The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #023
We're back! TONS of exciting Video Game Books, and a few small changes to the Weekly Newsletter format.
Welcome back to The Video Game Library Newsletter!
First off, thank you all for the patience while I was away. My wife and I had an amazing vacation in Portugal. And while I’d love to still be on the beach right now, I am so so grateful at all the kind messages and efforts to keep me up to date on the latest Video Game literature news. Was so humbling to come back to.
Being away also gave me a chance to reflect on the structure of this newsletter. Looking at the stats, even with a weekly cadence, the Newsletters were getting too hefty for the readership. Too much content is a good problem to have I suppose, but I want to make this as enjoyable (and digestible) as possible.
So moving forward, I’d like to experiment:
These weekly Newsletters will focus on the two most-loved sections:
📰 News & Highlights • 📚 Behind the Shelves
Then, staggered organically throughout the month, as they’re ready, I’ll drop:
💡 Recommended Reads • 💾 From the Archives • ✨ Community Interviews
This does a few things. One, it means shorter weekly issues that are easier to read. Secondly, it allows me to be a little more generous with sharing more book reviews and fun finds as they come up, and allows me to get through this backlog a little quicker rather than queuing up 1 post a week.
I recently saw someone on Substack talk about “normalizing non-scheduled posting,” and honestly, that mindset stuck with me. I’d love to hear what you think - does this feel like an upgrade? Too chaotic? Reach out to let me know or leave your thoughts in the comments.
Personally, I’m excited for this change - so let’s see how it goes!
📰 News & Highlights
I did consider trying to catalogue the entire backlog from the full month I was away. A massive “catch-up dump”. But that would basically undo everything I just said about keeping these issues leaner and more focused.
So instead, we’re going to zoom in on the past two weeks since there were some genuinely standout announcements. Very excited to share these. Hope you all discover something you didn’t know about.
In an exciting team-up Dark Horse Books and Press Run Books are jointly publishing Jeremy Parish’s upcoming The History of Metroidvania: Decade One - 1980-1990. This book sets out to dive into the gaming trends of the early 1980s and how those beginnings shaped metroidvania genre.
Continuing their Design Works series, Lost In Cult has announced the latest entry - Cocoon: Design Works. A VERY exciting addition to the lineup.
We’ve known that Cook and Becker has had a Rayman book in the works for a while now, but this past week, we got our first teases of it. This one is stirring up lots of fan excitement on the socials!
And speaking of Art Books, the folks over at Udon Entertainment have announced the Shovel Knight: Ultimate Design Works, a definitive update to its 2017 “Official Design Works”. If you love the 8-bit retro aesthetic from Yacht Club Games, you’re going to want to check this one out!
We’ve hopefully all had a chance to play Shadow of the Erdtree by now. Was great to see Mana Books release the French edition of L’art de Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree giving even more fans a chance to enjoy this wildly imaginative title.
Another, more indie-flavoured art book comes in the form of Logos From Planet Blip. This is a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the visual design of Blippo+. This actually looks really cool!
And in more exciting news, the Phantasy Star Tabletop Roleplaying book from Skydawn Game Studios has started shipping out their pre-orders to fans. Inspired by the popular Sega RPG franchise, this book contains everything you need to create heroic characters and epic tales set in the Phantasy Star universe.
What have video games taught you? Author Jon D. Harrison set out to post that question to industry insiders, game designers and cultural icons, and has now published a book collecting these powerful stories. If Video Games Have Taught Me Anything is out now!
Amazing that one of the world’s most popular mobile hits took so long to get the Cookbook treatment, but thanks to Insight Editions, as of this week, fans can find Tasty! The Official Candy Crush Desserts Book on store shelves. Nearly 150 pages of sweets, treats, and deserts inspired by Candy Crush!
And while you still have your mixing bowls out, it’s worth shouting out the team over at Job Job LLC for their latest Kickstarter - Paper Plates: The Unofficial Cookbook of Crafty Dishes Inspired by Paper Mario. While you won’t see Mario or Chef Torte (deep-cut SMRPG reference that I laughed at while typing…), it’s enough of a love letter to clearly see where the inspiration comes from.
For those who haven’t yet read Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom, VIZ Media has just announced that it will be getting the paperback treatment next Summer. Very high recommendation on this one from me and The Video Game Library community.
I also want to make sure to shout out a new series from University of Chicago Press called REPLAY. So far there’ve been 2 releases, and I’ve read through both (reviews inbound!). Animal Crossing New Horizons: Can A Game Take Care of Us? and Undertale: Can A Game Give Hope?
Pat Contri’s “Ultimate Guides” are consistently some of the most discussed encyclopedic tomes of Nintendo’s console libraries. For fans of these books, you’ll be happy to hear that an EXPANDED edition to Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library has now gone up for pre-order.
Final Fantasy fans got a surprise when Square Enix posted a fun book-related video on their YouTube channel. The Making of LOGOS: The World of FINAL FANTASY XVI. We’ve talked about the book in the newsletter before, but this was a great treat to hear some voice actors, voice directors and the localization director talk about it.
Celebrating the “spooky” month of October, Titan Comics has released the new paperback Dead Space Liberation from Ian Edginton and Christopher Shy. This is the final installment of the three-volume anthology.
And in other ‘comic’ news, the Disney Twisted-Wonderland Manga has been getting a bunch. First, the English Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga – Book of Savanaclaw, Vol. 2 has just released this week. And right on its heels, the Japanese cover has been reveled for Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Comic - Episode of Octavinelle, Vol. 3.
Pokémon: Scarlet & Violet, Vol. 3 has been released this week in English, courtesy of VIZ Media. We also know that Volume 4 is right around the corner, scheduled to release in February of next year.
And jumping back a few generations, Pokémon X & Y Vol. 02 released this week in Portuguese thanks to the team at Panini Comics. Love seeing the global releases for these popular franchises!
And finally in Pokémon news, and starting to make our way over to Japan, the Pokémon Legends Z-A Official Start Book ( ポケモンレジェンズ Ｚ－Ａ オフィシャルスタートブック) hit shelves this week from Shogakukan. This ones been getting a ton of great reviews, and is definitely on my list for this year!
And in Japan news, Masahiro Sakurai is getting his very own biographical manga, まんがで知る人と仕事 桜井政博・ゲームクリエイター. While this is garnering a ton of fan exciting, it’s worth reminding everyone that Sakurai actually has quite a few books written that are also well worth exploring.
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.
First week back from vacation is always a little hectic, and this week was no exception. On top of some urgent deadlines at work, I managed to get Covid - both of which put a damper on my hopes to hit-the-ground-running. That said, this week saw a few fun additions to the site.
First, I got tipped off about about a Korean translation of David Sheff’s “Game Over” book. This led me down a rabbit hole cataloguing as many global editions as I could find. Took quite a while and a bit of research, but feeling good about what we’ve uncovered.
That same search led me to discover “StarBeez Books,” a Korean publisher specializing in translated works - which is now fully catalogued on the site as well.
I want to give a huge shoutout to Bluesky user @cyclonus11.bsky.social for all of their amazing Comic Book submissions this past week. It’s been a hell of job, with dozens and dozens of issues - and still not quite done - but here’s a small taste of what was catalogued this week.
I’ve also been steadily working through the Bantam Game Mastery Series. Multiple editions, regional variants, translations - lots of nuance to capture, but it’s coming together.
Would also love to give a warm welcome to our newest volunteer, Leslie! Since joining, they’ve done a great job cataloguing all corners of the video game literary world. From critical essays on Metal Gear Solid to a rare, behind-the-scenes Earthbound book, to a bundle of Pokémon phonics books to help children learn how to read. Great to have you on the team, Leslie!
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.
🙏 THANK YOU for Reading
That’s a wrap for this week’s Newsletter. 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)
I have the hardback of Ask Iwata, definitely one I recommend