High Score

[AArdvark]

Anyone watching this documentary on Netflix? Anyone besides me, I mean? It's the history of arcade games, spoon fed, but sort of interesting. If Netflix had the option of 1.5X speed, like my podcast player does, it would make the show much more watchable. I can tell they are aiming squarely at the retro game audience, the kind of people who still have an attention span.

THE
CROSS HAIRS
AARDVARK

[pinback]

We watched the first one. Parts were good, but in the Space Invaders section, they just talked about the arcade game and the 2600 version like they were the same thing, which put me off forever. Plus the whole "I felt like a woman, and videogames helped me empower my self-identity" angle was pandering and obnoxious.

The part where we learned Ms. Pac-Man was a bunch of modders who got hired so they could sell the mod as Ms. Pac-Man, I never knew that.

[Flack]

I watched the whole series, all six episodes. I could count on one hand the stuff I didn't already know, not because I'm some kind of walking encyclopedia or anything but because these documentaries cover the same things over and over. When they mentioned Space Invaders I was like, are they going to mention the yen shortage? They will.

I was disappointed that they didn't give a bit more information about who Rebecca (formerly Bill) Heineman was. Yes, she was the first video game champion. She was also a co-founder and head developer at Interplay. Some of the games she programmed/helped program include Tass Times in Tonetown, Bard's Tale 1 and 3, Neuromancer, Borrowed Time, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Jazz Jackrabbit, several of the Medal of Honor games, and lots of other stuff. She also did a lot of work porting games to other systems, like Out of this World and Ultima (IIGS), Tempest 2000 (Macintosh), and was the actual designer of Bard's Tale I and III.

I kind of lost interest in the Nintendo vs. Sega segment because I literally just saw something else about that, and heard that someone is doing another documentary about the same thing next year.

[Jizaboz]

I was disappointed that they didn't give a bit more information about who Rebecca (formerly Bill) Heineman was. Yes, she was the first video game champion. She was also a co-founder and head developer at Interplay. Some of the games she programmed/helped program include Tass Times in Tonetown, Bard's Tale 1 and 3, Neuromancer, Borrowed Time, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Jazz Jackrabbit, several of the Medal of Honor games, and lots of other stuff. She also did a lot of work porting games to other systems, like Out of this World and Ultima (IIGS), Tempest 2000 (Macintosh), and was the actual designer of Bard's Tale I and III.

I would want to hear more about that too. That whole aspect of gaming history is unique. Didn't Bill/Rebecca have regrets about the operation? Like they thought it was going to be different?

[AArdvark]

Thought she was kind of an ugly chick...

Another thought I had was that we are seeing the transition from text based to video learning. These documentaries are the second step in eliminating reading-based learning. Instead of hauling around paper textbooks the kids of the future are going to watch documentaries such as High Score and do all their learning that way. There won't be any 'homework' because everyone will be at home anyway. There might be independent study and stuff like that (YouTube or visual Wikipaedia rabbit hole). I don't believe reading text will entirely go away but there sure won't be a lot of it, similar to kids learning to write in cursive (or shorthand!)

THE
>:<()
AARDVARK

[Jizaboz]

Psycho all caps written text rules over cursive!

(I just find it easier to write and more readable)

[Tdarcos]

There was a short story - I think it was called "The Bard" - and it might have been written by Isaac Asimov - in which kids in a future time were taught by a television-like device called "the Bard", and the written language had been mostly forgotten. These two kids discover - or rather rediscover - wriiten language and realize they could use it to send each other secret messages. Since nobody, even eduvcated people kniow how to read any more they don't even have to use a code or anythinfg.

[AArdvark]

Exactly. Text will be the equivalent of ancient Egyptian jerk lions.


The autocorrect suggestion was so amusing I had to leave it.

[The Happiness Engine]

Thought she was kind of an ugly chick...

Another thought I had was that we are seeing the transition from text based to video learning. These documentaries are the second step in eliminating reading-based learning. Instead of hauling around paper textbooks the kids of the future are going to watch documentaries such as High Score and do all their learning that way. There won't be any 'homework' because everyone will be at home anyway. There might be independent study and stuff like that (YouTube or visual Wikipaedia rabbit hole). I don't believe reading text will entirely go away but there sure won't be a lot of it, similar to kids learning to write in cursive (or shorthand!)

THE
>:<()
AARDVARK

In the FUTURE of 1934 all the best teachers will be centralized and their learning plans will be beamed WIRELESSLY via the new medium called "RADIO" to every classroom in the nation! Learning will change FOREVER!

Have fun getting old, Grandpa.

[Tdarcos]

I watched the whole series, all six episodes. I could count on one hand the stuff I didn't already know, not because I'm some kind of walking encyclopedia or anything but because these documentaries cover the same things over and over.
[deleted]
I kind of lost interest in the Nintendo vs. Sega segment because I literally just saw something else about that, and heard that someone is doing another documentary about the same thing next year.

So, I guess you'd give this documentary series a low score?