An interesting documentary about the indie gaming scene is out today, called GameLoading: Rise of the Indies. Unlike Indie Game: The Movie, it’s meant to be covering the scene and the rise of independent development over the last few years. There’s plenty of footage of individual stories and how things like the App Store opened things up for established developers to branch out on their own, for long-time indies to have a shot at prosperity, and for people new to video game creation to make and even find an audience for their games.
While PC and console games dominate the proceedings, as they tend to do when talking about gaming, there’s several mobile developers who show up, as the film also travels the globe, going to events and to the homes of many developers who are part of the scene. Vlambeer’s Rami Ismail probably shows up in every city the movie goes to, which is not different from real life. 2014 IGF Nuovo winners Tale of Tales and their game Luxuria Superbia ($3.99) are chronicled, as well. Though it’s not mobile-related, there’s a really cool moment when you get to see the developers of The Stanley Parable as their game goes live and reviews start coming in, seeing the genuine reactions as this odd game they’ve been working on comes to fruition.
I got to see the documentary at a Chicago screening a few weeks ago, and it’s not a perfect film, as I think it spends a lot of time letting people pontificate, and sometimes overly-idealizing the ill-defined ‘indie’ concept. Its strongest moments are when it shows the genuine reactions and emotions that these developers are facing as they are making these games that they have little clue as to whether they’ll be received well, or even if they’ll be able to pay their bills. GameLoading may be really worth it if you’re looking to dive into what the popular indie gaming culture is all about, or if you are really into it and want to see and hear from notable figures and what they have to say. The documentary is available on iTunes, and through pretty much every other digital distribution service out there.
