Feel like making a let's play

Never made one before and I'm not sure which game I should start with. I want to do a SNES game, I think, but it seems like most of the 'good' SNES games are saturated with L Ps. So what game do you think I should do? Stuff to bear in mind is...

• I'm not a comedic performer. I can be a funny guy, but don't think I could consistently make sustained, genuinely funny comments about a game that I was broadcasting. I can do informative, though.

• I'm not of god-like skill. I can play games, but don't expect a playthrough of a game whose difficulty is second to IWBTG.

• I don't want to do a game that's been done hundreds of times, but I do want a game with enough good content to comment on.

• I would like to do a SNES game, but anything I can run on an emulator is cool, I guess (gameboy etc)

You should LP Drahken II or failing that, Arcana.

Both those games look intriguing, actually...

Maybe try a game that you could run under DOS Box?

I would recommend grabbing a friend you can do the Straight Man and Wise Guy routine with. Maybe it's just me, but I found it far easier to do a running commentary when I have someone there that I can make jokes with and bounce questions off of.

Yeah, it seems easier to collaborate, though I've never done it myself. It's tricky for a solo LPer to find enough things to say. You'll never run out of conversation with a friend.

Is there any one game you just itch to show other people? Like if you have a gamer friend over and you go, "Oh my goodness, you have to play this game." Maybe it's your favorite game or a quirky game that freaked you out as a kid or a little-known game that you love. If you can think of such a game, LP it. It'll be easier to find things to say about the game. And it lets you focus on the other stuff that challenges a first-time LPer, like setting up the equipment and editing the video.

Don't fret about choosing a common game. There's a super-chill Super Mario World LP by FamousGhosts that weaves in Electrical Beast-style fanfiction, and it's fresh even though there are a million other Super Mario World LPs. It helps to show off an obscure game, but if you can show off something unique in a common game, go ahead.

No point in evading popular games just 'cause you feel they've been done to death and back. Fresh commentary is always nice.

I enjoy watching LP's of any kind, so long as the player has something to say. It doesn't even have to be especially funny. Besides, you might discover that other people think you're plenty funny, even if you don't feel that way yourself. (I have a couple of friends that've been nagging me to do an LP for ages, claiming watching me play was too funny to go unnoticed by the world at large. Which is mostly due to the fact that I love gaming, but am utterly horrible at anything that's not a puzzle or an RPG. Most recent example (last week) was my friend watching me scream at the screen while trying to play The Hitckhiker's Guide text-based adventure. She said I used some fairly interesting insults that even she's never heard of.) The point is, you shouldn't think too much about what the people watching you will say - there's always someone, somewhere who thinks you're fantastic.

Anywaaay... TL;DR Don't be afraid to do an LP, pick a game you love for starter's (if it was me, I'd go with Kirby or Zelda) and just have fun.

Star Fox (1 or 2)

I also recommend Seiken Densetsu 3 or Secret Of Evermore.

edited 11th Mar '11 7:01:40 PM by Schitzo

Besides 2 people doing it together, I also really like Blind Let's Plays. The big L Pers always seem to do games that they know, but I find it interesting watching a person play a game for the first time.

Pilotwings LP!

^ :}

EVEN BETTER: The Twisted Tales of Spike Mc Fang!

You can always do post-gameplay commentary. That way you can take the time to come up with something clever or informative to say afterwards, and focus on playing while recording.

I did post-comm for my Super Mario Kart LP (for the rather sheepish reason of not wanting the in-computer mic to pick up my keyboard pecking) and live commentary for my Pilotwings LP (after I got a real mic). They both have their perks. Live is more spontaneous and it also lets your commentary inform your gameplay, rather than only vice versa. Like if you're LPing with a friend and he asks you what happens if you use attack X on enemy Y, you can actually try it out in gameplay. Post-commentary can be more polished though and it's easier to record. It eases video cuts too. My Golden Sun glitches video (not a Let's Play but the same idea) splices three clips together; recording post-commentary lets me run a narrative across all three rather than have several awkward goodbye-helloagain transitions. This type of thing could be used for an RPG with lots of random battles you don't want to show. Do the gameplay first, cut the crap in WMM or iMovie or whatever, then talk over the cleaner, shorter video.

edited 12th Mar '11 4:36:13 PM by Longfellow

You can try those Let's Plays that replace the main protagonist with someone silly (like the Author Avatar of Ayn Rand from Atlas Shrugged leading Jagged Alliance mercs into battle).

Live A Live would be a good game to LP.

...I've actually been thinking of doing a screenshot thing, but laziness.

So what did you decide? Did you start your Let's Play?

A bit late to the party, but here's my two cents.

• You don't have to worry too, too much about making jokes. It's generally a better idea to be informative and throw in the occasional joke than to sputter about trying to make jokes all the time.
• Sometimes it can be a neat experience to play a game that is a bit more difficult than you are accustomed to. Not too much more difficult, but a bit above where you'd normally say "this is hard enough."
• Have you taken a look at the SNES' main competitor, the Sega Genesis/Megadrive? There are quite a few good games on there and it'd be similar in graphical style to the SNES. The Shining Force games or maybe Landstalker would be a good choice.
• Failing that, if you're absolutely dead-set on doing an SNES game (I know it says you could do anything on an emulator, but you seem to really want an SNES game), it might be a good idea to give out a little more information, maybe a genre or developer to help us narrow it down.

Unrelated to the OP: Longfellow, your voice is audio chocolate.

Seconding this. I could listen to his voice for hours on end.

Thanks guys :}

Suddenly gets the urge to do a complete recording of sonic 3 and knuckles.