I'm Ryan, otherwise known as FistoftheWind on the internets. This is my personal space for retro video gaming, movie and television reviews as well as a lot of other junk from the 80's and 90's. Thanks for stopping by! When you're done reading be sure to check the forum link above and meet our other friends from the Mega Base.
So does the film achieve this goal? Well, yes and no. It begins, as you would expect, in the time before Atari, when video games were for the most part experiments in manipulating glowing dots on a computer screen. It's a strong and thorough beginning that carries through to the Atari years where we are treated to the thoughts and memories of developers from the time.
After discussing the cause and effect of the video game crash of 1983, what promised to be an in depth history lesson goes full on CliffsNotes. The visual timeline fast forwards past Atari's competitors and lands on the NES to discuss Nintendo's revival of the video game industry while sharing some commercials from the time as well as the nostalgic memories of the celebrity guest speakers.
From there we zip directly to the SNES, ignoring Nintendo's competitors to once again listen to some nostalgic anecdotes. I was astonished that neither Sega nor the Genesis was even mentioned. How can you promote your film as a piece on the history of video games and completely ignore what may have been the most heated console race of all time? One that has caused lasting ripples in video game culture felt even today. In fact, I think the only time the Genesis is ever mentioned is when Wil Wheaton notes that it was his favorite console during his college years. That's it.
After that we make a brief stop at the Playstation 1 and then quickly on to the Playstation 2. At this point it's clear that they're trying to reach the modern consoles as quickly as they can. The "history" of video games is reduced to around 25 minutes of the film by the time we reach the Xbox One and Playstation 4.
The rest of the film becomes a promotion for how "awesome" modern gaming has become and continually pushes the point that gaming is no longer a niche gathering of basement dwellers but a multimillion dollar industry that has surpassed movies and music. While true, these are obvious points that anyone that owns an electronic device is well aware of.
The timeline is muddled as we skip back to discuss some franchises that are still around today as well as briefly touch on the never ending violence in video games and their effects on human behavior debates. While I think it's important to acknowledge and discuss this topic, to this day there is no scientific evidence that connects violent video games in triggering violent behavior. But there are people out there that will argue against this and that's something the film is sorely missing. There are no critics to refute the beliefs the film projects, which doesn't make for a very entertaining documentary in my opinion. If you're going to touch on a topic that has seen such heated debate in the past then you need to include both sides of the story, and I'm not just talking about violence in video games.
I was a bit disturbed how the film paints gaming culture in a "good times for everyone, sunshine and rainbows" manner, when anyone who has ever connected to an online game, especially females, knows this is simply not the case. From personal experience, I've heard some of the most hateful comments in my entire life while playing online. Now for the most part some of my favorite memories have stemmed from my time participating in tournaments and in online play, but there's quite a bit of ugly sprinkled in there as well. Even as the "core gamer" base continues to expand, there are many who struggle with issues of misogyny, acceptance, and inclusion. It's unfortunately been a part of gaming culture since the "geeky niche" days and I'm disappointment this was not discussed given that such a large portion of the film was dedicated to gaming culture.
I can't really recommend the film, even if you're just getting started with video games. For those who have been a part of the culture most of their lives the film offers no surprises and the "history" is missing a tremendous amount of milestones that have shaped the culture today. If you're looking for an accurate history of video games, definitely look elsewhere as Video Games the Movie simply serves as an industry promotion.
Thanks for reading!
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