It's been a while since I did one of these, so have a themed quad on the subject of games.
Caine's Arcade
First up: a lovely little film showing the power of community on the net to bring happiness. Little Caine made use of his time at his fathers' car repair shop to make arcade-style games for people to play, but he never got any customers, until one day a passing film-maker in need of some car repairs wandered in and bought a ticket...
Indie Game: The Movie
The Kickstarter phenomenon is turning into a brilliant way of bringing together like-minded types to 'crowdfund' a project close to their collective hearts. Several of these are film projects, and one of the earliest ones is this; a documentary about the long and surprisingly pitfall-laden process of creating and releasing an indie game to the masses. Unfortunately this isn't the whole film, just an online extra bit to go with the main film, but I'm seriously bought on the trailer and am hopeful a festival will pick it out for inclusion this year (maybe even do a kickstarter strand....)
100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience
Another Kickstarter project that is almost at fruition: What began as a lament for the decline of American arcades (and by extension, arcades in the UK) turned into a celebration of the still-buoyant state of those places in Japan. I can attest myself of the floors and floors of electronica old and new, having pumped more than a few hundred yen coins into them in my time. It feels weird to have something from my childhood talked about in such nostalgic terms, but I suppose that's how things go as you get older.
Arcade
And as a final wallow in the nostalgia of my childhood, here is another film that stands as a ying to the yang of the 100 Yen film; Arcade documents the final days of the last New York video games arcade; a place where people met, had fun and made memories in among the electronic killing sprees. A sad but warm-hearted lament on an institution that is often seen by many as a dingy, dirty place where the ne'er-do-wells hang out, with a possibly happy ending.
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