There has been a lot of static on YouTube about "Let's Play" videos, especially when it comes to Nintendo and their haste in issuing content strikes. Analyze the form of "Let's Play" videos, and offer an opinion of whether they are worthwhile original content, or just a more elaborate form of capitalizing on someone else's work.
Possibly talk about the origins of the Let's Play. This is not a new format, there was Mystery Science Theater 3000 and MTV shows riffing on music videos in the 90's. – Adam8 years ago
And if they are an elaborate form of capitalizing on someone else's work, what then? Elaborate on why that is wrong, or not as meaningful as something more original. – luminousgloom8 years ago
Everyone's masterpiece are in fact not authentic. Even if you admit or not. There's a source for it and that source doesn't come from you. – droy8 years ago
I believe it depends on how the format is presented. And honestly, most children, teens, or even adults could get excited over a game based on seeing their favorite online gamer play the game. But in the context, I'd say it is Copyright Infringement-ish, yet the Let's Plays often lead to more sales for the games and/or consoles for a specific industry.
– Analyzion8 years ago
It would server the author to look into both fair use and transformative works with regards to copyright law. Andy Warhol makes an interesting case study for this sort of thing. – John Wells8 years ago
What is entertaining about watching someone else play a video game? It doesn't really compare to any other form of media, but we're still addicted to watching. What aspects of these videos make them entertaining?
One could look at different reasons, and then perhaps analyse further. One example might be the interactivity of games and our attraction to power and the unknown. How have games changed to become more interactive over time, and how has this impacted our ability to focus on things that aren't, such as TV shows with commercials, youtube ads, or movies in the theatre? – kathleensumpton9 years ago
It would also be worth exploring the diversity among Let's Play-ers. How do their techniques vary and how does this effect their popularity? What are some doing that other aren't? What are the results of this new genre of entertainment and is it on the rise? How did it come about? What platforms do they utilize? (i.e. streaming on Twitch, YouTube, etc.) Are they being paid/sponsored? What is that like? --much of this may go towards background info for those readers unaware of this branch of entertainment. – eadewaard9 years ago
This topic was covered in a rather controversial manner with Jimmy Kimmel about a month ago, and how he didn't understand it. There was lots of backlash from the gamer community, but he eventually met up with some well-known Let's Players, and discussed it civilly with them. There are also different types of Let's Play, the Twitch Plays series is rather unique in it's approach of having multiple players choose the actions for one character in a game. It's an interesting topic to be sure, and there are many different avenues to go forward with, it might be good to focus on one singular aspect of the Let's Play phenomenon by itself, whether it be for a style of Let's Play, a game that has seen lots of Let's Play videos done on it, a really well-known Let's Player, or even the history of this relatively recent fad on the internet. The possibilities are endless. – SilentProtagonist9 years ago