Commentary of a Commentator

For almost two years now, me and a friend have been making Lets Play videos for Youtube with moderate success. The reason this is could be pointed to the fact that the market has been oversaturated by everyone wanting to become the next PewDiePie or GameGrumps. 

Sure this might just be a fleeting phase, maybe we will all shift away from caring about watching others play video games and just focus more on actually playing the games for ourselves regardless of how entertaining the person playing is. For now though, the focus on Lets Plays is obvious; people enjoy watching them, but why?​

Well for starters, who is doing the lets plays are the most important factor. People who are funny, silly, random, or overall just captivating are characteristics that would make a lets player stand out among the crowds, but there is more to it than just that. There is a level of showmanship involved in doing commentary, regardless of what you are talking over. When Joel Hodgson first started ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ he didn’t start off by commentating over what was new in Hollywood. He went with something that was different; old movies long forgotten by the youth of today. What made it work was his obvious skills in making comedy that could appeal to a wide range of audiences no matter what it was the commentary was being placed over. This is a great example of what skill people need when considering becoming a lets player. 

Just grabbing a brand new game and talking over it will get you some views, sure, because people like watching what is new, but in order to become memorable you have to sometimes take a risk and go for something that people may not be interested in, but captivate them to stay by you as a commentator. ​A good example of this is GameGrumps; while they are new to Lets Plays and most of their fame can be attributed to two well-known Youtubers coming together, they tend to play various games that most people never knew existed. This sort of idea gives them a unique angle that draws people to them, not to mention their fluid chemistry and great jokes. The idea that they can be successful while playing a game like One Piece or Pocky & Rocky shows that sometimes just being a good commentator can make a sub-par lets play worth watching. 

To me, being a commentator takes a bit of risk. You need to throw yourself out there, hope that people will like you and what your are commentating over as well as have a desire to come back to watch more while also telling/showing others your content. It also takes a bit of work, you need to make sure that you get yourself out there and make people want to watch, even if that means whoring yourself out to places like Reddit or a forum. In the beginning any publicity is good publicity, and you want to get all the honest opinions you can before you start getting a following going, otherwise finding decent critique can be hard amid all the lackluster Youtube comments that usually involve either “man you suck” or “you are awesome, you need more subscribers/views”. ​

The best advice when considering becoming a commentator is just find what you know you can provide good commentary for and do it. Holding back for the right time isn’t going to work, there is never a right time to jump into commentating, it is always going to be an uphill battle, but if you have an idea, and are willing to put in some time and take some risks, you never know what you might accomplish. ​

The next question, how do you become a good commentator? Welp, stay tuned till tomorrow when I tackle that very question. If you have any questions or are a commentator yourself, feel free to leave a comment below and discuss about how to be a better commentator or whatever comes to mind!​

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