GameLoading: Rise of the Indies is probably my favourite film about video games.
GameLoading: Rise of the Indies, the Kickstarted documentary about indie game creators by Australian StudioBento, is a love story about video games.
Where Indie Game: The Movie was a very interesting (and good!) film following the development turmoil of Phil Fish and Team Meat, it was a very personal story. Indie Game: The Movie was all about personality. In contrast, GameLoading is all about the love of creation.
GameLoading, instead of following a particular team from concept to development to release, decides to take a snapshot of the indie game scene as it is right now. That’s not to say we don’t get to see some of the creative process – The Stanley Parable is followed on release day and its winning of the GDC award – but GameLoading is really about how those on the coal-face see indie games.
In GameLoading, the culture of indie game development is shown mostly through interviews with some prominent figures in the scene. At the forefront is Davey Wreden of The Stanley Parable, who details the game’s conception and the challenges of developing a game with a two-man team separated by half a world. But GameLoading isn’t content to minimise the scene to one team’s perspective, and soon brings in a plethora of gaming greats to discuss the philosophy of indie game creation. John Romero gets a turn, as does Don Daglow, but their contributions fade into the background compared to the fresh voices of the new indie movement. Vlambeer’s ubiquitous Rami Ismail, Incredipede creators Colin and Sarah Northway, PAX East-crashing Trent Kusters, Depression Quest’s Zoe Quinn, artistes Michael Samyn and Auriea Harvey from TaleofTales, VN creator Christine Love, and many more – even through the challenges and difficulties they’ve faced, their passion for their medium is palpable. These creators’ varied creative philosophies stand apart in their intellectual intricacies, but bind together in their common love for the creative process – a trend which forms the core theme of GameLoading.
In fact, GameLoading combines passion for game creation with revitalising optimism for future generations.
Other documentaries about video games make me feel for the human struggles for those involved, or informed me of facts. GameLoading made me want to go out and play video games.
GameLoading is a love letter to unfettered creation that reminded me of why I love video games in the first place.
You can buy GameLoading through their website, or through Steam, VHX, the Humble Store, iTunes, Xbox, or Playstation stores.
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