After finishing the 1st ep I watched it all in one go, forget or cancelled any appointments I had that day and then went straight into following the big house stream (which was amazing!). It really was something special.
The past two days I've been really struggling with how I should comment on the entire series, while one side of me wanted to praise every single bit of it one side struggled and felt really left out and that's why I feel like I should start out mentioning the only thing I felt was obviously missing.
It's been touched upon by some others in this thread but the comments I read left and right on various fora, social networks and in the big house chat this weekend make me think the severity of it is not fully understood and explained. It's the disclusion of how the euro scene developed and what that means to our community.
Now I'm fully aware of the original premise of the docu. It was to cover the rise of the competitive smash community from a grassroot community to a aspiring e-sport through the unique personalities of the 7 major players of the time with the US scene at it's centre. With practical reasons I understood and could accept. However with the inclusion of the EVO episode this grew a bit too US focussed for my taste and while Armada had a small segment I was surprised how he was really treated as a stepping stone for Mango to reclaim his throne at EVO as if he was always meant to take it. Since an interview with Amsah was in the updates I had expected him to make an appearance and was really surprised when he didn't. As someone who has witnessed the growth of the euro scene from up close almost from it's start with a vast knowledge of it's players and history I felt really left out, especially with the inclusion of Japan. I feel there's a chapter here that's missing and for something that captures the heart of our scene and summarizes it all so elegantly for the outside world this doesn't sit well with me and I suspect many others. I hope your can understand that sentiment though I don't want to take anything away from the amazing development and dedication the US scene has shown the past years.
So my mind has been struggling with the question if there's a practical way we could change this somehow and and do tell this chapter properly even if that means we'll have to start doing our own round of interviews(Though your editing is really something special and I'm really unsure if we can live up to that). I've been stampeding around the room recapping the growth of the euro scene in my head and contemplating writing it all down so we have something to work from. So perhaps. At least it's something I feel we should talk about.
Apart from that I can only give a huge amount of praise. The 1st episode's build up is amazing with the introduction of the two coasts leading up to an introduction of the title sequence that send shivers down my spine. However it was really at the 3rd episode that it hit me how powerful and successful the human angle that you've chosen is and why I think this docu is an interesting insightful watch for anyone interested in competitive videogame culture or videogame culture in general.
There's so many to talk about but another aspect I'm really happy your covered was the impact nintendo's approach to brawl had. Milktea's comments directed towards Nintendo echo the thoughts not just of our scene but probably any hardcore gamer who has felt let down by the shift to casual in the game industry the past years.
I've read some comments on the slight amateurish editing, especially the graphic sequences in between but while I partly agree it didn't bother me one bit. The heart of this scene has always been in it's grassroot roots which wouldn't be the same without it's slight imperfections and humorous approach, something I felt we started losing a bit when MLG got involved. Having watched many of the Punch Crew and Gauntled vids back in the days I really appreciated the humorous bits.
I don't now what else to say honestly. You've captured what this scene has meant to me these past years so incredibly well and I really appreciate how well you've treated it. You could have gone for a docu that's more accessible for a cinema viewing at a docu festival but instead you chose to go for this full series and really zoom in on it, something I'm sure isn't the most financial efficient approach though I hope you'll see some more compensation for it and exposure.
It made being a part of it for over 10 years feel really special and something I'll always treasure even if I've experienced it from a different continent.
Thank you so frigging much!
I have one practical question and that's regarding the lack of exposure I feel it's getting right now. I was honestly really surprised that I didn't see it on Kotaku, Polygon, Rock Paper Shotgun, IGN and Gamespot yet. Since there's a remastered version coming up it might be that your waiting with that before you approach the big sites, it might also be that your taking a break and would like us to do the spreading for you. With the connections that have been made during and after EVO I'd expect some in here able to contact these major blogs and sites and I really think the documentary is worth sharing for them and deserves a way larger view count than it has now. Big forces in the community should really be pushing this! For those unaware a famous indie developer and former classmate of mine Rami Ismail of Vlambeer made Presskit(
available for free) which is really useful for these kind of press releases and I highly recommend you to make use of it.
I'l leave it at that. Thanks for your amazing effort Samox and I wish you the best of luck in future endeavours!
looking forward to the rest when I get back
