next »

[pervycreeper]

I saw this film in Montreal several weeks ago. I suppose this is as good a venue as any for expressing my thoughts/ review.

First off, I enjoyed watching the film. The flow was nice; it interesting throughout, and we were not inundated with tons of unnecessary information either. Production values were adequate for a sit down/ talking head/ DSLR production. Special effects (i.e. an underwater shot of Phil Fish) were quite good. Taken for what it is, it is fun to watch.

What I didn't like about the film was its overall focus. The film aims to create the impression that "indie games" represent the triumph of personal vision and passionate creation over the homogenizing influence of having to appeal to a broad market, but upon closer inspection, its contents actually undermine this idea. What stands out, above all is a tremendous obsession with the commercial element of game production. The games they chose to feature were all published by Microsoft, fell into a well-established genre, and had already received a great deal of attention/ publicity beforehand. The film's major dramatic moments all centered around business considerations (would DeGroot sign Fish's contract? Will Microsoft give Super Meat Boy marquee placement on Xbox Live on time?). A large take on the first day of Super Meat Boy's release signified a happy ending to this film, The Movie about Indie Games.

They missed the mark by failing to show more explicitly how games can be a valid medium for artistic expression (aside from pretty screenshots). Fish had a great quote (paraphrasing), that "games can stand in the same relation to the 21st century as film did to the 20th". They tell but don't show what is so appealing about games, why someone might be compelled to create them, and why they are the future of media. They also failed to give an accurate picture of what independent games can be. The most personal/ passionately made games are often distributed for free and have quite esoteric appeal. Making the film be a story about money gives the medium short shrift.

There was a livestreamed interview with FISH after the credits. I found it amusing that a young Japanese couple (presumably-- just going by looks here) promptly left the theatre in a huff after Fish declared, "and now I'm racist apparently" whilst rolling his eyes. He also mentioned that forum posts and internet smack talk invariably rustle his jimmies despite his best efforts, which I also found amusing for some reason. He does not particularly come across as a dick in the film, I may add.

Edit: minor corrections in last paragraph.

[C.A. Sinner]

They also failed to give an accurate picture of what independent games can be. The most personal/ passionately made games are often distributed for free and have quite esoteric appeal.

There was a another indie game documentary called "You Meet The Nicest People Making Videogames" or something, featuring people like Anna Anthropy, Gregory Weir, Amon26 and others. I don't know if that's still a going concern though.

[Graham.]

I've been hyping for this movie for a long time.

[Angrymatter]

Me too. I'm downloading it right now. It will be done by tomorrow.

[Graham.]

5m.

[pervycreeper]

There was a another indie game documentary called "You Meet The Nicest People Making Videogames"

The guy who's making this looks like a bit of a flake, doubt we'll ever see this. Also never had the potential to be what IG:tM should have been. I hope it gets made anyway, though.

[Angrymatter]

There was a another indie game documentary called "You Meet The Nicest People Making Videogames"

The guy who's making this looks like a bit of a flake, doubt we'll ever see this. Also never had the potential to be what IG:tM should have been. I hope it gets made anyway, though.

Mhm, espoecially considering all the mega media hype around Indie game the movie. Oh wait, what about that guy who looked like a crippled flake and later jacked off in public? Yeah, he made that Kony 2012 crap. I guess under normal circumstances that wouldn't be so recognized would it? But since there are these mega media centrals that people jack into then I guess whatever's popular is a success and whatever goes under the radar fails... This sick world we live in...

[forwardresent]

They also failed to give an accurate picture of what independent games can be. The most personal/ passionately made games are often distributed for free and have quite esoteric appeal.

There was a another indie game documentary called "You Meet The Nicest People Making Videogames" or something, featuring people like Anna Anthropy, Gregory Weir, Amon26 and others. I don't know if that's still a going concern though.

I was really looking forward to this, I heard about it before I'd heard about IGTM. I think Amon26 is the Robert Smith of indie games. He's awesome.

[Paul Eres]

i think it'd be interesting to make a documentary about indie games, themselves, not about indie game developers. e.g. the history of indie games, the important indie games throughout different years, the impact of indie games on the industry, stuff like that. it might be a bit "dry" to some but i'm interested in stuff like that, and aren't documentaries supposed to be dry?

[Alevice]

Some documentaries can be interesting, and it would be cool to overlap actual games with brief key dev intervews and such. Including the introversion assholes, and somehow, Pixel too.

[Graham.]

Ah, Pixel.

[Paul Eres]

yeah i'd like it to include a lot of japanese indie games and perhaps interviews with them; i feel they got overlooked too much, when the japanese indie scene / doujin games is really just as core to the indie scene as western indies are, if not moreso. tigsource mainly began (as a community) because of a shared love for kenta cho's games, cave story, and la mulana -- all japanese games

[C418]

What the fuck.

[kyn]

What the fuck.

[C.A. Sinner]

Fuck the what?