It has been a few years now since game developer/publisher Midway disbanded, and even longer since it dominated the attention of gamers the way it did in the 90’s. Some may forget how impactful the company was in the early days of gaming with Mortal Kombat, Smash TV, Cruis’n USA, Terminator 2 and NBA Jam all becoming smash hits in the 90’s. And now game developer/filmmaker, Joshua Tsui, has taken to Kickstarter looking to fund a new documentary to make sure we don’t.
Having worked at Midway himself, it looks as though Tsui will be hitting up some of his contacts from the old days (along what looks some pretty hilarious behind-the-scenes footage) to create his new film: Insert Coin: Inside Midway’s ’90s Revolution.
Described as the “the untold history of the greatest videogame studio of the 90’s”, the film looks pretty interesting:
Insert Coin talks to the developers of each game and lays out how all the games were made and how they connected with each other. Every game had its own unique story about victories, setbacks, and general mayhem. Only someone from the inside can understand the context of events and ask the right questions.
One developer says, “NBA Jam made $1 billion in its first 12 months” in the Kickstarter clip:
One more interesting thing about Joshua Tsui, his face was being used as Sub Zero and Liu Kang in the original games. Tsui says “in fact I think if there was an Asian in a Midway 90’s game, good chance it was me.”
A $15 pledge will net you a digital copy of the film, $30 will get your name in the credits and some bonus footage during production, and for $5,000 you can be in the movie: “YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE in the documentary talking about your memories of Midway Arcade Games of the 90’s.”
