The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #025
Good News: Incredible book announcements! Bad News: This project just got a whole lot more expensive.
Welcome back to The Video Game Library Newsletter!
Halloween 2025 is behind us, and it’s time to shift our focus ahead to the holidays. For all those early planners for gift-giving, I’m incredibly excited to assemble all of this week’s announcements and releases for you in the world of video game literature. From Indie to Ninty, I know you’ll find something fun.
I also want to mention how thrilled I’ve been with the readership on the new Book Spotlights posts. Got a bunch of them up over the past 2 weeks, and it’s been really nice to get some positive feedback on those.
Now, the uncomfortable but necessary part: If you’ve been enjoying The Video Game Library Newsletter this year - the author spotlights, book reviews, and weekly roundups - I’d love for you to consider becoming a paid subscriber.
I love this platform as a way to shine a light on authors and independent publishers, celebrating their creativity and passion that keep gaming literature alive. Supporting The Video Game Library helps make that possible for everyone who loves seeing this kind of work get the attention it deserves.
Keeping TheVideoGameLibrary.org resource online and creating new content each week takes a lot of time. As of next month, hosting and platform costs are increasing by 33%, all currently paid out of pocket. Paid subscriptions help keep everything running and allow me to continue doing this properly: thoughtful, independent, and ad-free.
If the newsletter has ever made you smile, helped you discover a new book, or stirred a bit of nostalgia, your support genuinely matters. Every subscription helps keep this project alive and growing.
Now with that (shameless but necessary) pandering out of the way, let’s dive in to this week’s highlights!
📰 News & Highlights
This has EASILY been one of the most exciting week’s of announcements and releases this year (for me, anyway). We got some long-awaited books coming out, and some very fun announcements as we look towards 2026.
Comment below with anything that stands out for you!
Easily the biggest release of the week - the long-awaited Metroid Prime 1–3: A Visual Retrospective is here, courtesy of Piggyback! Small celebrations of Video Game Books always makes me smile, but every once in a while (usually with Nintendo books), the celebration is off the charts! Images of this one hitting fan shelves has been filling up my feed for days - and I love it!
And speaking of Nintendo, the talents over at Ninty Media have launched a Kickstarter for their latest endeavor - NESBOOK: The Unofficial NES Companion. This is the 4th entry in their GAMEBOOK lineup, and looks like they have some big plans for it!
Keeping the Nintendo train going, White Owl has just posted a new publication on their site. Hot on the heels of last month’s The History of Silent Hill, their newest book The Unofficial History of Mario Games from Ryan Janes is slated to hit shelves in March 2026. While they haven’t posted anything about it yet, looks like this one is up for pre-order!
This week, the folks at Lost In Cult have announced yet ANOTHER amazing Design Works project. Tunic: Design Works comes shortly after the launch of Cocoon: Design Works in October. This lineup is becoming a must-have on bookshelves!
And that’s not all they’re making headlines for! As part of the 15th anniversary of Simogo, a new book has been announced. Heartbeats, Dreams and Laser Eyes: 15 Years of Simogo sets out to explore the games, creative process, and visionary collaborators. Guys…this week is insane!
The latest entry in the Bitmap Books collection has just released this past week. The Definitive Book of SNES RPGs - Vol. 1 sets out to cover a collection (letters A-K) of western-released RPGs on the SNES.
Disclaimer: I’d be remiss if I didn’t call out some of the social media conversation surrounding this book, so I’d encourage everyone to take the time to look into the full context of what happened and make their own, informed judgment.
We might not be getting GTA VI this year, but fans can at least celebrate with a fun new cookbook release this week. An Unofficial Grand Theft Auto Cookbook: Street Eats and Luxe Treats takes fans from sidewalk to skyline with nearly 150 pages of recipes.
For any digital manga readers out there, VIZ Media has just released Splatoon - Vol. 7 and Splatoon - Vol. 8 this week, keeping pace with their 2 issues per month release schedule. There’s 16 volumes in this series, so this’ll likely keep us going into early in the new year.
For those of you who’ve been following the Random Houses Worlds’ Ironsword Academy books, Minecraft: Ironsword Academy #4 - Eyes of the Endermen just hit store shelves this week. This will be a 6-volume series from Caleb Zane Huett, and actually drives a lot of traffic to the site, which is always great to see!
You may know author Felipe Pepe from his CRPG Book (AKA: one of my favourite books in our collection). Well, in some of my favourite news of the week, he’s just announced a new book project that aims to broaden video game history beyond the usual North American lens, highlighting global gaming cultures and voices. He’ll be funding fresh writers to create accessible, well-researched essays for a free, visually rich ebook that celebrates diverse gaming histories. Definitely check it out and show him some support!
GameStudies makes a return this week with Routledge’s latest - Victorians and Videogames. This book, edited by Lin Young and Brooke Cameron, explores how modern games reinterpret 19th-century literature, themes, and tech, bridging Victorian art with today’s interactive storytelling. For those who’s interest is piqued, I’d also point you towards our recent Spotlight on The Germanic Heroic Tradition in Video Games.
And of course following that up with another Routledge release this week. Space and Play in Japanese Videogame Arcades has been out since last year, but it just got its very own paperback release for those who want a more affordable option for their shelves.
“It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!” Over in France, the team at Pix’n Love have launched their 2nd entry in the Savoirs Vidéoludix series. Archéologie du Glitch is a Marxian media-archaeological study of the video game glitch as a cultural, political, and economic artifact.
And wrapping things up in Japan, Kadokawa has released the Story of Seasons: Let’s! Grand Bazaar of the Wind Official Perfect Guide. These behemoth of a strategy guide is 544 pages of everything you could possible want to know about this sentry in the Story of Season/Harvest Moon series.
Alongside the release of the game this week V-Jump Books has just published the Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake Legendary Guide. This guide contains a full walkthrough, gorgeous Toriyama art, developer interviews, and bonus in-game items via digital code.
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.
If you told me that I’d be spending a few hours a week just to keep things working on the site, I may have second-guessed starting this project at all. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been super rewarding, but holy hell maintaining a website is a lot of work.
In addition to that, just got a friendly notice from Wix…the platform that I built the site on… and the fees are going up another 33% next month. What a dick move, Wix…
But let’s not dwell on the frustration. Lots of fun additions to talk about.
First, for the second week in a row, our newest volunteer, Leslie, has been absolutely killing it with the Wordware Game Development collection. There are so many books in this set, and I love seeing them all get the treatment they deserve on the site.
Also, realized this week that I had fallen behind on the Japanese GWALK publications that have been publishing some really cool compendium Mooks. The latest entries include Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3 and a controller encyclopedia.
I’ve been watching a bit of streaming lately, and realized that I could probably be doing a better job over at The Video Game Library categorizing some helpful resources for it. So I spent a bit of time this week going through and cataloguing a bunch books in that sub-genre. You can find the collection here.
Over on Bluesky, user @JesseGamble.com reached out inquiring about any literature on the video game tile art that can be found in Paris. And (of course), there IS INDEED a series of books, from renowned artist INVADER. I didn’t quite have them all catalogued, so spent some time this week getting the full collection listed.
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.
💡 Book Spotlights
Every week I like to zoom in on a few standout books from the collection. Sometimes it’s brand new releases, other times it’s older gems that deserve more love.
If you’re looking for deeper dives and not just quick headlines, check out some of these spotlights from this week:
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - Game Changer: Playing To Win at Xbox, EA Sports, and Liverpool FC
Peter Moore (2025); Liverpool University Press; Autobiography
"It reads as both a professional journey and a personal reflection on identity, ambition, and staying grounded. And despite knowing very little about football or footwear, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole ride."
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - The Best Non-Violent Video Games
James Batchelor (2023); Pen & Sword Books - White Owl; Non-Fiction
"...but through a more thoughtful and mature lens, this book becomes a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to explore games alongside the younger players in their lives."
🙏 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)
Ahhh I HAVE to have that Tunic book, that’s gone straight on my Christmas list! One of my favourite games ever. I really enjoyed the Sea of Stars concept book Bryce Kho brought out, so can’t wait to see this one for Tunic.