Documentary, Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, now available

[Bill Loguidice]

Heads up that our documentary, Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, is now available on a few dozen services. If you happen to check it out, let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

https://vimeo.com/116907309

[Bill Loguidice]

Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, available for DVD pre-order from PBS! (in addition to most On Demand and digital download/streaming services) http://wp.me/p5dH5R-vJ

[+Tarzilla]

Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, available for DVD pre-order from PBS! (in addition to most On Demand and digital download/streaming services) http://wp.me/p5dH5R-vJ

Are there plans for it to be released on Bluray? With Extras. I'm not against the On-Demand and Streaming stuff, I want one on the shelf to go with the other ones such as the BBS Doc, Get Lamp and many others.

[Bill Loguidice]

Are there plans for it to be released on Bluray? With Extras. I'm not against the On-Demand and Streaming stuff, I want one on the shelf to go with the other ones such as the BBS Doc, Get Lamp and many others.

 

I'm not aware of a Blu-ray release coming and don't consider it likely (I can't be 100% sure, though, as the distribution is out of my hands.). As of now the only way to get an HD version is to go the digital route. Barring any major changes, the only physical release will almost certainly be this specific DVD.

[high voltage]

Trailer does not look promising. Looks like someone is playing what looks almost like a NES console, and then that Mario face from N64 game shows up. Why not someone playing VCS and Pitfall, and then Pitfall Harry shows up. Or VCS playing Mario Bros, refreshing change that would make. Or a Colecovision and Donkey Kong shows up. Yes, DK on Coleco, the original arcade to console version, now that would be interesting.

 

Kudos for trying though.

Edited August 23, 2015 by high voltage

[Bill Loguidice]

Trailer does not look promising. Looks like someone is playing what looks almost like a NES console, and then that Mario face from N64 game shows up. Why not someone playing VCS and Pitfall, and then Pitfall Harry shows up. Or VCS playing Mario Bros, refreshing change that would make. Or a Colecovision and Donkey Kong shows up. Yes, DK on Coleco, the original arcade to console version, now that would be interesting.

 

Kudos for trying though.

 

Kudos to you for the comment. The film covers the 50+ years of videogames, regardless of platform. The trailer covers a wide breadth of games and plenty of stuff from the 2600 era. We're not able to use any of the individuals interviewed for the film like Nolan Bushnell in the trailer due to rights, so you get just a high level sizzle reel. You can't please everyone, but the vast majority of reviews to date have been extremely positive, so there's that.

[+Tarzilla]

 

We're not able to use any of the individuals interviewed for the film like Nolan Bushnell in the trailer due to rights,

Really? You actually had to sign a contract with Nolan saying you wouldn't use his clips in advertising? Or was it a case of his clips being purchased from another entity that stipulated that?

[+save2600]

Direct link to PBS ordering site:

 

http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=67509656&cp=&kw=gameplay&origkw=gameplay&sr=1

 

Link to Amazon ordering at a couple bux less:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gameplay/dp/B00XC9PSOO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440622120&sr=8-1&keywords=gameplay+dvd

 

..and why no Blu-ray release or uncertainty of?? It's 2015 already!

[Bill Loguidice]

Really? You actually had to sign a contract with Nolan saying you wouldn't use his clips in advertising? Or was it a case of his clips being purchased from another entity that stipulated that?

 

No, it had nothing to do with all of the people we interviewed. It's apparently something from the studio's legal advisers that require the trailer to not show any of the interviews from the film.

 

As for the Blu-ray, I agree, but at least there's an HD option with the digital stuff.

[+Tarzilla]

No, it had nothing to do with all of the people we interviewed. It's apparently something from the studio's legal advisers that require the trailer to not show any of the interviews from the film.

 

As for the Blu-ray, I agree, but at least there's an HD option with the digital stuff.

Wow, that is a bizarre restriction. I'd have thought interviewee images would have been covered by any release forms. I can't imagine a previous scenario that would have made the lawyers gun shy about it. Even more strange from a marketing standpoint since who is in a documentary can be a major selling feature to many people.

 

From some research, I'd guess the Blu Ray mastering may be too expensive to the people in charge.

[Bill Loguidice]

Wow, that is a bizarre restriction. I'd have thought interviewee images would have been covered by any release forms. I can't imagine a previous scenario that would have made the lawyers gun shy about it. Even more strange from a marketing standpoint since who is in a documentary can be a major selling feature to many people.

 

From some research, I'd guess the Blu Ray mastering may be too expensive to the people in charge.

 

I'm not sure if people need to necessarily know who the talking heads are, but I still would have preferred a trailer with a few of the more interesting zingers in it.

 

Here's what should be the complete list of those we interviewed who made it into the film:

 

Nolan Bushnell

David Warhol

Noah Falstein

Don Daglow

Todd Howard

John Romero

Bob Citelli

David Crane

Steve Cartwright

Steve Meretzky

Sande Chen

Erik Lindstrom

Mark Soderwall

Phil Campbell

John Smedley

Rob Smith

Derrik Lang

And yes, I'm sure the market for physical media is extremely soft, so DVD was chosen for the greatest market reach and maximum use of the budget. I'm sure digital is where it's all at these days anyway, and for that it's covered in both HD and SD across the vast majority of platforms.