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The VC Advantage: How to win at selling lots of books
The VC Advantage is usually geared toward nostalgia -- specifically, evoking the memories of a time gone by, when we were denied resources such as GameFAQs, we had to look up codes in magazines, and we had to walk two miles uphill to school (both ways!). Help was available in other places besides magazines back then. Needed to know what to play and how to advance? You could turn to a book ... and we're not talking about glitzy Prima strategy guides packed with glossy photos, either.Growing up, I didn't have much access to gaming magazines, and I'm not even sure why. I'm sure I was aware that Nintendo Power existed, and I know I read a few issues, but I wasn't a subscriber and rarely bought it (blasphemy!). I did, however, read many of Jeff Rovin's How to Win books cover to cover.
Rumor: Zelda manga releasing to North America later this year
For this blogger, the only manga experience accrued has been in the form of reading the greatest thing ever made. Other than that, this blogger has no experience with the medium. So imagine how excited we were when we received Josh's tip about The Legend of Zelda manga possibly releasing to North America.The rumor stems from a listing for the manga at Canadian retailer RightStuf. It says the 200 page book will be releasing on October 7th of this year and published by VIZ. Considering the lack of concrete evidence supporting the claim, we're going to keep this one marked as a rumor for now.[Thanks, Josh!]
Warner planning to release "book-like" Blu-ray sets for collectors
Now that all studios can focus their efforts on cranking out titles for a single format (well, almost), it's no surprise to hear that Warner is already planning a few special sets for the hordes of collectors out there. Early reports are suggesting that the aforementioned firm will debut a series of "book-like" Blu-ray packages on March 25th with the unveiling of Bonnie & Clyde. Apparently, at least nine other films will follow suit, offering movie buffs a "handsomely bound volume containing rare and never-before-seen archival material." As for exact titles, we're hearing that Dirty Harry, Woodstock, Gone with the Wind and North by Northwest could be among those chosen (no Matrix?), but Warner could re-release hits such as Blade Runner and certain Harry Potter selections as well. Interestingly, it seems as if HD DVD followers will also get the chance to indulge with the red release of Bonnie & Clyde, but there's been nothing said officially either way just yet.[Via The Leaky Cauldron, thanks Kellan]Read - Warner Plans Ten Blu-ray "Book" Releases for 2008Read - Warner to Bow "Ultimate" Dirty Harry
Rumor: Novels on their way to European DSes
The techno-literary world is abuzz over Kindle, Amazon's handheld electronic reading device which is quickly gaining popularity in the small circle of people who love books, aren't afraid of computers, and have $400 in disposable income. According to a recent Nintendo investor report, European DS owners might be able to ride the e-book wave this coming winter -- the tentative release date for the tentatively titled DS Novel.Details about the game are non-existent, though DS Fanboy speculates that it's an English language version of a Japanese title which allows the user to peruse over 100 complete books. We hope to hear more about this later in the year -- the thought of being able to sit down with our favorite editions of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" without all the fuss and muss of ink and pulp fills us with anticipation.
Patterson waxes expansive about 'Woman's Murder Club' game
Gamers around the world have been waiting with bated breath for more information on James Patterson's Woman's Murder Club game since it was announced back in December. OK, they haven't really, but maybe they would if they didn't exclusively pay attention only to games that featured guns, breasts or, er, Nintendo characters.Patterson, one of the world's best-selling authors, is targeting a decidedly different demographic with his first game. "Look, it strikes me that the video game area is an incredibly lucrative niche market," he told the Hollywood Reporter, "one populated by a small number of boys -- and grownup boys -- who like to shoot things and spend a lot of money. But that excludes most of the universe."Patterson compared his efforts to reach new gamers to those of Nintendo's Wii, calling the game a "chance to widen the boundaries of what people can do on the small screen ... We're going to give people who don't want to shoot things ... who prefer to use their brains ... a chance to solve a really good mystery." With Gabriel Knight's Jane Jensen at the development helm, we're cautiously optimistic that he can actually pull it off.
Rumor: Europe to get books on its DSes?
Regular readers of our sister site, Wii Fanboy, will probably already know how an investor report revealed that Kirby and Animal Crossing games for the Wii were still on for a 2008 release in Japan.Fortunately, Siliconera's hawk-eyed Spencer Yip spotted something for DS owners, tucked away near the bottom of the list: DS Novel. It's only listed for Europe currently, but could this be an English language localization of DS Bungaku Zenshuu, the non-game that crammed 100 Japanese literary classics onto a single DS cart? Spencer certainly thinks so, and we're struggling to imagine what else it could be.If this guess turns out to be correct, would you embrace this as a revolution in reading, or stick to traditional, more dog-eared methods? More to the point, which books would you want to read on your DS?
The Daily Grind: Lore-to-go?
To some people, lore in MMOs is very important. Others may not really have a great deal of time to dig into the game, and thus are likely missing lots and lots of great back-story. We know in our case, the novelization of the Warcraft universe has made for pretty interesting reading when on lunch hour or stuck in airports. (If there is an audiobook version out there, we'd recommend that more for sheer portability.) We also can't help but think that those LotRO folks have the unfair advantage on the rest of us; they have a good solid idea of what's going on before they ever step foot in the game -- assuming they've ever read the books. For today we'd like to ask you this; if game companies made the lore of your world available in book or audiobook format, would you be inclined to check it out? Or is the idea of reading up on the lore not something you'd do when there are so many sites out there that give you the necessary strategies and information in bite-sized packages? Have you, like us, already gotten your geek on with some of the lore books? How did you like them?
Second Life: In-World Travel Guide launch party
Sean Voss, owner and curator of Landmark Island, the Second Life tour guide destination, will be giving away 3 copies of his book 'Second Life In-World Travel Guide' at his launch party on January 12th at 6 PM SLT. From the press release:'This book offers more then 100 of the best locations in Second Life in the areas of Shopping, Entertainment, Education, Real Life in Second Life, and many more. Quickly climbing various sales charts, the initial issue of this title was available exclusively on Amazon.com. The first shipment sold out before all pre-orders were filled.' Great news, Sean! Additionally, all visitors will recieve a complimentary prize pack including an in world, signed, preview copy of the Second Life: In World Travel Guide just for visiting! This will be a great event, with music by DJ DoubleDown Tandino. I'll be getting a copy of the book soon, so a review is on its way, but don't wait for me -- order your own copy today.[Thanks, Delaynie!]
Mini-review of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition
If you're trying to figure out what to buy yourself with the gift card you got this holiday season, let me recommend David Pogue's Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition. I was fortunate to get a copy of it for Christmas this year (thanks, sweetie!) and it's 866 pages of sweet, Leopard-y goodness. The book is divided into six sections that cover just about every conceivable thing you could ever want to know about the OS. It takes a look at how to maneuver around the desktop, how to use the native apps to their fullest potential, what to do with once your online with your Mac, and everything in between.If you already know your way around OS X, this manual is a terrific reference tool for looking up obscure things you don't do very often, like tweaking onscreen colors to mimic a Windows PC monitor. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're a switcher there are roughly seven trazillion tips and tricks to help you learn how to get the most out of your new operating system. Pogue's writing style is upbeat, easy to understand, and sometimes downright hilarious. The book is well laid-out and progresses fairly intuitively, although the editor seems to have gone a little crazy with the headings, sub-headings, and sub-sub-headings on many of the pages. Also, while I'm sure Pogue touches on all 300 of Leopard's new features, it's not always immediately clear which features he's describing are different from the previous version, Tiger.Despite these minor shortcomings, I love this book and think it's a great addition to any Mac users bookshelf. This manual is one you don't want to miss.
Gears of War: The Pendulum Wars, the prequel book treatment
Replace the "stop 'n pop" style of gameplay that Gears of War helped popularize with "sit 'n read" and you've got yourself a fairly good approximation of the forthcoming prequel (best neologism ever?) Gears of War: The Pendulum Wars. Written by well-known video game writer Steven L. Kent, The Pendulum Wars oughta fill in all those blank spots in the story that have been keeping you up at night. Blank spots like, "What the hell happened to Aspho Fields?"No, seriously, what? The book is listed as "Gears of War Pendulum Wars The Battle of Aspho Fields" at Amazon.ca. The 352-page first-person reader is being published by Del Rey and is listed with an August 26, 2008 release date. Now they just need to coordinate the movie release and the inevitable sequel to line up around the same time, and we've got ourselves an entertainment media hat trick![Via NeoGAF]
Halo: Contact Harvest lands #3 on NY Times list
See, mom? Video games do encourage reading. The novel Halo: Contact Harvest, which was released October 30, has this week landed on The New York Times' Best Sellers list for Paperback Trade Fiction, just behind Gabriel García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera and Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants. Contact Harvest was written by Bungie's Joseph Staten and tells of the human race's first encounter with the Covenant. Next week's bestseller list has already been tabulated it seems, as the Paperback Trade Fiction list for November 25 places Contact Harvest in the number four slot, swapping places with Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
PTR Mystery: No more first aid quest?
Wowhead updated its database earlier today. While most of the new items were to be expected, (such as the new leatherworking bags, the new ammo and the quest items for the new daily heroic quests,) there was one that came as a surprise. Apparently, a new first aid book has been discovered in patch 2.3: Artisan First Aid - Heal Thyself.The appearance of this item creates a lot of questions. Does this mean that characters will no longer have to do a quest to earn artisan level first aid? Or will this book merely be a reward for the current quests? Will this book be sold, and if so, where?
Concept art glued and bound in 'The Art of Midway'
We'll admit that when approached with the subject of art in video games, Midway is not the first company that comes to mind. Not to say that their games are not art, as we sidestep that land mine and save the explosion for another day, but Midway's titles have never come across as particularly driven by aesthetic style, making us all the more curious as to the contents of Midway's newly released art book, The Art of Midway: Before Pixels and Polygons. A 160-page collection of concept art for some of Midway's top titles, the book is said to include 200 illustrations covering such games as The Suffering and Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, to the more recently shipped Stranglehold. And of course you can bet there will be quite a few doodles from the Mortal Kombat franchise as well, with Baraka's toothy grin featured on the book's cover. However, what's more interesting to us are the unpublished works said to be included in the book from Midway artists such as Stephan Martinière, Vince Proce, Ben Olson, and Bruno Werneck. Our coffee table has been looking a bit barren lately, and this book would fit quite nicely next to the sweat ring and stack of back issues of People.
LotRO Book 11: Defenders of Eriador notes and release date
It's official! Book 11 has a name and an upcoming October 24, 2007 due date in North America and October 25, 2007 in Europe. Best of all, it's free to download -- zilch -- zero -- nada -- did I mention it won't cost a thing? Shiny, new, precious Book 11. We wants it. There's so much stuff crammed into Book 11 if you have been waiting for new content the wait was worthwhile, keep reading for the skinny. Home, sweet home the Middle Earth way. Player-housing is probably the biggest undertaking for a free content update and the developers didn't skimp on the overall implementation. The biggest thing to get right with player-housing is that the elves and dwarves don't live in the same straw huts on a beach somewhere. The developers whole-heartedly agree since there are four different racially-styled homesteads that feature a distinctive Middle Earth architectural style and environment. When it comes to room there's plenty of plots around with 250 neighborhoods to each homestead, so all the hobbits can all live happily ever after and frolic on one giant bed after adventure hour just like in the movie -- I'm sorry, don't hurt me. Don't like your homeland? No problem, you don't have to be a hobbit to live in The Shire. If an elf decides to move in with my dwarven renegade and brings any of that elf culture with em', I'm setting up a neighborhood watch. Kinships won't be left out of the house either and various decorations ranging from paint to taxidermy and even music to help you clutter your new digs and set the mood for that special occasion. Lots and lots of good stuff for the crafters to keep them busy clicking and housing won't be about just the looks, being a home-owner also comes with a few other lucrative benefits. If playing house isn't your thing and you are more into wielding something other than a paint brush Book 11 has you covered with The Rift Nûrz Ghâshu. A new large underground dungeon filled with adventure for up to 12 players. That's not the only high-level content planned either. Also on the endless chapters in Book 11 is a ton of monster play enhancements and a little trip down yonder to the new Goblin-town! For the classes, this time around the Minstrel and Lore-Master see some love with numerous skill updates including a new pet for Lore-masters and Minstrels will be able to train others in their musical ways, which sounds really neat.
Old horror films and books: They won't stay dead!
Lest you forget the upcoming All Hallows' Eve holiday, The Moon Books Project has been posting horror-themed content almost every day, stacking its shelves with DS-compatible novels and movies. They're downloadable for free and completely legal, so you won't have to fear any threatening "I Know What You Downloaded Last Night" letters from the MPAA bogeymen. Already, the site has put up over a dozen classics like Nosferatu and Fall of the House of Usher. Even if you don't have the homebrew hardware and software (Moonshell) needed to view the files on your DS, you can still scare yourselves silly with iPod/PSP-formatted and streaming versions of Night of the Living Dead.
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Codemasters wants you to read books on your DS
Templar Publishing and Codemasters have struck a deal to release some games based on the Ology series of books. Due to hit the DS and Wii late next year, first three books in the series, Dragonology, Wizardology and Pirateology, are going to be the first of the titles to grace the systems.The difference in the DS and Wii versions of the games are supposedly going to be fairly vast, with the DS versions offering more of an interactive book experience. While we might have seen this idea as a little odd following the launch of the DS, for how many other non-games the system has, we're sure these interactive books will find their audience.
Gaming's money-making secrets available for free
If you ask rich people how they got rich, we doubt most of them will say it was by playing a lot of video games. Nevertheless, a new book promises to show you the path to untold riches for doing just that.Get Rich Playing Games is the brainchild of the ridiculously busy industry consultant, journalist and author Scott Steinberg (full disclosure: I worked with Scott on the Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual). The book details three main paths to gaming mega-bucks: developer, executive and journalist. Wait, journalist? Doesn't he realize what the average game journalist gets paid? Trust us, you'd have better chances getting rich trawling for change in your local fountain.The 177-page book is available as a $17.95 paperback or a free PDF eBook because, let's face it, no one ever got rich by paying for stuff.
The failure of the PS3: the book
A book was recently released in Japan called "????????????3????????????????" tries to answer the question "Why did the PS3 fail?" It's a bit early, but the sensational title certainly will turn heads (as it did ours).It's clear that system sales did not meet Sony's expectations. However, it's premature to declare any system a "winner" or "loser" in a generation that has been in motion for less than two years.[Thanks, Brandon! Via Canned Dog]
PSP becomes cover star of new "Cool Stuff" book
Seems like authors Jon Woodcock and Chris Woodford think the PSP is pretty cool. In fact, they're having it featured on their upcoming book "Cool Stuff 2.0." The book attempts to explain the technologies behind our everyday favorites -- we can't wait to see what they have to say about how the PSP works. Could it be magic? Gremlins? Miniature Ken Kutaragis? Hopefully, this book will reveal all.[Thanks, PocketGoddess!]
Halo novel Contact Harvest cover art exposed
This week's Bungie Weekly Update is full of witty banter between Luke and Frankie, a lack of Mister Chief and the cover art for upcoming Halo novel Contact Harvest. The novel's cover art, as seen above and even larger after the break, features Sgt. Johnson sporting some badass shades, his iconic cigar and is looking more ripped than ever. Indeed, the cover may be one of our favorites coming oh so close to our Ghosts of Onyx and its bubbly Spartan helmet dude. Contact Harvest will be available this October and is a a prequel to the previous novels telling the story of how the covenant came to be and how war on humanity began.
