Netflix is coming up with a brand new series, be prepared for the nostalgia to hit hard.
Charles Martinet, Mario himself is going to narrate the brand new documentary series, High Score, based on the early days of the video game industry; the six-part documentary will on Netflix.
The new docuseries, High Score, premiered on Netflix on 19th of August and is a reminder of the time of arcade machines, the rise of the consoles and PCs. High Score talks about the cut-throat market that the gaming industry became, as it transformed from a minor, destined to fail endeavour into the entertainment industry, to a significant business prospect.
The documentary series is a dream come true for all the die-hard gaming fans, in its core, it is very similar to another Netflix series, The Toys That Made Us.
The series will transport you back to the 90s and will bring about nostalgia as you get to live the birth of the video game industry in real-time.
High Score: The Trailer/ Release Date
The series has already released on the 19th of August on Netflix, and you can stream the series on the streaming service.
The trailer of the docuseries began with 100-yen coins, and the clinking of the coins falling into the arcade machines and the story begins of the birth of the video game industry. From the use of cutting edge technology at the time to the transformation of the games through the many gaming genres, the video highlights everything that the gaming industry went through and what all is going to be featured in the documentary series.
You can watch the trailer for the new documentary series here:
Not only are we going to the see the history of the games that we have known since childhood but also the people behind it, the industry that stood behind them, the entrepreneurs, the developers, and most importantly the many players that made the games famous by showcasing their skills.
High Score will also feature the big names and the innovators that changed the video game industry from behind the scenes, who we never got to know, without whom this vision would have never come to a realization.
“In games, we all start at the same place”, a line repeated continuously in the trailer, this shows us that while these things might be a game or a source of entertainment for us, for the creators, they are as precious as a well-written novel or a blockbuster movie, they worked hard on.
The gaming industry truly brought a change into the world, and the technology that was developed to accompany these games is just the highlight of the creativity and genius that the pioneers of the gaming industry possessed.
Episode Wise Summary (Spoilers Ahead)
Well, as High Score is already out and about, we are going to discuss all the episodes of the documentary series in as vague a method as possible, and you might get some spoilers.
Episode 1 / Boom & Bust:
In the early 80s, video games make an explosive entry into the mainstream, with kids lining up to spend quarters at a higher speed than Pacman can consume the fruit. But the big start didn’t necessarily guarantee a smooth journey. A lot of bad ideas accompanied by a lot of bad press and people were already preparing a funeral for video games.
Episode 2 / Comeback Kid:
Then came the revival of the video game industry and it was none other than Nintendo who led the comeback. It wasn’t easy, but a courtroom fight, plenty of crying in the boardroom meetings and a lot of people ready to make sacrifices for the sake of the company managed to keep the video game industry afloat. At the end of the decade, Nintendo was sitting scullery at the top of the industry.
Episode 3 / Role Players:
Now that the industry had set a solid foundation and Nintendo and Atari were sitting at the top of the industry and were household names, the gaming industry began to expand as the industries’ minor visionaries started to revolutionize the way that games were played.
Still in the shadow of the big names, these small players opened up the industry into new possibilities and helped transform the computers at home into the gaming devices that we know today.
Episode 4 / This is War:
Through the 1980s, video games discovered the very artistic narrative that we can see today and the improvement in technology came at a rapid pace; the innovation was so fast and secure that people realized that video games are not the things that only concern the geeks and the dork.
The businesses and suits realized that video games were going to big and had the potential to become something very profitable, so they put their hands into the industry and thus came the cut-throat competitions, the marketing campaigns, and the all-out console war in the gaming industry.
Episode 5 / Fight!:
The war within the gaming industries continued as the top names fight with each other, such as Sega’s Sonic vs Nintendo’s Mario. The battles between the games were a small aspect of the big war that was coming to light, the discovery of an entirely new genre of a game, fighting games.
The fighting games spread like wildfire and started becoming so violent that they almost toppled the gaming industry.
Episode 6 / Level Up:
The big money industry, built up from the ground by risk takers and rule breakers, was going to be revolutionized by 1993 as the industry saw a new dimension make its way, turning heads, all thanks to a few nerds who decided to go rogue.
The significant change was the combination of the gaming industry with brand new bustling technology and a brand new toy known as the internet, and the gaming industry would never be the same again.
The documentary series, High Score visits the time in the video gaming industry when it went through many high and lows, there were many obstacles in the path of its growth and yet prevailed through everything. The series provides us with interviews with the people behind it, some you may know, others you might not.
It has everything from the cutting edge tech, drama in the courtrooms, businessmen, and life-changing stories so drastic that they will surely hit you with nostalgia if you ever experienced the games yourself.
Stay tuned to The Hollywood Tribune for the latest updates on High Score and more news from Hollywood and Beyond.
