Someone mail this to Jack Thompson, please.

but it shows street fighter!! VIOLENCE!!!!!!

nice piece, though

Very cool!

It was pretty great. It sums up most of my thoughts about games.

Anyone who doubts that video games are art should see this.

What's the video at 3:29 mark?

This video made me want to play games again. I've been really busy the university with finals, and now the stress of finding a summer job (so I can go back next year), but watching that reminded me of all that's good about gaming. There's the nostalgia of space invaders and sonic, the beautiful story from FFVII, and in a broader sense the feeling of being able to make progress and be the hero in the game, even (or especially) when life seems so impossibly bland and redundant.

Wow. That wasn't going to sound like that until I wrote it, haha. My initial thought was just "where's the genesis?" but I suppose art inspires... well, artistic feelings. Anyway, great video. And yes, someone should definitely mail this to Jack.

I love this video! Thank you for sharing this.

Wow. That was fantastic. Way to capture the essence of the media.

Impressive, i'm sure he left out some great parts of gaming history tho.

Beautiful.

Nice stuff, hats off to the person who made it. :)

I would guess at 3:29 it is Crysis. Just a guess though.

@Fireblend: 3:29 is the continue screen from Capcom's Final Fight, where you either put the quarter and the knife stops the dynamite or it explodes and, as Hudeson putted in Aliens, "Gameover, man! Gameover!"

@Spaceboy: @Fireblend: Ah, Ah, silly me, sorry was watching it on Youtube, while embended the timer goes backwards, my 3:29 was not yours. I tought it was Far Cry, but could be Crysis indeed.

@Fireblend:
I think that's from the Crytek tech demo where they fly around the island and show off the volumetric clouds and stuff.

Possibly a little pretentious, but I like it.

@CollapseControl:
This isn't a documentary about the history if video games. It's simply the range of emotions that you can feel and the experiences video games provide that no other art form can come close to. If you're viewing this as a "History of Gaming" thing you're not getting the point.

well tbh, i nearly cried : ]

oh and anyone know what the racing game was? the one with the pretty car going slowly around the corner?

@CONVERGE: The new Colin McRae CGI Intro, if my memory serves me right.

I'm torn.

I like that he looked at a range of emotions on games, but I can't stand all the cliche motivational clap-trap. It's a nice pretty piece and a good counter-point to anti-game hysteria, but I just can't stand the cliches.

So, one thumb up for artisitic use of footage, one up for challenging sterotypes of games, and one down for the cliche, saccharin, pablum message, even if it was supposed to be only in the context of the games.

Of course, that kind of crankyness is what I get for reading articles about accelerating world poverty, war, and the political abandonment of rural America just before reading my Video Game fix.

Er... good job!

And yes, I have 3 thumbs.

@CONVERGE:

The red Nissan race car? That's GTHD...

That was beautifully crafted and heartfelt. Love. With the trance music I feel like I just took a hit of E...

AERIS DIES

@Maxathon: You sir have one of the best icons I have seen in a while.

I really liked this. Hats off to the creator for taking so much time to try to get the point across. Some gaming "essentials" are missing, but I think he covered a lot of ground and the music is a good fit for the video. :)

I can't help but think most non-gaming types would view the whole 'God of your own world' thing with some skepticism. Judging from the huge variety of games he drew on, and how apt most of them were for the point he was making, this is certainly someone who has 'lived' games, for better or worse.

Amazing work

Excellent piece. Also had a great range (and was not afraid to use old "ugly" looking games).

I made a piece like this for my communications technology class back about 4 years ago, but the entire class was people who thumbed their nose at games, so I had to choose more graphically nice games... Mine was not nearly as good as this one. It really brought back some memories (aeris!)...

@Sillender: Yeah, i know it isn't about just gaming history, but there is still plenty a memories of emotional gaming parts that could of been in it. For example, instead of using a vid of someone dying in Halo 2 Multiplayer he could of used a scene from the Halo 1 campaign.

Fantastic!

I can only express joy.

Ego531 wrote:

I like that he looked at a range of emotions [in] games, but I can't stand all the cliche motivational clap-trap.

I completely agree. Something that you find in, as Flynn put it, "...a high end art museum show on the medium of gaming" wouldn't possibly be so trite. It's pretty, but it's in no way insightful.

Wow...this is beautiful

The song was relaxing, and the video was okay.

Awesome!

Great video,
I wish all the game developers who have lost their way (in it to make cash with generic crap) would watch this and go... hmmm, gamers do want that awesome, surreal feeling when they play a game, something that will they'll remember. here's to hoping

One day I hope everyone in the mainstream will accept games. People need to slow down and appreciate the intricate art, characters, and storylines. Games are more than a waste of time.

E.G., Everyone should know what Starcraft is, and be excited with the announcement of SC2. :P

@Citan359

As a game developer, I have to say that this video has really punched me in the face, and it felt good. During game development cycles, it's easy to get overwhelmed by tasks and forget why we really make games for: gamers. Yes, there's still marketing people snapping our fingers to make sure we don't forget our game has to sell, but there will always be developers that make games for gamers, not for money.

I personally hope that more devs. will see this video and remember what games are all about and why they joined the industry in the first place...

Very cool. I wish the artist used some camera cap games though, like Rainbow Six: Vegas along with the Mii part, that really is the next level of immersion. But still, totally awesome.

Also, I would've used the Ninja Gaiden buzz saw continue screen FTW!

I got a little choked up. haha. I hope video games will continue to sneak art into your hobby.

I think that the people who say that it's too cliche and doesn't really mean anything are too close to the trees to see the forest. People who aren't big gamers are the ones this video is really meant for. If you have a family member who doesn't really understand video games, show them this video. Maybe it'll spark a little understanding.

Loved all the references in there that showed he is in fact a proper gamer - Katamari and Dreamfall ftw!
But a very nice little video, nice change from your typical compliation with horrible sub-rock music blaring out.

One word: beautiful.

I miss Shenmue...

I really hope this piece gets accepted into some kind of video game museum. Although I doubt it will move non-gamers as much as it moves us gamers (because let's face it, any goosebumps you got were because you played the game you were watching), it's still something that should encourage non-gamers to realize that there's more to video games than being simple electronic toys.

I'm a little teary... I don't know if I'd liken it to 'high art', but it hit all my nostaliga buttons and made me smile. Some of the text came off as a little pretentious, but the overall message was good.
'Games are like any other creative medium. Nothing more, nothing less.' This, I like.

@Citan359: You mean Capcom?

i remember when napster came out i at one point started doing searches for dragon ball z music videos...some unbelievable music videos were made that i have yet to seen be beaten. also...does anyone know the name of the song in that vid?

Whoa that was great.

honestly, i didnt find this much higher quality than the standard dragon ball z FMV edit. it is better, but it doesnt look like anything a technically proficient editor wouldve made.

I really liked it. Showed shenmue so thats cool by me.

BUT, they should have thrown in some indigo prophecy ;)

That video just made a grown man cry. Yes, it was full of cliches. Maybe not the techically best video out there, but damn it was emotional. All those games and stories we all have gone through. Moments we all remember. The dogs from Resident Evil, Aeris dying, the evolving Mario, finding the Master Sword for the hundredth time... It's like the visual soundtrack to our lives.