Developer VS Let's Plays?

I have to agree with him. Narrative styled games are completely useless if you have already experienced the story. I have 0 interest in buying Until Dawn, not because of the quality of the game, but because I've already experienced the story. And at the end of the day, thatr's all these games offer, story.

A lot of times I'll watch Let's Plays to see if I want to buy it or not. It's kind of like the new way to demo a game without playing it.

As someone who's more of a casual gamer, there are multiple games that the first time I've heard of them has been people playing them in Let's Plays. Games I now own like Minecraft and Terraria I first saw in a Let's Play, and even more obscure ones like Slime Rancher that AH did a Let's Watch in a while ago I've only heard of through that video and I now own it. While it's a little harsh to the people who put huge amounts of effort and money into making a game (especially when it's personal to them like in this case), like they said in this video, if they're going to make a niche game, they should expect niche sales, and I don't think Let's Play watch stats have any bearing on the people who would buy the game if Let's Plays didn't exist.

Really well handled piece Ash + Meg, and safe to say I'll go at least take a look at this title and see if it interests me!

Also, OBFUSCATE!

Most of the time, I watch lets plays to see if i want to buy the game. Watching trailers is never the same as watching actual gameplay with commentary. Most let's players also give comments on how it controls. And how the gameplay feels. You don't gte that in "gameplay" trailers. If i watch a video of a game that's that's a walking sim, and there doesn't seem to be branching stories. I won't even consider playing it. I don't like walking sims, even if it's a deep story.

Also the game is 15 euro's and only is 1 1/2 - 2 hrs long with almost zero replayability. No wonder they don't sell well.

Well lets be honest not many people would want to buy a game about a child that dies from cancer. Sorry but that's a big downer, people may want to know what its about but the topic is a big turn off. For me at least.

80% of the PC games I currently own, I only purchased because I watched a Let's Play (done by AH, Game Grumps, Markiplier, or others). I have to know that I will like the game before I will buy it. Same applies to board games as well. Games that I didn't see a Let's Play of, I honestly haven't really played them much.

If I see the gameplay and love it, I'm a fast sell. Even if I watch an entire play of it, and I like it enough, I will still buy it. That is to say "if" it is a game. This isn't a game. It's an experience. I probably wouldn't have bought it anyways since it wouldn't have even been on my radar.

Movie and/or TV series don't always reduce sales of their original books. Sometimes it increases sales, look at the recent sales of John Le Care 'the Night Manager' just since the BBC 4part series was released in the UK and announced on BBC America.

While many TV/screen adaptations are TRANSFORMATIVE, many could say that for some, the story is directly retold and is an absence of fine detailing found in the book but not on screen a sufficient deviation to count as transformative from the plot material. Yes, authors are paid for using their story, but they often have very little CONTROL over how the story us adapted for TV unless they choose to script it themselves.

While game+letsplays are both visual experiences, the variation in presentation does OFTEN depend on the playable, randomised AI elements of the game (and of course the commentary/performance in response to NEW visual eventualities).

If a game is as linear as That Dragon Cancer has only one experience, one linear story, with little playability and no ability to deviate through personal choices or technique, then I feel it is a game that is poorly developed in terms of "making a successful game + game structure that succeeds in today's market". It is simply a fact that the videogame market includes LetsPlay gamer videos. Which will (obviously) influence sales as much as critiques, reviews and hearsay in the playground.

I don't wish to sound harsh, but financial success is not guaranteed in the industry, so all development needs to take into account all factors of the industry. It seems a little naive to blame an aspect of the community or industry for the poor sales IMO

I think that the narrative heavy games can have replay value. Though it might be personal thing. I personally will replay a narrative heavy game like Assassin's Creed or something like that because I enjoy it that much, not that different then a person re-watching a movie or or re-reading a book. Like I said though, this is a personal thing and I very much believe I'm in the minority.

While Let's Plays responsibilities and their impacts on games/sales are a relevant matter that should be discussed, I don't think that's what's at work here. I honestly think that the lack of sales for That Dragon, Cancer is due to it's subject matter, something that while, yes, some people are morbidly curious about, in general for most it's a strange and frightening taboo of sorts, something no one wants to deal with or experience. Especially when it involves a loved one or child.

Sure, you could argue that part of it is due to it's heavy narrative, but as has been pointed out repeatedly in both this episode and in the comments is that other highly narrative games have done just fine. Which leads back to subject matter. I don't think the developer should have expected to make money off of this project, not with the way they conveyed the loss and emotions that the developer themselves experienced. If they had wanted to make money they should have trivialized cancer, made it some humorous parody or grotesque caricature, something people could safely disconnect and distance themselves from. And, yes, one could argue that that in turn would've trivialized what the developer went through, but that's the trade-off when dealing with a subject like cancer in a game.

To be fair, I've not played this game nor intend to; I've already experienced losing a loved one to cancer first hand, twice, and it's not something I ever want to go through again, in real life or a game.

While I do support Let's Play videos, I think this is a case where we need to think about how they would affect a particular game before releasing them. Most games have enough variation that a Let's Play video can be a good way to review game play without spoiling the entire game.

In the case of That Dragon Cancer, the story is not designed to be customized. In a case like this I would love to see Let's Players play through a portion of the game, not its entirety. This would give people who like what they see the ability to buy/play the game independently, but also give Let's Players the chance to provide much needed commentary on the game.