There has been an influx of arcade documentaries released in the last several years. I have been watching some of these documentaries over the last couple of weeks and decided to share some of my thoughts about them. While most of us think of documentaries (in general) as boring, I found all of these to be quite interesting and entertaining.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2008): This documentary covers the controversy over the Donkey Kong high score between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. This is by far my favorite arcade related documentary. Even though it is a little bias in it’s portrayal of the individuals involved, it is still a great story and very entertaining. A must watch for anyone who is even remotely interested in arcade games.

Buy The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters from Amazon.com now!

Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (2007): I look at Chasing Ghosts as a prequel of sorts to The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. This documentary gives you insight on the early days of arcade games and high scores. It talks heavily about Twin Galaxies and the Life Magazine article from the 1980s. In the article, a picture was taken of each high score champion in front of their respective arcade game. You will recognize the picture from the article if you’ve seen the The King of Kong. Overall, I found it very interesting and well worth watching.

They were showing Chasing Ghosts on Showtime for a brief period, however, I believe that they have not shown it for a while. Might have to wait for a DVD to come out to see this one.

TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball (2007): This is one of the most interesting documentaries I’ve seen in a while. TILT tells the story of the final days leading up to the demise of the pinball division at Williams. It focuses heavily on the Pinball 2000 brand which was developed as their last ditch effort to make pinball profitable again. A great documentary that discusses an exciting piece of pinball history. Highly recommended.

Buy TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball from Amazon.com now!

High Score (2006): High Score, much like The King of Kong, follows the accomplishments of a gamer at a particular game. In this case, Bill Carlton attempts to topple the twenty year-old record on the Atari classic Missile Command. In order to get the 80 million points required, he must play the game for over two days straight on one quarter. A very fascinating look at what it takes to achieve a high score on an arcade game.

Buy High Score from IndiePix now!

I Got Next (2008): I Got Next discusses the details of the competitive fighting game scene in North America. While the lingo may be a little foreign to those of you who are not into these games, it is still a very enthralling documentary. I Got Next is different from the others in that it is freely available from their website. Definitely worth watching for anyone who has at least some knowledge of fighting games.

Download I Got Next for free from http://www.igotnextmovie.com now!

Well, those are some of our recommended documentaries about arcade games. Are there any documentaries that we left out? Please leave some comments below and let us know.