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Arcade documentary Chasing Ghosts now showing on Showtime
We wrote about the fantabulous arcade documentary Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade when it premiered at Sundance in 2007, and we featured interviews with director Lincoln Ruchti and producer Mark Verrachia. It's been a long road for the film -- which was playing in Park City against The King of Kong at Slamdance -- but now you can finally see it.Chasing Ghosts is on Showtime this month -- in HD, no less -- and has three more showings through the end of December. Set your DVRs for "capture" and have yourself a little screening party. It's well worth seeing and features everyone's favorite/most hated gamer, Billy Mitchell. With any luck, we'll see this on Netflix or DVD soon, because playing this on your Xbox 360 or PS3 will surely make the space-time continuum fold in on itself.
Joystiq interview with Chasing Ghosts producer Michael Verrechia
Producer Michael Verrechia had time to answer some questions for us about his film Chasing Ghosts while getting it ready to show at the Los Angeles Film Festival. They're having a premiere on Sunday in Westwood, so if you live in the LA area stop by and grab a ticket.Read on to find out what song the crew used to pump Michael up, how they nailed Billy Mitchell's theme music, and what it's like trying to convince a convicted felon to participate in a documentary.You can also check out our review of the film, watch the trailer, and read the interview with director Lincoln Ruchti.
Joystiq interview with Chasing Ghosts director Lincoln Ruchti
We managed to catch up with Chasing Ghosts director Lincoln Ruchti before he flew up to Skywalker Ranch to meet with The George (lucky guy), and we scored this interview with him.Check out the goods after the break, and find out why he's been neglecting Kirk Cameron. You can also see our review and watch the Chasing Ghosts trailer here. If you're in the Los Angeles area, you can catch the movie this Sunday as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Joystiq exclusive: Chasing Ghosts film review and trailer
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Exclusive_Chasing_Ghosts_trailer_and_review/'; Video games have been through ups and downs, but the one constant is that there is always someone better than you at the game you're playing. Unless you were one of the guys in this film. These players were at the top of their game during the arcade craze, and Chasing Ghosts takes a look not only at the heyday of those players, but also finds them in the present day, and in the process you see how their brief stints as a "video game rock stars" affected their lives.Get our review after the break, and be sure to check for interviews with director Lincoln Ruchti and producer Michael Verrechia.%Gallery-4023%
Video game documentary premiering at Sundance
A documentary detailing the 1982 World Video Game Championships will be hitting the screens at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It's called Chasing Ghosts or Rulers of the Galaxy depending on which source you read (Variety calls it Chasing Ghosts, but the Sundance site calls it Rulers of the Galaxy. They probably had to change the title since a film called Chasing Ghosts was released last year starring Michael Madsen) and is directed by Lincoln Ruchti ... perfect for an Xbox Live Marketplace download, right?The movie focuses on the championships held at the Twin Galaxies Arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa, which was declared the "Video Game Capital of the World" in 1982 by the mayor of Ottumwa, and then later made official by the governor at a special ceremony in 1983. So, if you've been wondering where the capital is, now you know. Start planning your trip now. It also stars top video gamers like Billy Mitchell and Darren Olsen, and contains plenty of retro-gaming action.Twin Galaxies opened in 1981 after founder Walter Day toured over 100 arcades in four months, recording high scores on all the video games, and then brought them to his arcade as the "Twin Galaxies National Scoreboard." Although the arcade closed down in 1984 (wow, video game capital of the world doesn't hold much staying power, does it?) they still track high scores. Check out their Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records published in 1997. In today's day and age they live on the web, where you can search to your heart's content on their site. For instance, we just found out that Donald Hayes set the current official high score of 589,350 for Frogger in 2005. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.We'll be checking the flick out at Sundance and talking to cast & crew, so look for that in January.
