Even though the South by Southwest film festival was canceled back in the spring when the coronavirus pandemic was just beginning to tear through the United States, some of the movies intended to premiere at the festival still screened for critics. One of those movies was Insert Coin, a video game documentary looking at Midway Games and the making of historical video games like Smash TV, NARC, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and more. Now you can finally see the movie for yourself when it arrives on Alamo Drafthouse VOD and other virtual cinema platforms starting this week.

Insert Coin Documentary Trailer

Insert Coin was one of the SXSW movies that I was able to watch from home despite the festival being canceled, and in my review back in March, I wrote, “Insert Coin is continually captivating because of the passionate and lively creators and designers of these games who love digging up the past that they made so thrilling for millions of gamers.”

The insight provided by this documentary is nostalgic and informative. There’s an infectious energy that comes from game creators as they look back on their glory days making some of the most popular video games, ranging from arcades to consoles. As the video game industry marches forwarded with great speed, it’s nice to look back at some of the early milestones in its relatively short history.

Insert Coin is directed by first-time documentary filmmaker Joshua Tsui, who has plenty of experience producing and designing video games.

Insert Coin: The Midway Chronicles is the amazing behind-the-scenes story of one of the greatest video game studios of all time – Midway Games. Led by the “godfather of video games” Eugene Jarvis, the company pioneered the concept of live action gaming, kickstarting a new arcade boom and grossing billions of dollars in the process with massive hits like Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam – franchises still popular today.

Through intimate and often hilarious interviews with the people who were there, we witness how a small, tight-knit group of friends deal with next level success and the roller coaster ride that comes with it.

Insert Coin will be available on the Alamo Drafthouse VOD platform to rent for $9.99 or to buy for $15.99 starting on November 25, 2020, and you can find a list of a few other virtual cinema options at your disposal right here.

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