I am a big fan of documentaries, especially ones about video games. From King of Kong to Indie Game: The Movie and Frag, I try to watch them all to learn a piece about the industry. Like the aforementioned Indie Game, GameLoading: Rise of the Indies was of great interest to me because of my background as an indie writer. But what starts out as interest turned into sourness as a movie with interesting, informative topics that should be the centerpiece instead gets bogged down in self-adulation and a disjointed narrative that weakens the overall presentation.
The basic premise of the movie is a look at the stories of indie game developers. Throughout the film there is a base cast of creators (Davey Wreden, Robin Arnott, Rami Ismail, and Tale of Tales) whose stories are monitored. Backing up these stories is a smattering of supporting creators of varied renown added in for short, quick-fire interviews in-between the bigger story segments, as well as other smaller events portrayed during the film.
Initially, the casting isn’t a problem, but as time goes on, it becomes clear that the narrative is more of a buddy movie than a hard-hitting documentary on the indie game scene, as the main cast are either friends with each other or infatuated with each other’s work.
Being a buddy documentary is not necessarily a bad thing, but when it compromises legitimate aspects of the film, it degrades the quality of the product. A good example of this are the quick-fire interviews. Throughout the movie, there are industry topics and logistical issues discussed by other indie developers, but they lead to nothing. Branching paths are cut off and unexplored rather than followed. For example, the struggles faced by one developer having to self-market and her trials with that are left hanging. Did she succeed? Did she fail? Inside the documentary world, we don’t know, and marketing is one of the biggest issues any indie creator has.
One glowing message presented throughout the film is, by being indie, you get to make the game you want to make. There is no publisher holding the purse strings and influencing the creator’s vision. This is something I, and really any creator, can relate to. Any older comic fan will understand that to be the reason Image Comics first opened its door, allowing its creators to have control over their ideas and products. It was an evolution of the marketplace.
But this message is wrapped in a shell of pretentiousness and elitism, like the island of misfit toys grouping together to form their own exclusive clique against the world that shuns them. The film tells a narrow story of this narcissism, painting creators into a corner with largely one-note personalities. A large number of the cast, both main and supporting, bask in the fact that their ideas were not standard and outside the norm. They take pride in the perceived fact that, by being different, they are automatically special, or have better tastes than the average gamer. Quotes like, “There is a lot more to games than shooting people in the face,” or, “Whenever someone says video games were a form of escape… They were when I was 12,” illustrate that way of thinking. For someone who enjoys traditional genres of games that sell well like shooters, sports titles, or RPGs, the games primarily on display in the documentary will not be for them–that’s OK, and shouldn’t be a reason for denigration. After all, these games are very niche, very avant-garde, as if art projects.
This concept of ownership rights, along with others like marketing, profitability, or even the struggles of basic survival, are never deeply addressed. They are only glossed over on the way to another section about the fun-and-parties lifestyle of being in the indie game crowd. This is a stark contrast to the realism portrayed in Indie Game: The Movie, a similar documentary. Love or hate Jonathan Blow, Phil Fish, or the Super Meat Boy team, we were given the reality and pressures of being independent–a balanced picture of the highs and the lows. With GameLoading, we’re instead given an anecdotal, one-sided picture of glitz and glamor, like it is a rockstar life. I make this a sticking point because it feels narcissistic instead of genuine.
The main cast is portrayed as having an easy time, even with any struggles they have, which are only philosophical in nature. Meanwhile, lesser-known indies added in only for interviews are given a second-rate treatment. One segment has various secondary members briefly explain what success means to them, which was surviving long enough to make their next game, and then it immediately cuts to the main cast and their adulations at the GDC indie awards. They give one developer more than ten seconds to speak, and he explains his feelings of dissatisfaction even though he is successful through traditional means of quantifying merit (sales, Twitter followers, awards). Immediately after, it cuts to one of the main cast receiving a popularity award at GDC. Even if it does not come off as narcissistic to you, it still continues the pattern of glossing over real issues.
Another major issue is that the documentary can feel like one-sided propaganda at times. Statements are included from interviews and, due to nothing being followed up, are left alone as if fact with no countering opinion. Few opposing points of view are given, nor even a deeper exploration of why something is the way it is. One good example is developer Christine Love stating that visual novels are misogynistic. Nothing is wrong with making that claim, but there is no evidence given in the documentary to support the claim, nor is there a dissenting view from a different visual novel developer.
The one positive of the movie is its soundtrack. It absolutely helped out the film as it made segments feel more entertaining and uplifting. There was not a single bad song throughout the movie, which is something I prioritize highly in games and movies. That said, it is more of the dance/club variety of music, so if that is not your cup of tea, it won’t necessarily be a positive and could even be a detriment.
GameLoading is a spiritual continuation of Indie Game: The Movie. But where we were given a compact, concise story filled with informative, thought-provoking stories in Indie Game, with GameLoading, we’re instead given an uninspiring, incoherent mess that glosses over real issues and information to show off the success of a privileged few. Even in the indie scene, there are groups of have’s and have not’s. If GameLoading did anything right, it was to show that it extends to video game documentaries, as well.