Classic Game Room (DVD) [Review]

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 @ 11:27 am | Reviews, Video Games

(If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS/Atom feed. Thanks for visiting! - Michael)

There are two contrasting reviews of Classic Game Room, a documentary about a short-lived (1999/2000) yet supposedly (I’d never heard of it, as far as I know) popular Internet video show for video game review humor:

From DVD Talk:

It starts out a bit slow, but Classic Game Room develops into a worthwhile, entertaining documentary as the story unfolds. Director Mark Bussler obviously has a knack for the genre, balancing vintage clips and retrospective comments with ease, style and humor—and though it’s disappointing that co-host David Crosson didn’t make the party, Bussler does a fine job of keeping things organized and entertaining. Overall, those who enjoy classic video games (but don’t take them too seriously, of course) should find Inecom’s DVD package enjoyable, which boasts a solid technical presentation and a handful of fitting bonus features. All things considered, this saga of beer and joysticks comes firmly Recommended. Insert coin(s)!

And from Vintage Computing:

Even if The Game Room actually was innovative and ahead of its time, a filmmaker interviewing himself about his own project still seems a little like a person writing his own Wikipedia entry. Ultimately, the documentary spoils any good that could have come from a Game Room DVD collection. A ten minute introduction explaining the setting and the context in which the episodes were created would have done nicely, but Bussler went too far. Skip those segments and just watch the episodes.

The video quality of the collection is surprisingly clear and crisp for a low budget web TV show. The disc comes in a regular DVD case with attractive packaging. But at about $17 US (its current retail price) Classic Game Room is extraneously expensive and definitely not worth the buy for the average video game fan. As previously mentioned, the exclusive “documentary” footage adds nothing of value to the disc, and all that’s left is essentially a half-entertaining, amateur production that’s available for free online. My advice is this: unless you’re a die-hard fan of the original show (all three of you out there), you’d probably get more out of watching the episodes on YouTube instead. In the end, despite Bussler’s nostalgic machinations, history will likely remember The Game Room as a shining example of two genuinely talented people doing something genuinely mediocre.

Here’s the bad news: I read the DVD Talk review before buying this DVD. Read the Vintage Computing one after watching it.

Here’s the good news: I paid $10 USD, including shipping to Vietnam from Play-Asia, for it.

Here’s more bad news: Was not worth it.

While I respect the source material (and the original talents behind the show) for the DVD, I agree more with Vintage Computing- this documentary is a bit boring.

These guys definitely did something unique, and it’s interesting to see the beginnings of the show, but the in-depth self-interviews with Mark Bussler (one of the show’s hosts back then) go a little unnecessary, a little too long, a little too self-deprecating. It’s the type of sarcastic humor that Americans (me too!) seem to specialize in, but those moments tend to be funny when you’re half drunk with your buddies, not when you’re just watching something on TV sober.

I don’t think see the value in watching it again, and because there was so much unnecessary documentary footage, I wish they would have just cut that stuff out and included all the episodes they ever did, to at least add more value to the disc.

$17 or more really is asking a lot there…..

Definitely for the hardest of the hardcore gaming fans only, and I mean not if you are a game player, but just love anything related to the industry.

Tags: dreamcast, dvd, play-asia