To Facecam or Not to Facecam?

In my last post, I mentioned the advent of Facecam and how controversial it was and how it still heavily polarizes many fans of Let's Plays. But why though? Why would the inclusion of such a minute feature cause such a heated debate? After all, it is is just showing your physical reactions to your gameplay, why would that be considered bad? Well, there are two sides to every argument and I'm going to try and portray them equally as best I can, both from an outside perspective as well as giving my own two cents.

It's a thing of beauty quite honestly.

To reiterate, Facecam is when the Let's Player uses a webcam to show their face as they play. When this new feature started to spread, it kind of broke new grounds. it was essentially a doorway into the "Modern era" of Let's Plays. A lot of people really enjoyed this new feature because seeing the person, immediately felt more personal ad audience friendly. It was like you were in the same room, hanging out with them as buddies, watching them play your favorite game. It gave a feeling that Facecam-less Let's Plays couldn't. It felt like the audience was involved in the whole process rather than just being along for the ride. Facecam also brought a more immediate humor because seeing the physical reactions of the people was a much quicker way of getting laughs rather than waiting to hear the audio cues in their voice. It's not that long of a difference but it is noticeable when you compare the two. Another strength Facecam has is that it benefits from the type of genre of game being played. Horror games for instance is one of the most popular genres to use facecam for because seeing peoples panicked reactions is a lot funnier than hearing it. Let's Plays of horror games without facecam just seem empty in comparison. Sometimes their facial expressions does a lot more justice to the situation such as in the picture above of Markiplier playing the critically acclaimed indie horror game Five Nights at Freddy's. Imagine if Markiplier didn't use facecam at all. You would never even see his reaction to Freddy screaming in his ear. It's humor you just can't get from audio alone.

Don't knock off strict audio that easily though, because the logic works both ways. Having strictly audio can certainly give benefits that facecam can actually ruin. With facecam, some audio jokes and tricks can just seem silly or make a situation look over the top because seeing it isn't as funny as hearing it. Take one of the most iconic moments from the show Game Grumps for example. In the clip, Arin gets up, leaves the room and slams the door behind him. He then proceeds to rant and scream, his reaction is way over the top and it is absolute gold. If we actually saw it happen, it might have come off differently as seeing anger is a lot more scary and uncomfortable than hearing it. One of the most famous moments from Game Grumps might have been ruined if the Game Grumps utilized facecam. Another common argument is that facecam takes away from the game itself. The original principle that Let's Plays were founded on was showing off the game as an experience. To show it off as more than a game, as something that emotionally connected with you as a player and to share that experience with others so that they can feel it too. And to be honest, I can really agree with this statement. Facecam DOES take away from the game because it becomes a distraction. For instance, I've noticed that whenever I watch Markipliers videos, there's a sense of disconnection that I feel from the game because it's not about the game, it's about him and his reactions to it. That's not necessarily a bad thing per say because his reactions are hilarious and he's really fun to watch but the immersion from the game is completely broken because of a weird, awkward square that is meant to show the game is being blocked by his face.

Now, it might sound like I'm favoring the naysayers but quite honestly, I don't stand by either sentiment. I personally believe that there's a right way and a wrong way to do facecam and that all depends on the style of your show. What are you, the content creator going for? Do you want to hae the viewers feel like they're hanging out with you? Are you better with visual humor? Then use facecam. Or do you want an informative, immersive tone or utilize the advantage of blind audio to make jokes? Then don't use Facecam. It's that simple. The usage of facecam should not be dependent on what's "cool" and "hip" but what suits you the best. Some people just aren't comfortable in front of the camera. They can come off as awkward and shy because a recording camera puts a pressure on you. A pressure to perform and to "not look stupid" in front of your audience. Take Chuggaaconroy here for example. He has a stone faced expression, little emotion in his voice and he rarely blinks. As a person who is about strictly showing off games, you can clearly see he's not in his element recording himself like this. Yet, he's one of the most well known and beloved Let's Players on YouTube. It all depends on what you want to do with you show, what purpose you're making videos for. So is facecam this huge, narcissistic aspect that ruins Let's Plays? Well no, but it's also certainly not a hindrance if you choose to forgo it either. It all comes down to what you want.