Ken & Robert share HIGH SCOREs on Netflix.

[Tawmis]

Greetings all. Roberta and I appear briefly (for about 10 minutes) in a Netflix documentary that will be released on August 19th. It's a six part series about the early days of computer and video games. I was only given a peek at our episode but was very impressed with the production values. They apparently spent a lot of money making the series. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the episodes!

Here's a link to a trailer for the series:

http://www.netflix.com/highscore

PS Roberta and I are constantly amazed that there are people who remember Sierra so many years after the company fell apart. We are very deeply honored! Thank you!

[DeadPoolX]

It'll just be nice to see a game-oriented documentary that actually talks about computer games, as opposed to focusing solely on consoles.

[Tawmis]

It'll just be nice to see a game-oriented documentary that actually talks about computer games, as opposed to focusing solely on consoles.

Well, based off the image of the show - there's gonna be a lot of console (old school) talk too, I'd wager.

[Tawmis]

Preview...

[DeadPoolX]

Maia and I watched the entire six-part docuseries and we were left feeling disappointed.

While High Score had some really interesting video clips (particularly the neat retro-style animations) and interviews, nearly the entire doc focused on consoles once again. I realize consoles are important, but the limited time they spent on PC gaming was pathetic.

The interview with Ken and Roberta barely covered Mystery House and even then only spoke about "adding graphics to games." There was no mention of any other Sierra game or any topic beyond visuals. That said, at least Sierra received a minor blurb. Companies like Infocom and LucasArts didn't even make the cut.

Other genres that got shafted included simulations, racing games, and strategy titles. Even culturally significant games, like The Oregon Trail and the Carmen Sandiego series were left unmentioned.

PC RPGs at least got a brief tidbit when they interviewed Richard Garriott (aka "Lord British") who created the Ultima games. Unfortunately, that lasted maybe a couple of minutes before they ventured back into "console land" and started talking about the Final Fantasy series.

The only real coverage PC gaming got was in the last episode, when they discussed Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM. The narrator even comments that those two games turned the PC into a "viable gaming platform." This, of course, completely ignores all the games (from a variety of genres) that came before it, going as far back as the late 1970s.

I think a major issue affecting this docuseries is the lack of time involved. Each episode is well under an hour (the last episode doesn't even reach the 40-minute mark) and they tried to cram too much into each episode which resulted in not enough detail in many sections. Sure, some topics — like the NES and the Sega Genesis — received a lot of coverage, but others were only brought up in passing, if at all.

Maybe if High Score had a longer running time or more episodes (preferably both) they could've done justice to the topic as a whole. As of right now, it feels like a very brief overview, and maybe that's fine for people who truly know nothing whatsoever, but for anyone who does, it seems severely lacking.

I'd recommend bypassing this documentary if you're looking for halfway decent coverage of PC gaming and/or the majority of genres, including adventure. If you're interested in consoles, then High Score might be worth watching, although I've found more complete and overall better researched information for free on YouTube.

[Collector]

Sounds like it was produced by kids raised mostly on the likes of Nintendo and were barely aware of how much gaming was going on on PCs. And by PCs I am including all of the micro machines of the era, Apple, Commodore, Atari, Amiga, etc., not just IBM and compatibles.

[MusicallyInspired]

I have a sneaky suspicion that Roberta was only mentioned because she was a woman who did a "first" thing.

[Tawmis]

I enjoyed it.

I thought it did a reasonably good job covering some things I'd not known.

I thought it did a pretty good progression of covering Arcade games, then Console Games, then PC Games.

I think it spent the most on Arcade and Console, because those were pretty big in the 80s and also had a lot of history there to talk about.

And I don't think Roberta was mentioned because she was a woman who did a "first" thing - because they talk about Ken and talk to Ken also. And Ken is technically the one who coded it. And had the idea for it.

Roberta just wrote the game story. I think they were mentioned - both - because of the credit of being the first PC game to have graphics, which laid out the ground work.

But they covered some stuff I thought was interesting - like how Sonic came to be - and the levels were based on amusement parks (which makes sense with all the loops and such). I thought that was pretty cool.

And learning about DooM and how it all came together was pretty cool too. The Sierra stuff was stuff I already knew, pretty much - so ironically - other than talking to Ken & Roberta - was the least interesting, because that's stuff I knew.

All the other cool tidbits were pretty cool to hear about, how different things came to be.

I also dug some of that old footage they dug up, where they interview kids who bought PAC MAN on the Atari 2600, and how disappointed they were compared to the arcade.

They had some odd things in there (as in utterly random?) - like GAYBLADE - but they alluded to something but don't finish it. Was interesting enough to get my attention however - So I googled about GAYBLADE and learned he got the code and it's now emulated on Archive.org to play. I am not sure if at the time of the filming if that info was known.

But over all, I actually enjoyed it. Perfect? No. But most of us would all want something specific covered.

[DeadPoolX]

Part of my problem is that (with the exception of some personal stories and Gayblade) I knew all of the information in High Score already because I've researched this stuff over the years. In fact, this docuseries left out a LOT of information regarding arcades, consoles, and computers, most of which can easily be found for free on YouTube.

I don't think they included Roberta because she's a woman, but I can see how MI would've reached that conclusion since this was on Netflix and they're massively prone to virtual signaling.

[MusicallyInspired]

It's just a sneaky suspicion. I didn't say I was 100% sure.

I've only had time to watch part of the first episode so far. I do want to finish it, I was enjoying what little I saw so far.

[Rath Darkblade]

Part of my problem is that (with the exception of some personal stories and Gayblade) I knew all of the information in High Score already because I've researched this stuff over the years. In fact, this docuseries left out a LOT of information regarding arcades, consoles, and computers, most of which can easily be found for free on YouTube.

I don't think they included Roberta because she's a woman, but I can see how MI would've reached that conclusion since this was on Netflix and they're massively prone to virtual signaling.

Sorry, what is "virtual signaling"? I've never heard this term before.

If it means "publicity in favour of women", the term I've always heard was "reverse sexism". Has that term been phased out now?

(And by the way, that's another relatively new term - "phased out". What's wrong with saying "replaced by [xyz]"?)

[MusicallyInspired]

He meant "virtue signaling" I think.

[DeadPoolX]

I meant to write "virtue signaling" but apparently my brain decided it preferred the word "virtual."

And no, it's not "reverse sexism," which is itself a nonsense term. Discrimination against anyone — male or female — based on their sex is by definition sexism.

It's the same for racism. There's no such thing as "reverse racism." If you're discriminating against someone on the basis of their race, it's racism and racism can be directed towards any race.

The people who disagree don't understand the terms they're throwing around. It's not surprising, really. People seem to use words without understanding what they mean all the time.

[Collector]

I meant to write "virtue signaling" but apparently my brain decided it preferred the word "virtual."

Your brain has autocorrect?

[DeadPoolX]

I meant to write "virtue signaling" but apparently my brain decided it preferred the word "virtual."

Your brain has autocorrect?

Yeah, it's a ducking pain.