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PBS Documentary on The Video Game Revolution

Posted by Zonk on from the revolution-will-be-televised dept.

fredrikr writes "PBS is currently running a documentary on the history and relevance of video games and gaming: The Video Game Revolution. [Check Your Local Listings] From the website: "This is the story of how a whimsical invention of the 1960s helped spawn the computer industry as we know it. Video games have influenced the way children live and play, forever altered the entertainment industry, and even affected the way wars are fought. See how it all began and find out what it means for the future."

5 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I hope they go over the beginnings of the first mainframe game.

  2. The revolution is offically over by kenp2002 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Once corporate found there was money in gaming, gaming went to pot. Time to go underground again....

    --
    -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
  3. *cough* ahem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    http://www.torrentreactor.net/torrents/section_7

  4. Re:A poor documentary by Slynkie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i agree with your points, though i think overall it was decently amusing. the thing that got me the most though, was that they couldn't find space in the whole two hours to even MENTION the Dreamcast...

  5. What were you expecting? by nobodyman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While I agree that the documentarty didn't delve too deeply into the nature of the industry, I don't really think it was the point. The point was to give an overview of the industry: a history, current trends, major figures, obstacles and struggles. In this respect I think it did a very good job. It also did this without becoming pedantic, or sensationalizing pieces of the story for dramatic effect.

    Furthermore, I don't think you could have had a two hour documentary that properly fleshed out the topics you mention without cutting out something else. If your goal is to describe the game industry in two hours and you spend 30 minutes on Peter Molyneux's thought process during the development of "Magic Carpet"... you've spent too much time on it.

    I think it did a very good job of presenting a balanced treatment on the subject of videogame violence. The mainstream media loves to jump on grand theft auto and doom, but this documentary showed both sides.