Why Are Films About Arcades So Bad??!?

CubeSnake

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Just rented "Pick Up Summer" from Netflix. Heavy, heavy arcade presence here, which, of course is why I rented it. Now I feel violated-it sucked & sucked bad. I mean really bad. to the degree where I want to stick a screwdriver in my ears/eyes so that I can be sure that I'll never watch it or listen to it again. To put it in perspective, it makes "Joystix" look like "Citizen Kane" YMMV....
Jay
 
Just rented "Pick Up Summer" from Netflix. Heavy, heavy arcade presence here, which, of course is why I rented it. Now I feel violated-it sucked & sucked bad. I mean really bad. to the degree where I want to stick a screwdriver in my ears/eyes so that I can be sure that I'll never watch it or listen to it again. To put it in perspective, it makes "Joystix" look like "Citizen Kane" YMMV....
Jay

Because it wasn't a big-studio movie. it was made by a guy who also starred in it (or his brother did). This was supposed to be a teenage sex, arcades, fun movie. Made cheap and quick, and it shows. BTW - we have a poster in our office for it's alternate title - Pinball Summer...
 
And then suddenly... Unexpectedly... Netflix is deluged with requests for this movie! :D
 
Arcade focused movies suck for the same reason movies about other niches suck--the people making it are experts on the subject matter, not movie making. Just because someone's really good at Galaga doesn't mean they can magically make a great Galaga movie, for example.
 
Well I don't know if it fits in the same catagory as the others, but "High Score" really good and I've watched it more than once, but I guess that was more a documentary than anything else.
 
Well I don't know if it fits in the same catagory as the others, but "High Score" really good and I've watched it more than once, but I guess that was more a documentary than anything else.
High Score was a good (if innacurate) watch... documentaries are usually the exception. It's easy to explain any given thing then it is to make an engaging plot around it :D
 
They suck for the same reason breakdancing movies did: they were quick hit movies that were focused on fads that weren't expected to last.. And yet here we are 30 years later, still restoring machines and doing the 6-step :D

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How was it inaccurate?

Pretty much all of the modern stuff was WAY off. They show an N64 and call it a Super Nintendo, I believe they refer to some Sony stuff as Nintendo stuff, and they overlook the Game and Watch as Nintendo's opening into the market. If I remember right they even showed a clip of Super Mario World and said it was for the Nintendo 64 as well! The Gamecube, original XBox and PS2 were skipped entirely to showcase the new gen consoles, with no real indication that there was any gap... "Nintendo managed to go from the N64 to the Wii!" seemed to be the indication. I watched it with a group of Nintendo fanboys and they laughed their heads off :(

EDIT: Waiiiit, you're thinking of that Missile Command thing, aren't you? I'm thinking of that Discovery Channel thing, or whatever that special was they aired with general video game history. Never mind my previous comments, never seen that High Score.
 
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