*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
To be brief, this documentary really tries to crack itself up to be some great adventure but in reality it's just a spoiled brat with a lot of money going "around the country" having uncomfortable encounters, pressuring retailers into giving him deals, complaining when they won't, and finally (and completely inappropriately) talking about hating his dad and being happy he died... REALLY. In the middle of the movie, for no obviously good reason, he talks about how he hates his dad, and then explains how happy he was when he died. It made me feel really uncomfortable watching. like, way more uncomfortable than I was prepared for in a documentary about NES games.
That aside, he starts the show by saying he is going to attempt to get every retail NES game release in person without the use of the internet within 30-days. Well, spoiler, he doesn't. He gets close, but after the last day was up he just went ahead and bought them on ebay. Talk about an anti-climactic ending. The fans would have probably appreciated the film more if he'd extended the time frame to just go out and find them somewhere. Further, and this may be nitpicking too much, but he does say he's not going to used the internet in "any way," yet the whole time he's price matching shops against ebay.
This movie also takes itself way to seriously, coming off extremely pretentious. Game collecting should be fun. Games are designed for the sole purpose of having fun (although this has changed in the modern era). Not once did I ever think that Jay was having fun. He treated every deal like he was negotiating with terrorists, he griped about a lot of prices, the movie just gets depressing at parts. This makes them seem like they're trying to accomplish something super important. Sorry folks, you're not landing on the moon, you're buying video games. Game collectors can be passionate, myself included, but if you're not enjoying yourself then why waste your time? why waste our time for that matter?
My last gripe with this movie is that he encourages a kind of behavior that gives local businesses trouble. He wants to match everything with online prices, and he feels entitled to discounts because he's buying in bulk. As a former small business employee, I can not begin to tell you how annoying people like him are. Just because they're not walmart or best buy does not at all mean that you're entitled to thousands of discounts, the retailers have sticker prices for a reason, and most of the time those sticker prices are well researched to give the customer the best value. Small businesses have to offer low prices to stay competitive. And you really can't expect every price to be better than ebay. Ebay sellers aren't paying for employees, rent, electricity, etc. It costs money to run a business! I digress. However, Jay exhibits this kind of behavior a lot during the film, and it rubs me the wrong way.
Looking for a diamond in the rough? They do go to some really neat local shops and display some very impressive personal collections. Plus, for those of us who don't particularly care to collect NES games, the movie does a really good job relaying the current state of the NES collectors game. You'll know what games are sought after, you get some history behind the really hard to find ones, and you'll feel like getting your own full NES set is not entirely impossible. That much, I think they did well on. However, pile all the other pointless, boring, and pretentious baggage on top of it and I hardly think anything about the movie can be seen as redemptive.
To be brief, this documentary really tries to crack itself up to be some great adventure but in reality it's just a spoiled brat with a lot of money going "around the country" having uncomfortable encounters, pressuring retailers into giving him deals, complaining when they won't, and finally (and completely inappropriately) talking about hating his dad and being happy he died... REALLY. In the middle of the movie, for no obviously good reason, he talks about how he hates his dad, and then explains how happy he was when he died. It made me feel really uncomfortable watching. like, way more uncomfortable than I was prepared for in a documentary about NES games.
That aside, he starts the show by saying he is going to attempt to get every retail NES game release in person without the use of the internet within 30-days. Well, spoiler, he doesn't. He gets close, but after the last day was up he just went ahead and bought them on ebay. Talk about an anti-climactic ending. The fans would have probably appreciated the film more if he'd extended the time frame to just go out and find them somewhere. Further, and this may be nitpicking too much, but he does say he's not going to used the internet in "any way," yet the whole time he's price matching shops against ebay.
This movie also takes itself way to seriously, coming off extremely pretentious. Game collecting should be fun. Games are designed for the sole purpose of having fun (although this has changed in the modern era). Not once did I ever think that Jay was having fun. He treated every deal like he was negotiating with terrorists, he griped about a lot of prices, the movie just gets depressing at parts. This makes them seem like they're trying to accomplish something super important. Sorry folks, you're not landing on the moon, you're buying video games. Game collectors can be passionate, myself included, but if you're not enjoying yourself then why waste your time? why waste our time for that matter?
My last gripe with this movie is that he encourages a kind of behavior that gives local businesses trouble. He wants to match everything with online prices, and he feels entitled to discounts because he's buying in bulk. As a former small business employee, I can not begin to tell you how annoying people like him are. Just because they're not walmart or best buy does not at all mean that you're entitled to thousands of discounts, the retailers have sticker prices for a reason, and most of the time those sticker prices are well researched to give the customer the best value. Small businesses have to offer low prices to stay competitive. And you really can't expect every price to be better than ebay. Ebay sellers aren't paying for employees, rent, electricity, etc. It costs money to run a business! I digress. However, Jay exhibits this kind of behavior a lot during the film, and it rubs me the wrong way.
Looking for a diamond in the rough? They do go to some really neat local shops and display some very impressive personal collections. Plus, for those of us who don't particularly care to collect NES games, the movie does a really good job relaying the current state of the NES collectors game. You'll know what games are sought after, you get some history behind the really hard to find ones, and you'll feel like getting your own full NES set is not entirely impossible. That much, I think they did well on. However, pile all the other pointless, boring, and pretentious baggage on top of it and I hardly think anything about the movie can be seen as redemptive.