The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #020
Celebrating our 20th volume! SEGA fans unite! And some fun Video Game book announcements you won't want to miss!
Welcome back to The Video Game Library Newsletter!
Hard to believe we’re 20 volumes in! That’s hundreds of book announcements and authors spotlighted in just a few short months. The literary world of video games is exploding, and I can’t think of a better time to be doing a Newsletter digest like this than right now!
If you’ve been enjoying all the sweat (and tears) that go into these weekly digests, I’d be grateful if you considered supporting at the Paid tier, as it helps keep this project growing and comes with some extra content just for you.
In 📰 News & Highlights, we’ve got Richard Bartle’s Designing Virtual Worlds making its triumphant return, the bittersweet discovery of a sold-out Ridge Racer Type 4 fanzine, and a mix of English and Japanese releases covering everything from Fortnite and NieR: Automata to Dragon Quest, Rune Factory, and even Puyo Puyo programming.
In 📚 Behind the Shelves, I share what little cataloguing I managed to sneak in between long sessions of Death Stranding 2 and Donkey Kong Bananza - including catching up on Final Fantasy Lost Stranger, adding more BradyGames and Prima guides with help from Tay, and snagging a few Minecraft and Pokémon titles spotted on a random drugstore run.
In 💡 Recommended Read of the Week, we take a thoughtful look at The Last of Us and Theology, a fascinating collection of essays exploring the series’ moral, philosophical, and emotional depths.
In 💾 From the Archives, we jump back to the early ’90s and Sega Power’s short-lived run of freebie novellas, where Golden Axe, Road Rash, Super Monaco GP, and Desert Strike each got their spotlight alongside the magazine.
And in ✨ Community Interview, I chat with History of SEGA author Joe Douglas about piecing together the company’s global story, the research surprises along the way, and why SEGA’s legacy is so much more than Sonic.
Let’s dive in 👇
📰 News & Highlights
Last week’s wave of big announcements is followed by perhaps the slowest week since starting the Newsletter. A bit of a bummer for the 20th volume - but still, we managed to scrounge up a few fun releases - especially if you can read Japanese!
Leading the headlines this week, the long awaited second edition of Richard Bartle’s Designing Virtual Worlds has released, courtesy of CRC Press. Very excited for this one!
In perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of the year for me, I’ve only JUST learned of the (now sold out) One More Win: Ridge Racer Type 4 Fanzine. Author, Andy Kelly, has been posting the shipments of physical editions are getting sent out, and starting to arrive on lucky fans’ shelves as we speak!
From Farshore this week, we saw the 100% Unofficial Fortnite 100 Top Plays. This book sets out to bring you the greatest outfits, locations and storylines throughout the game’s history.
And for fans of NieR: Automata, the 4th and final volume of YorHa: Pearl Harbor Descent Record has been released in English this week.
Square Enix has posted the cover reveal of Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick - Vol. 1 which, to no-one’s surprise, is identical to the original Japanese manga.
Over in Italy, they’ve just announced that an Italian translation of 2021’s NieR Art: Kazuma Koda Art Collection is coming in September. This has fans over there VERY excited.
This week, Nintendo announced the My Mario collection. A series of Mario-themed products set to release later this month in Japan. Among them, the Hello, Mario! Board Book for children.
Also in Japan, the Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Official Perfect Guide has released, 2 months after the Official World Guidebook. The one and only strategy guide to fully support your adventure in the eastern land of Azuma!
For those looking to hone their programming skills with Puyo Puyo, the latest book released this week, すぐわかる！ ぷよぷよプログラミング SEGA公式ガイドブック (Instantly Understand! Puyo Puyo Programming – Official SEGA Guidebook), sets out to bring you from zero to your very own working game!
And for those who are more Unity focused, you’re in luck too! ゼロからスタート! Unityゲーム開発 1冊目の教科書 (Start from Zero! Unity Game Development - Your First Textbook) was also released this week!
Finally, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Famitsu’s game industry data publications - and what better way to celebrate than with Famitsu Game Hakusho 2025. Some of the most comprehensive coverage of the Japanese gaming market you’ll find!
Did I miss something cool? Want to see this laid out differently?
Drop it in the comments or swing by our Discord to share it with the community.
Let’s keep this celebration of game-inspired books going strong!
📚 Behind the Shelves
Every week, I take you behind the scenes of The Video Game Library. From surprising discoveries to cataloging challenges, there’s always something new as we dig deeper into this ever-expanding archive of game-related literature.
So I’ll admit - most of my free time this week was swallowed up by Death Stranding 2 and Donkey Kong Bananza, which definitely cut into the hours I’d normally spend adding to the site’s catalogue. Still, I managed to squeeze in some solid progress here and there.
Early in the week, I was reminded that I’d left the Final Fantasy Lost Stranger manga hanging a few volumes short. I worked through the backlog, finally cataloguing up to Volume 12. It’s always satisfying to bring a series up to date!
On the strategy guide front, our ever-reliable volunteer Tay stepped in to help fill a few more gaps. Together, we added several missing BradyGames and Prima guides to the database.
And while at a Shopper’s Drug Mart this week, I saw a few Minecraft and Pokémon books on the rack that I’d missed along the way. So once I got home, I made sure to get those up.
This, as usual, is only a small sample of all the things that have been happening behind the scenes, so take a peek at the site to see everything that’s been added since last week! And while you’re at it, drop your thoughts in the comments below. Your feedback helps shape how we deliver these looks behind the curtain.
💡 Recommended Read of the Week
The Last of Us and Theology: Violence, Ethics, Redemption?
Edited by Peter Admirand
As someone who isn’t particularly religious, and a far cry from a theologian, I approached another “video game meets theology” book with my usual hesitation. No doubt my love for world, characters and themes of The Last of Us source material would be a springboard to keep the pages turning, but how much would I struggle with the deeper analyses? Well, after reading, I’m happy to say, my thoughts were indeed provoked by every essay in this great collection.
Each chapter is penned by a different scholar, bringing their own perspective - philosophy, religious studies, morality and ethics, or cultural analysis. The result is a wide-ranging exploration that covers everything from the science-fiction plausibility of the cordyceps outbreak (we’ve all pondered this after watching the Planet Earth documentary, right?), to the moral complexity of Ellie and Abby’s mirrored hospital missions, to queer reimaginings of Genesis through Bill and Frank’s story. You’ll also find deep dives into cult psychology (David and the Seraphites), questions about pacifism and armed self-defense (Sam and Henry), and nuanced discussions about love, hope, and moral compromise in a world that has lost almost everything.
Even without a religious background, I found plenty here that resonated. These essays don’t drown the reader in theological jargon, they simply use it as a framework to dig into questions any TLOU fan has probably wrestled with: How far would you go to protect someone you love? Can cycles of revenge ever truly end? Is hope still possible when there’s no “fixing” the world?
I’ll admit, a small handful of sections were a bit denser for me, especially when the authors leaned heavily into academic terminology. But even then, the core ideas still landed. I caught myself several times staring out the window instead of at the pages, deep in thought about something I just read.
In the end, The Last of Us and Theology works well as an unexpected companion to the series, one that will make you see Joel, Ellie, Abby, and others through fresh eyes. A smart, engaging addition to any GameStudies shelf.
You can find details about The Last of Us and Theology here.
💾 From the Archives
Each week, I’ll dive deep into the shelves of The Video Game Library to spotlight a hidden gem or forgotten series — with the hope of surprising you with something new, unexpected, or long overlooked. This week, I wanted to share…
…a series of novellas bundled alongside a popular Sega magazine.
In the early 1990s, Sega Power was one of the UK’s most popular Sega-focused gaming magazines. Packed with reviews, previews, and tips, it was already a must-buy for Sega fans. But for a brief stretch between 1992 and 1993, the magazine did something few gaming publications had ever attempted: it bundled free, full-length novellas based on popular Sega games.
Across four issues, Sega Power readers received:
Golden Axe in April 1992
Road Rash in May 1992
Super Monaco GP in July 1992
Desert Strike in January 1993.
The books came as cover-mounted giveaways, tucked into the plastic wrap of your magazine. No extra cost, no mail order, no retail sale. If you bought that month’s Sega Power, you got the novella. This made them a uniquely accessible form of game-related literature, though it also meant they were UK-exclusive at the time, leaving international Sega fans unaware they even existed.
Each novella was an unusual hybrid of fictional story and gameplay guide. The plots drew on the games’ worlds and basic narratives, with Sega in-jokes sprinkled throughout. Golden Axe, written by editor Andy Smith, retold the fantasy quest to defeat Death Adder, and included reviews of Golden Axe and Golden Axe 2. Deputy editor Neil West’s Road Rash was full of biker slang and rebellious attitude, just like the game itself. His Super Monaco GP turned Formula One racing into a season-long drama, even poking fun at the grind of circuit racing. Smith’s Desert Strike read like a pulp military thriller, sending the player-pilot against a ruthless Middle Eastern dictator. All of them included cheat codes, hints, and tips woven into the text or added in dedicated sections.
These books perfectly capture the early ’90s gaming headspace. Magazines ruled the gaming news cycle, freebies were a huge selling point, and video game novelizations were still a novelty in the UK. Rival magazine Sega Force even tried to copy the idea with its own Super Smash TV and Street Fighter/Streets of Rage novellas. Sega’s brand was at its peak.
Today, original copies are hard to find outside the UK. Scans, fan-made eBook versions, and even audiobook readings have kept them alive in retro gaming circles. They might not be masterpieces of literature, but it’s a pretty wild reminder of a time when a video game magazine could drop a surprise novel in your hands for the price of a monthly issue.
📚 Want to check out some of these titles? We’ve catalogued them all right here at The Video Game Library.
✨ Community Interview
Joe Douglas has spent years piecing together SEGA’s story - one that stretches across more than five decades, multiple continents, and a catalogue of bold ideas that changed gaming forever. Growing up in rural Australia with a Master System by his side, Joe’s perspective on SEGA’s rise and influence goes beyond the familiar North American and Japanese narratives.
In History of SEGA, he gathers the company’s fragmented history, from blog posts and magazines to rare regional stories, into one definitive volume. We talk about the unexpected origins of the book, the surprises uncovered in research, and why SEGA’s legacy is about much more than Sonic the Hedgehog.
Hope you enjoy!
Let’s start simple; who is Joe Douglas? Can you tell us a bit about your background and what drew you to writing about video games?
I’m originally from Australia but now live in England. My first console was a Master System which I was given for Christmas when I was seven, and I had every SEGA console apart from the Saturn from there on (no hate for the Saturn, we just couldn’t afford one). Outside of SEGA my other big interest is comic books, which I discovered the same year I received the Master System. The age of seven was a very formative age for me.
What inspired you to write History of SEGA? With other SEGA history literature out there, what new stories or audiences are you looking to capture?
It’s something of a convoluted story, but the short version is I went to a convention where White Owl had set up a booth selling video game and comic book-related publications they had already released. One of the publishers, Jon, was manning the booth and said they were looking to expand the line. With some help from my wife who was with me, I pitched a completely different idea based around a comic character. Jon said it sounded good so I emailed him some ideas later, which he liked. However, we had to get permission from the rights holder. Unfortunately, the rights holder totally nixed the idea. After I told Jon this, he asked if there was anything else I was interested in writing, and that’s where the idea for a history of SEGA came up.
While there is a lot of SEGA history out there, much of it is spread across various websites, blogs, magazines and so forth. The last actual book about the history of the company came out 10 or 11 years ago; History of SEGA collects all of that in one place. There are young people now discovering SEGA and becoming interested in their history - my eight year old niece has a Mega Drive Mini she plays all the time - so for them to have a book that details the history of this company and their games gives them easy access to all that information. But the book isn’t just for new SEGA fans, it’s for everyone who has enjoyed SEGA’s output and is interested in their, or video games in generals’, history.
As for new stories, I think it really depends on how much you know about SEGA. I considered myself pretty well versed in their history, but in researching the book I found out things I never knew. Hopefully anyone who decides to check it out will find it interesting.
You grew up as a SEGA-kid in rural Australia. How did the experience of being a gamer there differ from what we often hear about in North America or Japan?
It was very different! The trajectory of video games in Australia during the 80s, 90s and early 2000s mirrors fairly closely that of the UK and wider Europe. Like the UK, in 80s Australia most gaming was done on computers such as the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. Aussie devs were releasing games on those platforms like Hungry Horrace and The Hobbit from Beam Software. Again, like in Europe, Nintendo struggled to gain a foothold in Australia, then SEGA turned up with the Master System and was hugely successful. Of course the Mega Drive was when things really blew up, and SEGA became the king of video games. At the time if you had five kids in a room maybe two of them owned a NES or SNES and the rest were all SEGA owners. This lasted until the Saturn was released in Australia in 1995. While there were still SEGA fans, Sony overtook everything, just like elsewhere in the world.
Did that personal connection shape the way you approached this book?
In a way, yes. I wanted to be sure that I provided a well-rounded view of the history of the time, so I had to ensure that my love of SEGA didn’t colour the facts I was presenting. However, the vast majority of video game histories are very America and/or Japan focused, and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom. To really understand the impact SEGA had you need to look outside those countries. I wanted to give as much attention to those often “forgotten” countries as I could, Australia being one of them. Of course the US, Japan and so on are important, but they are only part of the whole picture.
Writing a book of this scale must have been a huge undertaking. What was the research process for you?
Mate, it was! The research process was basically reading everything I could about video games covering the period of roughly 1980 to the early 2000s. Piles of magazines, hundreds of web pages, lots of podcasts, many books, lots of YouTube videos, a few documentaries. There was a lot! I’d make notes as I went through them, scribbling down important info or stuff that was just interesting and then I’d type that up into the manuscript and try to present it as a kind of narrative to hopefully make it flow better and be more interesting.
Your book covers more than 50 years of SEGA history. What was the biggest surprise you uncovered during your research?
For me it was the time period just before the cancellation of the Mega Drive and the end of the Saturn. I knew it was a difficult time for the company, and I don’t think it’s any secret that some bad decisions were made on SEGA’s part. The scale of it though, the amount of infighting, was crazy. I don’t want to give anything away for those who might read the book, but it was a real eye opener.
Many gamers think of SEGA purely in terms of Sonic and the Genesis/Mega Drive. What’s a lesser-known chapter of SEGA history you hope more people discover through this book?
As I mentioned before, SEGA had a big influence outside of the US, Japan and the UK. I think countries outside of those “main” three are often forgotten about when video game history is discussed. I can understand why to a point, those three countries are the biggest markets. But in places like Brazil, SEGA was always king. Nintendo had next to no impact in that country and even today SEGA is a household name there. I think it’s an important part of the story that often gets overlooked.
The other thing would be the impact that SEGA has had on the technology of video games. Because they left the console business they are often seen as having “failed,” but they were truly on the cutting edge of technology. The kind of innovation Nintendo is known for now thanks to the Wii and Switch; SEGA was being just as innovative in the 80s and 90s, it’s just the market wasn’t ready and so the technology, from a commercial viewpoint, “failed.” It doesn’t get talked about. For example, if it was not for SEGA we may not have had CD-ROM based consoles as early as we did.
How did you decide which stories, consoles, or games to focus on - especially given the scope of SEGA’s global presence?
I had to try and balance it between the big, well-known stories like Sonic Twosday and the "video game violence” panic that SEGA was at the heart of with smaller, more personal stories. For example, there’s a story in the book about how SEGA’s decision to release the Saturn early affected a small independent games store in Scotland. As important as the big stories are, I think it’s those smaller ones that really show how people at the time were reacting to what the company was doing.
That said, there were a lot of things that I would have liked to cover but simply did not have space or time. However - if I might make a small plug here - I have started a Substack called SEGA Extra with the intention of covering those things that, for whatever reason, didn’t make it into the book. So, if people are interested in more SEGA history they should check that out!
You highlight how SEGA helped shape the gaming experience itself, not just the games. Can you share an innovation that you think doesn’t get enough credit today?
There are many, but I think the biggest is on-line connectivity. SEGA was experimenting in the 90s with a system that was very similar to today’s Game Pass from Microsoft. And, of course, the Dreamcast was the first console to have internet connectivity out of the box, and nowadays everything from your TV to your fridge connects to the web. It’s given lip service by the gaming press, but I don’t think just how instrumental SEGA was to on-line gaming is truly appreciated by the wider gaming community. I hope the book helps change that a little.
As a longtime SEGA fan, was it ever difficult to balance your nostalgia with the more critical moments in the company’s history?
Of course, it’s always hard to see something or someone you love go downhill. However, the bad parts of a company’s history is part of their story, too. I don’t think it’s right to censor history because you’d rather not admit something happened. If you consider yourself a fan, I think you need to at least understand why things went bad, regardless of how you feel about it. It also makes things even better when it turns around. I’m a big Sonic fan as well, and Sonic had some pretty tough years. But now, seeing the franchise come through that and being just as popular now as when the first game came out in 1991 - if not even more so - is pretty damn cool!
What do you think SEGA’s role is in the modern gaming world?
That’s a tricky one, because I’m not sure SEGA themselves know. Having left the console manufacturing business, a role I’d like to see SEGA take is one of a developer who is not afraid to try new things. If you look at their history they released some absolutely mad games. Stuff like Seaman, Ecco the Dolphin, Space Channel 5, Toejam & Earl, even the original Sonic, were all crazy ideas. That kind of experimentation and risk to do wacky things is missing from gaming, at least outside of the indie world, and I’d love to SEGA embrace that part of their history.
And finally - where can readers follow your work, connect with you online, and grab a copy of the book when it launches?
As I mentioned before, I’ve a Substack called SEGA Extra, so that’s the perfect place. I’m also on BlueSky at joeypajamas.bsky.social, and I’ve a website at jmdworks.org. The book is currently available for pre-order - it releases at the end of September - which can be ordered through the publisher website and a few other places. All details for that are on my website for people to check out.
Thanks for your time, Joe!
🙏 And THANK YOU for Reading
That’s a wrap for this week’s deep dive into all things video game literature. I hope you discovered something new, surprising, or just plain fun.
As always, your feedback helps shape this project - so don’t be shy! Drop a comment below, join the conversation on Discord, or just reply to this newsletter and share your thoughts.
And if you’re enjoying these weekly roundups, please consider supporting The Video Game Library with a paid subscription or forwarding this to a fellow fan. Every little bit helps us keep preserving and celebrating these incredible works - and the passionate people behind them.
Until next week — happy reading,
Dean (Founder, The Video Game Library)
Thanks for the interview with Joe. You've mentioned History of Sega before, but now I'll have to look into it more, Sega was what I grew up with and I'm always really interested in the history and stories that make up these games and companies. And of course I had to immediately subscribe to Sega Extra!
Thanks so much for inviting me for the interview. I had a great time!
Also, I SO need to read that Golden Axe novelisation! Gonna have to track that (and the others) down!