From Bedrooms to Billions

I love this film. Not only for its in-depth and fascinating recap on the UK game industry starting in the 80's, but because its edited as a true story.

The flow of the film starts at the introduction of computers in the home and works its way through the home programmer, the initial reselling and publishing of games into the more serious side of struggling business and eventually where we're going today. Its a fantastic journey that touches on a bit of everything and its one I can relate to having grown up in that whole era.

If you want one of the best documentaries about the early games industry, then this is the one you seriously should be watching. Immensely enjoyable and very much re-watchable... :)

If you're reading this, you're a kindred spirit. A fan of classic games, and game history. A passionate soul, and as such will not need too much in the way of description. Just simply know if you are of that ilk, this Documentary is one of the best of the topic of gaming history, and just unmatched in terms of the UK industry. It just covers just about all you would want it to and all you can reasonably expect it to unless it was to become a TV series. From the games to the people behind them, to those magazines you loved of the time, it's superbly done. There are slight omissions there, but very few and to bring those up would be very nit picky indeed. It is just a stunning labour of love. And opt for the special edition, and you will get another disc featuring interviews and extended interviews with many of those on the first disc, covering some of those old favourites like Elite and Sentinel. There aren't many Documentaries that cover the UK market, although there are a couple that do the US one quite well. This well and truly fixes that, and goes on to be probably the best one ever done in my opinion. I was so close to giving this 10/10. If you have a passion for this subject you have to have this. Enough said.

What can I say about this film that has not already been said ?

I was lucky enough to grow up through this age, playing the games, becoming a computer geek, even being an Amiga 'scene' demo programmer in my late teens which led to a career as a computer programmer.

This film documented my childhood into my 20's, and any computer kid of the 70's included, as such I can't recommend it enough to people of our generation - but more importantly to those of the younger generation to see where it all began as to move forward you must always look back first.

Looking forward to the new 'Amiga years' film A lot.

Pros: a brilliant look at the early 80s British game industry. Cons: doubles as The Big Book of British Smiles.

This is an excellent documentary film featuring many of the pioneers from the UK computer games industry, which started at the end of the 1970s. The film contains interviews with people filmed in the present day reflecting back on their careers, many of whom are still in the games industry. I recognised many of the personalities featured but for some I knew the game but not the person behind it, so it was good to put faces and names to the games that I loved playing and to hear how the games came about.

I found the film fascinating because it gives insight into what went on behind the scenes at these companies and how they were started on a shoestring but became incredibly successful, with each one having a different story to tell. As a child growing up I typed in computer listings into my ZX Spectrum and Amiga and played many of the games featured, so this film was of great interest to me. I'd recommend this film to anyone interested in the history of the UK games industry or who remembers playing games on early computers as this is a really well put together production. The Special Edition is worth getting for the extended interviews.