Grab yourself a bag of quarters and get ready for a heavy dose of nostalgia! Rock Steady Media, the makers of the hit documentary Viva Amiga, today unveiled Arcade Dreams, their latest passion project, on Kickstarter. The Arcade Dreams Kickstarter is now up and running and waiting for your quarters. It will run out of lives on December 5th.
Arcade Dreams takes viewers back to the button-bashing temples of their youth and beyond in this multi-episode love letter to the 100-year history of amusement arcades. Starting with the mechanical penny arcades of the early 1900s, the documentary series chronicles the evolution of arcade gaming from mechanical marvels through to classic cabinets, crazy rides and the ultra-immersive VR experiences of today.
Arcade Dreams delves into the history of these gaming institutions from their very beginnings. The series is a vibrant celebration of amusement arcades, and Rock Steady Media have already captured hundreds of hours of rich 4K footage, spanning machines from classics like 1970’s Gunfight right through to 2020’s King Kong of Skull Island, as well as interviews with legendary industry figures, historians, collectors, and expert enthusiasts.
“Growing up in the ’80s, I was obsessed with arcades. In fact, I never stopped going to arcades. Now I get to turn this lifelong passion into my dream documentary series” said Arcade Dreams Director Zach Weddington. “I’ve always wanted someone to create the definitive history of amusement arcades, but nothing ever seemed to materialise. So, I realised that I was going to have to do it myself. I was lucky enough to have Bill Winters join me as Director of Photography and we have built a team of award-winning writers, editors, production designers, researchers, and 3D animators. Together we’ve uncovered some amazing stories and we’re halfway through our journey. Now we need our fellow fans to help us get to the finish line. We also discovered some plutonium in the back of an abandoned arcade, so the DeLorean is all ready to go. It’s going to be epic.”
Arcade Dreams traces technology and trends in arcade games of every generation, including:
- Early electromechanical machines like Duck Hunt, Gunfight and Moto-Champ
- Pinball games all the way from pre-war titles like Jigsaw to modern classics like Avengers: Infinity War
- Early video games SpaceWar!, Space Invaders and Asteroids
- Classic fighting games Double Dragon, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters and Virtua Fighter
- Games with innovative cabinet designs, including OutRun, Densha de Go!, Afterburner and Sega’s outrageous G-LOC R360
Interviews with industry luminaries such as:
- Eugene Jarvis, pinball and game designer who created classics like Defender, Robotron:2084, Cruis’n USA, Pinbot, NARC, and Smash TV
- Gary Stern, head of Stern Pinball and a second-generation arcade legend
- Jon Hey, sound designer and composer who worked on many games for Midway such as NBA Jam and was the voice of Raiden on Mortal Kombat
- George Gomez, game designer who created the iconic cabinet design for TRON and Spy Hunter. He is now the Chief Creative Officer for Stern Pinball
- Roger Sharpe, known as “The Man Who Saved Pinball.” A notable pinball historian who worked in the industry for more than a quarter-century
Arcade fans and video game historians can support Arcade Dreams on Kickstarter for the next 45 days. Backers will receive several exclusive rewards, including a collector’s edition Blu-Ray box set and limited edition posters by legendary artists Jeremy Packer (Avengers: Infinity War) and Rich Davies (Ready Player One, Terminator Dark Fate). Reaching their goal of $95,000 USD will ensure this documentary series matches the ambitious vision of Rock Steady Media, with stretch goals delivering hours of additional content
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