I have a not-insignificant collection of old video games. It's not the kind of glorious catalog that's painstakingly curated and fawned over by fellow nerds on the internet, but I'd say it falls just inside the lower bound of "extensive."
Technically some of these games and consoles belong to one or the other of my brothers, but they have basically allowed me to tend the digital flock for the past several years. There's only one real problem with my prized pile of plastic and silicon: I rarely play any of the games in the collection. Sure, I'll occasionally fire up the NES for another go at Super Mario Bros. or a round of Tetris - sometimes I even host parties to have people come over and play the games - but mostly the collection just sits on the shelf. Truth be told, I'm not even that good at video games. At the same time, I can't quite bring myself to part with them.
There is a phenomenon on the internet known as Let's Play videos. They've been around for a while, at least 8 years, but have become especially popular recently. A Let's Play video is pretty straightforward - it basically just involves somebody playing a game and providing commentary while the video shows both gameplay and the player, either cut together or superimposed in the corner of the screen. This type of video differs from a walkthrough or a review in that its purpose is primarily to entertain rather than inform.
Assuming you can put the proverbial two and two together, you might deduce that I'm planning to start a Let's Play channel of my own on YouTube. In such a case you would be correct! Good job, you! I've been rolling this idea around in my head for a while and I'm planning to go ahead with it, though I still need to get some equipment to capture the game video and wrap up some other logistics. If everything goes to plan I should be able to publish the first video about a month from now. Keep an eye on this blog and/or follow the show account on Twitter (@LetsPlayFriday) for updates!
So, what do you think of the idea? Would you be interested in seeing me play through video game history starting with Atari 2600? Let me know in the comments below!