Hacker Cinema
Viva Amiga
2017 · Film · documentary · 62 min
Directed by Zack Weddington
In 1985, a powerful new kind of computer was born. It was 10 years ahead of its time, and ready to take on Microsoft, IBM and Apple for control of the PC market. The Amiga computer revolutionized video, multimedia and digital art, with Andy Warhol being a big advocate. It was also known for being a fantastic video games machine. Despite the computer's manufacturer going bankrupt in early 1990's, the Amiga has a huge cult following worldwide to this day. This film documents the rise and fall of the Amiga in the marketplace, and gives an inside look at the passionate and eccentric community that surrounds it.
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3 comments on Hacker News
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.
2017 documentary, https://www.google.com/amp/s/arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/01/people-still-use-the-amiga-today-and-new-viva-amiga-documentary-shows-why/%3famp=1
"Viva Amiga is a wonderful look at the the history of the platform, the people who built it, and the users who loved it. The opening title says it all: "One Amazing Computer. One chance to save the company. One chance to win the PC wars."
I first heard of cTrix from the gamewave podcast, episode 51.
http://www.gamewavepodcast.com/episodes.html
His live performance of "Come along" is quite impressive. The "Viva Amiga" film that is sampled hasn't been released yet.