Not For Resale: A Video Game Store Documentary
I've got a feature-length documentary in the works covering the subject of the transition from physical media to a digital marketplace. It’s focused around local video game shops.
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Here's the thesis:
Not For Resale is a new feature length video game store documentary about the mom-and-pop retail shops that still sell physical goods in the face of an increasingly digital marketplace.
This film takes a snap-shot of the state of small businesses dependent on material goods and the path forward with digital libraries.
Some of the places we've visited:
- The Library of Congress
- Game Zone in Salem, MA
- eStarland in Chantilly, VA
- Control Freak Video Games in Pigeon Forge, TN
- Arch City Gaming Company in St. Louis, MO
- Classic Game Junkie in Glenside, PA
- Iceman Video Games in Toronto, ON
- Robot City Games in Binghamton, NY
- Lost Ark Video Games in Greensboro, NC
- Digital Press Videogames in Clifton, NJ
- Thrillhouse Games in Tulsa, OK
We currently have about a year to go with our production and a year under our belt as of today. You can see an overview of the story behind the movie is in our campaign video, if you're interested. Here's a short clip from Digital Press Videogames in Clifton, New Jersey if you'd like a quicker look. We're trying to get word out about the film and raise some money to cover production costs for the rest of the year.
Full Preview
Digital Press Clip
The film will dive into internet accessibility in rural areas, the benefits of buying retail or going digital, and the history behind starting these stores. The march forward into digital distribution has plenty of hurdles left for consumers and publishers to jump. We're talking with game developers and physical media manufacturers, too.
I hope you dig the idea. We're aiming to have a rough cut in early 2018.
Comments
We're trying to get the IndieGoGo campaign out there. Pat Contri (Pat the NES Punk) just posted a video on the project, which was awesome of him.
Next week we should have some more news and clips from the project.
And here I thought it was a documentary about NFR demo cartridges But really, this does seem like a cool idea!
Thought I was about to be a star when I read the title. Was thinking the same way you were on it being of NFR games. Maybe with enough interest you and I could make a NFR video showcasing collections of games and kiosks.
As a side note always thought going around the US documenting game dictionary in video for at would be interesting to do and watch. Maybe something along the lines of Toy Hunter meets what's my collection worth. Just say you're game to do it and my bag will be packed.
Back to the original topic though which seems cool. Like the idea of a freeze frame of where games are at this time. Nice way to look back on ten years from now.
Good luck on your fundraising!
This sounds pretty cool.
Good luck on your fundraising!
Thanks!
We hit 32% of our fundraising goal over the weekend, which rocked.
Pat Contri on Not For Resale.
We also had the good fortune of getting mentioned on Pat Contri's CUPodcast, too. He gave his thoughts on the movie along with some positive & constructive sentiments about the subject matter. That kind of thing really helps get the word out and engender some conversation on the themes of the film.
We've got a little under three weeks left with the campaign at GameStoreDoc.com, if you're interested in a perk!
You can talk about other topics, but the stores should be the main focus. For example, each chapter could be a different store and you weave a narrative around that. Kind of like 'Super Size Me' where he was eating McDonalds each day, but they dove into broader topics (the big picture) as the month went on.
When I read on the Indiegogo page about you needing $$ for interviews with "retro game enthusiasts and game developers etc." I instantly thought you might be losing focus. But who knows you might already be thinking how I am thinking. Just an observation, no harm intended. All those people would add great input on a history or background segment in the documentary.
If you're back in St. Louis, Trade N' Games is a great store and Jason is a great owner and mega collector.
Best of luck.
Just an observation, but I really like the idea of focusing on the stores.
You can talk about other topics, but the stores should be the main focus. For example, each chapter could be a different store and you weave a narrative around that. Kind of like 'Super Size Me' where he was eating McDonalds each day, but they dove into broader topics (the big picture) as the month went on.
When I read on the Indiegogo page about you needing $$ for interviews with "retro game enthusiasts and game developers etc." I instantly thought you might be losing focus. But who knows you might already be thinking how I am thinking. Just an observation, no harm intended. All those people would add great input on a history or background segment in the documentary.
If you're back in St. Louis, Trade N' Games is a great store and Jason is a great owner and mega collector.
Best of luck.
Thanks, I appreciate the honest sentiments. I'm pleasantly surprised at how constructive the reaction has been to the project so far.
We had a conversation early on where we considered making this episodic, an ongoing series, where we made 15 minute episodes at each location. The cost and time would have been a big hindrance, though, so we stuck to a feature feel. The side effect became that we really couldn't spend a great deal of time at many of the locations, either.
I'll say this, though: my current estimation with the pacing and edit of the film involves a significant amount of time centered around a handful of the stores. One store in particular will have its 20-30 year history delved into, including the owner's time in the 80s spent with Nintendo and Sega distributors. There will be an Americana element to the movie.
I agree 100% on the focus concerns. I've had to reaffirm the subject matter a few times in the past year when people have told me to bring in celebrity X or YouTube star Y. When we go to a game developer later this year we're straight-up talking about their decision to make a printed run of a previously download-only game. I've turned off a few video game themed documentaries before when I felt the creative team was reducing the entire medium to the usual stereotypes. If I were to make a comparison, I would say that a documentary on vinyl shops shouldn't just be a blanket film on music. If you get too broad in your scope you end up saying nothing. This movie will follow suit.
The story here is, really, about the potential end of physical media/ the tangible distribution of goods. There's an emotional reason for telling the story through video game shops but there are logistical reasons, too. I don't want to spoil much but know that my heart is centered on telling the story of these shops as well as the role tangible media has played in our lives.
Here's a new clip from Lost Ark Video Games in Greensboro, North Carolina. Owner Dan McMillan discusses just what makes a game valuable to some of his customers here. The back of his store was amazing- saloon doors that opened into a Japanese-styled arcade room.
Check out more at GameStoreDoc.com!
Another update: we've got James Rolfe on board to interview for Not For Resale! We'll be talking with him at Classic Game Junkie just outside of Philly.
We're down to the last 11 days on our campaign, for anyone interested in backing and getting a title/blu-ray/etc.
We just crossed 70% this morning with our campaign!
We're scheduling with Psyonix Games and Luna Games in California this week for a trip in August/September. More information on that soon.
The biggest thing to avoid is making it feel like an extended commercial for mom and pop stores. Focus on history and hard hitting discussion, and less on how "cool" the stores are.
Right now we're talking to a developer directly about their digitial-first strategy. We're also talking to a physical publisher (Limited Run Games, of course). GoG would make for a great get, though, and it's come up before.
Going into our final weekend and we just hit 85% of our initial fundraising goal at GameStoreDoc.com. Phew.
We have a few games and blu-rays signed by James Rolfe for perks, but only three of the original eight remain.
Here's my last bump for a bit: we're down to the last day for Not For Resale over at our crowdfunding campaign. If you've been waiting on backing the movie, getting a thank you in the credits, etc, now's the time to jump on.
Thanks again for all the constructive thoughts here, Nintendo Age. If anyone asks anything here I'll do my best not to ghost while juggling the other social media channels we've got going.
Here's a clip with James Rolfe at Classic Game Junkie in Glenside, PA.
James made for a great interview. We talked for over an hour on camera before he browsed the shop and picked up his recently repaired TurboGrax 16.
Here's an update from our recent trip to California. We flew out there a few weeks back to get some interviews for the film. I'm going to copy/paste some text from our IndieGoGo page here to sum up what we got up to:
First off, we are proud to announce that Kinda Funny, IGN, and Podcast Beyond veteran Greg Miller has joined our film's ranks! We were invited to the Kinda Funny studio to sit down with Greg for a discussion on the evolution of digital distribution and what it means for physical retail. As a long-running commentator and someone who exists outside of the worlds of retail and game development, we're excited to have Greg's candor and perspective as part of Not For Resale.
Previous face of GameStop TV, future host of the Nintendo World Championships, What's Good Games Co-Founder, and freelance producer extraordinaire Andrea Rene was next in our line of California interviewees. Andrea recalled the early days of the 7th generation of gaming consoles and explained why she still had some boxed copies of games she could easily be playing through digital means.
With a desire to talk to a retro gaming collector, we spent a night talking with none other than Pat Contri, an enthusiast of all things classic gaming, published author of Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library, and, of course, our executive producer. Getting the perspective of someone who's closely watched the trends of the enthusiast market made for a great interview. We'll be sure to see Pat again next month at Portland Retro Gaming Expo where we'll run into our next interviewee...
Curator of the Video Game History Foundation, Editor in Chief of Lost Levels, and all around gaming historian Frank Cifaldi made some time for Not For Resale during our California trek. Frank's talk at the 2016 Game Developers Conference and efforts in the arena of digitally archiving tangible game media brought him to our attention early on in pre-production, so we're glad to have him on board for the film. His pro-emulation, progressive stance on the medium highlighted the benefits of digital access to games.
This October we will be making a trip to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, so if you see our crew on the show floor be sure to say hi! Until then, we'll do our best to keep everyone in the loop on our production here, on Twitter, and Facebook. Thanks again.
-Kevin J. James, Not For Resale Director
I'd love to see someone from the MetalJesusrocks crew on here, like John Hancock. I look forward to checking this out when it's released!
I got in touch with MJR a few months back and hope to snag him for an interview at PRGE. Kelsey and Kinsey, too!
I'd love to see someone from the MetalJesusrocks crew on here, like John Hancock. I look forward to checking this out when it's released!
I got in touch with MJR a few months back and hope to snag him for an interview at PRGE. Kelsey and Kinsey, too!
Awesome. From the cast of characters it looks like you have, this should be great!
Hello once again from the team at Not For Resale!
A belated happy Halloween to all! As always, we’d like to bring you up to speed on the progress we’ve been making on the film. Here’s what we did this past month:
This October we made our way to the 11th annual Portland Retro Gaming Expo in Oregon, a convention centered around the culture and collection of classic video games. During our three days at the convention we were able to meet up with old friends from the Video Game History Foundation and make new ones with Kelsey Lewin, co-owner of Pink Gorilla Games in Seattle.
One of our main interests in the expo’s was the opportunity to talk to vendors and enthusiasts directly about the market for physical media in 2017. Collectors, panelists, and academics in attendance took time to chat with us about the changing nature of how we access media and why so many people would come out to a convention when they could shop online. It didn’t hurt that the Expo had a near-complete collection of the entire Atari 2600 library in box on display, either.
We had so many interviews to cover that we brought on some extra hands in the sound department just for Portland (a wise choice, looking back on the material we covered that long weekend). We take pride in our documentary’s efforts in the sound department and it will absolutely show in the final product.
November and December are bringing us back on the road for some trips we need to keep hush-hush on for the moment, but in the meantime we’ll be working diligently behind the scenes to continue to bring the movie together. Thanks again for the support, we’ll see you soon here and on Twitter & Facebook.
-Kevin J. James, Not For Resale Director
We got a lot shot this past month, some of it over in Clifton, NY and Salem, MA. The winter and spring will be our buckle-down-and-edit period (along with more shooting), but for now: pictures!
Here it is in 4K: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZqI1mN55fM
The film premiers on Friday, April 26th in Boston! We're working on nation-wide screenings at film festivals now.