Xbox Entertainment Studios To Begin Documentary Series In 2014

It appears that when Microsoft announced television and film series were coming to the Xbox One it would be further extrapolation of AAA games that need to be left alone for a while (Halo TV series, etc.). Count me as surprised, as Microsoft revealed today on the Xbox Wire that they have paired up with multi-platform media company Lightbox to produce an original documentary series, debuting in 2014. They will be available exclusively on Xbox One and Xbox 360 wherever Live is accessible.

The first film in the series will explore the fabled Atari game “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” and the events that surround it. We know that a great number of cartridges were buried in New Mexico, but is it true an estimated couple of million were sent to their grave? What lead to the creation of such a terrible game? What exactly can we expect to see during the excavation of the dig site? Hopefully this documentary will explore this.

I’m all for what Xbox Entertainment are doing here. As a sports fan, ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series does an amazing job looking at quirky, personal and forgotten stories that look more into the people and the decisions that run sports, in addition to chronicling momentous events. While there have been some noteworthy documentaries on video games, it is always better to have more filmmakers look at the video game industry with the same respect and interest as many gamers do.

I can’t speak to the future of this series, but hopefully the people handling it editorially remain independent from the company. All aspects of the industry have amazing stories waiting to be told, but for them to be potentially ignored due to political reasons within the gaming industry would be truly unfortunate.

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