Beyond the Game
Encyclopedia
Beyond the Game is a 2008
Dutch documentary film
about the world of professional video gaming
, most notably as related to the game Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
featuring world champion players Chinese Xiaofeng Li (Sky), Dutch Manuel Schenkhuizen (Grubby) and Swede Fredrik Johansson (MaDFroG) prominently. It is directed by award winning Dutch documentary filmmaker Jos de Putter
. Filming took place in China
, France
, The Netherlands, USA and Sweden
. Languages spoken in the documentary include Dutch
, English
, French
, Spanish
, Swedish
, Standard Chinese
and Korean
.
Beyond the Game is the motto of the World Cyber Games
, considered the olympics of gaming, which is central to the documentary as the main characters compete to defend or regain the event's championship title at the global finals of the 2007 World Cyber Games in Seattle, Washington
.
It has premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in Pathé de Munt, and had the cinema premiere in Pathé Tuschinski
, and has now been released in cinemas throughout The Netherlands.
is released which sells millions of copies and quickly becomes a leading title in the world of competitive gaming (in 2003 an expansion on the game, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
, is released).
A 17-year old Swede by the name of Fredrik Johansson devotes himself to this new sport and rises to become the runner-up of the 2003 Electronic Sports World Cup
and becomes widely regarded as the strongest non-Asian player. He is subsequently invited to become a fulltime professional gamer in Seoul, South Korea where competitive gaming is an advanced subculture and many players make a living playing games. During his eleven month stay there he wins the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational
and is recognized as the world's most successful gamer
. After his return to Sweden he becomes runner-up of the Electronic Sports World Cup again in 2004, but subsequently loses his motivation for the sport and qualifies for one more event in the 2004 World Cyber Games before retiring a few months later. There is he defeated prematurely and a new European star takes over from him as 16-year old Manuel Schenkhuizen wins the event.
Dutchman Schenkhuizen was staying in Seoul at the time and a few months after the event he returns home and remains a dominating player. During this period his in-game race of choice, Orc, is considered disadvantaged in competition but he nevertheless is successful, winning the 2005 Electronic Sports World Cup. He gains the nickname 'Orc Emperor' in televised competition, similar to the nickname 'Terran Emperor' for twofold StarCraft world champion Lim Yo-Hwan
(Boxer). He is considered a favorite to defend his World Cyber Games title at the 2005 global finals in Suntec City, Singapore
and cement his name as the best player ever; but is defeated at the event by 20-year old Chinese Xiaofeng Li, considered a dark horse
participant.
Throughout the next year both players are frequent participants in the same international competitions. Schenkhuizen is successful enough to be honored as the Player of the Year
in all of competitive gaming like Johansson two years before him. The award most important to both players however is that of World Cyber Games champion as the two qualify for the 2006 global finals in Monza, Italy and meet in the quarter-finals. Winning a second title would mean inclusion in the World Cyber Games Hall of Fame for either of them. This clash is observed by documentary filmmaker Jos de Putter who senses the deep emotions involved in the encounter, not only by the players but also by the spectators.
Afterwards the filmmaker decides to follow both players on their way to their next World Cyber Games encounter, where one player will try to defend and the other to regain the World Cyber Games title, and portray this new world. To provide insight in the background of the gaming scene and the mind of competitors he also contacts Fredrik Johansson who is developing a new life in Sweden and is now regarded as a legend in the world of competitive gaming.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Dutch documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the world of professional video gaming
Electronic sports
Electronic sports comprises the competitive play of video games. Other terms include competitive gaming, professional gaming and cybersports...
, most notably as related to the game Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real-time strategy computer game developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the official expansion pack to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, requiring Reign of Chaos to play...
featuring world champion players Chinese Xiaofeng Li (Sky), Dutch Manuel Schenkhuizen (Grubby) and Swede Fredrik Johansson (MaDFroG) prominently. It is directed by award winning Dutch documentary filmmaker Jos de Putter
Jos de Putter
Jos de Putter is a Dutch film director, film critic and screenwriter who primarily makes documentaries. He studied political science and literature at the University of Leiden, and was a member of the editorial staff of the film magazine Skrien...
. Filming took place in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, The Netherlands, USA and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Languages spoken in the documentary include Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese, or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
and Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
.
Beyond the Game is the motto of the World Cyber Games
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
, considered the olympics of gaming, which is central to the documentary as the main characters compete to defend or regain the event's championship title at the global finals of the 2007 World Cyber Games in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
It has premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in Pathé de Munt, and had the cinema premiere in Pathé Tuschinski
Tuschinski
Pathé Tuschinski is a movie theater in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, originally exploited by Abraham Icek Tuschinski, who had it built in 1921 at a cost of 4 million guilders, in a spectacular mix of styles, as designed by Hijman Louis de Jong; Amsterdam School, Jugendstil, Art Nouveau and Art Deco...
, and has now been released in cinemas throughout The Netherlands.
Historical background
In 2002 the videogame Warcraft III: Reign of ChaosWarcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a real time strategy computer game released by Blizzard Entertainment on July 3, 2002 . It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and it is the third game set in the Warcraft Universe...
is released which sells millions of copies and quickly becomes a leading title in the world of competitive gaming (in 2003 an expansion on the game, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real-time strategy computer game developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the official expansion pack to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, requiring Reign of Chaos to play...
, is released).
A 17-year old Swede by the name of Fredrik Johansson devotes himself to this new sport and rises to become the runner-up of the 2003 Electronic Sports World Cup
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
and becomes widely regarded as the strongest non-Asian player. He is subsequently invited to become a fulltime professional gamer in Seoul, South Korea where competitive gaming is an advanced subculture and many players make a living playing games. During his eleven month stay there he wins the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
and is recognized as the world's most successful gamer
ESports Award
The eSports Award is an annual award ceremony held since 2004 by Turtle Entertainment in which individuals, teams and organisations are recognized in several categories for their contribution or achievements to or in the field of competitive gaming....
. After his return to Sweden he becomes runner-up of the Electronic Sports World Cup again in 2004, but subsequently loses his motivation for the sport and qualifies for one more event in the 2004 World Cyber Games before retiring a few months later. There is he defeated prematurely and a new European star takes over from him as 16-year old Manuel Schenkhuizen wins the event.
Dutchman Schenkhuizen was staying in Seoul at the time and a few months after the event he returns home and remains a dominating player. During this period his in-game race of choice, Orc, is considered disadvantaged in competition but he nevertheless is successful, winning the 2005 Electronic Sports World Cup. He gains the nickname 'Orc Emperor' in televised competition, similar to the nickname 'Terran Emperor' for twofold StarCraft world champion Lim Yo-Hwan
Lim Yo-Hwan
Lim Yo-Hwan , known by the pseudonym SlayerS_`BoxeR` , is one of the most successful players of the real-time strategy computer game StarCraft to date...
(Boxer). He is considered a favorite to defend his World Cyber Games title at the 2005 global finals in Suntec City, Singapore
Suntec City
Suntec City is a major multi-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core Planning Area in Singapore.- Design :Suntec City was designed by Tsao & McKown Architects with emphasis on Chinese geomancy . The five buildings and the convention center are arranged so that they...
and cement his name as the best player ever; but is defeated at the event by 20-year old Chinese Xiaofeng Li, considered a dark horse
Dark horse
Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...
participant.
Throughout the next year both players are frequent participants in the same international competitions. Schenkhuizen is successful enough to be honored as the Player of the Year
ESports Award
The eSports Award is an annual award ceremony held since 2004 by Turtle Entertainment in which individuals, teams and organisations are recognized in several categories for their contribution or achievements to or in the field of competitive gaming....
in all of competitive gaming like Johansson two years before him. The award most important to both players however is that of World Cyber Games champion as the two qualify for the 2006 global finals in Monza, Italy and meet in the quarter-finals. Winning a second title would mean inclusion in the World Cyber Games Hall of Fame for either of them. This clash is observed by documentary filmmaker Jos de Putter who senses the deep emotions involved in the encounter, not only by the players but also by the spectators.
Afterwards the filmmaker decides to follow both players on their way to their next World Cyber Games encounter, where one player will try to defend and the other to regain the World Cyber Games title, and portray this new world. To provide insight in the background of the gaming scene and the mind of competitors he also contacts Fredrik Johansson who is developing a new life in Sweden and is now regarded as a legend in the world of competitive gaming.