The Untold History Of Japanese Game Developers

The contents of this book are identical to the version with blue cover. The only difference is the cover and ISBN number. This book reveals more secrets about the untold history of Japanese game developers than ever before, with 36 interviewees and exclusive archive photos. Konami's secret games console, the origin of Game Arts and Quintet, unusual events at Telenet, stories on Falcom, politics behind Enix's game programming contests, a tour of the Love-de-Lic and WARP offices (with layout sketches). Every interviewee is asked about unreleased titles. Foreword by GAMESIDE magazine's editor-in-chief, Yusaku Yamamoto. Hitoshi YONEDA: Japanese cover artist, Falcom, Sega, Phantasy Star II cover Tatsuo NOMURA: Google engineer, 8-bit Maps, working with Square-Enix, Dragon Quest Katsutoshi EGUCHI: Life of Kenji Eno, Real Sound for Saturn, Bitmap Brothers, Gods and Xenon 2, CESA and ratings, Dreamcast creation, Michael Nyman, WARP Toru HIDAKA: Enix programmer, lecturer, Kouichi Nakamura, PC-88 (code, graphics, music), converting Ultima, a changing industry Roy OZAKI & Kouichi YOTSUI: Mitchell Corp, Capcom (rare photos), Pang and Bubble Buster, Strider, Cannon Dancer, Gamshara, Puzz Loop and Zuma, Polarium, Suzuki Bakuhatsu, Namco's System 10 board, Nintendo, Data East, gangsters Masaaki KUKINO: Konami and SNK (office map), unreleased games, Haunted Castle (aka: Castlevania), Asterix, Crime Fighters, Silent Scope, King of Fighters Suikoden Chapter: Yoshitaka Murayama, Harry Inaba, Jeremy Blaustein, Casey Loe, Konami's unreleased games console/handheld, difficulties of localisation Ryukushi07: Visual novels, eroge, doujin, Comiket, Umineko, Higurashi When They Cry, Rose Gun Days, Key, Jun Maeda Kotaro UCHIKOSHI: Visual novels, Pepsiman, Memories Off, Never 7, Ever 17, Remember 11, EVE, pressures of making erotic games, 999, Virtue's Last Reward, Danganronpa ZUN: Touhou shooters, PC-98 versus Windows, office sketches, Taito, Bujingai, PS2 bench-marking, Comiket, doujin, indie, beer Yoshiro KIMURA: Square Soft, Romancing SaGa, Rule of Rose, Chulip, Little King's Story, Love-de-Lic (office sketches), Moon, Lack of Love, Kenichi Nishi, Grasshopper, rare art Kouji YOKOTA: Telenet, Falcom, Game Arts, Quintet (rare photos), Megami Tensei on FC and MSX, ActRaiser, Illusion of Gaia, Gaiares, Lunar: EB, Valis, history of Ys III, Masaki Hashimoto & Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, Granstream Saga Jun Nagashima: Falcom (office sketch), creation of Popful Mail, Ys V on SFC, Studio Alex Yuzo KOSHIRO: Falcom, Sega, Quintet, Ancient, sister joining industry, doujin, The Scheme, music column, studio tour, Joe Hisaishi, origin of Sonic on 8-bit systems, Bare Knuckle 4 Masamoto MORITA: Sega (layout), arcade rivalry with consoles, end of Sega hardware, Die Hard Arcade Akira TAKIGUCHI: ASCII, AX series, Game Arts, Taito deals, MSX prototype, Apple II in Japan, PC-6001, CBM PET Masakuni MITSUHASHI: ASCII, AX series, Game Arts, Silpheed on PC-88 and MCD, cut content, Lunar: EB debugging Kohei IKEDA: Game Arts co-founder (office maps), Thexder, new model of PC-88, shift to consoles Hiroshi SUZUKI: First stealth game, deal with Taito, Lupin III, computers Tomonori SUGIYAMA: Vanguard, Enix, unreleased Saturn hardware, Game Arts, Falcom, Lunar: SSS and EB for MCD and Saturn, Grandia Yutaka ISOKAWA: Namco's desire to launch a console, Enix, Vanguard, Catrap, NeGcon Yasuhito SAITO: dB-SOFT, Data West (maps), programming 177, Macadam Soft, Bounty Arms (PS1), Layla (FC), Rayxanber, Cross Blaim Takaki KOBAYASHI & Keite ABE: dB-SOFT, Agenda, SmileBoom, Riot City, Prince of Persia, SNK Keiji INAFUNE: Mega Man, Mighty No.9, Capcom, Comcept, Akira Kitamura Stephen & William ROZNER: Mega Man 1 & 3 for DOS, Capcom USA, Street Fighter on C64, Mega Man X and Street Fighter II on PC Makoto GOTO: Shubibinman 2, Don Quixote (MEGA LD)

Detailed contents listing here: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/books/the-untold-history-of-japanese-game-developers-volume-2/ Nearly 400 pages and over 30 interviews, with exclusive content on the history of Japanese games. The origins of Hudson, Masaya's epic robot sagas, Nintendo's funding of a PlayStation RTS, detailed history of Westone Entertainment, and a diverse range of unreleased games. Includes exclusive office layout maps, design documents, and archive photos. In a world first - something no other journalist has dared examine - there's candid discussion on the involvement of Japan's yakuza in the industry. Forewords by Retro Gamer founding editor Martyn Carroll and game history professor Martin Picard.

Nearly 400 pages and over 30 interviews, with exclusive content on the history of Japanese games. The origins of Hudson, Masaya's epic robot sagas, Nintendo's funding of a PlayStation RTS, detailed history of Westone Entertainment, and a diverse range of unreleased games. Includes exclusive office layout maps, design documents, and archive photos. In a world first - something no other journalist has dared examine - there's candid discussion on the involvement of Japan's yakuza in the industry. Forewords by Retro Gamer founding editor Martyn Carroll and game history professor Martin Picard.

Japan has produced thousands of intriguing video games. But not all of them were released outside of the country, especially not in the 1980s and 90s. While a few of these titles have since been documented by the English-speaking video game community, a huge proportion of this output is unknown beyond Japan (and even, in some cases, within it). Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: Japanese Video Game Obscurities seeks to catalogue many of these titles – games that are weird, compelling, cool or historically important. The selections represent a large number of genres – platformers, shoot-em-ups, role-playing games, adventure games – across nearly four decades of gaming on arcade, computer and console platforms. Featuring the work of giants like Nintendo, Sega, Namco and Konami alongside that of long-forgotten developers and publishers, even those well versed in Japanese gaming culture are bound to learn something new.

Reviews of over 300 graphic adventure games, focusing on games from prominent publishers such as LucasArts, Sierra On-Line, and Legend Entertainment but covering games from independent developers as well. Reviews primarily cover games published 1984-2000. Interviews with game creators/developers Al Lowe, Corey Cole, Bob Bates, and Josh Mandel are included.

Now a documentary on CBS All Access. Following the success of The Accidental Billionaires and Moneyball comes Console Wars—a mesmerizing, behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how Sega, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video game industry. In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But that would all change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, a man who knew nothing about videogames and everything about fighting uphill battles. His unconventional tactics, combined with the blood, sweat and bold ideas of his renegade employees, transformed Sega and eventually led to a ruthless David-and-Goliath showdown with rival Nintendo. The battle was vicious, relentless, and highly profitable, eventually sparking a global corporate war that would be fought on several fronts: from living rooms and schoolyards to boardrooms and Congress. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the US against Japan. Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, Console Wars is the underdog tale of how Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punchline into a market leader. It’s the story of how a humble family man, with an extraordinary imagination and a gift for turning problems into competitive advantages, inspired a team of underdogs to slay a giant and, as a result, birth a $60 billion dollar industry. A best book of the year: NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, Goodreads

UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHROIZED! Beginning as a 1986 science fiction/horror novel, Megami Tensei has since grown to become one of the most expansive Japanese RPG series of all time, comprising of over thirty titles in variety of subgenres. As the original "monster collecting" game, the heroes converse with hundreds of demons across various world mythologies and convince them to join their cause. While early entries focused on exploring post-apocalyptic Tokyo, the series has branched out in several different directions, putting you in the role of demon-hunting detectives and high school students, across other spinoffs like Devil Summoner, Persona, and Devil Survivor. This book catalogs all of them and untangles the web of the this complicated but fascinating series, reviewing many Japanese-only entries as well as other incredibly obscure titles within the series. Included features are reviews for every mainline and spinoff entry in the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series, including Devil Summoner, Devil Survivor, Last Bible, and all others, with over 30 extensive reviews in all; trivia and recurring elements; essays introducing the series and analyzing its use of demons; and reviews of various anime, manga, and other media tie-ins.