PewDiePie…

Right now, the Swedish Youtuber has around 46 million subs, with the 50 million mark being reached in six months according to social media tracker Socialblade. Video games are becoming more and more mainstream as time passes. ESPN continuously posts about the competitive gaming scene. Movies based on video games are being made with actual effort. The aforementioned competitive gaming scene is drawing tournament purses in the millions of dollars.

Like it or not, gaming is now an integral part of the modern media landscape. So why did I mention PewDiePie first? Because right now, love him or hate him, Pewds is the face of the gaming subculture. The amount of subscribers that Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (his real name) has is roughly equivalent to the population of Spain. With such a large sub culture that continuously grows, there are bound to be sub-sub cultures that grow from it.

Enter the wonderful world of Live Streams. Live streams are a fairly recent development in the gaming. Twitch (then Justin.tv) didn’t start to focus on video game live streams until late 2011. However, live streams are quickly gaining ground, with Twitch holding onto the #99 Alexa rank world wide. YouTube started its own live stream program called YouTube Gaming in August of 2015. So what is the big difference between a let’s play and a live stream? We’ll be looking at three criteria: Mechanics, Style, and Community.

Note: What is included in this article is not absolute, but a general guide to what is often included.

Mechanics

As one Fox News anchor said, “We’ll do it live!” The biggest difference between a let’s play and a live stream is the fact that a live stream is well… live. Compared to other forms of entertainment, a let’s play is like an episode of The Office, while a live stream is like The Late Late Show with James Corden. While The Office will use multiple takes, edited sound, and a pre-written script, James Corden has a list of things to get done and works like a live comic.

Let’s Plays

Let’s Plays usually use screen recording software like Fraps, Bandicam, Camtasia and the like. Another choice is to use what is known as a “capture card” like Elgato or AVerMedia for recording. Audio is typically recorded separately using audio mixing software such as Audacity. As for editing, it is a case of dealer’s choice.  For recording a video from a console, the capture cards are the best option in terms of video quality. While it is possible to record using the share options, it can be limited in terms of quality. Anything from Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere to Windows Movie Maker can theoretically be used. (Pro tip, don’t use Windows Movie Maker.) The length of a video typically runs about 8-11 minutes for highlights, or can be longer for what is known as a “long play”.

Live Streams

For live streams Twitch recommends using one of three forms of software: OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), XSplit, and Gameshow. These allow you to stream videos, and pictures directly to Twitch. Audio and visual quality is typically less lower than a let’s play because the video is encoded and sent, meaning it isn’t possible to stream in 4K resolution at 60 FPS. (Yet…) For console players, both the PS4 and XBONE have live streaming capability built into the hardware. Wii U streamers need to use a capture card for their streams.

Style

There are several different sub-styles of live streams and let’s plays. There are the aforementioned long plays, speedruns, etc. The productions of what are considered “normal” however come with key differences.

Let’s Plays

For let’s plays we’ll use a video by the YouTuber Keyboard Slapper for analysis.

The first thing we’ll look at is the thumbnail. The first thing a potential viewer notices when looking for a video to watch is the thumbnail. It needs to feature something evocative that will grab the viewers attention. Without an interesting thumbnail, your video is dead before even being opened. Because it won’t be opened. The video itself was in the 8-11 minute spot and featured a heavily stylized format. The video begins with a brief introduction, moves to the gameplay, and ends with an end card prompting to subscribe and watch more content.

The gameplay contains more than just the game however. It combines scripted and candid moments that use his reactions and editing to create a storyline for the video. In this case, Keyboard Slapper uses the common story of struggling through the notably difficult Dark Souls series as the basis. In addition, his close ups, visual effects, and dialogue created for NPCs and enemies finishes the piece. What you get through all of it is a single piece of condensed gaming content that has been cleaned up and dressed in its Sunday finest.

Live Streams

For our live stream example we’ll use a former Small Streams Big Dream participant: Parallax Stella.

The way a live stream works is quite different from let’s play. While the former is about 9 minutes, the latter was just over five hours long. Without thumbnails available for Twitch as of right now, it’s hard to judge these electronic books by their cover. (For better or worse.) While the intro for the let’s play is extremely brief, Stella’s is close to seven minutes long. Afterwords she spends several minutes talking to her viewers and anyone who is also in the stream.

Rather than getting straight to the content, there is a process and chance for people to filter in. An additional difference is that rather than just one game, Stella plays multiple games through the stream. This variety allows for a broader audience to join in the streams. What the video lacks in the ability to heavily edit the content (removing content that is unneeded and adding content to increase the quality) it makes up for in interactivity with the audience.

Community

With the success of let’s plays and live streams both hinged on community involvement, it’s important to look at how a community works with the two.

Let’s Plays

A let’s play is built around each individual video or a series. Because of this, it creates a following of content and the personality presented. This following creates a fan-personality relationship, where watchers are the fan of the content, while the uploader is the personality. For an uploader to get feedback on the content, they need to go through the entire process of recording, editing, uploading and wait for feedback.

If the feedback is positive, the community will receive more and the uploader will continue. If the feedback is negative, the community will be less likely to consume the uploader’s content. Now the uploader needs to go back to the drawing board and try to come up with something new. Because of the amount of time that transpires there can be a disconnect with the creator and the viewers.

Live Stream

With a live stream, you literally live and die by the community you create. Every viewer has the chance to add great things to the stream, or be a total cancer. One person can constantly message depraved and disgusting comments and lead a stream down a dark path. This is why having people who moderate is an absolute necessity. With near one-to-one communication during the streams, there is a more intimate relationship created. This intimacy changes the relationship from a fan-creator relationship to something that is more friendly. Having an intimate relationship can make each watcher feel like they are a part of something rather than simply consuming it.

Final Thoughts

While both forms of video game internet media have their own pitfalls and strengths, it all comes down to preference. If you want to watch a short polished product where you get what you’re looking for and nothing else, a let’s play is the way to go. With a live stream you get a chance to watch and interact with the streamer. No matter what there will always be plenty of content to watch out there. Probably too much.