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You are here: Home / Archives for From Bedrooms To Billions

From Bedrooms To Billions

The Rubber-Keyed Wonder: 40 Years of the ZX Spectrum

October 26, 2021 By ausretrogamer

If you are fans (like us!) of the From Bedrooms to Billions film series then you will absolutely love their latest documentary film, The Rubber-Keyed Wonder: 40 Years of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. To make Anthony and Nicola Caulfield’s film come true, go and check out their Kickstarter!

Coinciding with the ZX Speccy’s 40th anniversary next year (2022), Anthony and Nicola are aiming to release the film by Christmas 2022 – make sure you let Santa know! The Caulfield’s are aiming to make a thorough and definitive film on the ZX Spectrum, going into all the finer details of how and why the ZX Spectrum was created, what impact the computer had as well as the various versions that followed right the way through to the latest iteration of the system with the ZX Spectrum Next.

The film aims to reunite as many of the original ZX Spectrum hardware team and of course many legendary game developers, artists and musicians, and also talk to fans of the ZX Spectrum as to understand the significance of the machine with the masses.

This Kickstarter campaign once again has some stunning artwork from Oliver Frey available as well as some wonderful posters and other add-ons to get your nostagia gland pulsating!

Now, we are Commodore fans, but we are also aware of the significance of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, so we are quite excited to support Anthony and Nicola on their new project!

image source: The Rubber Keyed Wonder – 40 years of the ZX Spectrum




Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: 40 years of the ZX Spectrum, 8-bit, 80s, 8bit, Anthony and Nicola Caulfield, classic computing, Documentary, Film, From Bedrooms To Billions, micros, Rebellion, Retro, retro computing, Retro Gamer, Retro Gaming, Retrocomputing, Retrogamer, retrogaming, The Amiga Years, The Rubber Keyed Wonder - 40 years of the ZX Spectrum, ZX Speccy, zx spectrum

From Bedrooms to Billions: The PlayStation Revolution

July 31, 2020 By ausretrogamer

If there is one thing we know for sure, it is that the folks at From Bedrooms To Billions sure know how to create a compelling documentary.

Hot off the heels of their successful self titled From Bedrooms to Billions and The Amiga Years documentaries, the From Bedroom to Billions film makers have embarked on telling the definitive story of how PlayStation took gaming to the next level in The PlayStation Revolution documentary.

Take a gander at the below trailer and press release photos, as we are sure that your anticipation and excitement level will be turned up to the max! We honestly can’t wait to watch The PlayStation Revolution.

Available: September 7, 2020
TVoD Platforms: iTunes, Amazon, Sky Box Office and Vimeo
Physical platforms: DVD and Blu-ray

Roll on September 7th!!!

image source: From Bedrooms to Billions

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: classic, Documentary, Film, From Bedrooms To Billions, FromBedroomsToBillions, Gracious Films, indie, indie documentary, indie film, indiedocumentary, Mark Cerny, Playstation, PS, PS Vita, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, PSP, Rebellion, Retro, Sony, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony PlayStation, The Amiga Years, The PlayStation Revolution, The PlayStation Revolution film, vintage film

Film Review: The Amiga Years

June 10, 2016 By ausretrogamer

TheAmigaYears_TitleAnthony and Nicola Caulfield, the writers and directors of the critically acclaimed crowdfunded feature length documentary From Bedrooms to Billions, which charts the history of the British Video games Industry, have just released a follow up film called From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years

From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years is a 150 minute feature documentary exploring the influence of the Commodore Amiga and how it took video game development, music and publishing to a whole new level and played a key, defining role in the rapidly evolving video games industry!

As with the original From Bedrooms to Billions, the film-makers balance The Amiga Years with nostalgic archive footage, stills and music with newly shot interviews with some of the original Amiga design team as well as with some of the biggest names in video game development, publishing, music and journalism from the last 30 years!

BlahjediAaron Clement: I’m ashamed to admit it, but outside of games, my knowledge of the Amiga’s history is pretty poor. As a Commodore 64 boy growing up, my exposure to its 16-bit big brother was limited to seeing screenshots in Zzap! and C&VG, or going around to my best friend’s place to fire up his Amiga 500 whenever we could. After having watched The Amiga Years, I can say that the detail presented here far and away fills the gaps in my knowledge, as well as providing a positive and entertaining story to boot. Delivering it’s narrative through a series of interviews with a veritable “who’s who” from the Amiga’s history, creators Nicola and Anthony Caulfield have done a solid job weaving this documentary together.

Featuring industry veterans like Trip Hawkins, RJ Mical, Larry Kaplan, Chris Huelsbeck and more, there’s an incredible variety of stories on offer from all sides of the Amiga’s past. Spliced in among this is archival footage from the 70s and 80s, ranging from Ralph Baer introducing his original PONG machine, to Andy Warhol at the Amiga Launch event, right through to the super-daggy “Only Amiga” video clip (Seriously – what is it with Commodore and their theme songs?). With that said, I did find that some of the earlier parts covering Atari’s history and later discussions around the demo scene dragged on a little too much. Given how massive the demo scene was in Europe however, I can definitely understand why it gets the attention it does!

So what did I think overall? I thought The Amiga Years was an enjoyable, in-depth retrospective featuring a whole lot of incredibly passionate people who clearly love the system. The positivity is great (Molyneux’s cheap shot at the ST aside), and there’s not really any negativity or spite on display – even Jack Tramiel gets presented and talked about in a respectful manner. If you’ve got a spare couple of hours and even a passing interest in vintage computers or gaming, The Amiga Years is well worth checking out.

alex bozAlex Boz: With The Amiga Years, Anthony and Nicola have literally picked up where they left off with their first film, From Bedroom To Billions – which is actually a really GOOD thing! Their pedigree in documentary film making is second to none, and The Amiga Years is no exception. With the subject matter at the centre of this film, Anthony and Nicola have lovingly pieced together countless hours of interviews and archival footage into a 2.5hr tour de force on the Amiga.

The historical context of the film is set perfectly with a background on the industry from the 70s, with the Atari vs Commodore war to how it all lead to the genesis of the Amiga. Discussing the Amiga with all the important people that had a role in its creation, including the late Dave Needle, the film’s authenticity on the subject matter is unparalleled. The Amiga Years managed to surprise with the inclusion of the ever so pervasive Amiga demo scene, which includes interviews with demo group members and their ever so eye-catching cracktros – this, in my opinion completes the Amiga story beautifully.

With their highly lauded first feature film, From Bedrooms To Billions, The Amiga Years is another triumph for Anthony and Nicola Caulfield (and their production team) – they have yet again set the bar (very) high to what a historical documentary on our computing past should be. You need to watch The Amiga Years (and its additional special footage) right now! Even as an Atari ST fan (and there are plenty of references to the ST in the film), I was absolutely absorbed from start to finish!

From Bedrooms To Billions: The Amiga Years and its awesome special features set are available now to watch on Vimeo.

The Amiga Yearsimage source: From Bedrooms To Billions: The Amiga Years

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture, Reviews Tagged With: Amiga documentary, Amiga movie, Anthony and Nicola Caulfield, From Bedrooms To Billions, Retro computing film, The Amiga Years, The Amiga Years review

Britsoft: An Oral History

November 17, 2015 By ausretrogamer

BritSoft_1It is no secret that I am a huge fan of the From Bedrooms To Billions documentary film – I called it the video gaming film of the year for 2014. It is also no secret that I am a fan of Read-Only Memory’s sublime Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works book. When these two worlds of film and publishing collide, you get Britsoft: An Oral History.

The Britsoft: An Oral History book is a companion piece to the 2014 documentary, From Bedrooms to Billions – it uses exclusive cuts from the hundreds of hours of interview footage to carve its original story. Through the voices of programmers, musicians, journalists and business people, it traces the making of games such as Dizzy, Elite, Paradroid and Kick Off; and the birth of publishers, magazines and software houses, from Codemasters to Zzap!64. Edited by former Edge magazine editor, Alex Wiltshire, and its striking page layouts designed by London-based studio Julia, Britsoft: An Oral History oozes premium quality.

With its rarely-seen archive images, such as candid period photographs and magazine ads, its high attention to detail, premium paper and design layout, this book will not disappoint. If you want a great companion publication to go with one of the best documentary films of 2014, then look no further, Britsoft: An Oral History should be at the top of your shopping list.

Vital Stats:
Title: Britsoft: An Oral History
Price: £30.00 (plus shipping)
Size: 160mm x 230mm
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 422
Specials: Lay-flat binding and multiple paper stocks

Rarely seen archive images – Work hard, play even harder!
BritSoft_2

Original illustrations of cult hardware of the era
BritSoft_3

Oh man, the colours, they are so vivid!
BritSoft_4

I spot Space Harrier!
BritSoft_5

Interviews with 35 people who shaped the modern videogames industry
BritSoft_6

Multiple paper stock is strikingly beautiful
BritSoft_7

A cup of tea? How British
BritSoft_9

Oo’er, 16-bits of awesomeness!
BritSoft_8

image source: Read-Only Memory

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Britsoft, Britsoft An Oral History, Britsoft book, From Bedrooms To Billions, Read-Only Memory, retro computing, Retro Gaming, Romalerts

Britsoft: An Oral History

June 9, 2015 By ausretrogamer

ROM_titleWhen it comes to books about video games or micro computing history, no one does it better than Read-Only Memory.

The creators of The Sensible Software 1986 – 1999, Mega Drive and the recently crowdfunded Bitmap Bros books) are publishing a book this August made up of interviews from the original From Bedrooms to Billions film. Ant and Nic Caulfield (creators of From Bedrooms to Billions) have given permission to Read-Only Memory to look through their film transcripts and then use them to construct a unique and awesome book. Nearly a year in the making, the clever layout oozes Read-Only Memory quality! It’s great to see such wonderful interview material find a home such as this and it does also include a new interview with Andrew Braybrook!

BritSoft_cover

Britsoft: An Oral History, a collective story of the early British games industry

Composed of interviews with thirty-five people who shaped the modern videogame, including David Braben (Elite), Peter Molyneux (Populous), Rob Hubbard (Commando) and Jeff Minter (Attack of the Mutant Camels), Britsoft: An Oral History documents the start of a new form of entertainment – created in bedrooms and living rooms on ZX Spectrums, Commodore 64s, Amigas and Atari STs.

Britsoft_5

Britsoft_4

The book is a companion piece to the 2014 documentary, From Bedrooms to Billions, and uses exclusive cuts from the hundreds of hours of interview footage to carve its original story. Through the voices of programmers, musicians, journalists and business people, it traces the making of games such as Dizzy, Elite, Paradroid and Kick Off; and birth of publishers, magazines and software houses, from Codemasters to Zzap!64.

Britsoft_2

Britsoft: An Oral History is edited by Alex Wiltshire, former editor of ‘videogame Bible’ Edge magazine, and its striking page layouts are designed by London-based studio Julia. It includes rarely-seen archive images, such as candid period photographs and magazine ads, which perfectly set the Britsoft scene. Pre-order your copy now!

Features
• Exclusive anecdotes and stories from 35 industry luminaries
• Brand new interviews with Andrew Braybrook (Uridium) and Sean Cooper (Syndicate) conducted specially for the book, plus new stories from Mike Montgomery, Julian Gollop and Jon Hare
• Archive photographs, adverts and ephemera
• 39 original illustrations of the cult hardware, consoles and home computers of the era

Specification
• Hardcover
• 160mm x 230mm
• 422 pages
• Lay-flat binding
• Multiple paper stocks
• 125,000 words

Britsoft_3

Britsoft_1

source: Read-Only Memory

Filed Under: Announcements Tagged With: Book, British Computer History, From Bedrooms To Billions, interview, Read-Only Memory, Retro Computers, retrogaming, video gaming books

From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years

March 1, 2015 By ausretrogamer

TheAmigaYearsFollowing their critically acclaimed first feature length documentary, From Bedrooms To Billions, Nicola and Anthony Caulfield are back with a follow-up film based on Commodore‘s wonder computer, the Amiga. Coinciding with the Amiga‘s 30th anniversary, Nicola and Anthony have kicked off their From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years Kickstarter campaign with a bang!

This film will have a whole new set of interviews to add to the already extensive list to create a standalone, immersive and highly nostalgic film that really explores why the release of the Commodore Amiga and the era that soon followed, was a key period in the evolution of video games.

Regardless of your allegiance to Commodore or the Amiga, this is one Kickstarter campaign you cannot miss. Back this project now!

Amiga_Ballimage source: From Bedrooms To Billions: The Amiga Years

Filed Under: Announcements Tagged With: Amiga, Commdore, From Bedrooms To Billions, From Bedrooms To Billions: The Amiga Years, The Amiga Years

Video Gaming Film Of The Year: From Bedrooms To Billions

December 19, 2014 By ausretrogamer

From Bedrooms to Billions_TITLEDuring the pioneering days of video gaming and home computing, our industry may have been small when compared to Japan, the US and UK, but we were (and still are) proud of our gaming heritage – we will always be proud of John De Margheriti’s Micro Forté and Alfred Milgrom’s Melbourne House and Beam Software amongst the initial big industry players.

JEFF MINTERAs Australian gaming enthusiasts, we always paid attention to what was happening around the world, like we still do till this day. In the early 80s, when home computing took off in Australia, we were on a parallel with our gaming brethren in Europe and the United Kingdom, more so than Japan and the US.

IAN LIVINGSTONEWith our nascent video gaming magazine industry barely keeping up with our veracious appetite for gaming information, we turned our attention to the British media to satisfy our craving. Our newsstands were filled with brilliantly  written British magazines, from Crash and Zzap!64, to Zero, ST/Amiga Format and Computer & Video Games (to name a few!). These magazines were our only channel to what was going on in the home computing and gaming industry. The magazines introduced us to household British developers, bedroom coders, musicians, publishers and journalists, so it is satisfying to finally watch a film based on this history.

JULIAN RIGNALL 2From Bedrooms To Billions, the successful crowd-funded production, shows how the early UK games business began and evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry. The story is fused with interviews with key contributors that helped shape the video gaming industry – the enthusiasts, hobbyists, schools kids, bedroom coders, music maestros, journalists and entrepreneurs. Through these interviews, the film reveals the remarkable stories, struggles and successes of the people involved in the invention, creation and evolution of the UK video gaming business.

OLIVER TWINS 1

ROB HUBBARD 2From Bedroom To Billions connects us over here in Australia (or anywhere around the world for that matter) with the pioneers of the gaming industry, from the bedroom coders, developers and music maestros, to the journalists and publishers we grew up with in the late 70s, 80s and 90s. This documentary is essential viewing, either to reminisce, curate or just to learn how the UK video gaming industry went from nothing to a force to be reckoned with. If there was a category for a “Video Gaming Film Of The Year”, this film would win it hands down. We applaud you Anthony and Nicola Caulfield for a job well done.

 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: From Bedrooms To Billions, retrogaming, UK Video Games Industry, Video Game Films

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