The format of Let's Plays is credited to Something Awful forum user Michael Sawyer under his username alias ' Slowbeef'.

The exact origins of the term are unclear, but believed to be about a screenshot playthrough of The Oregon Trail via the Something Awful forums sometime in 2005 the playthrough can no longer be found on the site, but has been referenced by other forum threads. Though others had used the same approach at the time, the forums at the website Something Awful are credited with coming up with the term 'Let's Play' in 2007 to describe such playthroughs. The presenter would also often poll readers or viewers with the in-game decisions as to provide an element of interactivity for the audience. One such form these took was the addition of running commentary, typically humorous in nature, along with the screenshots or videos video-based playthroughs would typically be presented without significant editing to maintain the raw response the players had to the game. For example, the Japanese television program GameCenter CX had the host challenged to complete retro games within a single day, and others like Skip Rodgers had provided VHS tapes describing to players how to complete difficult games. From the onset of computer video entertainment, video game players with access to screenshot capture software, video capture devices, and screen recording software have recorded themselves playing through games, often as part of walkthroughs, longplays, speedruns, or other digital entertainment formats.

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