jon “JonTron” Jafari (the latter has now left and been replaced with Dan Avidan, a

decision which was met with ‘mixed feelings’ among fans (Hoffecker 2013)), the pair

released a steady stream of LP videos, promising to play any game that fans sent in.

However, this not only led to almost none of the games they tackled coming close to

completion, but a clear stagnation in the quality of their output. With such a high volume of



LP footage, like many big-name YouTube LPers their most popular videos are “greatest hits”

compilations – particularly with Game Grumps, there exist many fan animations (and

animations by Egoraptor himself), in which audio is taken from the original LP video and

then set to an original animation. Several YouTube LPers use these highlight reels and

montages to act as introductions to their channels on the site, such as PewDiePie (‘A Funny

Montage’) and Stampy, mentioned above.

One of the more widespread and popular tropes in YouTube LP is the scarecam: a recording

of the LPer’s face added to the videos so that the audience can see their live reactions to the

game. The use of scarecams is an easy and often effective way to increase the personal

connection between the LPer and their fanbase, as well as provide an “authentic” view of

the player during gameplay (or in the case of Vicas’s Super Mario 64 LP, to prove that he

was actually using his feet to play). Being able to see the player’s reactions in real time

particularly increases the visceral thrill of a horror game, since vicarious feelings of threat

are a very potent psychological phenomenon and can even translate to the viewer feeling

at-risk themselves (Beckes et al. 2012: 675-6). But positive emotions are also more easily

translated. Beckes, Coan and Hasselmo’s recent study on the psychology of empathy

describes how ‘familiarity involves the inclusion of the other into the self - that from the

perspective of the brain, our friends and loved ones are indeed part of who we are’ (676). It

follows then that those whose content we love – the objects of our fandom, whose personal

identity is merged with their branded output – are similarly meshed into our identity. In a

genre like Let’s Play, the desire for audience engagement is a transparent and persistent

one – LPers, particularly on YouTube, call on viewers to “like and subscribe” and leave



comments. The practice is so common that it is often done ironically or excessively by LPers

such as Game Grumps:

Egoraptor: Tweet, like, subscribe, favorite and MySpace us... if you know–

JonTron: If you know Gilmore Girls... like, favorite and subscribe if you know what Gilmore

Girls is.

(2013, ‘Sonic ’06: Buggy Buggy – PART 43 – Game Grumps’)

Since one of the motivations of empathy is when ‘one knows that the other person is the

source of one’s own affective state’ (de Vignement and Singer in Beckes et al. 2012: 670),

this transparent call for attention and involvement may act in a self-fulfilling way: the

audience see the LPer as willing to engage (however half-heartedly) with viewer feedback,

and so they are encouraged to leave feedback and thus (ideally) be responded to in kind.

However, one of the main sticking points with audience affection and viewer empathy is the

issue of authenticity. As Thornton notes, ‘nothing depletes capital more than the sight of

someone trying too hard’ (Thornton 1995: 12), and several LPers are criticised for “faking”

their reactions to games, particularly those who use scarecams such as PewDiePie (and

TobyGames, whose style is nearly identical). Zurschmitten describes a ‘paradox’ in LP:

That being, to evoke, in a manner as professional as possible, the pretense of being

unprofessional, which is still the life force of Let's Play. The high standard of delive ring a

professional product but also to sound like the nice guy from next door is a big challenge.

(Zurschmitten 2012)



I would argue that the widespread use of highlight compilations on YouTube LP channels is a

way of emboying both sides of this coin: the long-form LP videos are where the

unprofessional amateurism can be showcased, but packaging “greatest hits” montages adds

a more professional veneer to the channel’s brand, in effect advertising the LPer’s output

through editing out what could be “dead air”. However, the content of the output itself can

often come under fire for its supposed inauthenticity and pandering (General Ironicus

2012d). PewDiePie has been a particular target for such criticism, owing to both his fame

(Drudge 2013) and his style of gameplay. As General Ironicus describes, PewDiePie’s output

is tailor-made for a specific and multitudinous audience:

His childish persona is the secret. His fans are admitted kids, just entering the period where

they first face responsibility and consequences for their actions… Meanwhile the little box in

the corner shows a guy who can do whatever the fuck he wants and nothing happens. He

screeches like a banshee with its balls in a vise but mom never tells him to turn the racket

down. He can tell people something’s a joke even when it isn’t and they still laugh

anyway…the camera does increase the emotional connection. He also gets to pull faces

without the consequences of looking like a spaz, cementing his appeal….Living the

consequence-free life resonates with children and the childish.


Indeed, PewDiePie maintains a happy-go-lucky, ‘consequence-free’ persona and brand. In

2012 he was publically criticised on Slowbeef’s ‘Retsuprae’ channel by a collaborative video

that called out his style as “obnoxious” and his apparent terror at the horror games he LPs

(particularly the Amnesia series, as mentioned above) as a “gimmick”. In particular, the

video (entitled ‘Adults React To PewDiePie’) was overtly critical of PewDiePie’s constant use



of rape jokes, defusing the hyperactive comedy intended by his videos by replacing the

scarecam of his face with footage of other YouTube and Something Awful users and Let’s

Players (including Slowbeef himself) reacting less receptively. Ironicus continues along this

vein:

That’s the genius of “Adults React…”. It rips the lid off that safe space of gleeful idiocy and

exposes it to the sun. What could have been a fan’s highlight reel becomes a devastatingly

effective critique as soon as you put someone shaking their head in the corner. Welcome to

reality, where screaming like an idiot gets you treated like an idiot….you can’t treat the word

rape like punctuation.

Despite the ‘Adults React’ video causing a major fan backlash on both sides of the argument,

PewDiePie’s response attempted to apologise for the insensitivity of making light of rape

with ‘insensitive jokes’. However, many saw his apology video as an empty gesture:

PewDiePie is trying to make a sincere dialogue with his fans in “I’m Sorry” to tell them he is

not doing this for money.

THEN HE RAN ADS ON THE APOLOGY VIDEO….

The “I’m sorry” video was totally unnecessary. He doesn’t really apologize, and it’s really

more to control the damage done by his poorly-worded (nice?) comeback to us. Really, all it

did was relight a fire that was already well on its way out.

(Slowbeef, 18th January 2013b)

Slowbeef’s evaluation of the debacle hinges around the issue of whether or not PewDiePie

is ‘in it for the money’ – that is, offering an inauthentic persona under the guise of

Zurschmitten’s ‘nice guy from next door’ while betraying his own cynicism. Scott (2013) cites



verisimilitude as being one of the cornerstones of authentic performance – ‘whereby they

embod[y]…the life, humanity or personality of their character’ (2013: 98). When this

performance starts to slip into stagnation, as is the case with PewDiePie. Returning to

Thornton, he crosses the line from authenticity into ‘trying too hard’.

However, the monetisation of LP more broadly is gaining momentum. Slowbeef himself has

used his ‘Retsuprae’ brand for monetary purposes (Zurschmitten 2012), though there is

nowhere near the advertising push and branded fandom that LP superstars like PewDiePie

or Game Grumps display. Both channels sell items such as shirts and smartphone cases

based on established catchphrases – the former using fan-submitted pictures, the latter

using the lyrics of their channel’s theme song and Egoraptor’s own artwork.

Borderline narcissism! Bonus deal! We’re getting half the deal for twice the price! Can you

believe the amount of asinine things we’re saying?...Never ever have you ever seen such an

amazing shirt.

(Egoraptor 2013, ‘NEW ‘Hey I’m Grump’ & ‘Not So Grump’ Tees!!’)

When it comes to turning LP from a hobby into a career, however, YouTube content

producers have been less successful. As Zurschmitten (2012) notes, it is still difficult for

LPers to profit off their videos without corporate sponsorship – in recent years, major

games companies such as Sega and Nintendo have cracked down on LP videos containing

their copyrighted content, with the latter specifically claiming the videos’ advertising

revenue (Cowan 2013). At the same time, though, smaller developers have begun to partner

with big-name LPers in order to drum up publicity for their newer titles (Ligman 2011). The

issue of copyright and ownership of LP output is still fraught, since LP is, in essence, building



one’s own content on the foundation of existing intellectual property. And unlike fan fiction,

where names of characters and settings can be changed in order to qualify a text as

‘original’, it is nearly impossible to separate the LP from the game.



Conclusion

Even now, there are new trends and innovations pulling Let’s Play in different directions.

The launch of Twitch TV, a streaming site specifically designed for live broadcast of

gameplay footage, has in many ways offered more serious LPers a chance to recapture the

casual amateurism of the early days. As gaming technology itself shifts away from

designated home consoles onto mobile devices, the ways in which we play games are

rapidly evolving, and LP will evolve with them.

While I have covered a great many topics relating to the world of Let’s Play in this

dissertation, I am highly conscious that I have only scratched the surface of theoretical

possibility. As I stated at the beginning of my discussion, this broad approach has been

necessary in order to showcase the vast array of sociological, cultural and psychological

phenomena associated with LP itself, as well as content producers and their fans. One of the

recurring themes of my analysis has been that no single existing framework is sufficient for

exploring this topic; however, the practises involved in LP can be scrutinised through a

number of different lenses. Whether one subscribes to Turkle’s notion of ‘online cliques’,

Sandvoss and Jenkins’ more optimistic theories of fan participation, or Newman’s ‘superplay’

and archives – or even rejects all of these – Let’s Play is a fascinating, underappreciated

phenomenon. I hope that my project here has gone some way towards making the case for

its exploration.



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______Partial translation by “Simply Simon” in ‘State of Let’s Play’ – Something Awful Forums.



Let’s Play Videography

Brainamp:

Bioshock – http://lparchive.org/Bioshock/

CannibalK9:

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – http://speeddemosarchive.com/GrandTheftAutoSA.html

Chip Cheezum:

Metal Gear Solid – http://lparchive.org/Metal-Gear-Solid/

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – http://chipandironicus.com/videos/mgr/

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand – http://lparchive.org/50-Cent-Blood-on-the-Sand/

Game Grumps: http://www.youtube.com/user/GameGrumps

Geop:

Assassin’s Creed – http://lparchive.org/Assassins-Creed/

Assassin’s Creed 2 – http://lparchive.org/Assassins-Creed-II/

Gronkh:

Saints Row IV - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGWGc5dfbzn9-

TUuzeneocR8cflsH8wHh



Kamoc:

Silent Hill: Homecoming – http://lparchive.org/Silent-Hill-Homecoming/

Maxpkmf:

Doom – http://lparchive.org/Doom/

Niggurath:

9: Last Resort; Bad Day on the Midway – http://lparchive.org/9-Last-Resort/

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

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

Pokecapn:

Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 – http://lparchive.org/Sonic-The-Hedgehog-2006/

Research Indicates:

Jurassic Park: Trespasser – http://lparchive.org/Jurassic-Park-Trespasser/

SkyDoesMinecraft: http://www.youtube.com/user/SkyDoesMinecraft?feature=watch

Slowbeef:

Cave Story – http://www.youtube.com/user/slowbeef/videos

The Immortal – http://lparchive.org/The-Immortal/

Metroid Prime – http://lparchive.org/Metroid-Prime/

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes – http://lparchive.org/Metroid-Prime-2-Echoes/

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption – http://lparchive.org/Metroid-Prime-3-Corruption/

Super Metroid – http://lparchive.org/Super-Metroid/

Stampy:

Minecraft – http://www.youtube.com/user/stampylonghead?feature=watch

Tipping Forties:

Goldeneye 007 – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2167C27A8C6A68DD

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

Vicas:

Super Mario 64 – http://lparchive.org/Super-Mario-64-%28With-Feet%29/



Wateyad:

Final Fantasy XIII – http://lparchive.org/Final-Fantasy-XIII/

from jackasses to superstars: a case for the study of “let’s play” (september 2013)

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