What are the best video game documentaries?

[Foggy]

There's only really a couple out there, I've only seen Indie Game: The Movie, which I liked a lot.

About Video Games: The Movie, it seems like it's been pieced together by people who don't really understand how to really make a documentary, seems all a bit big in scope while a little bit too focused on gimmicks (yay, let's go find E.T. The Game!) it just seems like it lacked pacing and through line to follow from the trailer I saw.

Compared to Indie Game The Movie, that's a film that's focused on three stories, all with unique dynamics and different stories, and it all comes together that creates an enlightening piece on a difficult business within a broad piece of medium. To just jump into the medium and say "yeah, we're going to do a film about the all of this" just won't work, especially if you have a love for it, since there will be more things you'll want to focus on. Indie Game actually doesn't rely too much on prior game knowledge, but instead puts the light on the people...sadly one of those people is Phil Fish, but atleast he's not glorified too much.

[Nocturnaloner]

Originally Posted by Foggy

To just jump into the medium and say "yeah, we're going to do a film about the all of this" just won't work, especially if you have a love for it, since there will be more things you'll want to focus on.

That's absolutely true. My personal bias is toward the arcade era, and the Atari 2600, because that's when I formed my interest. Chasing Ghosts is on my list, and, going from memory, The Video Craze.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Foggy

About Video Games: The Movie, it seems like it's been pieced together by people who don't really understand how to really make a documentary, seems all a bit big in scope while a little bit too focused on gimmicks (yay, let's go find E.T. The Game!) it just seems like it lacked pacing and through line to follow from the trailer I saw.

I'm curious whatever happened to the Atari E.T. cartridges too--being geezer enough to have actually played one--but it's either this or that one X-Play episode G4TV did, where the host's search for the cartridges turns into a conscious parody of the Terry Gilliam "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas".
(Obviously that one wasn't a documentary. )

It's a pretty limited genre, as of yet, so, um, yeah: KoK:AFoQ, and the competitive search for the Kill-Screen.
(I've had my own twenty-five year obsession with Bubble Bobble, m'self, but in all that time, never got past Level 52.)

Originally Posted by Tekka

I feel like I am watching a VH1 show from the mid 2000s.

Oh, well, here, let me help:

[Show spoiler]

VH1 - I Love The 80s - 1982 - YouTube

[Gerby]

High Score (2006)

Although technology continues to evolve, a group of die-hard gamers refuses to abandon the classic arcade games of yesteryear. The 80's live on for these enthusiasts, who compete against each other and history to record the world's highest scores.
Portland gamer Bill Carlton is one of the most brazen, fearlessly taking on some of the toughest records on the books. HIGH SCORE follows Bill as he attempts to take down the Atari classic Missile Command and its twenty year-old record. To get the 80 million points he'll have to play the game on one quarter for over two days straight. There is no pause button. There will be no sleep. There can only be one victor in this classic story of Man versus Missile Command.

Whist it's not about the history of video games, this is a good but short watch (50 mins).