Hacker Cinema
From Bedrooms to Billions
2014 · Film · documentary · 162 min
Part of From Bedroom to Billions Collection
Directed by Anthony Caulfield, Nicola Caulfield
From Bedrooms to Billions is a 2014 documentary film by British filmmakers Anthony Caulfield and Nicola Caulfield that tells the story of the British video games industry from 1979 to the present day. The film focuses on how the creativity and vision of a relatively small number of individuals allowed the UK to play a key, pioneering role in the shaping of the billion dollar video games industry which today dominates the modern world's entertainment landscape. The film features interviews with major British game designers, journalists and musicians from across the last 30 years.
8 positivefrom 8 commenters
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8 comments on Hacker News
Pretty awesome, thanks. I've been bingeing on retro computing documentaries, and this is right up with the best of them.
If anyone else is interested, I'd heartily recommend:
- The entire "From Bedrooms to Billions" documentary series (3x2h pieces, spanning the UK computing scene, the Amiga and the PlayStation, with several discussions on game music and demoscene)
- "The Chiptune Story", which covers the SID chip and the Amiga (there's also "The Commodore Story")
Just found out he passed away - this sucks - way too young.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Daglish
Ben Daglish Remembered: Wastelands loader (Underworld, 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj6Amy1Bmeo
He is also in the "From Bedrooms to Billions" documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRsLOUYL3mk
EDIT: he wasn't just funny, I remember him as a very positive spirited guy.
From Bedrooms to Billions (2014), on the British video games industry 1979-
Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound (2016), more about composition and working within constraints but the hardware gets a look in.
The Ultimate History of Video Games (2001) is amazing, if that's the angle you are looking for. Over 600 pages of great stories and information about the industry. I've read it twice and still think there sre things in there I haven't fully digested. I have a few other video game books pushed in the early to mid 2000s, but this is the only one I'd actually recommend. There are a lot of newer books, but they seem to approach video games from a more sensationalized space. One exception I would make are the works of Brian Bagnall, who writes about Commodore/Amiga. I haven't read his books but I hear they are amazing.
For documentaries, not exactly the same, but I enjoy the Bedrooms to Billions series (feature films, 2 are out) and to a slightly lesser extant Viva Amiga (2017) and the 8-Bit Generation series (feature films, 2 are out). These can be a bit more computer-focused though. I do not recommend Video Games: The Movie (2014), it feels like a VH1 special with little actual information.
Recommendations in this area;
Books
'The Making of Karateka' by Jordan Mechner http://amzn.eu/5iUrxxo
'The Making of Prince of Persia' by Jordan Mechner http://amzn.eu/fJ0Nfr2
Documentaries
'From Bedrooms to Billions' http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com/about-the-film https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404567/
'From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years!' http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com/amiga https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4603210/
Blog Posts
https://arstechnica.com/series/history-of-the-amiga/
Hope ^ these prove interesting, will update comment if I think of others ツ
If you want a good documentary on the Amiga (and also another one on 8/16 bit gaming) you can't go wrong with From Bedrooms to Billions:
http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com/
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this, just a paying customer (totally worth it!), but I do know the Producers.
If you're interested in that era, I recommend watching "From Bedrooms To Billions" http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com/
I grew up in this era, first programming on an Aquarius. It was quite the hobby in the UK.
Check out the documentary From Bedrooms To Billions - it goes into good detail about the early home computer game development scene, well worth a watch.