20 Best Video Game Documentaries: The Ultimate Collection

twenty Best Video Game Documentaries: The Ultimate Collection

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The gaming industry eclipses $100 billion in almanac revenue each year. And that number keeps on climbing.

This is the perfect time to swoop into the video game industry whether every bit a programmer, concept artist, game designer or story writer. Even if you don't want to work in the manufacture yourself, information technology can still exist fun to learn how it all works behind the scenes.

And that's why I curated this huge list of 20+ crawly gaming documentaries ranging from the most niche indie games to massive studios like Naughty Dog.

At that place's something in this list for anybody and these vids will exit you longing for some screen time with your favorite panel.

1. Double Fine Adventure

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The Double Fine Risk Kickstarter was the impetus of this entire documentary. Filmed over the class of 3 years, this physician captures tons of behind-the-scenes footage from the design, development, and production of Broken Age.

It can be tough finding this documentary since information technology has the same name every bit the parent company. But if y'all search for the Doublefine documentary it'south out there.

Y'all tin can watch this in 1080p streaming online or as Hard disk Blu-ray disks you tin order from the online store.

It follows the creation of one of the most infamous projects in the 2010'southward led past manufacture legend Tim Schafer. You lot get to peek into the entire game development procedure with interviews from cast and crew members.

Easily one of the lesser-known documentaries with a lot to offer aspiring game designers.

Just notation the Blu-ray set includes extra scenes, commentary, and deleted footage that couldn't make information technology into the original documentary. So if you lot want the unedited manager's cut I do recommend the difficult disc version.

2. Indie Game: The Movie

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The Indie Game documentary is past far one of the best you could scout on game development.

Information technology's well known in the gaming industry as one of the nigh detailed and popular documentaries capturing the truths behind indie game development.

This got a prominent feature in The New York Times along with being honored as a Sundance honor winner.

While this feels like a "full general" indie gaming documentary it does have a focus on the squad behind Super Meat Boy and their 2-twelvemonth process of developing a killer title from scratch.

So you get tons of footage of the team that really shows simply how much work goes into the creative process. Developing a game is tough fifty-fifty for larger studios like Nintendo or Foursquare-Enix.

But going at information technology with a small squad and a limited budget tin be fifty-fifty tougher.

With video games it's always the thought and the creativity that wins in the end. I think this documentary is living proof of that.

Yous can take hold of a physical copy of the doc from their online shop or lookout it streaming online from any of the links on the homepage.

3. Naughty Canis familiaris 30th Anniversary Documentary

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The Naughty Canis familiaris game studio first came onto the scene in the mid-80s and struggled for a while to find their niche.

But things paid off with their 1996 release of Crash Bandicoot. Ever since and then Naughty Dog has been a strong contender in the gaming space and they just recently celebrated 30 years in performance.

Sony was nice enough to produce this incredible documentary focused on the squad at Naughty Dog.

This covers a total exploration of the company's history dating back to 1984 and their current progress in the modern gaming era.

It'due south a 50 minute documentary with interviews from the whole squad including founders Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin.

All-time of all this is totally free to watch on YouTube. Doesn't get much ameliorate than that!

4. Atari: Game Over

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In the 1980s Atari was a force to exist reckoned with. At present information technology's basically a monolithic company that no child has ever heard of.

Atari: Game Over is a documentary on Netflix that looks into the overshadowed history of Atari.

This is meant to shed lite on their company's growth and rapid advancement into the gaming market, along with their decline and market loss to competitors similar Nintendo.

It totals merely over seventy minutes long and was beginning released in 2014 so it's yet a recent documentary by any standards.

Director Zak Penn does a nifty job keeping your attention on the screen and taking you lot through the timeline of Atari's rise and autumn in the gaming industry.

five. Minecraft: The Story of Mojang

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The creator of Minecraft Markus Persson accumulated a cyberspace worth well over a billion dollars. This was all earned on the back of his incredible game Minecraft.

What is it about this game that fabricated it so popular? And how did Markus develop this game into the striking we see today?

Minecraft: The Story of Mojang follows the development of Markus' game studio Mojang so we can all see how it operates.

This is truly a story of difficult work and developing a vivid idea at just the right time.

The documentary shows a lot of hidden scenes from Markus' life and footage never earlier released to the public.

It'll give you a newfound appreciation for Minecraft and the crew backside the game.

If you're already a fan of Minecraft and so I don't take to sell you on annihilation. But if you're an indie game designer, developer, artist, anything… this doc is even so worth a watch just to encounter how someone else made their dream a reality.

vi. Thanks For Playing

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I tin't say this is a game documentary that'll go out yous inspired, although it really depends what you go out of it.

Give thanks You For Playing is the touching story of a game developer Ryan Green who congenital a video game surrounding an emotionally tumultuous journey in his life: the realization that his(and his married woman'due south) young son Joel had cancer.

They created a game over the course of 2 years called That Dragon, Cancer and this documentary chronicles the unabridged idea from late nights coding to heart-wrenching dr.'southward appointments.

Information technology truly is an intimate motion-picture show with and then much to encompass. I could never practise it justice in a few short paragraphs.

Merely you tin can cheque out the online trailer and see what you retrieve.

There's plenty of ways to watch this online too from iTunes to Amazon and Vimeo, all of which y'all tin can find on this page.

seven. Noclip Final Fantasy Physician

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Noclip is a grouping of filmmakers who create video game documentaries crowdfunded past the international gaming community.

They take a large YouTube channel if you wanna cheque information technology out with tons of free videos to look through.

Just one I really love and highly recommend is the Final Fantasy Documentary spanning 3 parts(nearly 120 minutes full).

This includes real interviews with Japanese game designers, concept artists, and programmers who share their experience working on the Concluding Fantasy series.

Noclip does an amazing job on all of their documentaries and this one is no exception. It's a must-lookout video series for any Terminal Fantasy lover or JRPG fan who enjoys Square-Enix titles.

And if you like this exist sure to bookmark the Noclip YouTube aqueduct to revisit later.

8. G4 Icons(Tv set Series)

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While this isn't technically a documentary movie, it is a very detailed documentary Television set series that I highly recommend watching if yous can.

G4TV produced Icons from 2002-2007 with a whopping 88 total episodes spanning 5 seasons. Each episode focuses on a dissimilar game studio, game serial, or aspect of game evolution like character pattern or sound FX.

There's an episode on the Xbox, the Gameboy, the Super Mario series and Prince of Persia and Final Fantasy… pretty much every massive gaming franchise to date.

These episodes feature incredible behind-the-scenes interviews hosted by the G4 team. This is rare footage you will not observe anywhere else in the whole globe.

Only trouble is G4 close down in 2014 and they've never released whatever of their original programming on DVD. Luckily some of it has survived and can exist found on YouTube if you search effectually long enough.

This is i serial that'll keep you lot entertained for weeks and there'due south then much you can learn across all areas of game design & evolution.

9. The Lost Arcade

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The Lost Arcade takes a wait into arcade culture in New York Urban center.

This follows a few groups of die-difficult gamers that never let the arcades get out. Almost gaming has since turned into personal gaming in the abode, just there'south a culture around arcades that never really died out.

And this documentary captures that culture brilliantly with interviews and scenes of the camaraderie behind this popular culture phenomenon.

At that place is a free trailer on Vimeo if you wanna bank check it out and you can even buy the total version correct from Vimeo also.

10. GameLoading

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GameLoading: Ascension of the Indies is a fantastic documentary focusing on the massive influx of indie game studios in recent years.

We've never lived in a time where game development could be accomplished by almost anyone. Information technology's much cheaper to develop a game than it is to create a movie or Tv show, at least if yous compare high-quality indie games to modern AAA titles.

In this 90-minute documentary y'all'll hear from countless indie devs equally they share their experiences working on their projects and pushing through deadlines to become their games released.

It's a tough choice as a career and even tougher equally a hobby.

But if you lot've always needed some inspiration to forge ahead with your indie project then this documentary is the place to start.

11. Earth of Warcraft: Looking for Grouping

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World of Warcraft celebrated its x year ceremony in November of 2014.

In celebration of this game'south massive success the company released this beautiful documentary for complimentary on YouTube. It's called World of Warcraft: Looking for Grouping and it paints an elegant picture of the game's rapid ascension in popularity.

MMOs quickly took the Internet past storm and they've never really slowed down.

But WoW is maybe the largest MMO with the most history and this documentary proves it.

You'll find interviews with some of the game's developers and get a sneak peek into the many moving parts of Blizzard Amusement. And y'all tin't beat that $0 price tag.

12. The Art Of The Game

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I've had existent trouble finding a copy of this 2014 documentary anywhere. But it's one of the most unique and detailed movies offering a look into video games as a career.

The Art of the Game spans 60 minutes and follows the lives of some students from a San Francisco university every bit they attempt to land jobs in the gaming industry.

You tin detect plenty of printing coverage on the pic along with a free trailer. Simply you lot'll have to practice some searching in Google to find the total version.

I really think information technology's worth the effort because this documentary shows how much try, talent, and personality is required to land a chore in gaming.

But in the end it's worth information technology if y'all tin can wake up and love every infinitesimal of what yous do for a living.

13. Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us

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The Last of Us is a video game series developed by Naughty Domestic dog and released in mid-2013.

Given the squad's love of filming and sharing merchandise secrets they created this backside-the-scenes documentary showcasing the game'south development process.

Over again this is an official release past Sony nether their PlayStation YouTube aqueduct. The documentary is available for free and tin can be viewed anywhere in the earth.

Over this xc-minute documentary you'll realize just how much work goes into creating a boot-donkey video game. It'due south not all play time with your team and that goes double for a huge studio like Naughty Dog.

Since you can watch this whole affair for complimentary online I'd absolutely put this near the height of your "must sentry" list.

xiv. God of War: Unearthing the Fable

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God of War: Unearthing the Fable is a characteristic length documentary showtime released in 2010 as a journey backside the scenes in this game's cosmos.

Experts in game design and storytelling share their thoughts about Kratos and the mythology of the game. Simply you'll also notice plenty of interviews with developers who talk nigh the complexities of the gameplay.

Unfortunately this is a tough documentary to find.

It used to be available on the PlayStation store but has since been removed. Yous tin effort searching around to find it streaming on YouTube or Vimeo, but for the nigh part this doc will exist a tough i to locate.

15. FGC: Ascension of the Fighting Game Customs

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The "Fighting Game Community" is the world of professional gaming focused on multiplayer battle games.

And this documentary takes you within this community with a deeper wait at the gamers who love the competition.

It may not be super interesting to game developers or artists since there'due south non a lot of backend game dev content.

But it should grab your attention if you lot're into competitive gaming or merely beloved to study the culture of video gaming every bit a whole.

sixteen. Super Game Jam

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Filmed across five different cities over half a twelvemonth, Super Game Jam is the coolest new indie game dev documentary in this listing.

It does what many other documentaries have tried to exercise: peer into the minds of game designers, developers, artists, and writers to effigy out how they make indie games that capture a fan base.

However this doc aims to pair two indie developers together and have them compete to create a new game in 48 hours. Yes, merely ii days!

This is a radical thought and not something you'll see anywhere else.

Merely it's a articulate representation of the many challenges indie devs face in the growing game industry.

17. Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession

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For more of a general look at the video game manufacture check out Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession.

This documentary spans a total 90 minutes and was starting time released in 2004 as a await into the wildly advancing field of game blueprint.

However hither nosotros are, almost two decades later and gaming is nevertheless growing faster than always. It'south ane reason I still recommend this documentary: the contents may seem dated simply it'southward crucial to know where yous come from.

If yous're just getting into game pattern or indie game development I highly recommend scouring the web for a re-create of this documentary online.

I'm not sure who originally produced the medico or if it was ever released on DVD. But try doing a search in Google videos to find a trailer or a full stream.

18. From Bedrooms to Billions: The PlayStation Revolution

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From Bedrooms To Billions: The PlayStation Revolution is a PlayStation documentary originally funded as a small Kickstarter projection.

This was created under the umbrella of a documentary team that'due south produced two other great video game films.

To appointment this PlayStation doc is yet in development but very close to release. Past the time you read this it may already be out!

Nevertheless I had to include this here because I just have not found whatever great PlayStation documentaries that focus on the ascent of the panel itself.

This is bound to be an epic watch and certainly worthwhile for video game fans.

nineteen. All Your History Are Belong To United states of america

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All Your History Are Belong To Us peeks into the development process of the earth's almost popular video game titles.

This series has a like vibe to the G4 Icons TV prove, except these episodes tin can run a bit longer and take a unlike directorial way.

You'll discover episodes on superhero games, EA Sports games, Call of Duty, DoTA, Capcom, Blizzard, and so many other big names in the gaming space.

This serial really lets you encounter how larger studios and larger teams develop games from initial thought to final release. At that place'south a lot y'all can acquire from this videos but information technology'southward easy to get lost in the hundreds of hours of footage.

20. Rise of the Video Game

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The Discovery Aqueduct created a five-office series on the video game industry following its history from the very first computer game in 1958 up to modern Internet gaming.

It'southward called Ascension of the Video Game and is probably one of the more unique series in this whole listing.

Again information technology's meant to be a historical count of gaming through the decades so information technology covers a lot of pop culture and gaming trends, non simply development.

Yet y'all can learn a lot well-nigh game evolution through history and by studying the changing trends adopted past larger studios.

It was by and large given good reviews and it'southward ane of the better documentaries that I recommend for studying gaming history.

Only trouble is, like many docs hither, you may struggle finding a copy to lookout.

But if you're willing to spend some time in Google you can probably notice all five episodes on Discovery's website or their YouTube channel.

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Source: https://conceptartempire.com/video-game-documentaries/

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