Bill Loguidice shows the Italian translation of Vintage Games, which is available at www.vintagegames.it, and discusses the book in general, as well as the upcoming feature film from Lux Digital Pictures, Gameplay.

We've been getting asked quite a bit lately to reveal more information about our forthcoming feature film documentary, so I thought I would share the current promotional description making the rounds. While we're still tweaking things here and there, what follows should be pretty close to the release version of the film:

Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, is a feature film documentary that celebrates the amazing story of videogames, focusing on the industry's most decisive moments throughout its history. Comprehensive in scope, the film covers games from all genres and platforms, from the late 1950s into modern times. Featuring interviews with industry greats such as John Romero (Doom), David Crane (Pitfall!), Steve Meretzky (Planetfall), Todd Howard (Fallout 3), and John Smedley (EverQuest) - plus many others - Gameplay offers an in-depth look at the industry that has redefined popular entertainment. The film explores the impact of mega-hits such as Atari's Pong, Nintendo's Super Mario Bros., and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, as well as the role played by revolutionary technologies like the CD-ROM and the Internet. Loaded with high-quality clips from hundreds of vintage and modern games, Gameplay is a film no gamer can resist.

The film is being written and produced for Lux Digital Pictures by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton, authors of Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time (Focal Press, 2009), Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games (A.K. Peters, 2008), and Wii Fitness for Dummies (Wiley, 2010). Matt and Bill are also the founders of Armchair Arcade, recognized by PC Magazine as one if its Top 100 Websites. Lux Digital Pictures has produced several recent, critically acclaimed documentaries, including Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue and American Grindhouse, which covers the history of horror and exploitation films, respectively. While Gameplay naturally touches upon controversial topics such as violence and sex in games, the overall tone is overwhelmingly positive. Lifelong, passionate gamers themselves, Barton and Loguidice are committed to ensuring accuracy, fairness, and integrity in all the topics covered in the film.

Since I know everyone appreciates updates, I thought I would take some time to let everyone know the latest with the two hottest projects that we're all working on here at Armchair Arcade, as well as an old favorite. First, is the book, Wii Fitness for Dummies, which I'm working on with my wife Christina. Section I of the book covers Wii Fit Plus, Section II of the book covers EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer, and Section III of the book covers Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010. This full color Dummies book will contain a typical "Part of Tens" section (actually two) that will talk about some of the other Wii fitness options as well. The book is shaping up nicely, but we won't have access to the software in Sections I and III until their street release dates, which are in October. The present plan is to finish the book by the end of November for a possible January release. Fingers crossed with that, but at least Section II should be finished in another week!

The feature film documentary on videogames for Lux Digital Pictures also appears on track, as Matt Barton, Mark Vergeer and I are busy capturing and sending footage to the Director/Editor. It's still going to be a long process, as even though we already did a few hundred media files, there will ultimately be thousands in the film, along with the interviews we filmed back in March. Good stuff and we'll try to make a big push on this over the next month.

Finally, there's our book, Vintage Games, which I'm sure you're tired of hearing about by now. Anyway, the ninth and final free online bonus chapter (not found in the book) should hit Gamasutra any day now, and a special Italian edition is presently being shopped around, with more translations possibly to follow. Exciting stuff to be sure as that book continues to surprise us.

Any questions? Sound off!

As you may or may not know, Matt Barton and I are working with Lux Digital Pictures as writers and producers on an upcoming feature film documentary on videogames. As such, we're looking to interview various industry professionals for the documentary. The interviews will be conducted the week of the convention at an adjacent hotel. If anyone has a particular person in mind to interview who will be at GDC 09 in San Francisco next month and happens to know their contact info or can suggest how to get in contact with them, that would be appreciated.

Alternately, if you are an industry professional who will be in the area of GDC 09 from March 23 - March 27 and are interested in being interviewed as part of the feature film documentary, please get in contact with me at bill@armchairarcade.com for more details.

Thanks, everyone!