Nintendo docuseries from Screen Media Ventures to be released on Crackle

Nintendo Switch Lite Yellow
Nintendo Switch Lite Yellow (Image credit: Nintendo)

What you need to know

  • A five-part documentary series about Nintendo called Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story will premiere on the streaming service Crackle.
  • The docuseries will dive into Nintendo's history and feature exclusive interviews with industry veterans.
  • Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story will premiere on March 1st, 2021.

Dateline announced that the streaming service Crackle will feature the premiere of a five-part documentary series titled Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story. Rights to the series were acquired by Screen Media Ventures, the supplier of the original programming for Crackle.

Playing with Power was written and directed by Jeremy Snead, and narrated and executive produced by actor Sean Astin, who is known for his roles in The Lord of the Rings, The Goonies and Rudy. The five-part series will cover in detail the history of Nintendo, the Japanese company founded in 1889 whose products and services spanned from playing cards, to love hotels, to video games and toys. It features exclusive interviews with actors Wil Wheaton and Alison Haislip; Nintendo of America co-founder Ron Judy; Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell; former Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aimé; former Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske; and head of Xbox Phil Spencer.

Snead, a long-time video game and Nintendo fan, has delved into video game culture before in his work, with a documentary called Video Games: The Movie and a docuseries titled Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed. Snead describes the production and direction of Playing with Power as a "lifelong ambition" of his as a gamer and filmmaker. Snead has had a nine-year-long producing partnership focused on video game content with Sean Astin, who described the tackling the history of the 132-year-old company as "an ambitious goal".

Nintendo's most recent product is the hybrid video game console known as the Nintendo Switch whose impeccable development and support has led to some of the best games in the company's history.

Crackle is a free, ad-supported service and will be premiering Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story on March 1st, 2021.

Nadine Dornieden
Contributor

Nadine is a freelance writer for iMore with a specialty in all things Nintendo, often working on news, guides, reviews, and editorials. She's been a huge Nintendo fan ever since she got to pet her very own Nintendog, and enjoys looking at Nintendo's place in the video game industry. Writing is her passion, but she mostly does it so that she can pay off her ever-growing debt to Tom Nook. Her favorite genres are simulation games, rhythm games, visual novels, and platformers. You can find her at @stopthenadness on Twitter, where she'll more than likely be reposting cute Animal Crossing content.