Why no documentary about Swordquest?

[Luc]

After watching the documentary Atari: Game Over about the dig in Alamagordo yesterday, I just thought how cool it would be if there was a documentary like this about the Swordquest games. I'd sure love to see some footage of the contests, the "lost" crown, the philosopher's stone etc...

 

Plenty of stuff to talk about in an hour or more.

[Cambouis de l'Atari]

Yes, but this would only interest atari fans :-/

The dig was an urban legend, even non atari fans knew about that. But yes, I love that kind of documentaries

Edited February 5, 2016 by Cambouis de l'Atari

[Buyatari]

Yes, but this would only interest atari fans :-/

The dig was an urban legend, even non atari fans knew about that. But yes, I love that kind of documentaries

There is enough here to interest non Atari collectors. You have a contest that gave away treasures made of gold and jewels. A contest that was never completed. Treasures that in some cases have disappeared and been rumored and denied to have been taken by the former owner of Atari. There is also a fourth game to the series that was never completed. A prototype surfaced and was found to be fake.

 

Yeah I think there is more than enough to go on for a documentary that would keep a non collector interested.

[+save2600]

A true scam *those* games and the contest were - yep, people love themselves a good scandal alright! Imagine a Lifetime movie based on that shit. Would like to see an angry nerd mob at the end, breaking down the Tramiel's doors, with pitchforks in hand.

[Cambouis de l'Atari]

Sorry, I wasn't aware of all these details ! I thought it was in-game things

This story is less famous than the bury of the-game-that-killed-the-videogame-industry though;)

[teh_lurv]

Closest thing to a documentary I know of is the AVGN's Swordquest episode:

[jhd]

The biggest challenge to creating a documentary would be the sheer passage of time. Finding the winner's of the only two contests that were actually held is going to be difficult (though I think the Earthworld winner did some interviews and he was even briefly here on AA a few years ago), and then they have to have something interesting to say. Ditto the programmers who created the games.

 

Speaking for myself, I would find it difficult to speak in any detail about an event that happened 30+ years ago when I was a teenager. Memories fade and the specific details are lost to the past.

 

The fact that none of the prizes -- other than the chalice -- are known/proven to still exist means that all there is to show are a handful of old photographs and published illustrations. This does not make for very compelling visual imagery.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

The biggest challenge to creating a documentary would be the sheer passage of time. Finding the winner's of the only two contests that were actually held is going to be difficult (though I think the Earthworld winner did some interviews and he was even briefly here on AA a few years ago), and then they have to have something interesting to say. Ditto the programmers who created the games.

 

Tod Frye did at least a couple of the Swordquest games, and from the panel discussion he was part of last year at PRGE he's a pretty entertaining guy with a lot to say. Not sure I could say the same for the prize winners based on some of the interviews I've read though.

 

As a whole, I don't think the Swordquest story would be as compelling as the E.T. story. That had the huge licensing deal, the hotshot young programmer given an impossible deadline plus the landfill story which grew from a trivia tidbit to this massive urban legend. Swordquest had some geeks deciphering clues in a comic book to win tacky (though expensive) prizes.

[Amstari]

One of the winners is on AtariAge. His name is SeaGTGruff.

 

There has been some topics where he has discussed the competition.

[mbd30]

A documentary could be made about "Air Raid."

[Amstari]

I expect there will be a lot of interest in documentaries like this after the Ready Player One movie is released.

 

Swordquest is mentioned in the book.

[Lynxpro]

I was toying a few years ago with writing a screenplay about the story of some kids going on a quest to liberate the mythical Swordquest sword. Somehow, I was going to work in Martin Sargent as being the sage who inspires the kids to go on the quest in the first place. I wanted an 80s vibe to it in the vein of The Goonies, Explorers, and Monster Squad, only with a much lower budget. And that's all I'm going to say about it.

[moycon]

I would watch a doc on the Swordquest games. I remember my friend Mark got this Earthworld game, and we stayed up all night night trying to "beat" the game.

It was the latest I had ever stayed up at that time! (Like 2am) Have no clue if we actually beat it. I know we got several clues which corresponded with comic book pages that contained hidden words.

Fond memories about that game.

 

Fireworld, not so much. I played it some as a kid. Recognized it as a mess even back then! LOL

[Keatah]

After Swordquest I didn't take videogames seriously till Raptor and Doom.

[high voltage]

I guess they were good at the time. You have to remember, everything Atari did was a 'first', programmers had nothing to compare, they had to invent genres, they had to provide some sort of story to go with the competition, and code the thing for a 128byte console. The additional comic book was a great extra, so you actually had to read and find clues. That was a great addition to the game.

Actually, it worked, as Swordquest competitions were held and treasures to be won.

Edited February 7, 2016 by high voltage

[totallyterrificpants]

I'd love to see something about Swordquest but I don't think it would have enough appeal to make a profit. Most you will get is basic internet videos talking about it.

[Shawn]

Why isn't there a documentary about Swordquest? Cause nobody less than 30 gives a fuck about Swordquest and it would be a miricle if any non-gamers even had a clue what it was.