I’ve only watched the first three parts so far, but this series is great and well worth a watch. I’ve already written my initial impressions elsewhere, but I’ll copy/paste them here:
I loved the first three episodes of this doc. They were about 40 minutes in length each, and took us from the beginning with the DirectX team to the day of launch of the original Xbox. They seem to have gotten the majority of the who’s-who to speak on camera (save for Gates and Ballmer) and even this guy has a few lines.
One of the more ingenious and entertaining parts is using videogame footage as b-roll. Like most docs, they do use archival footage where they can, and stills, and even some animated reconstructions, but the inventive use of gameplay footage really stood out as something special.
Sometimes it’s just footage that fits what they’re talking about (like Robbie Bach discussing the E3 presentation and using words like “crash and burn” and them using footage of a videogame plane crashing and burning) but sometimes they’re going the extra mile, like illustrating the Windows CE / DirectX face-off with Mortal Kombat characters adorned with those respective logos.
It sounds kinda hokey when I describe it like that, but it really worked for me. Obviously it’s the factual content that’s the main star of the show, and I really like how candid and forthcoming everyone seemed, and it was all put together in an entertaining package. The two hours just flew by, so I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the topic.
Can’t wait to check out parts 4-6, which will take us to present day.