Nick Goracke said:
I'm buying it anyways, but...
Is the book more on the technical or anecdotal side? The computer scientist in me wants to hear some technical stories, but I get the feeling that nobody else would find that interesting.
Well Nick, I hate to tell you, but you're not
going to find much by way of CS in this book. What
little CS-related stuff there is is only told because it
involves pertinent details to make the anecdotes
whole. But here's the catch.
The rest of the series was put on indefinite hold
due to the anemic sales of the first book in Japan
a couple of years ago. The reasons for the poor
sales include, but are not limited to: 1) Sega did
almost nothing to market it, so few people even knew
about it 2) Sega charged 5800 yen for it 3) The cover
was inconspicuous, a pure white background with
a sliver logo and the author's name in tiny letters
4) The book did not go to normal bookstores, but only
to game retailers, only to be shoved into a corner because
it wasn't a "game" (and besides, there are a specific type
of gamers that like to read and learn about this stuff,
and the vast majority don't care- they just want to play
the games). I am doing everything I can to make sure
that this book does well in the rest of the world so that
the series can continue. And if the book does do well,
then I'll be in a position to march over to Digital Rex and
shake some technical information out of Yu Suzuki for the
future volumes- and I know he has plenty of that to share.
So, I'm looking out for you.
In the meantime, I just want to say that I appreciate
everyone's support- the best favor you could do me
now is just simply spread the word to anyone you feel
may be interested; that's the only way people are going
to find out about this book until the review copies
are sent to Sega, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo's US offices
and all of the major gaming magazines in July.
And don't worry- you'll be able to order this book through
the online retailers (like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and
Borders.com) so it will be easy to obtain no matter where
you are.
Remember, if this is a success, it could open the door for
these types of books to be made later on, not just
with regard to Sega, but other companies as well
<cough> SNK
I'll be updating the website frequently.
I appreciate the support!
I'll be buying a copy of the translated version as soon as it's released. Any idea on what it will cost, and if it will be on sale in the UK?
