The Art of Playing (2014)
As these independents create more and more original work, what kind of impact can they have on the industry?
Genre : Documentary
Runtime : 26M
Synopsis
Indie video game developers push games to new frontiers in storytelling, music, animation and design. Texas has the second largest concentration of game companies in the U.S. Along with major game developers like EA and Blizzard, there is a small but committed group of independent developers and artists working diligently to bring their own voice to “lower the floor and raise the ceiling.” As these independents create more and more original work, what kind of impact can they have on the industry? Presented as part of the Arts in Context series produced by KLRU-TV, Austin PBS.
After the mysterious, brutal death of an old friend, a group of teenagers find themselves in possession of "Stay Alive," an ultra-realistic 3-D videogame based on the spine-chilling true story of a 17th century noblewoman, known as "The Blood Countess." The gamers don't know anything about the game other than they're not supposed to have it... and they're dying to play it. Not able to resist temptation, the kids begin to play the grisly game but soon make a chilling connection -- they are each being murdered one-by-one in the same way as the characters they played in the game. As the line between the game world and the real world disappears, the teens must find a way to defeat the vicious and merciless Blood Countess, all the while trying to... stay alive.
High School student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Defense Department's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his girlfriend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
When brilliant video game maker Flynn hacks the mainframe of his ex-employer, he is beamed inside an astonishing digital world...and becomes part of the very game he is designing. In his mission through cyberspace, Flynn matches wits with a maniacal Master Control Program and teams up with Tron, a security measure created to bring balance to the digital environment.
Even though he's 35, Alex acts more like he's 13, spending his days as the world's oldest video game tester and his evenings developing the next big Xbox game. But when he gets kicked out of his apartment, he's forced to move in with his grandmother.
The Russians seek help in dealing with the Mafia from the veterans of the Police Academy. They head off to Moscow, in order to find evidence against Konstantin Konali, who marketed a computer game that everyone in the world is playing.
Gamers who participate in an online role-playing game called Hellworld are invited to a rave whose host plans to show them all the truth behind the Cenobite mythos.
The first story focused on Tai and Kari Kamiya four years before their adventure in the Digital World. It shows their first encounter with Digimon and what happened to them (as well as the other children). Tai and Kari wake one morning to find a Digi-Egg that came out of their computer the night before and the egg soon hatches, revealing a Botamon. The Digimon then evolves into Koromon and then Agumon (not the same one that became friends with Tai in the series, and yet, somehow, both Koromon and Kari remember each other), who then goes out and unintentionally destroys a good part of the neighborhood with Kari riding on his back. A second Digi-Egg appears in the sky to reveal an evil digimon, Parrotmon. Agumon then Digivolves to Greymon but isn't strong enough to beat Parrotmon and is knocked out. Tai grabs Kari's whistle and wakes up Greymon, who defeats Parrotmon and disappears with him.
Carmen's caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Kids' new nemesis, the Toymaker. It's up to Juni to save his sister, and ultimately the world.
When Scooby and the gang get trapped in a video game created for them, they must fight against the 'Phantom Virus.' To escape the game they must go level by level and defeat the game once and for all.
James Bond returns as the secret agent 007 to battle the evil organization SPECTRE. Bond must defeat Largo, who has stolen two atomic warheads for nuclear blackmail. But Bond has an ally in Largo's girlfriend, the willowy Domino, who falls for Bond and seeks revenge.
As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an army of ex-boyfriends who will stop at nothing to eliminate him from her list of suitors.
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home.
Powered with incredible speed, Sonic The Hedgehog embraces his new home on Earth. That is, until Sonic sparks the attention of super-uncool evil genius Dr. Robotnik. Now it’s super-villain vs. super-sonic in an all-out race across the globe to stop Robotnik from using Sonic’s unique power for world domination.
Luca follows in his father's footsteps to rescue his mother from evil Ladja. Finding the heavenly hero who wields the Zenithian sword is his only hope.
A bank teller called Guy realizes he is a background character in an open world video game called Free City that will soon go offline.
A teen gamer is forced to level up to full-time babysitter when his favorite video game drops three superpowered infants from space into his backyard.
Inspired by the nationally popular video game series, the Tokyo-based ballet company Star Dancers Ballet's Ballet Dragon Quest was first produced in 1995. It was the first show that combined ballet with the video game. Ever since the ballet has been enthusiastically welcomed by not only ballet-lovers but also those who would otherwise never see a ballet, including Dragon Quest fans. It has been highly regarded as a unique and exceptional entertainment-ballet that successfully broadens the border of ballet. For the first time, this performance has been captured on video.
In suburban Chicago during the late 1980s, ten-year-old Jake Doyle embarks on a herculean quest to get the latest and greatest video game system for Christmas.
Video game experts are recruited by the military to fight 1980s-era video game characters who've attacked New York.