King
Of Chinatown (2010/IndiePix DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C- Extras: B Documentary: C+
It
is a boy's childhood dream to play video games and get paid for it.
That is just what Isaiah Triforce Johnson and Justin Wong had in
mind. Justin Wong is a professional video game player and Isaiah is
his manager. Together, they compete in video competitions to become
the best player in the world, but their greatest battle wasn't just
in the game but eventually each other. While Justin dreams of fame,
Isaiah dreams of fortune ...and as they move up the ranks, their
paths begin to diverge in King Of Chinatown, a 2010
documentary co-directed by Jordan Levinson & Calvin Theobald.
In
the last few decades, the video game industry has exploded into a
multi-billion dollar business, and there are those who dream of
becoming King of the video games, in particular virtual fighting
games such as Street Fighter and Capcom. As Justin Wong trains for a
fun competition, to Isaiah Triforce he sees it as a business market
for money. And not unlike rock stars and movie stars have their own
dramas as well, for every person that wins there must be a loser, but
in the end there can be only one.
This
documentary takes a look into the video game industry and those who
wish to live and thrive on it as players in the virtual world. That
if you are if your skills are good and you get famous enough,
eventually people will pay you to play. While Justin Wong eventually
gets hired by another larger video game company, Triforce's mistake
lies in asking others for money first to play instead of playing for
fun, it is like going into an arcade and asking the others to pay for
you and watch you play
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is rough and not as nice as
similar docs on videogames of late, while the lossy Dolby Digital
sound is also more problematic than expected, so watching this was a
very mixed experience. Extras include alternate ending, deleted
scenes, and a behind the scenes featurette.
-
Ricky Chiang
