And this isn't even a joke. Prepare yourself for Meerkat Manor: The Video Game, as Discovery Communications and Activision join up to make games out of Discovery's nature television shows. No financial terms were disclosed, nor any system announcements or genre types, but the games are expected to flow in the fall of '08. We're hoping Meerkat Manor will be an FPS, but chances are it'll be a sim-style game.

Discovery's CEO said the company is trying to move away from being a "cable company" and into becoming a "content company." That seems to be the trend with other cable juggernauts as MTV is in the process of their $500 million spending extravaganza and Turner turns GameTap into an all-purpose gaming site from its smaller games-for-pay beginnings.

Update: the source article has been updated with revised details.

If you missed Discovery Channel's video game documentary's first episode last week, try extra hard not to miss episode two. Rise of the Video Game is actually a pretty solid documentary (so far) with the right interviews, research and b-roll to make an entertaining and informative hour of television. Rock, Paper, Shotgun puts it best by saying, "Rise Of demonstrates a depth of research and work that lifts it above the usually banal, patronizing rubbish that television normally produces on the subject."

A good general overview of games before the rise of Nintendo made for a great first episode. The second episode is scheduled for tomorrow at 8PM (with a few repeats sprinkled over the next week) and chronicles consoles and PCs bringing video games to a larger audience in the home. This episode will feature EA founder Trip Hawkins, adventure game guru and Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer, and Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe. Hm, 3DO, the golden age of adventure games and Larry -- tragedy, triumph and sex. Sounds like a good hour of television.

Tonight the Discovery Channel begins its five-part series Rise of the Video Game. Part one goes from the 1950s to the early '70s. Dang, this thing should be on The History Channel. A new episode will premiere every Wednesday at 8PM. Discovery also has a poll on its site for the show to vote on "classic" games. Obviously the fanboys have taken over as New Super Mario Bros comes in first place over Pac-Man and Space Invaders.

The documentary definitely seems to be taking a highbrow approach to video games. So, go set your DVRs now if you'll be out or too busy watching Kid Nation (Lord of the Flies lite) or America's Next Top Model (Go Heather!).

FiringSquad reminds us that when we're not busy playing the video game or writing mean things about the video game, we should be watching a documentary about the video game and the rising thereof. Being the fickle and narrow-minded individuals that we are, it's fair to say it's just about the only thing on the Discovery Channel we'd care to see rising, even if they did write it as one word.

The first episode in the five-hour long mini-series, which delves into the game industry's history and its significant contributors, airs Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 8PM, with subsequent episodes following on the Wednesdays thereafter.

While we might not be impressed with his love for Screech, we can certainly agree with his love for The Last Starfighter. Who hasn't dreamed, at least once, that the game they're playing is secretly an alien training device? Maybe that's just us.

Karina Longworth at Spout scored an interview with King of Kong director Seth Gordon, and he gives her some interesting facts ... namely what he'd take on a desert island with him. A fairly decent list except for the aforementioned Saved by the Bell. Did he think she said torturous desert island?

Anyhow, check out the article and see how Gordon responds to Roger Ebert's now famous statement about video games as art. One choice quote, "I think it's a faulty distinction to divide games into sport vs. art. There's a huge spectrum of gaming and playing styles that ranges from the 'single narrative, single outcome' type of game to the 'every game is different' type of game and in that sense games are part sport, part art, and part puzzle."

Amen.

Producer Michael Verrechia had time to answer some questions for us about his film Chasing Ghosts while getting it ready to show at the Los Angeles Film Festival. They're having a premiere on Sunday in Westwood, so if you live in the LA area stop by and grab a ticket.

Read on to find out what song the crew used to pump Michael up, how they nailed Billy Mitchell's theme music, and what it's like trying to convince a convicted felon to participate in a documentary.

You can also check out our review of the film, watch the trailer, and read the interview with director Lincoln Ruchti.

Video games have been through ups and downs, but the one constant is that there is always someone better than you at the game you're playing. Unless you were one of the guys in this film. These players were at the top of their game during the arcade craze, and Chasing Ghosts takes a look not only at the heyday of those players, but also finds them in the present day, and in the process you see how their brief stints as a "video game rock stars" affected their lives.

Get our review after the break, and be sure to check for interviews with director Lincoln Ruchti and producer Michael Verrechia.

Truth is stranger than fiction. And while it needs to be threaded by a capable hand, even Donkey Kong can be woven into a compelling canvas that examines the comically-profound idiosyncrasies that drive human competition. The King of Kong, director Seth Gordon's first feature, is a remarkable film that documents the little-seen niche of competitive gaming, as waged on '80s-era, coin-op arcade machines.

"That ape is very, very cunning, and he will do what he needs to, to stop you," warns a Funspot regular, squeezed into a t-shirt emblazoned with a geeky kung fu joke. The same could be said of Billy Mitchell, the film's antagonist, a blown-dry Machismo americanus and heir to the Rickey's World Famous [Hot] Sauce empire. Mitchell (above), whose 3-letter high score handle (typically one's initials) is U-S-A (notice the Liberty tie?), is stiff and threatening, at least to the mild-mannered circle he maintains a firm grip on. He regards his "Video Game Player of the [20th] Century" title as a symbol of patriotic heroism. Speaking of symbols, Mitchell's wife's cleavage is paraded on screen like a tangible manifestation of his ballooned ego, which is predictably deflated by Gordon's touching narrative of the first true challenger of the Donkey Kong high score; a score set by Mitchell more than two decades ago.

When Slamdance festival director Peter Baxter removed Super Columbine Massacre RPG as a finalist in the festival's Guerrila Gamemaker Competition, he probably thought it would be the last time he would have to block the game from consideration for an award. As it so happened, though, Baxter found himself in a similar position last Friday night, when he reportedly stopped the game from receiving a special jury prize from the judges for the film documentary category.

As detailed on Slamdance attendee Patrick Dugan's blog and confirmed by SCMRPG creator Danny Ledonne in an interview with Joystiq, the whole thing began on Tuesday, when Slamdance documentary juror Brian Flemming paused to watch an unofficial demo of the game put on by Ledonne on a laptop just outside the official game competition tent. Flemming, director of "The God Who Wasn't There," had heard about the controversy surrounding the game, and was intrigued enough by the demo to mention the game to his two fellow documentary jurors.

89 of 'em to be exact. That's really making the Et tu, Brute? documentary last a little while longer, and moves things up to a whole new level of fanaticism. It also proves that Halo fans are hardcore, and are probably going through Bungie's trash bins on a nightly basis. Let us know if you find anything good, but if you find Frankie's chewed gum ... spare us the dental records.

Check out all of the photo-remnants from the chop-job on YouNEWB.com, and try to find new tidbits about the upcoming Halo 3. At the very least, you've got all new desktops for your computer, and at the worst, you've wasted 15 minutes of your life. Blame us or love us, it's your call.

[Thanks, Billy Bob]

There's a couple showings left of Discovery HD's Gamer Generation special coming up, so set your TiVo Series 3 and your generic DVRs to record, and see what insight this latest documentary has to offer about gamers that hasn't already been said.

Depending on where you live, and if your satellite/cable provider carries the Discovery HD Theater channel, there are two more showings today, and again on Saturday, January 13th. TV listings are showing it as "Part One," so hopefully this will be an ongoing series or special, but right now information about this, and a frustrating amount of HD programming, is hard to come by.

Let us know if you happened to catch it, and what you thought about it. That is, if you are able to find it ... just like The A-Team.

"If you're not a helpless Halo nerd, turn back NOW!" So begins this nearly half-hour-long analysis of the 7-minute Halo 3 ViDoc released on Xbox Live Marketplace and across the internet last week. Secrets exposed? Spoilers unraveled? Not quite. Just loads and loads of speculation. It's sorta like watching a DVD with the director's commentary on -- minus the director.

Posting on NeoGAF, Bungie mouthpiece Frankie denied rumors that Brutes will be playable in Halo 3, and he did so again in Bungie's most recent weekly update. Writing from a coffee shop (the only spot in town with power), Frankie explained that the Brutes' role will be enhanced in the third Halo; specifically, Brutes will be made "more exciting, clever, graphically impressive, terrifying, numerous and angrier" -- but absolutely not playable.

Frankie also confirmed that a documentary video will hit Xbox Live this week, ostensibly focusing on Halo 3's Campaign mode. And, in an effort not to deny potential Xbox 360 owners, Bungie promised to make the video available for all to see -- not that the alternative is even conceivable (hint: it's called 'YouTube').

A documentary detailing the 1982 World Video Game Championships will be hitting the screens at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It's called Chasing Ghosts or Rulers of the Galaxy depending on which source you read (Variety calls it Chasing Ghosts, but the Sundance site calls it Rulers of the Galaxy. They probably had to change the title since a film called Chasing Ghosts was released last year starring Michael Madsen) and is directed by Lincoln Ruchti ... perfect for an Xbox Live Marketplace download, right?

The movie focuses on the championships held at the Twin Galaxies Arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa, which was declared the "Video Game Capital of the World" in 1982 by the mayor of Ottumwa, and then later made official by the governor at a special ceremony in 1983. So, if you've been wondering where the capital is, now you know. Start planning your trip now. It also stars top video gamers like Billy Mitchell and Darren Olsen, and contains plenty of retro-gaming action.

Twin Galaxies opened in 1981 after founder Walter Day toured over 100 arcades in four months, recording high scores on all the video games, and then brought them to his arcade as the "Twin Galaxies National Scoreboard." Although the arcade closed down in 1984 (wow, video game capital of the world doesn't hold much staying power, does it?) they still track high scores. Check out their Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records published in 1997. In today's day and age they live on the web, where you can search to your heart's content on their site. For instance, we just found out that Donald Hayes set the current official high score of 589,350 for Frogger in 2005. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

We'll be checking the flick out at Sundance and talking to cast & crew, so look for that in January.

CNBC, not a network typically associated with two-hour documentaries on video games, will be airing a two-hour documentary on video games Wednesday, November 15th, "just two days before the scheduled release of Sony's highly anticipated PlayStation 3" -- and four days before the scheduled release of Nintendo's highly anticipated Wii (there, we said it for you). So, what does the Consumer News and Business Channel have to say about video games in Game On! The Unauthorized History of Video Games?

We're expecting the usual history lesson (Tennis for Two, Spacewar, Yo! Noid ... the classics) combined with lots of big numbers, regaling viewers with tall tales of how video games outsell movies (not really true ... box office only, folks). They do promise that "the program also includes riveting stories about the corporate power struggles that won (and lost) billions and how a single blunder helped destroy Atari's $2 billion-a-year-empire." So, maybe you'll learn something or, more importantly, maybe someone who doesn't know anything about video games (beyond MSFT and SNE) may catch the show on Wednesday, November 15th at 9 PM and 12 AM ET -- or even the rebroadcast on Sunday, November 19th at 9PM and 12AM ET -- and reconsider video games. They do outsell movies, y'know.