A New Retro Gaming Movie - FIZZ! The Surge of Video Games

Fizz! The Surge of Video Games is a unique 90 minute retro video gaming documentary movie made with lost and unseen archive footage which was filmed between 1989 & 1998.

All of the video had been originally shot to TV broadcast standard and the tapes have been carefully kept,restored and enhanced for maximum ouput quality. All of the broadcast formats which the footage has been kept on are now obsolete.Sony Betacam SP,Panasonic MII and Sony BVU SP were all broacast high quality recording video formats for TV in the last 1980's and early to mid 1990's.These were all analogue tapes, the cameras and recorders were all 4:3 aspect ratio and there was no digital recording available anywhere on computers.

This was an era before widescreen TV,16:9,HD,DVD.computer editing and the Internet.The only storage device for video at the time was on a VHS video cassette.

Fizz! The Surge Of Video Games is pure retro.The stories are told using 22 interviews filmed between 1989 & 1998 with key people who were working in the business back then.Games developers,marketing people,console manufacturers,retailers,Games chart research,trade bodies,games publishers.The big names in games back then are all included.Sony,Sega,Electronic Arts,Philips,3DO,Virgin Games,Mindscape,Interplay,Codemasters,Psygnosis,David Perry,HMV.Plus many notable video and audio appearances from some very familiar household names.

Fizz! The Surge Of Video Games tells the story exactly as it was because it was filmed as the marketplace and business evolved over a nine year timeline.

Beginning with momentum in the established 8 and 16 Bit era with a strong presence from the Commodore 64,Spectrum,NES,Sega Megadrive-Genesis, Atari ST,Amiga & SNES.This was a console and home computer gaming sector when titles were published on cartridge and floppy disk.Using interviews & footage filmed at the time,the documentary discusses how it all grew and then the problems which lead to the eventual decline.

As the 1990's wore on,new CD-Rom formats began to arrive, and an almighty hardware & console battle began to escalate.Established names such as Sega & Nintendo now faced competition from hardware heavy weights Panasonic,Sony and Philips who were all looking for a slice of the action.

It was also an era of progress and change as games developers who'd established 2D games and genres now faced a challenging prospect in a new world which would be three dimensional.

CD-ROM also saw the arrival of 'Edutainment'.A whole new genre where the vastly improved storage capacity of Compact Disc meant that people could play games and learn at the same time.

Watch Sony's first ever game launch filmed in 1993,two years before Playstation. There's a host of unseen promotional videos with celebrity appearances and a theatrical party event showcasing a now massive game franchise. 

Meanwhile on the PC there was the arrival of WIndows 95 which promised the end of DOS and the dawn of a stable platform backed by Microsoft.Hardware technology powered ahead with faster processors and 3D graphics cards fuelling high end games to rival any console.

This is a piece of modern history using 100% brilliantly shot,lit & edited archive footage with an excellent voice-over. 

Fizz! The Surge Of Video Games will be produced in English,French,German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Portugese, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish & Danish languages.Worldwide release Summer 2014.  

A KickStarter campaign will be announced very soon.

Press email contact: media@fizzmovie.com 

Jesse McClure - Storage Hunters - BLOG Exclusive

Everything is worth something, but some things are just not worth selling! 

I have a unique job where every day has something new in store, but I always have the same goal regardless: SELL EVERYTHING.  Having grown up in the art of resale since I was 12 years old, I have grown accustomed and built up a sort of immunity to the idea of keeping “stuff.”  The thought of finding something “cool” and potentially keeping it, whether it's from a storage unit, a garage sale, or an auction, no longer peaks my interest anymore. I don't mean to say that as if  I'm one of those mindless people that express zero-emotion in their day-to-day lives. It's more the idea that if I did not approach it this way, my house would probably be featured on an episode of  Hoarders!. You know, one of those reality shows where I am just like the 60-year old lady who has floor-to-ceiling trash filling her entire home and no longer has any room left for herself or her 12 cats to sleep anymore.





There is however, one thing, out of all the antiques, trash, electronics, cars, guns, dirty mattresses, and adult toys I find that I absolutely cannot come to terms with selling. Ladies and Gentlemen, that one thing, is arcades!!!!.

Since I was a small child I've had this fascination with these large machines that too many non-fans may just see as glorified televisions in a wooden painted box dedicated to one lame video game. But whenever I see an arcade, whether it is at a laundry mat (launderettes), a family fun centre, or even a pizza restaurant, I see something different. I see art.

To be quite honest, I'm not really even into playing video games. I get a joy in simply collecting and displaying arcades, as if they were literal pieces of handmade art, like a painting or sculpture. Now that's not to say that many of these machines were probably made on some assembly line in Japan, but I still appreciate them just the same.  

I just don't like the fully restored, pristine condition machines either. In fact, I have more beat-up, graffiti tagged machines then perfect condition ones. And you know what? That's okay with me. These aged machines tell a story.  A story when the arcade was king, when going to these late night amusement centres were a social hangout spot, when people would leave their homes to play video games, as opposed to locking themselves in their rooms to playing Call of Duty all night. (Nothing against any of those people, I love console gaming on occasion too!)  

I just love to see these classic monsters in action. I like to see people, young and old, English, American, whatever, enjoy the experience of playing an arcade. This is why I am so excited for Play Blackpool. I would be lying to you if I didn't tell you the 12-year old inside me is completely ecstatic about being a part of this exciting event. I can't wait to see all these games in action, and all the awesome people that will get to enjoy them. 

This coming May 3^rd and 4^th, me and thousands of others will be at Norbreck Castle in Blackpool having the gaming times of our lives! I hope to see many of you out there, and if you would like to get beaten in any classics, please just ask. I'm open to all challengers!

Thanks to

Jesse McClure - follow at @storagehunters

See at Jesse McClure www.playblackpool.net in May!

Gaming - the 'Art' of Collecting and playing

My first console was an atari 2600 which I unfortunately do not still have. I've been collecting since I got my SNES when it first came out and I have never traded or sold any SNES game I've bought over the years

My first gaming experience I can remember is on my Uncle's pc not sure what it was exactly but it had big floppy discs. I'm 32 now and been gaming since I was about 6 or 7,  Super Nintendo is my favourite console followed by PS1

I'm currently looking online for arcade cabinets like Point Blank,  Street Fighter 2,  Tekken 2 and a few Others. When it comes to gaming art - Drawing wise,  I just like to draw.

My best games:

Atari would have to be Space Invaders or Asteroids as they were the games that got me started.  The sound effects on space invaders were very basic but had you in a blind panic once they started to speed up.

Sega I think Sonic 2 or Jet Set Radio and Sonic 2 because of the speed of it Sonic 1 was good but this game took it to another level. Chemical Plant Zone was unbelievable and Jet Set Radio because it was unlike anything else at the time and still stands alone today in originality of character and level design, 

I've got it on Dreamcast,  Xbox and PS3 it's that good, but it's Sony for me.  Metal gear or FF8,  metal gear because of the unbelievably realistic atmosphere at that time only Resident Evil came close to really thinking about the character and how to not alert any of the bad guys in the game, and FF8 because of everything; story,  graphics,  gameplay,  the card game (which I must have spent at least 30-40 hours playing alone).

When it comes to a SNES best game, this is the hardest for me as I could easily have a top 50. 

Legend of Zelda,  Mario World,  Goldeneye,  Mario 64, Zelda mainly because after playing it on NES originally and seeing the graphics then putting in the cartridge on my SNES and seeing Hyrule for the first time was amazing and then to top that - when it changed to the Dark Hyrule it opened up practicality another game.

Mario World as it was the first game I played on a SNES at a friends house and I knew that I had to have a super nintendo,  the level/character design was quality and still prove to be a challenge to this day,  

My sons both love playing this the most on the SNES and play it daily,  Goldeneye is a fantastic game because of the multi player,  no connecting consoles and having 4 tvs all in one room plus the fact of it being awesome in 1 player as well! Finally with Mario 64 because of the mass there is to it, levels,  challenges,  stars to collect just a massive quality game.

And I don't care what any one on the net says about emulating any of these games there's nothing better than playing them the way they are meant to be played with the proper pad and the original console.

Thanks the Daniel Beech for his Guest Blog
You can follow Dan on Twitter to at @Danny_Beech1981

RIP The Ultimate Warrior

You may have grown out of it as you grew older - others still love it, but when we were kids WWF (WWE) Wrestling was a huge part of our childhood!  These guys were heroes, they were full of muscles some were large and some were small but each had charisma and their own style and personality. 

We grew up with these guys bashing the hell out of each other with their fists, chairs and anything that they can get their hands on.

We each had our favourites but nobody can deny that The Ultimate Warrior was everything every childhood wrestling fan wanted. He weighed in at a huge 275 pounds, 6ft 2" tall,  
 had muscles on muscles and with his multi coloured facepaint and over the top intensity he was pure awesomeness. 

Many wrestlers couldn't stand up to his power and strength and he feared nobody! His career peaked when he took on possibly the most iconic wrestler of all time Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania V1 headlined as the Ultimate Challenge!

In this huge match up the Warrior defeated Hogan for (both WWF Belts) with his trademark Gorrila Press move and then continued to own the ring in a hail of applause and fireworks for sometime after.

The Ultimate Warrior is a WWE icon and hero to many, every child of our generation will have memories running down to the ring at 100 MPH shaking the ropes and striking fear into his opponent, he even beat Andre the Giant in 30 seconds!   Who else could do that!!!

So today just take a minute close your eyes and remember the man from parts unknown!

We will always believe

#RIPWarrior

The Funstock Classic Gaming Championships - Replay Events

'Seeing retro gamers play collectively in one place - competitively'

When was the last time you can say that  happened in the public? It was actually more during the 80s & 90s themselves!

Well not now - thanks to Eurogamer events like REZZED and also EUROGAMER EXPO in September and also  Replay Events and sponsors Funstock - the Classic Gaming Championships give gamers the opportunity to be the No1 Retro Gamer in the land. To be the top of the top...top of the list in the UK!

There are a whole host of heats held throughout the UK across many months - culminating with the Grand Final in Manchester at Play Expo in October.

We recently attended EGX Rezzed in Birmingham and alongside the awesome New Gen offer there from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony they had RETRO!!

We were delighted as GamesYouLoved was asked to be a Partner of the CGC events http://classicgamingchampionships.com/partners/ and will be fully supporting the activity over social media and our website www.gamesyouloved.com up to the Grand Final in Manchester - Play Expo 2014. This mammoth event in October was already set to be an amazing event based on our last years experience.

Take a look here of some the 2013 highlights:

Not only that Showmasters being part of the Replay Events / Play Expo line up also promises some exciting exclusives too. This will increase the presence of video gaming publishers,  developers and peripheral manufacturers attending Showmasters events in the future. On the flip-side this means Hollywood movie star meet-and-greets,  photo opportunities with the celebrities, film props and movie cars will draw in even bigger crowds to the already successful event at Play Expo. Showmasters plan to bring film and TV related guests that cross over with the video gaming industry, making Play Expo 2014 and other Replay Events a fuller experience. Watch this space as they say!

For the CGC's at EGX REZZED at the Birmingham NEC we were witnessing the retro gaming action first hand and see the great job the organisers, Replay Events were putting on in a cool space dedicated to this at the event. Apart from the range of  retro gaming setups on the Replay Stand the CGC's offers people who love playing retro games a real focus at an event. 

Whether you are an expert gameplayer or just want to have a go for fun the atmosphere on the stand caters for you. You can take it seriously sure - but also with some of the games (list below) that you might not have even played before - its a case of trying it out. Then you can better yourself!

The array of titles in the CGC are worth pointing out - they have been compiled carefully by the Replay Team to test your very wit and dexterity with a controller. And many a different controller you'll have.  But it's all well and good picking up a unknown controller - what do you do with it?  Again the Replay lads are on had to help and young gamers benefited from this instruction and support as well as the older ones!

The next event up is Blackpool - www.playblackpool.com - perhaps next time we'll have a go to - can't wait!

Also the BIG EVENTS to look out for are:

- Eurogamer - Sept 2014
- Play Expo Manchester - Oct 2014

For more information go to:

http://classicgamingchampionships.com/

See our REZZED CGC Video overview:

The list of games on at the CGC's

Pot A - 1st to 3rd Generation (e.g. Atari VCS, NES, SEGA Master System), Kaboom (Atari 2600 VCS), Balloon Fight (Nintendo Entertainment System), Bank Panic (Sega Master System)

Pot B - 4th Generation (e.g. PC Engine, Neo Geo AES), R-Type II (PC Engine), NAM: 1975 (Neo Geo), Tetris (Gameboy - played via Gameboy Player on Gamecube)

Pot C - 5th Generation (e.g. Sega Saturn, Playstation, Nintendo 64), Super Puzzle Fighter 2 (Playstation), Sega Rally (Sega Saturn), Tempest 2000 (Atari Jaguar)

Pot D - Megadrive, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Paperboy, Psycho Pinball, Pot E - Super Nintendo, Super Mario Kart, Super Pang, Super Smash TV

Heats will include one game from each pot, selected at random and will not be announced until the first day of the heat.

Hints and Tips for videogames pioneers – the video!

When Andrew Hewson announced to GamesYouLoved.com he was going to bring the wisdom of the 80s and 90s game development experiences to life through a ‘hints and tips’ book – we were excited to say the least!

Not only had Team - GamesYouLoved.com grown up with playing the Hewson and 21^st Century Entertainment gaming classics across a range of different microcomputers - we had been fully aware of Andrew’s part in the UK’s gaming history which sprung up during the 80s and into the 90s.  

It was more than just making and publishing the games for Hewson. It was about a whole generation of kids like us at the time inspired to use a computer. The part Andrew played in providing articles and content for the gaming press as well as his own published books of the 80s is a testament to this cause.

There were the games too, Pinball Fantasies, Firelord Zynaps, Uridium and Nebulus –really fantastic games with amazing graphics and addictive gameplay.

The people involved with Hewson in the design, artwork and development of these games were our heroes. We wanted to know more and Andrew was there with the help of his son Rob to do the job for us.

Kickstarter provided a great forum for the project to live and really happen on a scale and was successful in its fundrasing and we at GamesYouLoved.com supported this thoroughly along with worldwide retrogaming community.

We were also privileged to hear first hand some of Andrew’s experience of Hewson in the 1980s at Play Expo Manchester - last October.

We heard about setting up the business and the early days, how Andrew marketed the business with investment in development rather than expensive advertising. Through the growth of gaming generally in the 80s, and Hewson with it into the years with 21^st Century Entertainment. This footage provided by GamesYouLoved.com in collaboration with Hewson will help formulate the bigger story to what is an amazing narrative of gaming history - which is due to be told with the forthcoming release of the book.

Part one: Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers - Part 1/3 - The Birth of Hewson Consultants - - part 2 and 3 to follow: