Video Game Documentaries
Thanks to Nikral's "The Almost Definitive Guide to Video Game Documentaries" from http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/nikral/the-almost-definitive-guide-to-video-game-documentaries/30-77352/
Also thanks to Pixel Prospector's "Big List of Video Game Documentaries" from http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-big-list-of-video-game-documentaries/
Check these links out for more documentaries not listed on IMDB.
Listed in chronological order.
Suggestions are welcome.
Also thanks to Pixel Prospector's "Big List of Video Game Documentaries" from http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-big-list-of-video-game-documentaries/
Check these links out for more documentaries not listed on IMDB.
Listed in chronological order.
Suggestions are welcome.
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- DirectorBrett SullivanStarsRoger SharpeRick StettaSam HarveyWhat made more money than the entire American movie industry through the 50s and 60s? Pinball. Special When Lit rediscovers the lure of a lost pop icon. A product of the mechanical and electrical age, the American invention swept the world and defined cool. Now it is relegated to a nostalgic footnote deserving a better fate. Joining the fans, collectors, designers and champion players from across the globe who share a world many of us didn't know still existed.It is my view that pinball culture acted as a partial precursor to video game culture. So I have included pinball movies to this list.
- DirectorLisanne PajotJames SwirskyStarsJonathan BlowBrandon BoyerRenaud BédardA documentary that follows the journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.
- DirectorSeth GordonStarsSteve WiebeBilly MitchellMark AlpigerDie-hard gamers compete to break world records on classic arcade games.
- DirectorLincoln RuchtiStarsWalter DayBen GoldSteve Sanders1982's Video Game World Champions share their philosophies on joysticks, groupies and life.
- DirectorDavid CarrDavid ComtoisStarsTony Hawk
- DirectorMike PasleyStarsMichal BlicharzRafik BryantWalter DayBelow the surface of a simple game is an underbelly of corruption, money, partying, drugs, and even death.
- DirectorJuan Carlos Pineiro EscoriazaStarsDan BustardAshley EsquedaAndrew MonkelbanAn intimate, fascinating look at computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by the emerging, hugely popular genre of computer games.
- StarsGreg PalmerSeamus BlackleyNolan BushnellA light-hearted look at the worldwide phenomenon of video games, and how they have revolutionized technology and forever changed popular culture.
- DirectorJason Scott SadofskyStarsErnest AdamsScott AdamsHollywood AndersonWith limited sound, simple graphics, and tiny amounts of computing power, the first games on home computers would hardly raise an eyebrow in the modern era of photorealism and surround sound. In a world of Quake, Half-Life and Halo, it is expected that a successful game must be loud, fast, and full of blazing life-like action. But in the early 1980s, an entire industry rose over the telling of tales, the solving of intricate puzzles and the art of writing. Like living books, these games described fantastic worlds to their readers, and then invited them to live within them. They were called "computer adventure games", and they used the most powerful graphics processor in the world: the human mind. Rising from side projects at universities and engineering companies, adventure games would describe a place, and then ask what to do next. They presented puzzles, tricks and traps to be overcome. They were filled with suspense, humor and sadness. And they offered a unique type of joy as players discovered how to negotiate the obstacles and think their way to victory. These players have carried their memories of these text adventures to the modern day, and a whole new generation of authors have taken up the torch to present a new set of places to explore. Get Lamp is a documentary that will tell the story of the creation of these incredible games, in the words of the people who made them.
- DirectorMagnus TempleStarsPhil AdamEvgeni Nikolaevich BelikovRandy BroweleitThe story behind the fiendishly addictive game, a tale of high stakes, intimidation and legal feuds set against the backdrop of Cold War tensions between East and West.
- 20071h 40m8.5 (73)VideoDirectorMark BusslerStarsMark BusslerDavid Crosson"Classic Game Room" was the first classic video game review show on the Internet in 1999 and 2000. It returns as a feature-length comedy film about the triumphant story of online success, failure, obscurity, resurrection and success again! The legendary show was produced in the early days of online video by Mark Bussler and David Crosson at an Internet startup with one camera, a green screen and $50 budgets. The show was objective, entertaining and obnoxious with beer-drinking, bottle-throwing, joystick-slinging, car-crashing classic game reviews. A cult following developed and the reviews kept coming, but how long could it last until the money ran out? Features the original raucous reviews of Duck Hunt for NES, Alien for Atari 2600, X-Men for Sega Genesis, Sega GT for Dreamcast, Joust and Missile Command for Playstation, Frogger for Atari 2600, SeaMan for Dreamcast, Perfect Dark for Nintendo 64 and Yars' Revenge for Atari 2600.
- DirectorJos de PutterDocumentary about Worldchampionship 2007 WarcraftIII players, leading roles for Dutch player "Grubby" and Chinese player "Sky".
- DirectorGreg MaleticStarsDuncan BrownLarry DeMarGeorge GomezIn 1998 pinball was dying, thanks to a saturated market and shrinking player base. Williams, the world's largest pinball manufacturer, planned to abandon the game in favor of the more lucrative video slot machine business. 'The Future of Pinball' is a 60-minute documentary that tells the story of 'Pinball 2000,' a clever attempt at resuscitating pinball that failed just at the moment a lot of people thought it might succeed. A 'Soul of a New Machine' for the pinball world, 'The Future of Pinball' is a compendium of interviews with legends of the pinball industry, photos, and films of the best games the industry has produced. It's a story about personality and passion, of bold success dizzyingly followed by a stunning failure.
- DirectorHoward Scott WarshawStarsJerome DomuratTod FryeRob FulopStory of Atari after its fall from the mouths of the people who created and escalate Atari to the top of the computer world, the video game designer and programmers.
- DirectorJordan LevinsonCalvin TheobaldStarsJustin WongIsaiah TriForce JohnsonDaigo UmeharaKing of Chinatown documents the two-year journey of professional video game player Justin Wong as he, along with his manager, TriForce, attempt to make a career of gaming in the competitive Street Fighter 4 scene.
- DirectorZachary HendersonJohn KeatingStarsScott JohnsonWilliam GregoryMark Turpin'Race to World First' documents the struggles, triumphs, and frustrations of the 25-man World of Warcraft guild Blood Legion as it prepares to beat the newest bosses released within the game by Blizzard Entertainment. This is a global battle between 12 million people and competition is intense. As the race gets underway, the film broadens in scope to include players from Finland, Russia, Australia, Great Britain, Greece, and Germany. They discuss what it takes to compete at the highest level, and the rivalries and life/game conflicts that inevitably arise. 'Race to World First' redefines the image of the gamer, focusing on the commitment, cooperation, and tremendous diversity within this culture. For gamers both proud and closeted.
- StarsJake SteeleAnatole BrownRob SmithG4's show of original profiles, interviews and histories of the people, characters and companies that have shaped today's computer and video game landscape.
- DirectorAdam CorneliusStarsThor AackerlundDain AndersonSebastian BlancoA documentary that captures the greatest world record Tetris players as they prepare for the Classic Tetris World Championship. From the days of Thor Aackerlund and his historic victory at the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, right up to the present and Harry Hong's perfect "Max-Out" score, this documentary expertly chronicles over two decades of Tetris Mastery.
- DirectorJeremy MackStarsBill CarltonRobert MruczekTerry NelsonAlthough technology continues to evolve, a group of die-hard gamers refuses to abandon the classic arcade games of yesteryear. The 80's live on for these enthusiasts, who compete against each other and history to record the world's highest scores. Portland gamer Bill Carlton is one of the most brazen, fearlessly taking on some of the toughest records on the books. HIGH SCORE follows Bill as he attempts to take down the Atari classic Missile Command and its twenty year-old record. To get the 80 million points he'll have to play the game on one quarter for over two days straight. There is no pause button. There will be no sleep. There can only be one victor in this classic story of Man versus Missile Command.
- DirectorGreg StuetzeStarsJerald BlockErik BludauCraig CulbertsonTwelve million gamers escape into the World of Warcraft each day. Is it possible for an escape to become an addiction?
- DirectorGe JinGold Farmers is a documentary that investigates the real money trade in the virtual world of online games, and portraits groups of Chinese young men who are making a living by playing online games. These young men are called gold farmers in the online games, and the in-game goods they produce are sold for real dollar to American gamers who need a short cut to success in the virtual world. In this documentary, gold farmers describe how it feels to live at the border between the virtual and real, to mix play and work, and to interact with foreign gamers who they would never have the chance to meet if not for this globalized virtual world. We also hear conflicting views from various American gamers who are affected by this particular entanglement of the virtual and the real.
- DirectorMarc de GuerreIan HannahStarsClive ThompsonHenry JenkinsRobert KozinetsSpecial documentary look at how pop culture's 'new dark continent,' video games, are changing the world.
- DirectorAl CampbellStarsCharlie BrookerDara O BriainGraham LinehanCharlie Brooker sets his caustic sights on video games. Expect acerbic comment as he looks at the various genres, how they have changed since their early conception and how the media represents games and gamers. Features interviews with Dara O Briain, sitcom scribe Graham Linehan and Rab and Ryan from Consolevania.
- DirectorSteve HwangStarsRyan GutierrezEliver LingJonathan Marcus RossFOCUS is a documentary about Mike Ross, an average 26-year-old African-American, unemployed college graduate, who happens to be one of the world's best video game players. The documentary is a portrait of his summer as he travels around the country competing in events to prepare for the biggest tournament of his life, while revealing the origins, hardships and misconceptions of his lifestyle.
- DirectorIan CofinoStarsRyan GutierrezJoe CiaramelliJustin WongI Got Next" is a documentary on the fighting game community. It follows four prominent players, Justin Wong, Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez, Joe "iloveu" Ciaramelli and Mike Ross through their experiences in the scene with the release of Street Fighter 4, which has caused a resurgence in the fighting game genre and a rekindling of the East Coast/West Coast rivalry that had died down in years past.
- DirectorTamara KatepooStarsJohn ChoiJoey CuellarWayden EncisoA documentary of an exhibition tournament in Japan showing the difference between American and Japanese gaming cultures.
- DirectorSpencer HalpinStarsGreg BallardVince BroadyPamela EakesMoral Kombat takes a look into the controversial subject of violence in video games. Director Spencer Halpin shows the constant conflict between the game creators' first amendment right to make a violent game and the eminent threat that violence poses on the next generation.
- DirectorDanny LedonneStarsAlbert ArtPeter BaxterIan BernardChronicles the history of the game "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!." The film traces back the 16-bit role-playing game to its inception, through the 2006 shooting at Dawson College in which the game was singled out by the media as a "murder simulator" that "trained" the shooter, and finally the game's removal from the list of finalists at the Slamdance 2007 Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition - prompting half the entries and a sponsor to pull out of the festival in protest.
- DirectorN. PfeiferStarsSusan ArendtBlair HerterKelly KarnetskyInfinite Lives: The Road to E3 is an independently-produced documentary that follows four friends from the American Midwest in their 2300-mile, week lon road trip to the mecca of all things gaming: the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Founded in 1995, E3 has become the penultimate expo for all the gaming industry's latest and greatest. Three years in the making, Infinite Lives documents a history of the expo, and all of the stages around planning and executing a cross-country road trip amongst four gamers. From Colorado Springs to Utah to Los Angeles and Albuquerque, the film displays the American Southwest while also revealing the chaotic, flashing nature of the E3 show floor. The film was shot on a series of handheld high definition consumer camcorders, depicting a fly-on-the-wall experience in high resolutions.