The Book Shelf – Page 4 – Video Game Canon

Sega and Dark Horse Will Release a “Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-Speed-ia” This November

Sonic the Hedgehog spin dashed his way into our hearts nearly 30 years ago, and Sega is celebrating in style with a hefty range of new projects featuring their “Blue Blur,” all of which will launch throughout the year and into 2022.

One of those new projects, which is being produced in conjunction with Dark Horse, is a history book punningly titled Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-Speed-ia:

Dive deep into the extensive lore and exhaustive detail of each game in Sonic’s ever-expanding universe–from the beloved Sega Genesis to the most bleeding-edge video game consoles. This tome leaves no stone unturned, showcasing in-depth looks at the characters, settings, and stories from each exciting installment!

This encyclopedic retelling of Sonic’s adventures will be written by Ian Flynn, who has plenty of previous experience with the character. His career began at Archie Comics, where he penned more than 130 issues of their Sonic the Hedgehog series from 2006 until 2016. Flynn is currently the Head Writer for IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, a job he’s held since they picked up the license in 2017.

Dark Horse will publish the Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-Speed-ia in hardcover and as an ebook on November 24.

Hideo Kojima Will Talk About the Inspirations Behind Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding in “The Creative Gene”

The ideas that have sprung from Hideo Kojima’s head throughout his career are often baffling… just look at the mindbending plot twists found in Death Stranding and the entire Metal Gear Solid franchise… but you have to admit that his games are always interesting.

The developer gave fans a peek inside his creative process in The Gifted Gene and My Lovable Memes, a book of essays he published in Japan in 2019. And now, this collection will be translated into English by Viz Media as The Creative Gene this Fall:

Ever since he was a child, Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima was a voracious consumer of movies, music, and books. They ignited his passion for stories and storytelling, and the results can be seen in his groundbreaking, iconic video games.

Now the head of independent studio Kojima Productions, Kojima’s enthusiasm for entertainment media has never waned. This collection of essays explores some of the inspirations behind one of the titans of the video game industry, and offers an exclusive insight into one of the brightest minds in pop culture.

Viz Media will publish Hideo Kojima’s The Creative Gene on October 12.

David L. Craddock’s “Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense” Will March Into Bookstores in June 2021

David L. Craddock previously delved deeply into the depths of Diablo’s development with 2013’s Stay Awhile and Listen Book I and 2019’s Stay Awhile and Listen Book II. This Summer, he’ll do the same for X-COM: UFO Defense in the upcoming Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense.

Designer Julian Gollop pitched X-COM’s signature blend of tactical gameplay and resource management to MicroProse in the early 1990s, but Monsters in the Dark will travel even further back and revisit some of his earliest projects:

Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense is a narrative-style book that chronicles the early career of Julian Gollop, legendary designer of the original X-COM. You’ll walk alongside Julian during his boyhood, from spicing up the mechanics of chess and creating pen-and-paper games, to cutting his teeth on programming Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum. From there, you will learn how Julian partnered with his father and brother to develop X-COM with MicroProse UK, an off-shoot team eager to prove themselves to U.S.-based parent company and Sid Meier’s Civilization juggernaut developer MicroProse.

Craddock is currently seeking funding for the book’s first print run through Kickstarter. To entice prospective backers, he has partnered with a handful of publications to offer five different excerpts from Monsters in the Dark:

Vice Games – How a Publishing Nightmare Set the Stage for the Original ‘X-COM’

Ars Technica – Developing the distinctive look of the original X-COM: UFO Defense

Polygon – X-COM got its name, in part, because ‘XCON’ sounded like ‘ex-convict’

Kotaku – X-COM: UFO Defense Would Have Been Canned If Its Creators Hadn’t Secretly Revolted

Shacknews – Pro Strats: X-COM (1994) strategy guide author David Ellis on QA and writing guides

Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense will be published in June, but backers could receive the ebook edition as early as April.

Tim Lapetino and Arjan Terpstra Will Publish “Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon” in Summer 2021

Tim Lapetino spent all of 2020 plumbing the depths of Pac-Man for daily updates for his Twitter account, 365ofPac. But this project wasn’t just a fun distraction, it was also research for his next book… Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon.

Set to be published by Cook and Becker this Summer, Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon will look back at “historical imagery” and “concept designs” from the game’s genesis, as well as check in with an international cast of characters that helped make Pac-Man a star.

Co-written by Arjan Terpstra, and created with the full assistance of Bandai Namco, the book promises to explore the complete 40-year history behind one of video gaming’s first franchises:

Full of historical imagery, concept designs, marketing photos and more, the book examines the game’s design philosophy and origins through the artists, designers, developers, and other creative teams who brought Pac-Man to life.

This new non-fiction book will journey from creator Toru Iwatani’s “pizza slice” inspiration to the game’s incredible success in arcades and beyond. The book also dives into Pac-Man’s unprecedented impact on pop culture, with more than 40 new interviews from key players around the world.

With untold stories, new details, and archival imagery, Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon showcases the franchise’s complex history from Tokyo to Chicago to Boston, unpacking the stories of video game industry stalwarts Namco and Midway Manufacturing.

In addition to the “Standard Hardcover Edition”, Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon will also be available in a “Collector’s Edition” that comes packaged in a Pac-Man-shaped slipcase. Inside, readers will be treated to an exclusive arcade token and a brand-new 7″ vinyl pressing of “Pac-Man Fever” by Buckner & Garcia.

27th Release from Boss Fight Books, “Silent Hill 2,” Emerges from the Fog

Konami’s Silent Hill launched for the PlayStation in 1999 as a moodier alternative to Capcom’s Resident Evil. Created by a team of outcasts within the company known as Team Silent, the game’s potent mix of otherworldly visuals and atmospheric audio rewrote all the rules of the burgeoning “survival horror” genre.

And just two years later, the team did it again on the PS2 with a sequel.

Comedian Mike Drucker (who has credits on Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, Bill Nye Saves the World, and Adam Ruins Everything) might seem like an odd choice to explore the foggy corners of the titular town for Boss Fight Books, but that’s exactly who the publishing label turned to for their 27th book, Silent Hill 2:

A troubled man travels to a mysterious town from his past after receiving a letter from his wife… who’s been dead for years. And while our “hero” explores dark corridors and battles countless disturbing enemies, his journey offers more psychological horror than survival horror. Welcome to Silent Hill, where the monster is you.

Silent Hill 2 doubles down on what made the first game so compelling: The feeling of being lost in a foggy, upside-down town as unsettling as it is familiar. Nearly two decades after first experiencing Silent Hill 2, writer and comedian Mike Drucker returns to its dark depths to explore how this bold video game delivers an experience that is tense, nightmarish, and anything but fun.

With an in-depth and highly personal study of its tragic cast of characters, and a critical examination of developer Konami’s world design and uneven marketing strategy, Drucker examines how Silent Hill 2 forces its players to grapple with the fact that very real-world terrors of trauma, abuse, shame, and guilt are far more threatening than any pyramid-headed monster could ever be.

Silent Hill 2 is now available to purchase directly from Boss Fight Books, as well as through other online retailers.

Jason Schreier Will Publish “Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry” in 2021

Jason Schreier got his start as an investigative journalist for Kotaku in 2011 before moving on to Bloomberg News earlier this year. In between, Schreier wrote and published Blood, Sweat, And Pixels in 2017, a behind-the-scenes exploration of the “turbulent” game development process at multiple studios.

Today he unveiled Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry, a sequel of sorts that looks at what happens to the people left behind after a game studio shuts down (with a specific focus on Irrational Games, Visceral Games, Junction Point Studios, and 38 Studios):

The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games — Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more — on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, Press Reset tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.

Schreier’s insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox’s Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it’s become so hard to make a stable living making video games — and whether the business of making games can change before it’s too late.

Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry will be published by Grand Central Publishing on May 11, 2021.

Viz Media Will Publish “Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom From Nintendo’s Legendary CEO” in Spring 2021

Even though it was founded in 1889, only five people have served as the President of Nintendo.

Satoru Iwata held that post from 2002 until his death in 2015, and in that time, the colorful executive guided the consolemaker through the boom years of the DS, Wii, and 3DS, and laid the groundwork for the launch of the Switch.

He also opened a window into Nintendo’s famously secretive culture, and spoke directly to fans as the face of the company’s Nintendo Direct video series and initiated a series of conversations with developers through his Iwata Asks column.

Shigesato Itoi’s printing company, Hobonichi, compiled some of these interviews (along with posts that Iwata made on the Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun website) into a collected edition in 2019 that was only available in Japan. But Itoi, who was also Iwata’s close friend and the creative force behind the EarthBound series, recently teamed up with Viz Media to announce that the collection will finally be released in English in Spring 2021 as Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom From Nintendo’s Legendary CEO.

Viz Media shared an official description of Ask Iwata with The Verge:

In this motivational collection, Satoru Iwata addresses diverse subjects such as locating bottlenecks, how success breeds resistance to change, and why programmers should never say no. Drawn from the “Iwata Asks” series of interviews with key contributors to Nintendo games and hardware, and featuring conversations with renowned Mario franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto and creator of Earthbound Shigesato Itoi, Ask Iwata offers game fans and business leaders an insight into the leadership, development and design philosophies of one of the most beloved figures in gaming history.

If you don’t want to wait until Spring 2021, the Iwata Asks archive is still available on Nintendo.com.

UPDATE (1/8/21): Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom From Nintendo’s Legendary CEO will be published on April 13, 2021.

The “Spider-Man Script Book” is Now Available in Book Stores

Insomniac’s Jon Paquette wants the world to know what a game script looks like. Paquette was the head writer on Spider-Man, which was released for the PS4 to near-universal acclaim in 2018. Since then, he’s been hard at work trying to get the game’s script published by meeting regularly with his bosses at Insomniac, Sony, and Marvel.

According to Paquette, there isn’t a lot of publicly-available information on how to develop a game script, and he wanted to pull back the curtain a bit on the process. So after a lot of back-and-forth, the three companies are finally ready to share a written version of the game’s story with fans, and will jointly publish the Spider-Man Script Book later this week:

Go behind the scenes of the smash hit video game sensation with the complete script to Marvel’s Spider-Man… together with a stunning gallery of artwork from the production process! The life of Peter Parker and that of his ever-amazing alter ego are about to collide in major fashion in this all-new take on the world of the wall-crawler, filled with fan-favorite characters… including Mary Jane, Aunt May, Norman Osborn, Otto Octavius and Miles Morales… spun into an unexpected web of drama, spectacle and classic action in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

When Spidey finally removes the Kingpin of Crime from the mean streets of the Big Apple, how will the mysterious Mister Negative’s ascent to power bring Peter’s two worlds crashing together? Learn how the words and the world of a blockbuster hit video game are crafted, and feast your eyes on a wealth of bonus content, via text and art from the team at Insomniac Games and fan-favorite Marvel writers such as Christos Gage!

The 240-page hardcover will include concept art and screenshots paired with text from all the game’s cutscenes. Earlier this week, Paquette shared part of the process with Vice and said that the entire script for Spider-Man runs much closer to 400,000 words and over 2,000 pages):

Insomniac’s take on the popular Marvel character was celebrated not just for how joyous it was to swing around the city of New York, but for telling a damn good Spider-Man story, too. It punted straight past the origin story, starting eight years into superhero-ing, and grounded Peter Parker’s reality with some fresh twists, such as Mary Jane working at the Daily Bugle.

Paquette was not the only writer who contributed to the game, either. It was a group effort involving several other writers, and Paquette actually includes the “designers” as writers, too.

“The other part is writing the [game] experience,” he said. “This is the part that not a lot of people really understand. It’s very collaborative. We work for the designers in this capacity, because the designers come up with the gameplay and we help them structure the experience.”

The Spider-Man Script Book will be available on store shelves on February 11, but you can get an early peak at a few of the interior pages at Marvel.com right now.

Boss Fight Books Will Republish “Pilgrim in the Microworld” in 2020

David Sudnow’s Pilgrim in the Microworld sought to examine the inner workings of Atari’s Breakout (and the people who obsessively played it) when it was first published in 1983. Out of print for decades, Sudnow’s quest to unlock “the essence of video skill” will finally be republished in 2020 by Boss Fight Books.

The indie publisher has turned to Kickstarter to help fund this new printing of Pilgrim in the Microworld (now titled Breakout: Pilgrim in the Microworld), and they’ve already smashed their campaign goal, receiving pledges from more than 150 backers as of this writing:

Originally released under the title Pilgrim in the Microworld, Sudnow’s groundbreaking longform criticism of a single game predates the rise of game studies by decades. While its earliest critics often scorned the idea of a serious book about an object of play, the book’s modern readers remain fascinated by an obsessive, brilliant, and often hilarious quest to learn to play Breakout just as one would learn the piano.

Featuring a new foreword and freshly edited text, Breakout makes a perfect addition to Boss Fight’s lineup of critical, historical, and personal looks at single video games. We’re proud to restore this classic to print and share with new audiences Sudnow’s wild pilgrimage into the limitless microworld of play.

Pilgrim in the Microworld was one of the first books to focus on a single game, and it’ll be released in a “sleek new paperback” edition and as a DRM-free ebook in January 2020.

ETC Press Will Publish Kyle Orland’s “The Game Beat: Observations and Lessons from Two Decades Writing About Games”

Kyle Orland is a veteran game journalist who has also been writing about what it means to be a good game journalist for over 20 years. He recently collected many of those columns in The Game Beat: Observations and Lessons from Two Decades Writing About Games, and it’s now being published in hardcover and paperback from Carnegie Mellon’s ETC Press.

The collection offers an extremely interesting and insightful look back at how game journalism has changed in the last two decades:

Game journalism is young enough that we’re still trying to collectively agree on the answers to some pretty fundamental questions. What makes a good review? Should we be evaluating games as consumer products or works of art? What role should scores or grades play in the review process? How should we deal with Metacritic’s outsized influence?

How close should game journalists be with the publishers and developers they cover? How can journalists get around the information control of the PR machine? How should outlets handle gifts and publisher-sponsored junkets? How are we supposed to make any money off any of this in the age of the Internet?

The Game Beat catalogs years of my own scattered attempts to answer those questions, and many more that continue to vex the field, through dozens of blog posts, columns, newsletters, and interviews focused on the art and craft of writing about games. In the process, this book also serves as a sort of public diary of my own education in and advancement through the world of professional game journalism, from eager outsider blogger to hustling freelancer to entrenched staff writer.

A PDF version of The Game Beat is also available to download for free.