''Nintendo Quest: The Most Unofficial and Unauthorized Nintendo Documentary Ever!'' is a 2015 Canadian/American

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

road film A road movie is a genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alie ...

directed by Rob McCallum about Jay Bartlett and his quest to acquire all 678 licensed

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

games within the span of 30 days, without purchasing any games online.

Plot

The starting point of the film is when Jay Bartlett's friend Rob McCallum (executive producer) challenges him to acquire every one of the 678

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

games officially released in North America in just 30 days. The only caveat is that Jay can't buy anything from internet retailers. The film then follows Jay and Rob and the film crew as they travel south through the States visiting various second-hand stores and basements, some impressively stocked with mint-condition gaming relics. With online purchasing disallowed, Jay meets a world of persons sharing his enthusiasms, some who are more than happy to aid in his quest, while others comically get in the way. As his quest develops, the viewer is given a history lesson on

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

, and learns why this company's gaming software means so much to the filmmakers and the development of video gaming.

Reception

Robert Workman of

Geek & Sundry Geek & Sundry, Inc. is a commercial YouTube and Twitch (service), Twitch channel and multimedia production company. It was launched on April 2, 2012, by actress Felicia Day with Kim Evey and Sheri Bryant as part of YouTube's YouTube Original Chan ...

points out that in ''Nintendo Quest'' "the industry takes a backseat to instead focus on one man's ultimate nostalgia trip, in a tale that's just as much about the journey as it is the destination". Mike Diver of ''

Vice Magazine ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company V ...

'' describes the film as "a documentary on collecting with a difference", noting it "focuses exclusively on the catalogue of the Nintendo Entertainment System, probably the most important games console of all time, responsible for righting the industry's course after a colossal financial slump in the early 1980s and ultimately becoming a fixture in more American homes during the decade of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Molly Ringwald Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and translator. She began her career as a child actress on the sitcoms ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and '' The Facts of Life'' (both 1979–1980) before being nominated for ...

than casual racism" and that "it features a fantastically passionate Nintendo fan at its core, one Jay Bartlett, a Canadian with

Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a Character (arts), fictional character and the Antagonist, main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. ...

and

Bomberman is a video game Media franchise, franchise created by Shinichi Nakamoto and Shigeki Fujiwara, originally developed by Hudson Soft and currently owned by Konami. The Bomberman (1983 video game), original game, also known as ''Bakudan Otoko'' (� ...

in his blood".

References

External links

Official website
* {{Nintendo Entertainment System 2015 films Documentary films about video games Video game culture 2015 documentary films Films about video games Nintendo Entertainment System 2010s English-language films