Written, Produced and Directed by Anthony Caulfield, Nicola Caulfield
A couple of years ago we reviewed From Bedrooms to Billions, a documentary about the British video game industries early days; telling the story of the developments in computer technology in the UK during the late 70′s early 80′s, which helped inspire a generation of small team enthusiasts, hobbyists, school kids, bedroom coders and entrepreneurs to make and release some truly classic games of the era.
Now comes the follow-up, From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years, which looks at the next generation of computing, the 16-bit era and in particular the creation of the Commodore Amiga. A subject also covered by the documentary Viva Amiga… Much like that documentary, Caulfield’s film covers the same story – told by the surviving team members themselves – of the struggles to build a brand new computer at a time when, post-Atari crash, video games were a dirty word.
A couple of years ago we reviewed From Bedrooms to Billions, a documentary about the British video game industries early days; telling the story of the developments in computer technology in the UK during the late 70′s early 80′s, which helped inspire a generation of small team enthusiasts, hobbyists, school kids, bedroom coders and entrepreneurs to make and release some truly classic games of the era.
Now comes the follow-up, From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years, which looks at the next generation of computing, the 16-bit era and in particular the creation of the Commodore Amiga. A subject also covered by the documentary Viva Amiga… Much like that documentary, Caulfield’s film covers the same story – told by the surviving team members themselves – of the struggles to build a brand new computer at a time when, post-Atari crash, video games were a dirty word.
- 5/5/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
In 1985 an upstart team of Silicon Valley mavericks created a miracle: the Amiga computer. A machine made for creativity. For games, for art, for expression. Breaking from the mold set by Ibm and Apple, this was something new. Something to change what people believed computers could do. In a world of green on black, they dared to dream in color….
From the creation of the world’s first multimedia digital art powerhouse, to a bankrupt shell sold and resold into obscurity, to a post-punk spark revitalized by determined fans. Viva Amiga is a look at a digital dream and the freaks, geeks and geniuses who brought it to life… And the Amiga is still alive!
A couple of years ago we reviewed From Bedrooms to Billions, a documentary about the start of the British video game industry. That was a film that captured my youth in a bottle, the era...
From the creation of the world’s first multimedia digital art powerhouse, to a bankrupt shell sold and resold into obscurity, to a post-punk spark revitalized by determined fans. Viva Amiga is a look at a digital dream and the freaks, geeks and geniuses who brought it to life… And the Amiga is still alive!
A couple of years ago we reviewed From Bedrooms to Billions, a documentary about the start of the British video game industry. That was a film that captured my youth in a bottle, the era...
- 3/30/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Well here it is, my Top 15 films of 2015. If you’ve ever read one of my end of year lists, you’ll know that my choices tend to be a million miles away from the mainstream; and this year is no different! This year has been Amazing for films, I could easily had penned a list of 52 films – one for each week of the year – but instead I managed to narrow down the choices to 28 films quite swiftly. However, to hit this years target of a Top 15 (for 2015 geddit?) it took a hell of a lot of work. I think this list even surprises me – there’s a number of films that going back over the 508[!] films we’ve reviewed here on Nerdly in 2015, at the time I reviewed them, I didn’t expect would stay with me till the end of the very end of the year. Oh, and...
- 12/24/2015
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
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The birth and evolution of the British games industry is perfectly captured in Britsoft: An Oral History. Ryan reviews a great book...
Pick a page, any page, and you'll find something funny, strange or informative. Ah, here we go: page 258, which talks about the time Palace Software hired glamour model Maria Whittaker to pose for the cover of its 1987 game, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior.
"Steve made little breastplates out of ashtrays," recalls Palace Software's Richard Leinfellner, "which apparently kept pinging off for some reason."
It's an anecdote which aptly captures the 80s era of British software development: the wild, sometimes crazy marketing ideas and gimmicks, the hype, the great mountainous piles of cash for the lucky few, the financial disaster for the less fortunate. Britsoft: An Oral History, a two-inch-thick slab of a book, is a time capsule from a bygone era of innovation and eccentricity, as...
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The birth and evolution of the British games industry is perfectly captured in Britsoft: An Oral History. Ryan reviews a great book...
Pick a page, any page, and you'll find something funny, strange or informative. Ah, here we go: page 258, which talks about the time Palace Software hired glamour model Maria Whittaker to pose for the cover of its 1987 game, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior.
"Steve made little breastplates out of ashtrays," recalls Palace Software's Richard Leinfellner, "which apparently kept pinging off for some reason."
It's an anecdote which aptly captures the 80s era of British software development: the wild, sometimes crazy marketing ideas and gimmicks, the hype, the great mountainous piles of cash for the lucky few, the financial disaster for the less fortunate. Britsoft: An Oral History, a two-inch-thick slab of a book, is a time capsule from a bygone era of innovation and eccentricity, as...
- 11/10/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
In recent years there has been a real boom in documentaries surrounding popular culture. Films such as Electric Boogaloo, Video Nasties, The Search for Weng Weng and Adjust Your Tracking have captured the zeitgeist of fans across the globe, and in turn inspired more people to create their own documentaries about pop culture subjects that matter to them…
But not all these documentaries see the same success. Having been on something of a documentary kick lately, I thought I’d break down the ten of the best little-known, or better yet little-discussed, pop-culture documentaries from the many, many examples I have been watching. So here they are and, for once, they’re in order:
1) Slaughter Nick For President
There’s a good reason this film is at the top of my list. This is the documentary that kicked off my exploration of pop culture documentaries (eventually ending up at compliling this list) and,...
But not all these documentaries see the same success. Having been on something of a documentary kick lately, I thought I’d break down the ten of the best little-known, or better yet little-discussed, pop-culture documentaries from the many, many examples I have been watching. So here they are and, for once, they’re in order:
1) Slaughter Nick For President
There’s a good reason this film is at the top of my list. This is the documentary that kicked off my exploration of pop culture documentaries (eventually ending up at compliling this list) and,...
- 8/18/2015
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Great geek book publisher Read-Only Memory has announced Britsoft: An Oral History, which charts the growth of the British games industry...
Read-Only Memory have published some of the best videogame-focused books of recent years, including Sensible Software 1986-1999 and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: The Collected Works.
The company's latest volume, Britsoft: An Oral History, charts the golden age of programming in the UK - an early-80s era where a new generation of affordable computers prompted an explosion of creativity.
Designed as a companion piece to the recent documentary, From Bedrooms To Billions, Britsoft will include interviews with 35 programmers and designers that entertained a generation of gamers - these include Elite's David Braben, Attack Of The Mutant Camels' Jeff Minter, X-Com's Julian Gollop, and chiptune composer Rob Hubbard.
Given that Read-Only Memory's previous books have been both exquisitely designed and full of valuable info, we're looking forward to seeing their...
Read-Only Memory have published some of the best videogame-focused books of recent years, including Sensible Software 1986-1999 and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: The Collected Works.
The company's latest volume, Britsoft: An Oral History, charts the golden age of programming in the UK - an early-80s era where a new generation of affordable computers prompted an explosion of creativity.
Designed as a companion piece to the recent documentary, From Bedrooms To Billions, Britsoft will include interviews with 35 programmers and designers that entertained a generation of gamers - these include Elite's David Braben, Attack Of The Mutant Camels' Jeff Minter, X-Com's Julian Gollop, and chiptune composer Rob Hubbard.
Given that Read-Only Memory's previous books have been both exquisitely designed and full of valuable info, we're looking forward to seeing their...
- 6/8/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
The Play “Expo” events in Blackpool and Manchester are, in some ways, an attempt to recapture and relive the community spirit of video gaming in an age where keyboard warriors and faceless online gaming rule the roost. It’s also a celebration of the history of gaming, from the early years of arcade games like Space Invaders and Pac Man, thorugh the early gaming years of the Zx Spectrum and Commodore 64, all the way to the last-gen of consoles…
And Play are not the only ones interested in the history of video gaming. There have been a number of film makers have eleased documentaries in recent years that look at gaming in a nostalgic light, many from a Us perspective, including World 1-1: The Pioneers – which had its European debut at this years Play Blackpool; and From Bedrooms to Billions, (a big seller for Play sponsors Funstock.co.uk...
And Play are not the only ones interested in the history of video gaming. There have been a number of film makers have eleased documentaries in recent years that look at gaming in a nostalgic light, many from a Us perspective, including World 1-1: The Pioneers – which had its European debut at this years Play Blackpool; and From Bedrooms to Billions, (a big seller for Play sponsors Funstock.co.uk...
- 5/9/2015
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
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