Written, Directed, and Produced by Jeremy Snead
Narrated by Sean Astin
Runtime: 5 hour-long episodes
Now streaming for free on Crackle

by Ian Hrabe, Staff Writer

There’s a not insignificant chance that if you were born in the 1980s you have a vivid memory of playing the Nintendo Entertainment System for the first time. Of unwrapping the console on Christmas morning and having your mom or dad guide you through that first level of Super Mario Bros. This scenario is one of my earliest memories. Christmas Morning 1990, 5 year old me constantly falling into a pit in that first Mario level, my dad helping me overcome it. That shared memory is the reason why Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story exists, and that’s the reason it’s a five-part docuseries instead of a more traditional documentary. There’s just too much FEELING that needs to be captured in addition to the business side of the video game industry.

As a Nintendo acolyte currently introducing my own progeny to the wonderful worlds of the Legend of Zelda, Mario, etc, this plays like comfort food. But no matter how well Playing with Power presses on those nostalgic pleasure centers, once you strip away the viewer’s personal attachments its flaws become clear. For one, it’s just too damn long. As the docuseries ascends in the wake of The Tiger King and The Last Dance, you wonder if filmmakers are feeling pressured to stretch their idea for a 2-hour doc into a 5-hour multi-part behemoth. All said there is about 2-hours of rock solid content here, and while Nintendo diehards will likely find the bevy of insider interviews fascinating, I fear that this is going to play like a slog to the uninitiated.

Fortunately, Nintendo’s rise from a playing card company at the end of the 19th century to the video gaming pioneer that somehow manages to stay relevant in a crowded field of consoles by zigging when other companies zag is compelling. The series’ first episode chronicles Nintendo’s emergence and the migration of video games from arcades into the living room, and it’s easily the most interesting episode in the series. The next four episodes are essentially about how Nintendo maintained its dominance and despite releasing a couple of clunker consoles in the Gamecube and the Wii U, always found a way to return to form and create “something the world doesn’t know it needs until it does.”

Director/writer/producer Jeremy Snead’s passion for the subject helps to offset the occasional drudgery. The filmmaking is very slick and Snead does a lot to elevate this above your typical talking head doc with a ton of fun nostalgia-laced archival footage. There is a great attention to detail, and one thing that really won me over was these little interstitial dioramas depicting things like the Nintendo headquarters at the turn of the century or video game stores in painstakingly crafted miniature.

There is so much love in this thing it’s just a shame the editing bogs it down. For one, there is just way too much focus on the Nintendo America executives who are all lovely, but tend to talk in circles. The most compelling interviews come from the people outside of Nintendo HQ. The best interviews come from people sharing their stories about how Nintendo was such a massive part of their lives. Interviews with the likes of media personalities Wil Wheaton and Alison Haislip charismatically capture the primal joy of growing up with Nintendo consoles. Interviews with game industry folks outside of Nintendo, namely Microsoft’s Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer and Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski are equally compelling and provide a much needed outsider perspective to a doc that is excessively insidery.

Despite Nintendo’s aim at making video game systems that appeal to even the most casual gamers, Playing with Power isn’t for everyone. The later episodes devolve into a bit of a backpatting party and lose focus, but if you have any interest in the video game industry the first couple episodes are definitely worth a look. If you could care less about video games but you’re looking for a new Pandemic Era docuseries to jump into, you’re likely going to want to look elsewhere if you have 5 hours in need of burning.