Gunpowder & Sky’s Filmbuff and media brand Futurism are teaming up to release Finnish documentary The Name of the Game, on November 30th worldwide. It will be available on streaming services such as iTunes, Amazon Video, VUDU, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, STEAM, and Vimeo
This feature-length film gives unprecedented access into the video game industry, documenting the collaboration between legendary arcade game designer, Eugene Jarvis and the Finnish game developer, Housemarque.
Eugene Jarvis is well known for developing Defender, one of the biggest successes of the golden age of arcades and it is one of the few to gross over $1 billion. This game remained a cultural mainstay decades later, after recent features in Ready Player One and the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Eugene’s also known for creating other hit games like Robotron, Smash TV, Narc, and Blaster. His partnership with Housemarque, one of the top modern arcade game houses, allows the filmmakers to showcase to audiences the incredible collaboration, dedication and technological innovation needed to bring these digital worlds to life.
“Having been an avid gamer all my life, the opportunity to follow an established video game studio on their collaborative journey with no one else than the legendary arcade designer Eugene Jarvis made my inner-child do backflips,” says director Paul J. Vogel. “Most people enjoy games but put little thought into how much effort and struggle is put into getting those experiences into the hands of consumers. I really hope THE NAME OF THE GAME can shed some light on that.”
