Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
The documentary series High Score, released a few days ago on Netflix, chronicles the golden age of video games - the 70s and 90s. XX century, the time when modern game genres were born and the legendary series that exist today began. And although a lot has already been written and filmed about this period, the authors of the series were able to find several interesting stories to complement the picture. Well, in the end, it's always nice to meet again with legendary game designers, albeit aged, but so close to the older generation of players.
High Score
Genre documentary series
Creator Franz Kostrel
The film stars Tomohiro Nishikado, Rebecca Heineman, Nolan Bushnell, Tooru Iwatani, Howard Scott Warshaw, Gail Tilden, John Kirby, Roberta and Ken Williams, Richard Garriott, Hirokazu Yasuhara, Trip Hawkins, Akira Jon Tobiashitani, Romance and dr.
Netflix channel
Year of issue 2020
Episode 6
IMDb Sites
It's even surprising that the series High Score was not shot by Brian Wolf-Weiss and it is not called The Games That Made Us. After all, the history of the creation of classic video games just ideally falls on a par with the series The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us filmed by Wolf-Weiss, about toys and films of the 70-90s. last century. But no, the director missed his chance, and Franz Kostrel and the Great Big Story media company shot a series about video games similar in structure and idea. It is based on the 8 Bit Legacy: The Curious History of Video Games short film series, nominated for an Emmy. Some of the stories in the High Score directly repeat plots from 8 Bit Legacy, however, this only applies to little-known or well-forgotten facts about video games. The main part, however, is more traditional and generally well known to older gamers. stories about the creation of classic game hits have been published more than once both in specialized publications and in the form of separate books.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
So the authors of the series asked Robert and Ken Williams to once again talk about the work on Mystery House, and John Romero about the creation of Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM. Tomohiro Nishikado talked about Space Invaders, and Toru Iwatani about his Pac-Man. Richard "Lord British" Garriott spoke naturally about RPGs, Akalabeth: World of Doom and Ultima, and Trip Hawkins about sports simulators, Madden NFL and collaboration with John Madden (yes, it turns out, he is a living person). Etc. However, while most of these stories are well-known, hearing them again from your favorite game designers is great. All of them, of course, have grown very old, after all, 30-40 years have passed since the times in question, and Nintendo's lawyer John Kirby, who gave the name to the legendary character Kirby, died some time after the end of filming.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
The list of games that made it into six episodes of High Score is more than traditional: Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Colossal Cave Adventure, Mystery House, Ultima, Final Fantasy, Mario Bros., Mystery House, Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog, John Madden Football, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Star Fox, Doom, Pong and Spacewar! Straight classic classic. Yes, a lot of your favorite games probably didn't make it to this list (WHERE IS ALL SID MEYER, ALL RTS AND MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR, AT THE END !!! 111) and it surely upsets you in earnest. But it is impossible to grasp the immensity, let's hope that the series will be extended for a second season and its creators will continue to explore the world of video games.
However, some of the stories told in High Score are really little-known and interesting. For example, how Gail Tilden, Marketing Director of Nintendo of America, was involved in the adaptation for the American market of Nintendo Power magazine, the first issue of which sold an incredible 3.2 million copies. Or the story of Night Trap, which, together with Mortal Kombat, blew up American politics, leading to the 1993 US congressional hearings and the creation of the ESRB age rating used today. Another interesting story concerns the creation of the worst game of all time - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial that buried the American gaming industry in 1983. Now by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial tells about what happened with irony and humor, because now it is already History. It was also interesting to hear about one of the first LGBT games GayBlade, lost by its developer.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
In addition, the authors of the series talk about the video game championships of the 80s and 90s, the competitions that paved the way for modern esports. About the first All-American Space Invaders Championship in 1980, about the Nintendo World Championships in 1990, the legendary MTV Sega: Rock the Rock Championship in 1994, and the Japanese Street Fighter II Turbo Championship in 1993. Interestingly, that very first Space Invaders tournament is told by its winner Rebecca Heineman (in 1980, Bill Heineman), who in 1983, together with Brian Fargo, James Patel and Troy Worrell, became one of the founders of the legendary Interplay and had a hand in to games like The Bard's Tale, Neuromancer, Wasteland, Out of This World, etc. Another interesting story from High Score is the story of Nintendo Game Play Counselors, a Nintendo support team that helped players navigate tricky moments in games over the phone.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
Undoubtedly, it is worth watching High Score in English, especially since there is no Russian soundtrack for this series on Netflix. Moreover, the narrator here is Charles Martinet, a voice actor since 1995 who is the permanent voice of Mario. It's really worth it.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
Perhaps the only big complaint about High Score, in addition to the well-knownness of many stories, will be some pretense of some of the scenes. So the authors made Robert Williams re-draw her famous giant flowcharts of games, Richard Garriott in one of the episodes plays with three other copies of himself in D&D, and John Romero, of course, runs around his yard with a chainsaw. It's funny, of course, but a little silly. But the animated screensavers for some stories and an introductory video with references to a dozen video games turned out to be really very cool.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
If you love video games, and especially the classics of the end of the last century, you simply must watch this series. An indescribable feeling of nostalgia and the return of childhood is guaranteed.
4
EDITORIAL OFFICE ITC.UA
PROS: A story about the process of creating classic video games from the lips of the legendary game designers of the 70-90s. last century; some interesting but little-known stories; funny animation inserts
CONS: Not all classic games made it into the first season; most of the stories are well known to those who are into video games; some of the scenes look too faked
CONCLUSION: A series that will delight older gamers. This is a story about how it all began 40 years ago
High Score
Genre documentary series
Creator Franz Kostrel
The film stars Tomohiro Nishikado, Rebecca Heineman, Nolan Bushnell, Tooru Iwatani, Howard Scott Warshaw, Gail Tilden, John Kirby, Roberta and Ken Williams, Richard Garriott, Hirokazu Yasuhara, Trip Hawkins, Akira Jon Tobiashitani, Romance and dr.
Netflix channel
Year of issue 2020
Episode 6
IMDb Sites
It's even surprising that the series High Score was not shot by Brian Wolf-Weiss and it is not called The Games That Made Us. After all, the history of the creation of classic video games just ideally falls on a par with the series The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us filmed by Wolf-Weiss, about toys and films of the 70-90s. last century. But no, the director missed his chance, and Franz Kostrel and the Great Big Story media company shot a series about video games similar in structure and idea. It is based on the 8 Bit Legacy: The Curious History of Video Games short film series, nominated for an Emmy. Some of the stories in the High Score directly repeat plots from 8 Bit Legacy, however, this only applies to little-known or well-forgotten facts about video games. The main part, however, is more traditional and generally well known to older gamers. stories about the creation of classic game hits have been published more than once both in specialized publications and in the form of separate books.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
So the authors of the series asked Robert and Ken Williams to once again talk about the work on Mystery House, and John Romero about the creation of Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM. Tomohiro Nishikado talked about Space Invaders, and Toru Iwatani about his Pac-Man. Richard "Lord British" Garriott spoke naturally about RPGs, Akalabeth: World of Doom and Ultima, and Trip Hawkins about sports simulators, Madden NFL and collaboration with John Madden (yes, it turns out, he is a living person). Etc. However, while most of these stories are well-known, hearing them again from your favorite game designers is great. All of them, of course, have grown very old, after all, 30-40 years have passed since the times in question, and Nintendo's lawyer John Kirby, who gave the name to the legendary character Kirby, died some time after the end of filming.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
The list of games that made it into six episodes of High Score is more than traditional: Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Colossal Cave Adventure, Mystery House, Ultima, Final Fantasy, Mario Bros., Mystery House, Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog, John Madden Football, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Star Fox, Doom, Pong and Spacewar! Straight classic classic. Yes, a lot of your favorite games probably didn't make it to this list (WHERE IS ALL SID MEYER, ALL RTS AND MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR, AT THE END !!! 111) and it surely upsets you in earnest. But it is impossible to grasp the immensity, let's hope that the series will be extended for a second season and its creators will continue to explore the world of video games.
However, some of the stories told in High Score are really little-known and interesting. For example, how Gail Tilden, Marketing Director of Nintendo of America, was involved in the adaptation for the American market of Nintendo Power magazine, the first issue of which sold an incredible 3.2 million copies. Or the story of Night Trap, which, together with Mortal Kombat, blew up American politics, leading to the 1993 US congressional hearings and the creation of the ESRB age rating used today. Another interesting story concerns the creation of the worst game of all time - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial that buried the American gaming industry in 1983. Now by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial tells about what happened with irony and humor, because now it is already History. It was also interesting to hear about one of the first LGBT games GayBlade, lost by its developer.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
In addition, the authors of the series talk about the video game championships of the 80s and 90s, the competitions that paved the way for modern esports. About the first All-American Space Invaders Championship in 1980, about the Nintendo World Championships in 1990, the legendary MTV Sega: Rock the Rock Championship in 1994, and the Japanese Street Fighter II Turbo Championship in 1993. Interestingly, that very first Space Invaders tournament is told by its winner Rebecca Heineman (in 1980, Bill Heineman), who in 1983, together with Brian Fargo, James Patel and Troy Worrell, became one of the founders of the legendary Interplay and had a hand in to games like The Bard's Tale, Neuromancer, Wasteland, Out of This World, etc. Another interesting story from High Score is the story of Nintendo Game Play Counselors, a Nintendo support team that helped players navigate tricky moments in games over the phone.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
Undoubtedly, it is worth watching High Score in English, especially since there is no Russian soundtrack for this series on Netflix. Moreover, the narrator here is Charles Martinet, a voice actor since 1995 who is the permanent voice of Mario. It's really worth it.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
Perhaps the only big complaint about High Score, in addition to the well-knownness of many stories, will be some pretense of some of the scenes. So the authors made Robert Williams re-draw her famous giant flowcharts of games, Richard Garriott in one of the episodes plays with three other copies of himself in D&D, and John Romero, of course, runs around his yard with a chainsaw. It's funny, of course, but a little silly. But the animated screensavers for some stories and an introductory video with references to a dozen video games turned out to be really very cool.
Review of the documentary series High Score / "Highest score"
If you love video games, and especially the classics of the end of the last century, you simply must watch this series. An indescribable feeling of nostalgia and the return of childhood is guaranteed.
4
EDITORIAL OFFICE ITC.UA
PROS: A story about the process of creating classic video games from the lips of the legendary game designers of the 70-90s. last century; some interesting but little-known stories; funny animation inserts
CONS: Not all classic games made it into the first season; most of the stories are well known to those who are into video games; some of the scenes look too faked
CONCLUSION: A series that will delight older gamers. This is a story about how it all began 40 years ago
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