While Matt and I are still hard at work on our upcoming feature film documentary, Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, there comes good news related to the producer and financier, Lux Digital Pictures, in a story from indiWIRE, which can be read here. To summarize, Lorber Films will be releasing two of Lux Digital Pictures' recently completed films, “American Grindhouse” and “Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue,” to theaters in both the US and Canada. This is great news, as it's amazingly difficulty to get even limited theatrical distribution for indie productions, and bodes well for Gameplay's future.

As a reminder, 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.

The official Facebook fan page.

It seems that outside the hardcore gaming community, many people still think of games as simple pastimes; casual activities with little redeeming value. Relatively few I've talked to consider it a legitimate hobby or craft.

Based off of a discussion/friendly argument I was having on another forum, I would like to bring up the topic of the "Golden Age of Videogames" and what and when that really means. First off, I'm not a big fan of identifying "ages" of things as they relate to videogames in general, though I have certainly found similar types of categorizations convenient for defining and delineating eras, time periods, and the like. In short, it may be a bit messy with lots of gotchas, but it's a convenient and well worn mechanism for organization. With that in mind, I will put forth my own thoughts on what the "Golden Age of Videogames" is and the reasons why, though, as always, your own input will help to come to a better answer.

First off, I'm dismissing the argument that the "Golden Age of Videogames" is personal opinion, influenced by what you grew up with. There can only be one commonly agreed to "Golden Age", implied by the term "Age", just like there's only one "Golden Age of Hollywood". Second, I'm dismissing the argument that the "Golden Age of Videogames" depends upon region. This is a false argument. As with war, the "winning" side gets to name it, which is why it's the "Golden Age of Hollywood", not the "Golden Age of Bollywood". Finally, I'm dismissing the argument that a "Golden Age" is strictly one of prosperity. If that were the definition, then each new height Hollywood would reach in total sales would be a new "Golden Age", just like there would be no argument now in the world of videogames--if you go strictly by financial success and pervasiveness, it's an open and shut case that right now is the true "Golden Age of Videogames". It is not.

I love the newer generation of consoles, I love the enhanced life-like graphics and I love the online aspects of them. Especially the Xbox 360 Live Arcade experience is something unique and can not be matched by any of the other current consoles like the Wii or the PS3.

But there is something about the older generation of consoles that makes them more timeless, easier to use and their gameplay is guaranteed to last a couple of decades - provided the circuit boards don't corrode etc. Will this be the same with the newer generation of consoles?

Read more about what I think about that subject, I am very curious about what do you think?

This video is 'part one the Wiz review prequel' and it just contains some quick caps of games and emulators running. All emulators - except for the original gameboy and sadly the Vice emulator - run full speed zero frameskip.

The first part truly shows of the OLED screen in full splendor. The latter part of the movie was taped in a rather dark environment with the camera in Macro so there is actually a moire effect visible and the image is over exposed. Ah well just a quick 'Mark plays'... Read more to view the video. Be sure to select HQ or HD to view the video in the best possible quality.

My first attempt at a REAL intro for all future MaximumRD videos. Hope you like it (Be gentle, I am no expert at this stuff LOL!)

Microsoft has stopped supporting the first batch of original Xbox game consoles that have fallen out of warranty. Users owning newer consoles are still able to get support until their warranty expires.

Welcome to a very special The Goodnight Gamer - Episode 2, on the serious topic of Manbags, shot on the Flip camera.

Inspired by Bill I wanted to take some casual and somewhat decent unedited photos of my study / rec room / video game area and the rest of the room so like Bill I can more easily refer to specific items when discussing them.