VIDEOGAME DOCUMENTARIES

[RCM]

Hello People-
Your old pal RCM here. I just became aware of another videogame history documentary that will be airing on the Gameshow Network narrated by the apparent co-creator of the Tony Hawk franchise Tony Hawk. I have a hard time with the fact that he co-created his game. I am pretty sure that that is bull shite. Anyway, lets make believe that we all have watched this upcoming documentary and come to find out that it is pretty shallow and falls short like the rest of them.
What would make a great documentary worthy of your time?

What should be included that has been looked over by every other documentary?

What people would you all like to see that usually arent included?

What developers that get little to no respect should be represented?

What games should be highlighted that usually aren't (in documentaries)?

Thanks to all that respond!

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[AB Positive]

gotta make a quick post here, getting ready for work, but I think Tony Hawk did have quite a bit of input, but in the same way John Madden does for his games. Like Madden, he added input to make sure good tricks were included, which skate parks to include, etc... obviously he did no hands on creation but he did have input. Just like Madden when he designs the plays and whatnot.


-AG

[Parodius]

Has anyone seen "Once Upon Atari"?? Is it any good??

I was thinking of getting the DVD.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Has anyone seen "Once Upon Atari"?? Is it any good??

Look no further - here's a Once Upon Atari DVD Review.

[Sniderman]

I gotta put out a shout-out for the CyberPunks "Atari at 20" Volumes 1 and 2 documentaries. Fantastic stuff. Interviews with DOZENS of the orinal Stella programmers. Amazing, inciteful, FUN stuff!

And out-of-print.

[vision89]

I have the entire Once Upon Atari documentary series, I really enjoyed it. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who wants a documentary of the Atari 2600.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Thought I'd bump this thread in light of PBS' upcoming documentary The Videogame Revolution, airing in September.

They seem to have gotten with Ralph Baer on some stuff...I wonder if Leonard Herman or Zach Meston or any of our other luminaries were consulted.

[zmweasel]

Thought I'd bump this thread in light of PBS' upcoming documentary The Videogame Revolution, airing in September.

They seem to have gotten with Ralph Baer on some stuff...I wonder if Leonard Herman or Zach Meston or any of our other luminaries were consulted.

I wasn't consulted on jack squat (heh), but I note that Steven Kent, author of The First Quarter/The Ultimate History of Video Games, was called upon by the producers. I don't recognize anyone else on the website's list of credits.

-- Z.

[tyranthraxus]

I'd hope for a doc that is like the one made by the Triumph of the Nerds
producers. That was quite a fascinating series (and its sequel about the net)
with lots of great tales of the early days of computers and all the back
stabbing. The only bad thing was that it ignored the 8 and 16 bit home
computer battles of Commodore, Atari, etc.

Something equally good could be made about Atari, Nintendo & Sega but
I bet the fact that they would need to interview prominent Japanese would
hinder this from being done properly.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Didn't stop the "Gameheadz" folks from talking to Miyamoto via a translator.

[rolenta]

Thought I'd bump this thread in light of PBS' upcoming documentary The Videogame Revolution, airing in September.

They seem to have gotten with Ralph Baer on some stuff...I wonder if Leonard Herman or Zach Meston or any of our other luminaries were consulted.

I wasn't consulted on jack squat (heh), but I note that Steven Kent, author of The First Quarter/The Ultimate History of Video Games, was called upon by the producers. I don't recognize anyone else on the website's list of credits.

-- Z.

Neither was I. And Phoenix wasn't listed in their 'Addtional Reading' section. Of course it can be argued that the producers didn't know about Phoenix but since it's mentioned in four of the books that they did list, you have to wonder if they looked at these books at all.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

The producer listed is not the same one who was trying to develop Joystick Nation into a TV docu a couple of years back, so I wonder if this is something that rose from the ashes of that project, or they're still trying to do Joystick Nation as a TV project.

Man, what I wouldn't give for a zillion bucks and a year off of work right about now, just to do a documentary and do it right.

[Lady Jaye]

I've checked the website, which is well-designed.

I didn't find a list of interviewed guests, but it does include Henry Jenkins (the best-known videogame scholar, who teaches at MIT), on top of Ralph Baer and Steven Kent.

However, when will people learn that you can't do an exhaustive documentary about the history of videogames in 2 hours??? There's enough material to make it a series!!! I've yet to watch Icons on G4TechTV (just haven't gotten around to it yet), but it seems to go in the right direction by making it a multi-episode series rather than a 2-hour, one-shor deal.

Another thing too: their interactive timeline is somewhat incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. Where's Defender on the list??? It's not like 1980 is already filled with many entries!!! Also: the Famicom was released in Japan in 1983, not 1984. And while they've used the original console image (the Super Famicom to talk about the release of the SNES), they've used the GBASP instead of the GBA to mention the release of the GBA. One last incongruity: they talk about the Channel F in 1976, then say that the Atari 2600 (which should have been listed with its original name, the VCS) was the first multi-game home console...

I am going to watch and tape that documentary, but I have the feeling I'll once more feel cheated in the end by it.

Thinking of what PDF has posted just before me... Hmm, maybe DP should make THE documentary series about the history of videogames. With the help of Earl, and Leonard Herman and some others, it oughta be better than all the documentaries made so far. Maybe one day? (who knows, after the success of DP's presence at E3 this year, maybe this isn't such a crazy idea!)