It's been a long month so far, not to mention a frustrating one. As with most moments when I find myself in an agitated or upset mood and a game or movie doesn't quite get there, I have another option. The bad thing is, it's an addiction. A bad addiction. One that, if not supervised or handled correctly, can consume your life. I'm talking of...

...YOUTUBE!

Tah. Seriously. Yes, we have such sites back home, but regardless, it's the same. Tons and tons of more-videos-than-people that are uploaded for viewing masses.
Now, I won't go into every single type, but lets focus on one that I've come to appreciate.

Either last year or the year before, I was having an unfavored Halloween. There just wasn't enough of the spirit around to get me in the mood. But that changed for the better when I found someone who was playing a horror game I had not played, but was interested in seeing. It was a Let's Player. I hadn't really looked into the genre in this world much, but this started off a kick of becoming a regular viewer.

Let's Plays come in many different fashions, but it essentially boils down to a person (or persons) who are playing a game (in some way) for either helpful advice or for entertainment. I mostly go for the entertainment value. They come in a few flavors so, for the initiated, here are a few:
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Let's Play (norm): Some Let's Plays are player-guides, with the player going through the game essentially telling you how to do things. They either show (with no remarks) or tell themselves. It's not exactly the most entertaining, but if you want a visual on how to do something when your stuck or something, I suppose it's useful.

Let's Play BLIND: This is what you'd look for for entertainment value. A Let's Play that is "blind" is a designation that it is a game that the player hasn't played before (or at least, not most of it). This means that the reactions from the player are genuine, and they are as shocked or unsuspecting as you are (if your seeing it "blind" as well). If you have played the game yourself, it's still enjoyable to see other people's reactions to things.

Let's Play Together: This can be an even more entertaining LP than a BLIND one. In a LP "Together", two or more players are involved. It can be from a simple party game to even an MMORPG. The compounding factor is that there are many more opinions and reactions to see and that, generally, these are a group of friends having a good time playing a game together (maybe for the first time). It can go from either a friendly cooperative team effort from the various members...to downright competition that will test bonds of friendship like that "blue shell" in a mario racing game.
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It's actually been a topic in game-mags on the factors of what make LPing entertaining and enjoyable, watching others play a game, or watching their reactions with something new. Some people do it for fun, others for charity, or even as a job (some...how).
What needs to be remember, though, is that these LPers aren't solely out to entertain people. They've played a game, and they put up vids not just for people...but to share their experiences.

I've got a short list of LPers I follow for some reason are another, and here are a few that are quite entertaining.
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GamerKat09: This was the LPer I mentioned that helped turn around my Halloween woes. Kat is a female LPer (that's right, girls play games guys) who's compilation is mostly made up of scary/horror games ranging from Resident Evil to The Walking Dead to Silent Hill. Throw in some gold games like Beyond Two Souls and Uncharted, and you got an entertaining LPer. Rarely, she has connected up with other LPers in vids ranging with team-ups on an RE6 game and a four-party team-up for Little Big Planet.

Toegoff: Not sure how I came across Toegoff, but glad I did. Early in his LP career, and further along, Toegoff has done a few classic point-and-click adventure games and has an RPG liking like myself. At points he teams up with fellow LP friends Titan (red) and Sinovera (green), including a hilarious Saints Row 3 LP and a group effort with the pic mentioned Borderlands LP (with Titan, BobicusRocketius, and Sinovera (at part 4 I think)) which is unfortunately canceled.

Ravensdive: A duo (trio sometimes) of LPers that I seemingly happened upon by chance...Ravensdive is mostly operated by Mark and Sam, two feather-minded avians who LP mods, adventure games, an occasional oddball game here and there. They haven't done too much, their longest LP being The Lost Ground, but they are nonetheless very hilarious. The two LPers are a constant delight with their remarks on the game they are playing and the things they do. Pair off the sly-snarky-wit of Mark with the meaningful interpretations by Sam and your in for a good time.

Achievement Hunter: I didn't realize how huge these guys were, as I was looking for LPs rather than shows. Anyway, short-hand. These guys seem to work under RoosterTeeth, which I don't know too much about outside of being a professional establishment on youtube. I found them when I found their "Heist" vids for GTA5, which were absolutely HILARIOUS!
Mostly a group of guys consisting (but not solely of) of Geoff (sorta the leader), Ray (the pro), Jack (the guy with the beard), Micheal (the iron screamer), and Gavin (the Brit), these guys are competitors of each other most of the time and have such defined personalities and quirks that develop to one of the most entertaining player groups out there. Currently looking at their Minecraft LPs (not really an LP, but more of things they do in Minecraft) which are still funny as heck.
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Well, there's my two cents. LPs are there mainly for entertainment. You can kick back and watch a game you've played, or one your interested in, being done by someone else. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll pause and get up to get a slice of pizza then a coke, then come back ready for more.

What's that? Have I LPed myself? Wellllll....no, not really, don't got quite the set-up tah! I like watching for now.
Now, let's see who's getting the Tower at Achievement Hunter next....