The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #008
A record-breaking Tuesday, some pages on Persona, and a reflection on some of Atari's early audible adventures. Plus, a chat with indie publisher "Greyfox Books"
Welcome back to The Video Game Library Newsletter!
This week in News & Highlights, we cover the busiest Tuesday of the year so far, with a mix of art books, collector’s editions, and standout niche releases. It’s a quiet week for announcements, but there’s still plenty to explore.
In Behind the Shelves, I dig into the ongoing cataloging work - uncovering missing author credits, highlighting some lesser-known Brazilian titles, and thanking the amazing group of volunteers who killed it this week!
Recommended Read takes a closer look at a must-have for Megami Tensei and Persona fans, while From the Archives revisits Atari’s early foray into storytelling through audio books. And to wrap things up, I chat with Darren Doyle of Greyfox Books about the design and passion behind his retro-inspired publishing.
📰 News & Highlights
New book announcements hit pause this week - but in their place, May 13th delivered the biggest Tuesday of the year, with a whopping 10 new releases dropping all at once.
Plenty of exciting stuff to dig into, so grab a coffee and turn the page!
Udon Entertainment definitely takes the trophy this week with 4 big releases. First up, school is out...of control with Rival Schools: Official Complete Works. Across nearly 200 pages, this art book covers all 3 Rival School games.
Next up, another art book celebrating the world warriors releases, with Street Fighter V: Climax Arts + Alpha to 6.
And speaking of Street Fighter, fans may have noticed that Capcom Fighting Collection 2 was released this week. Well, be sure not to miss the exclusive Capcom vs. SNK 48-page comic that comes bundled with pre-orders of the physical version.
And finally, Atelier Ryza 3: Official Visual Collection has started hitting fan shelves this week. This is the third Official Visual Collection release for Ryza. Atelier is a series I still need to dive into. It gets so many books!
And if these anime-style artbooks are your thing, then you’ll be pleased to know that Genshin Impact Official Art Book Vol. 2 has also released this week, celebrating moments, characters, and storylines from Version 2 to Version 2.8.
Insight Editions graces this newsletter once again with their latest cookbook release this week - Pac-Man: The Official Cookbook. Lisa Kingsley and Jennifer Peterson share this delightful collection of recipes - no doubt with at least 1 cherry recipe.
Another exciting release comes from industry veteran, Scott Millard, with his new book Video Games Publishing: Inside the Business of Games. In the book, Scott shares hard-earned insights from Sega, Atari & Bandai Namco in this no-nonsense guide to funding, marketing, and launching games.
In the world of “Collector’s Editions” we have The Cub - Back To Earth Edition which comes bundled with an Art Book. Reached out to Meridiem Games to hopefully get a cover image.
Author Simon Beecroft sets out to help you discover more than 1,500 facts about all things Pokémon in the Pokémon Big Book of Facts. Been really enjoying all these Pocket Monster releases from DK Publishing lately!
The Witcher books are always difficult to justify. A novel series that has become a true multi-media franchise - the lines are often blurred. The Little Witcher is a comic anthology, and I chose to add it because it’s “from the creative minds behind The Witcher video games”.
I’ve learned a lot about the complexities of localization this past year, so seeing this one released had me very intrigued. Culture Specific Items in Chinese to English Video Game Translation: Transmediality and Interactivity in the Localisation of a Wuxia RPG from Dariush Robertson is a mouthful, but no doubt packed with valuable perspective.
For the Spanish readers out there, another week means another edition of RBA Editore’s “Videojuegos Legendarios” series - this time Hollow Knight: La Revolución del Juego Indie.
And in more exciting news from Spain, La Voluntad de Los Antiguos - Memorias del RPG: Panzer Dragoon from Ramón Méndez González and Héroes De Papel has released this week! Love seeing more Panzer Dragoon love!
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.
One thing that’s been bugging me over the past few weeks is the absence of credited authors for RBA Editores’ “Videojuegos Legendarios” series. If you’ve read the past Newsletters, you’ll be familiar with this lineup. I even went as far as interviewing the author of Maniac Mansion. Sadly, nowhere on the book covers, or the official website, are the writers credited. So I dug as deep as I could, through social media platforms, professional portals, and sketchy eCommerce sites - and with the help of some generous Bluesky patrons (Retro Cabeza, Franchuzas, and Mind The Game) I’ve now got all the authors officially credited:
With those out of the way, I started digging through my backlog of Brazilian publications. If you can read Portuguese, there are some really cool books coming out of Brazil these days, and publishers like Bitnamic are the reason why. I haven’t got them all catalogued quiet yet, but slowly making my way through.
I’m still taking a break from the Shinkigensha books featured in the previous Newsletters. The cover-image reconstruction just takes a really long time. The tab is always open in my browser though - just waiting…patiently. In the meantime, I spent some time with Blue Archive and the Blue Blur. I actually had to check with IDW to see if these Sonic comics were legit. Apparently…they are.
And the weekly THANK YOU goes out to our amazing volunteers - Geneviève, Taylor and Tommy who were hard at work on cataloguing a variety of fun books.
This, as usual, is only a small sample of what we catalogued this week, so take a peek at the site to see everything! 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 Unofficial Guide to Shin Megami Tensei & Persona
Kurt Kalata, Alan Bradley, Brian Crimmins, Robert Fenner, Eirikr Smith, Carry Wood, Christopher Snelgrove
Having recently completed Persona 5, my interest in the SMT franchise was piqued - and as a result I picked up this HG101 book to provide some newcomer guidance.
The book is written with a clear sense of fluency in the Shin Megami Tensei lore and lineup. It's well-researched, sure, but it’s also complimented with experiential anecdotes that only true fans of the series could showcase. And despite my initial trepidation of diving head-first into one of the most bizarre yet beloved franchises in the industry's history, the book did a remarkable job holding my hand through the entire catalogue. It eased me in, and at the end, gently let go.
This is a reference book - no question. There aren't many 'behind-the-curtains' facts and figures, but rather a detailed dive of the story, significance, gameplay mechanics, music, ports - and a reminder of the headspace we, as gamers, were in at the time of the release. Each game is given 2-6 pages to shine, all of them accompanied by screenshots and box art to bring life to the text. Admittedly though, even with the aide of the screenshots, had to take several YouTube breaks in between to better grasp some of the explanations.
Rather than taking the obvious chronological route, the book is compiled in a way that groups each set of spin-offs into an over-arching section. The Digital Devil Story entries to start, followed by the SMT entries. Then Persona. Soul Hackers. Devil Summoner. The list goes on. Each section entirely digestible without overwhelming a newcomer like myself with a deluge of branching paths to try to keep track of.
Overall I'm walking away feeling infinitely more fluent in the series - which was the goal. And I "may" have purchased a few of the games along the way. The next time I'm standing amongst a group of SMT die-hards (a scenario that I've convinced myself will happen someday in order to justify the read), I probably won't have any mind-blowing facts to wow the crowd; but at least I'll be able to keep up with the conversation.
You can find details about The Unofficial Guide to Shin Megami Tensei and Persona 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 glimpse into Atari’s forgotten Audio Book universe.
In the early 1980s, as video games were gaining a foothold in pop culture, Atari took a bold step toward storytelling with a curious and largely forgotten experiment: a series of read-along audio-books. Partnering with Kid Stuff Records and Golden Books, Atari released five “Story of” audio adventures based on its most iconic titles - Missile Command, Asteroids, Super Breakout, Yars’ Revenge, and Star Raiders. Each set came with a 7-inch vinyl or cassette and a 16-page illustrated booklet, inviting kids to “SEE the pictures, HEAR the story, READ the book.” With music, dramatic narration, and sci-fi flair, these bite-sized adventures set out to turn abstract arcade mechanics into sweeping space operas, making them some of the earliest examples of transmedia storytelling in gaming.
The mind behind these adaptations was John Braden, a prolific writer and producer of children’s media who had also worked on franchises like Masters of the Universe and Transformers. Braden transformed the minimalist gameplay of these titles into imaginative plots: Missile Command tells the story of 1st Officer Ed Matthews and 2nd Officer Sarah Cochrane as they encounter a Krytolian imposter in the midst; Asteroids follows the story of Captain John Strohmeyer of the Outer Quadrant Recon Patrol; and Super Breakout reimagined its bouncing ball as a last-ditch effort to break through a force field to reach New California. Most impressively, Yars’ Revenge and Star Raiders tapped into Atari’s deeper lore. The Yars’ Revenge story offered a touching tale of friendship and sacrifice, while Star Raiders expanded the Atari Force universe with characters who would later appear in a full-fledged DC Comics series. Each tale added depth and humanity to games that, until then, had little more than high scores and flashy pixels to tell their stories.
Though rarely remembered today, these audio-books are cherished by retro gaming fans and collectors for their creative ambition and heartfelt charm. Digitized versions now circulate online, allowing new audiences to experience what it was like to hear a spaceship captain bark orders over a crackly synth score, or to turn the page when the telltale “beep” signaled the next scene. They stand as relics of a time when game companies were still figuring out how to tell stories, long before cutscenes or cinematic intros were the norm. These audio-books gave players something more: a chance to live the story behind the game. And in doing so, they quietly helped pave the way for the narrative-driven experiences we know today.
You can find this collection catalogued over in The Video Game Library.
✨ Community Interview
Darren Doyle is the founder of Greyfox Books, a niche publishing label dedicated to high-quality, visually striking books about retro video games. Based in Ireland, Darren’s journey began in 1979 with an Atari 8-bit computer and a passion for graphic art and BASIC programming. That early love of gaming and design evolved into a mission to preserve video game history through beautifully crafted books like The Atari Visual History and The Coin-Op Arcade Guide series.
In this interview, Darren shares how his background in graphic design shaped the distinct look of Greyfox Books, the challenges of independent publishing, and the deep-rooted passion that fuels each project.
Enjoy!
Let's begin with an introduction; who is Darren Doyle, and what inspired you to start Greyfox Books and focus so deeply on the world of retro gaming?
I’ve been a retro gamer since the age of 8 back as far as 1979, and come from Dublin, Ireland. There wasn’t a hell of a lot to do back in them days until the home computer market had arrived, and I received my first Atari 8-bit home computer. I learned to code in BASIC and play games loaded from cassette, later on disk. This led to my first exposure to computer art being created by a joystick. I was simply captivated by creating shapes, filling them with colour and so on. Really something different to pen and paper at the time. This paved the way for me in later years to go to college and become a graphic designer, but I never left my roots in gaming.
I was involved in a great many projects over the years, and at the time, 90% of my work was done for free for everyone to appreciate and enjoy across many different video gaming platforms. It never was about making a buck for me. An opportunity arose back in 2012 where I was asked to be involved in a magazine focused on vintage arcade games, and I was so happy with what I had created I thought, as did they, that it was too good to simply be included in a magazine. It would be better in book format.
You mention becoming a graphic designer by trade. How did this background in design influence the visual identity and layout style of Greyfox Books?
As the years went on, I noticed that there weren’t many books on video games pushing the limits in showcasing the content in a way I personally loved. So I decided to create a brand known at the time as “Greyfox Productions” which would represent high-quality visuals or a premium look. This first lead to the development of 4 digital magazines created entirely by me. I had writers submit their reviews and features, and I would dress it from the Nintendo Entertainment System (Nes-Bit: Issue 1), then one dear to my heart on the Atari 8-bit (Atari Gamer Magazine) and then two issues cover the Atari 16-bit line - the Atari ST - called (ST Gamer Magazine) which went down a storm with those communities as nobody had covered in the same way since the early ninities when they had magazines for ever system. As a thank you for the support of my digital magazine era, I created a completely free magazine called “Atari Crypt Volume One” for the community which is still enjoyed today.
The Greyfox Books are extremely niche and unorthodox in their presentation, which separates them from anything else out there. I remember doing a poll suggesting I change it to a more minimal design layout, and it was unanimous that they did not want these to look different from what I’d done before. More work on me, so the people had spoken!
And the name “Greyfox”?
The name “Greyfox” is derived from the character featured in Hideo Kojima’s “Metal Gear Solid” on the PS1. I truly loved this character and had to implement hime somehow. And with it being attached to the game's background “Fox Hound”, the logo was born from the use of a Fox’s head design style patch idea, creating the brand of “Greyfox Books” in the process. So, from 2014, it was a stable brand and identity for me.
You've worked with some of Europe's best printers to produce these books. What was important to you about the physical quality, and how do you ensure these books feel as premium as they look?
When I had produced my first book, The Atari Visual History, I was helped greatly by Chris Wilkins of Fusion Books, who was gracious enough to put me in touch with a printer in Spain. Being based in Ireland, it’s a very expensive endevour to produce a book of this calibur and in many ways wouldn’t be possible with the funding required to do from here, directly. The books had to be stitch-bound, satin finish and a minimum of 150 gsm page grade for durability and long-lasting condition. My printer in Spain delivered beyond expectations. I continued to use them in the next 2 future projects, “The Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide” in 2020 and “The Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide - The Shoot’em Up Collection” in 2022. They have rich colour, density and detail to represent the content fantastically, and I was so happy with the quality, as were the many great people who purchased them. You won’t get as close to the subject matter as you will within these books, it’s nearly like a play-through preview before you decide to give them a go yourself.
Let’s talk about that first title - The Atari Visual History. What drew you to start with that platform, and how did you go about researching and curating content for it?
The was a massive pet project trying to work out how best to suit this format, especially within a book. Growing up with these computers and playing the wealth of games it had to offer, I knew the subject matter extremely well. This made the process of writing about them a dream to do, a very good friend of mine and an incredible Atari Historian, “Ross Sillfant” was an inspiration to the project and was able to help me curate the questions for the interviews in the book. I would contact them, convince them to take part in the book and Ross and I would come up with some great questions or vice versa. It was a brilliant collaboration.
We also had amazing help from Atari Mania & Atarimuseum.nl, providing me with the actual box art for me to remaster for the book. The history pieces required a little bit more reviewing of multiple sources to confirm the information, and in many cases, from those who worked directly on the games and hardware, so a lot of email back and forth. The photography within the book was also taken exclusively for it. Plus, the book was proofread by an editor who worked for the English publication “Edge” Magazine.
The Coin-Op: Arcade Guide series feels like a passion project for arcade lovers. How did you select which games to feature across the original guide, the Shoot 'Em Up Collection, and the upcoming Beat 'Em Up Collection?
From its inception back in 2012, Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide was, in hindsight, too big of a project for one single individual to take on if I’m being honest. The sheer amount of work involved only progressively got worse the further it came along. Compositing work, sprite extraction work, layout design work. I wanted to include all my childhood favourites, but also cater to many other arcade games I had not been clued into. Rather than have random games appearing one after the next, I thought I’d need to put them into genres of class, from Beat’em up to Horror arcades, it’s all covered in here as a first introduction to these games and included 10 games per chapter with an “Extra Stage” game to cover not mentioned in the books content index. It was a lovely little surprise to the reader. I loved that idea.
The choices in selecting the games where easy, something that had to have depth, well known and reconiged by arcade gamers, yet be presented in a way that drew them in, from hidden easter eggs within the pages and the sheer visual impact of these amazing games. Every aspect of the pages are completely covered - you won’t find any white pages within these books.
You mention genres - which obviously takes us to your next books - The Shoot 'Em Up and Beat 'Em Up volumes.
This was intended to be a volumetric collection of 4 books with a smaller page count, but focusing on one genre exclusively. Shoot’em Ups, Beat’em Ups, Driving Games and Sports, and Social arcade titles. But when crowdfunding wasn’t successful on Coin-Op: The Shoot’em Up Collection Volume 1 in 2022, I decide to fund it myself and cease working on a volumetric series.
The shoot’em up book was completed, and I simply couldn’t leave it on a hard drive to rot. So many were hot on the hopes of it being released, so only 600 were produced, with now only about 50 copies in storage presently. It was a great success for me, and if you're a fan of shmups, this is a great addition. Also, the games covered in this book aren’t included in the original Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide Book, so no doubles!
Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide - Beat’em Up Collection is nearing design completion now, but it was unexpected for me to find out that there is even more involved in making this book from the amount of content Beat’em Up games offer - sprites, composites, etcetera. Again, the choice of games presented are not included in the previous arcade books, so a lot of exploration and discovery and game playing to bring them altogether.
Do you find that genre-focused books give you more creative room to explore game mechanics, evolution, and visual identity?
Absolutely, I think game-focused genres are a brilliant way to read about how the developers of these games worked and what they offered to the players that the previous one lacked. Also, researching the history of these individual genres was an amazing insight into the logic and mechanics of these games from the inception of the late 1970s to the 2000s, not just how graphical hardware evolved, but the incredible ideas that a great many people went on to define.
When I set out to cover and choose the titles for inclusion in my books, I had to do much more than just play them and give my thoughts. I had to look at what they were trying to achieve with the game and then create a syntax that an ordinary person could relate to during my explanation and what made it unique and worth your time to check out and invest in.
You've interviewed legendary figures from the industry - developers, artists, publishers. What's one standout interview or quote that stuck with you during the creation of these books?
While not all are included in my books, I was very fortunate to have been involved in interviewing so many of the industry greats from the 90s and from devs like Core Design, Gremlin Graphics and Sega. I have no real definitive interview that stuck with me, as such, they were all amazing to read their answers once published.
The Sega interview takes us right to the “MegaBook” Collection, where you turned your lens towards the Sega Mega Drive. What do you think makes that console so enduring to fans, and what was your approach in paying tribute to it visually and editorially?
This has a bittersweet experience for me as a producer and designer. When I set up to create a book on a chosen subject, I felt the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive was another one I wanted to focus on and wasn’t getting the visual fidelity I wanted to bring. I had a friend back in 1988 who had one imported, and back then, this was a massive deal as you were kinda getting that arcade experience, home computers simply couldn't deliver on it at the time. So, after seeing and playing Rambo 3 and Shinobi, this was mind-blowing, and so did my love affair begin with Sega’s 16-bit powerhouse for about 3 years. But then the Super Nintendo came along in 1991, and like a cheating boyfriend “It’s not you, it’s me” excuse came into play and ventured on to the SNES until the PSX arrived. For shame…
But with so many books covering the SNES up until 2020, I felt it had been done extremely well, especially by Bitmap Books of whose works were simply superb. I decided I had to return to the Sega Mega Drive and come grovelling back on my knees for forgiveness. I was playing with an idea similar to the Atari Book, but much bigger in scope and physical size and opted to produce this opus in a 10” x 10” square format. So I set out all the design work, I had a great collective of writers, including writers from “Retro Gamer” magazine, to give their opinions and thoughts on a great majority of the titles within the book. I even managed to get “Dave Perry” from the English TV video game show “Games Master”, and editor and producer of Games World, Play, PowerStation, X-Gen, STATION and Mega Power on board to write the foreword for the book and was set to fund on Kickstarter.
But disaster struck the project as I had received a cease & desist from Sega of Japan for IP game box art infringement for use in an unauthorised book publication that was at the time being financially funded. I ended up having to cancel the project. And little to my knowledge at the time, Bitmap Books was also producing a “A Sega Megadrive Visual Compendium” book, which had also received a cease and desist order from Sega as well. So this was two Sega Megadrive / Genesis books that had to be canned from reaching Sega Fans. There was a backlash at Sega for this from many people. But it had to be postponed nonetheless.
Devastated from this, I was all but ready to throw the towel in altogether on producing books within the retro gaming space, after like 8-10 months of solid work on the project, more or less down the toilet, I made the daring and extremely brave decision I could make, even though I was advised by many not to do, and that was to make the book digitally available to every one for free on my website. I always thought that I might get maybe 4 in total made for myself and my immediate family to have, but have yet to do so. As I mentioned at the beginning of this interview that it was never about the money, but rather to bring something special to those who loved this medium.
You mention Bitmap Books. The retro gaming book scene is clearly growing, but it's still niche. What are you seeing in terms of demand or interest in Ireland and the wider European market for this kind of work? Has the Irish gaming community played a role in supporting what you do?
With the likes of publishers like Bitmap Books, Pix’n’Love and Fusion Books, the market is still growing for retro gaming related books, but not as much as it once did about 5-6 years ago. I could be wrong here, but I feel the medium is changing due to the cost of living and inflation, where people are forced to consider what they spend their money on and in some cases some of these publication can be extremely expensive, especially of shipping costs to some countries and not all cover the non-customs taxes for books around the world. The UK has suffered a lot of blight with no longer being a part of the EU, so treated as if these are coming from Asia or the United States, where customs can be high.
Over here in Ireland, the Retro Gaming scene is growing, but not fast enough. It might be down to the ethics of this country being more focused on sports and a lack of technological innovations over the last 30 to 40 years, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a collective community to be found; it’s just not as wide as I’d personally like it to be. My books are focused more and or aimed at the international platform, which was fascinating to realise after doing three Kickstarter campaigns, where Ireland was very low in the backer support. The UK and Mainland Europe were much greater. So it is more reliable to produce this content for that audience than within my homeland.
What makes a Greyfox Book stand apart from others in this space?
I think for me, it has to be the presentation. Although my style of products is vastly different from those of the publishers, I take on tasks that would test the patience of many designers out there to the extent that they simply state it’s not viable for what the content should flow. An example of this would be that Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide has about 2000 composites of sprites and game elements setting the narrative of the pages, which is crazy for a designer. It took me years to refine the skill and technique to put this content together and then decide where it should lie on the pages. Rather than the boxed-in imagery you find in other books, along with text wrapped around it, I seem to set the text around the imagery. And the result can be overpowering but brilliant to look at, at the same time. Sorta like a great video game magazine spread on steroids, and the Beat’em Up Collection will be no different when this appears in the future.
With these books under your belt and the Beat’em Up Collection on the way, what's next for Greyfox Books? Are there any dream projects or platforms you haven't tackled yet that you'd love to explore?
This is a tricky question to answer, with now two previous projects having failed from crowdfunding, doing it alone is a very expensive endevour to take, risk of the product not selling or been out-priced by the cost of shipping from Ireland is a big problem due the privatation of our postal service here in Ireland.
For Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide - The Beat’em Up Collection, I will be doing a first for myself and setting a pre-order campaign for a limited amount of only 500 books up for grabs, and this will be reflected in the sales page for the book once it is created. Once these pre-orders are met, then all inclusive funding will be used to have the book printed and produced and then shipped to the client. Once this sells out, there will be no more to purchase in a physical version of the book.
So until this has been done and dusted, I have no future plans to do another book project at this time, I have a few ideas floating about, until someone else comes up with the same idea… I also have to consider the amount of work involved, cost, and so on. It’s crazy these days. But if I were to get charged up enough…who knows? Remember it’s one person creating these works and juggling a family life and work life on top of that... It can be very draining to the extent I have to be realistic, is it worth it? But never say never.
Finally, where can people follow your work, purchase your books, and stay updated on what's next for you and Greyfox Books?
To see what my works and what they are all about, I invite your readers to head over to www.greyfoxbooks.com, where you can check our books out, decide if they fit your interest, and hopefully purchase one. There is a selection of digital content there too, including my FREE Sega Megadrive book “The Mega Collection”, to enjoy, to get a taste of my visual flair.
Thanks for your time, Darren!
🙏 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)
The IDW Sonic series is absolutely brilliant. I'm thinking of doing a series of review for each of their collected editions once the 20th comes out.