YouTube Gaming, with or without commentary?

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I haven't been around here in a long time. For many reasons. Anyway, I'm curious about how playing video games in YouTube is done best. Are playthroughs better with or without commentary? I'm trying to start a gaming channel, and I guess this may have been asked around here before, I don't really know, but I thought maybe I could do various gameplay videos based on what people here are interested in. I don't really have much else to do these days.
Well that brings to me that main point of my post, are gaming videos better with or without commentary? I want to do a little of both. Would anyone like to join me in making these videos? I have one uploading to my new channel now. I hope I'm not asking too much. I have a Steam account and I'd like to meet some people to play games with.
I just hope I don't sound like a broken record here. I just don't know what else to do.
Here's a link to the new Channel. Not much to see yet.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmh-X5 ... 1vYZSjh8Ew

It depends. There's no definitive answer.

I'm not much of a gamer outside of PC point-and-click adventure games, so whenever there's a game that has an interesting story but I'm unlikely to play because I'm simply not good at the genre (survival horror, mostly; they have good stories, but I suck at playing them), I'll watch a commentary-free playthrough simply to follow the plot, sort of like I'm watching a long movie.

As far as actual walkthrough commentaries which tell you how to play the game, I've never needed them. I grew up playing games in the pre-YouTube era, back when hint lines and strategy guides were still a thing. If ever I needed a walkthrough, I just consult GameFAQs.

As far as comedic commentaries a la Game Grumps, Markiplier, 2 Best Friends, etc., I'm all for it, but the focus is less on the game and more on the commentator, and in that case you really do have to be funny and charismatic. There are so many wannabe comedy Let's Players on YouTube and some of them can be really bad.

That's just my opinion, though. The real point is doing what you want to do.

My suggestion is simple: Look around Youtube and watch a bunch of similar things yourself, and then decide what to do.

If you do that, dont just stick to the big guys... the super well-known ones like Markiplier can be very entertaining and hilarious, but they sure arent the only ones out there. Look for some smaller ones as well. Markiplier is one of my own favorites, as is 2 that arent super huge, Deceased Crab and One F Jef. Very entertaining. I actuallys subscribe to alot of LPers, as it's the main thing I watch, since movies and TV these days bore the heck outta me.

Not all LPs are about pure comedy as Markiplier's is. Something like Deceased Crab's stuff, yeah, he's gonna stick some funny stuff in there, but he'll also do alot of talking about the game itself and it's mechanics, and explaining what's going on in complicated situations. So there's more focus on the game instead of JUST on the commentator.

And of course some of them are the sort that's more about explaining how to get through the game, and stuff like that... very low on the comedy, very high on the advice. And it IS possible to have a video that's got all three; comedy, proper focus on the game, and explanation and hints. One of my favorites is CaptainSparklez, one of the big guys, does Minecraft videos. He's got a pretty calm style, really gets "into" the game, never swears or gets angry, and you never know just what kinds of hilarious moments might happen next. A very good style, to me.

So, there's alot of different styles. Personally, I always go for commentary, because while watching the game is definitely interesting... and a huge part of the point of it... the commentary adds to the experience. BUT, this only works if the LPer is enthusiastic about what they're doing. I dont mean that you have to shout alot like Markiplier and such, you can definitely tone it down a bit, but the basic rule is, if YOU arent having obvious fun, neither is your audience. There's a reason why someone like Markiplier is as huge in Youtube as he is; the guy is super-enthusiastic about everything he does, and is genuinely having a good time with whatever game he's in. As opposed to some LPers that get REALLY ANGRY all the time. Which just leads to an endless litany of swearing. Which is tiresome.

Non-commentary vids, I dont really go for. I'll put some out myself, typically replays of shmup runs, but often when I do a video, it's got commentary.

The hard part: Getting subscribers. I have no idea how to do this. I've got about 200 myself... who knows how many of those actually watch stuff I put out... but every now and then, a video I put out will sort of.... explode. I did one of Binding of Isaac, which was basically just a couple of minutes long, and showed a particularly hilarious and aggravating failure moment against the final boss at the time, followed by footage of Yosimite Sam jumping up and down and yelling alot, to demonstrate my level of frustration. This video got way over 100,000 views. And the COMMENTS. They just kept coming. They STILL come. I put the damn thing up a few years ago. They still come ANYWAY. How the heck does anyone even FIND the stupid vid? I seriously have no clue. I never figured it out.

The OTHER part: Choosing games to play. You can play "major" games if you want, but keep in mind that with those, you're essentially up against the "big guys", who are probably playing the same games, since they're the sort of games that your average gamer actually knows about. Markiplier does this, as is proper for a channel as huge as his. Wheras DC tends to do alot of games from older consoles, and Jef does alot of indie games and random PC stuffs... neither of them touches the "big" games, they just do whatever in the heck they feel like doing. Which to me, is the best way to do it.

But yeah, you gotta figure it out for yourself. Dont pick a style just because it's the popular thing... find out what YOU want to do, and then do it.


Also, Steam, you should be able to find at least a few people on here to add on there. I am Misery on there myself, same avatar image as I'm using here (as I'm not the only one using that name). Feel free to add me if you want. I tend to play alot of indie titles myself though I'm usually willing to try most things that arent FPS games.

Without. I hate commentaries. Too many people with their obnoxious voices, lack of knowledge about the game, cursing like sailors, talking over dialogue, making disgusting and unfunny jokes, and being heavily in denial of their lack of skill and accusing of anyone who points it out to them a troll. Even if the person does a good job with the commentary I still hate it. I can't really explain why, I just do.

I actually find joy in a few of the video game commentators. Game Grumps and PeanutButterGamer specifically are quite hilarious in my opinion. For someone with depression, this is one of the few things that make me laugh. Sure, there's quite a bit of cursing, and a few dirty jokes, but it's not like I'm not a sailor myself. It could also just be an age thing, though!

But never... EVER... watch PewDiePie. That is indeed the most vulgar, and frankly not even funny, channel on YouTube. Which ironically is the most subscribed channel on YouTube? Eh, guess it's just not for me.

I think a good thing to take note is that you cannot make something that will please everybody. Some people like commentary, and others do not. Even if you do one or the other, some might like your style, some might not.

Also, while looking around to see what you'd like to make is a good suggestion... it may also be good to reflect on your personal strengths and weaknesses. Maybe make some practice episodes and watch them for yourself and decide where your personal style fits best. Maybe even show them to someone you trust to give you honest input on whether they think it meets your goal focus or not. Personally, sometimes something that's great to me, makes absolutely no sense to others, and it's a good thing to know.

I personally know that if I try to be funny, I'm not particularly funny. My comedic value is in my actions, exaggerated non-verbal expression, and gently-grim and still perception... So, for the most part that's very stunted in the way LPs are presented. I find myself more in tune with games that have many actions/attacks that can animate the player character because that makes it much easier to release my personal voice into a game. The other thing would be, that I'd probably have to dub my voice over the gameplay if I did do commentary in videos... I just don't talk much at all when I'm playing because I'm typically rather calm and focused on what I'm doing. I mean, I might growl or snarl as a battle cry on occasions when pinned down or my back is against the wall in a rather challenging game, but that's about it. So for me, I know as much as it would be fun to make a comedic video, I would not expect it to go over well if I made comedy the sole focus and I'd likely do best to stick with tip/strategy videos or voiceless demonstrations/challenges.

I prefer no commentary myself, largely because I like video game music and generally suck at everything so I want to hear the game. But it's hard to find non LP runs in general, let alone 100% completions....there are a few LPers I can somewhat enjoy like scottishduck, LinandKo and kwife's gaming life but most are just annoying imo.

With if you are giving a walkthrough of the game, tips or a history on the game when needed, aside from that, commentary should be kept to a minimum in my opinion. LPers should be selling people on the game, not their personalities.

I'm more drawn to channels that are knowledgeable about the games rather than people who just do blind playthroughs or are doing it because it's the latest fad.

A good example of an LPer would be chuggaconroy. While I do not watch his content myself, I recognize that he is good, he knows A LOT about Nintendo games and is all around a happy (at least he seems happy to me, can't really tell emotions) guy while playing the games while not insulting his audience or anything like that.

A bad example of an LPer would be Darksidephil. He constantly; blames the games for everything, talks over important parts, makes immature and offensive jokes for no reason, does not pay attention, insults the developers and is overtly hostile to both his fan base and everyone else pretty much.

do it with commentary or else you can get a copyright hit

Commentary on Let's Plays can be hit-or-miss and it's entirely dependent on the commentator's approach and what they want to achieve, but ultimately there's not a lot of purpose to a full playthrough of a game if it doesn't have commentary. Someone might as well watch an abridged "movie" version if they want to see the game for the story, or they will read a walkthrough of some sort if they want help with a game.

I should note, though, that, of the people on this site that are familiar with Let's Plays, I'm probably the last person that you should ask about them. They just aren't my thing. I haven't watched a Let's Play since a somewhat popular MvC3 YouTuber called Lythero did a "cooperative" playthrough of LoZ: Skyward Sword. I spend an incredible amount of my time watching video games, no doubt, but it's almost always a multiplayer game or repetitive short-form game (aka Roguelikes/Rogue-lites) and I don't really consider commentated gameplay of either of those games to be Let's Plays.

It depends. I find that I find most active people in the world of gaming to be grating and obnoxious, so unless the commentary is game-related with the intention of filling the viewer in on why/how something is happening or is otherwise an interesting tidbit, I will gladly pass on commentary and will often mute it. I don't need to hear somebody vehemently swearing for absolutely no reason or try to be funny.

This is very hard to do. A good play through is on that should keep the audience captivated, and if you don't talk its very hard to keep the audience interested.if you are simply doing a walkthrough, then probably no commentary is best, just let the viewers watch the video. I have already seen a youtube walkthrough gameplay without commentary at Awesomegameplaywalkthrough YouTube Channel. So have a look on this youtub channel, i hope it will be help for you!! !

Click on my account for a decent YouTube channel. It has music and occasional commentary as the overlay. The link is listed under “websites”.