Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obses

[leunas]

Year: 2004
Host: Tony Hawk

Well organized video timeline of the fastest growing industry.2

Compilation of the industry known as video games and how it had started as a hobby for introverts and social outcasts to emerge as the premiere entertainment industry giant.

NOTE - Nostalgia hits me left and right as I watch this video, all the major American greats of game design gave their comments on what happened, what is happening, and what will happen.

[leunas]

Old press release

Game Show Network Premieres Two Hour Documentary 'Video Game Invasion: THE HISTORY OF A GLOBAL OBSESSION' Documentary Hosted By Pro Skateboarder and Video Game Star Tony Hawk And Premieres Sunday March 21 at 9:00 pm ET/PT

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ - GSN, the network for games (formerly Game Show Network) will premiere its second documentary, Video Game Invasion: THE History Of A Global Obsession. This documentary will cover the creation and evolution of video games, and will be narrated by skateboard and video game icon Tony Hawk. Video Game Invasion will debut Sunday, March 21 from 9 to 11 PM ET/PT.

The announcement was made today by Rich Cronin, President and CEO, GSN, as part of the network's Television Critics Association presentation.

In making the announcement, Cronin said: "Video games have had such an enormous impact on popular culture and on the leisure time of young people that we felt it was important to document the birth and growth of this amazing entertainment phenomenon. The video game industry now generates 20 billion dollars in annual revenues, and the profile of the average gamer is changing. Some 41% of computer gamers are women and more than half of all players are over 18, demonstrating the continued expansion in popularity."

"We knew that to do justice to the amazing thrill ride that is the video-game industry, we had to capture all the drama, the intrigue, the scope, even the humor that's been part of the industry from the beginning," says David Comtois, executive producer. Adds David Carr, executive producer, "And as producers of numerous personality-driven documentaries, we knew that the best way to accomplish that was through the human element. All these folks were off-the-wall, wildly colorful pioneers in a business with no boundaries. We couldn't have asked for better subjects!"

Hosted by Tony Hawk, world champion skateboarder and co-creator of such hit video games as "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" and "Tony Hawk's Underground," Video Game Invasion explores the creation of video games in an entertaining and comprehensive fashion. Taking viewers through the maze of games that comprised the evolution of video gaming, Video Game Invasion focuses on the impact of the human element, and the behind the scenes competition between these impassioned geniuses who create video games. Bold and irreverent, Video Game Invasion delves into the fascinating world of tech-heads as they pushed the technological envelope to create such breakthrough early games as Pong and Space Invaders, and subsequently emerged with the huge international corporations that now dominate the multi-billion dollar video game industry. Paying homage to those unique individuals for pushing the game envelope and making the industry what it is today, Video Game Invasion takes us on an adventure through the phenomenon of video games and explains why they have become a global obsession. Video Game Invasion will be sponsored by Planters.

Video Game Invasion is executive produced by David Carr and David Comtois of Beantown Productions, and includes interviews of Nolan Bushnell, former CEO of Atari, Al Alcorn, former Vice President of Atari and designer of "Pong," Seamus Blackley, CAA agent who leads their video game division and former CTO and lead designer for Microsoft Xbox, John Romero, CEO of Monkeystone Games and co-creator of "Doom" and "Quake," and many other industry pioneers.

Beantown Productions, founded by David Carr and David Comtois, is a leading independent production company and an acclaimed TV advertising and marketing powerhouse. The company's recent TV production credits include Lifetime Television's Operation Style; AMC's Behind the Planet of the Apes; The Alien Saga and 20th Century Fox: The First Fifty Years; A&E's Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies and Hugh Hefner: American Playboy; and the Fox Family Channel's LeoMania. On the film side, the company recently handled editing and post production work for Family Tree, a semi-autobiographical short from Oscar-winning Shrek director Vicky Jenson. Beantown Productions is based in Los Angeles with offices in New York City.

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network features game shows, reality series, documentaries, video game programs and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN features 84 hours per week of interactive programming, which allows viewers a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN's televised games via gsn.com. Reaching 54 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation.


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