Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Post video game documentaries

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,088
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Title says it all: If you know of a good video game documentary (film or TV series) then post about it here.

It can be the trailer, the real deal or just still images and some text describing it.

The only real rule is that you have to post the name of the program, so that others can have a chance of finding it.

If you think a YouTuber is doing a good enough to be mentioned here, then do so.

I'll go first:

From Bedrooms to Billions (2014)



A crowd-funded documentary that delves into the British computer scene of the 1980s. For Brits and Europeans this one is a nice walk down memory lane, but for the Yanks it's gonna be a bit weird to watch.

From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years (2016)



This one hops across the pond and chronicles the life and times of the Amiga computer.

From Bedrooms to Billions: The Playstation Revolution (20??)



An (seemingly) upcoming documentary about the Playstation. No release date announced so far.

Game Changers: Inside the Video Game Wars (2019)



A documentary from the History channel that debuted just this weekend. Sadly it shares its name with a documentary about vegans, so make sure you get the full title right when you go look for it.

(Yes, I know some of the above films can be found in full on YT, but as I don't know how long they'll remain there I chose to just link to the trailers, as they're more likely to resist takedowns.)
 

Syl

Cipher
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
744
There is plenty of stuff on Youtube, though they often focus on specific subjects rather than history as a whole.

Some of them I watched recently:

The Story Of The 3DO - The Console Born From EA's Founder & Makers of The Atari Lynx & Amiga 1000 (20 mn)


Dungeon Master - Clever Floppy Disk Anti-Piracy (15 mn)


This one is ultra specific: the history of speedrunning of one level of Doom 2, the infamous level with tight ledges, The Chasm. From first record of 1mn58 in 1996 to almost a quarter of that time 15 years later (30 mn):
 

Jarpie

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Messages
6,603
Codex 2012 MCA
Title says it all: If you know of a good video game documentary (film or TV series) then post about it here.

It can be the trailer, the real deal or just still images and some text describing it.

The only real rule is that you have to post the name of the program, so that others can have a chance of finding it.

If you think a YouTuber is doing a good enough to be mentioned here, then do so.

I'll go first:

From Bedrooms to Billions (2014)



A crowd-funded documentary that delves into the British computer scene of the 1980s. For Brits and Europeans this one is a nice walk down memory lane, but for the Yanks it's gonna be a bit weird to watch.

From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years (2016)



This one hops across the pond and chronicles the life and times of the Amiga computer.

From Bedrooms to Billions: The Playstation Revolution (20??)



An (seemingly) upcoming documentary about the Playstation. No release date announced so far.

Game Changers: Inside the Video Game Wars (2019)



A documentary from the History channel that debuted just this weekend. Sadly it shares its name with a documentary about vegans, so make sure you get the full title right when you go look for it.

(Yes, I know some of the above films can be found in full on YT, but as I don't know how long they'll remain there I chose to just link to the trailers, as they're more likely to resist takedowns.)


I'm just watching that last one, they only talk about consoles, and not a word about computers, which is typical, I find it amusing how they praise Nintendo's games as being sophisticated etc for the time, when on computers you had rpgs, strategy- and adventure games etc being made at the same time. Otherwise the documentary is pretty good so far.

I've watched first two From Bedrooms to Billions, about C64 and Amiga, they are pretty good, but way too UK-centric, typical of the english people thinking that they're center of the universe.
 

Dexter

Arcane
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
15,655
I thought this was well made back when I saw it, although Fish can be considered more of an Antagonist, especially nowadays:


This guy has been doing some pretty good stuff on YouTube:



I guess there's always this, the Documentary was far more interesting than the actual game:


This could also be interesting, but it ain't exactly fully accurate:

The entire series is backed up here after the YouTube channel went down: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUQD1U2VaI78VTO2GXS15zQ/videos
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,088
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Good stuff, great recommendations.

Let's add a few more, and I feel like going old-school for these.

From the mid-80s British series Equinox comes an episode titled "What they don't tell you when they sell you a computer", that explains some of the darker sides of computer hardware management.

(Warning: Graphic content for :obviously: computerphiles!)



Next up, the 1983 BBC series "How to make the most of your Micro", a ten-episode series that explores the wonderful new world of possibilities made available by 8-bit microcomputers.



The follow-up series to the above, "Micro Live" (which ran for a few seasons):



And finally there's "Bits & Bytes", a Canadian series from 1983:

 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
Patron
Joined
Mar 22, 2013
Messages
12,784
I think I have this on GOG, probably my favorite documentary about something gaming related

 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
Patron
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
9,613
Location
Your wallet.
Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
Fuck all of you for not having posted this.



You probably don't give a shit about high scores records nor Donkey Kong.
You still need to watch this.
This is when human drama becomes art.
 

Curratum

Guest
This looks like a fucking goldmine, for both me and my kid in a few years. Thank you, everyone who posted! <3
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,088
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
The King of Kong needs a sequel to update the story.

Billy Mitchell got claimedly caught for cheating, using Mame to get the record, and not the original cabinet game.

And this is why I purposefully ignored King of Kong. I see no reason to watch the documentary until it's been updated to reflect subsequent revelations, and as for the related human drama I'm content with reading taxalot's posts.

More documentaries are inbound BTW.
 

Syl

Cipher
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
744
The Story of Punch-Out!! | Gaming Historian (48 mn)

I just stumbled upon that.

Everything was new to me. I just played the NES and SNES games.
 

WhiteGuts

Arcane
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
2,382
So, this is mostly about the rise and fall of Atari, as well as the modern-day search for (and debunking) of the E.T buried cartridges myth. It's pretty good.

 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,088
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
One side of video game 'documentaries' that I've been looking into are informative convention panels, especially at the smaller venues.

Here's a good one from Long Island seemingly made for taxalot:



And Ashens makes annual appearances at the Norwich Games Festival, and his videos are both informative and hilarious:







 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom