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1''Indie Game: The Movie'' is a documentary made in 2012 by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, Canadian filmmakers who sought to find out just what makes independent game developers tick. Three games and their developers are showcased:
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3* ''Super VideoGame/MeatBoy'' by Creator/EdmundMcMillen and Tommy Refenes;
4* ''VideoGame/{{Fez}}'' by Phil Fish and Renaud Bédard; and
5* ''VideoGame/{{Braid}}'' by Jonathan Blow.
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7The movie is set, after a brief FlashForward at the beginning to Tommy's incredulity and disgust at [[spoiler:[[ScrewedByTheNetwork absolutely no marketing for]] ''Super Meat Boy'' [[ScrewedByTheNetwork on the day of its release]]]], about a year before ''Super Meat Boy'''s release, and follows the last stages of its development; while also chronicling the [[DevelopmentHell five-year]] cycle of ''Fez'' and Phil's near-suicidal depression as development stagnates and people keep complaining about delays; and then talks about Jonathan's efforts to inject a real story and feelings into this strange little game about time manipulation.
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9Be warned: some elements of these peoples' lives, such as the [[FreudianExcuse background behind Edmund's many games]] or Phil's aforementioned ardor to get ''Fez'' out, or the continuation of the FlashForward from the beginning [[spoiler:[[ScrewedByTheNetwork in which it's found that Microsoft failed to give]] ''Super Meat Boy'' [[ScrewedByTheNetwork a promised feature placement on the Games Marketplace on Xbox Live]]]] could border on TearJerker territory. Not to mention Phil's very palpable angst towards [[spoiler: his unnamed former partner in his company, without whose signature on a release the showcase of ''Fez'' at PAX can't go forward]].
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11The movie can be purchased on [[http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/ its website]], watched on {{Creator/Netflix}} and can also be bought with extra content on Platform/{{Steam}}.
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13On July 24, 2013, Lisanne and James came out with the Special Edition DLC for Steam, containing over an hour and a half of new content, more than the original movie! Epilogues, special insights and more for our consumption and education. [=BlinkWorks=] also came out with a super special Limited Edition boxed set containing over five hours of content on three [=DVDs=] or Blu-rays!
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15!!This documentary film contains examples of:
16* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Phil Fish may have [[SanitySlippage some issues]], apparently thinking that the worst that could happen if he "cold blooded [[ClusterFBomb fucking]] murdered" [[spoiler: his ex-business partner]] is he could get everyone in trouble and get kicked out of PAX.
17* BlatantLies: What the aforementioned "Team Meat" commentary primarily consists of; Tommy and Edmund trying to out-snark one another and tell outrageous (and hilarious) lies about the people in the film and their involvement in various games.
18-->'''Edmund:''' If you meet Jonathan Blow in real life and insult him, he will straight up punch you in the chest and kill you.
19-->'''Tommy:''' True fact: I actually made ''Fez''. ''(seeing Phil Fish's first game on an outdated Apple Macintosh Classic)'' This is actually ''Fez'', this is what ''Fez'' looks like.
20* CensoredForComedy: Spammed to OverlyLongGag extent on the "Edmund and teh Internets" commentary.
21* ClusterBleepBomb: On the Commentary, when Ed and Tommy talk about how much money could have exchanged hands for Microsoft to have more of a guarantee to do the promotion, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork that never happened]][[invoked]]. Of course they can't be talking about that stuff; it's legal-related.
22* ClusterFBomb: Understandable at the very beginning, when [[spoiler: Tommy discovers that Microsoft didn't put a promised ''Super Meat Boy'' ad up on the day of release]], as well as when this is revisited. Smaller ones throughout.
23* DevelopmentHell:[[invoked]] What ''Fez'' went through, much to creator Phil Fish's [[SanitySlippage detriment]], finally being released in April of 2012.
24* ForegoneConclusion: It's a bit odd watching the documentary a few months after the fact when you know all three of the games are huge successes.
25* {{Foreshadowing}}: A seemingly inconsequential dialogue has Phil mentioning to [[Webcomic/PennyArcade Jerry Holkins]] how he wanted Fez to cause the kind of conversations over in-game secrets that older games like Mario once had. At the time of the film's release, no one knew of the disturbingly well hidden cryptography puzzles in ''Fez'' that would have numerous forums conversing to find and solve.
26* InternetJerk: {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in "Edmund and teh Internets," in which Ed showcases a video he made two years before ''Super Meat Boy'', in which he [[TakeThat rips into]] those {{Troll}}s who insist that particular indie games aren't as good as people say they are without providing any constructive feedback.
27* KindheartedCatLover: Shown in Edmund and Danielle's spots in the main movie, but made clearer in Danielle's Epilogue in the SE.
28* ManlyTears:
29** Tommy talks about having these while thinking about having them when his game's about to come out, and looks about to have them right then.
30** Near the very end, Edmund talks about how he knows that there was one kid who stayed up all night waiting for the game to be released, and didn't go to school the next day because he was so into playing it; and the game affecting him on a creative level, like, "Hey, I know two guys made this; maybe I can make something too!" ".... It's just a really cool feeling. It's a cool feeling."
31* MoodWhiplash: Music/SouljaBoy reviewing ''Braid'' and ComicallyMissingThePoint, while [[WordOfGod Jonathan]] talks about how he got really depressed, not only because of a natural "post-partum" depression after being committed to a project for so long, but because people failed to see what he thought was most special about the game.
32* ObviousBeta:[[invoked]] What Phil showed at PAX 2011 due to a last-minute code change; despite his best efforts, the development build of Fez crashed multiple times, some crashes locking the whole system; fortunately, people were able to play enough of it to know its worth.

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