My Next Project: BitMusical!
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Jul 03, 2023 at 11:27:03 AM
Hi GMC readers,
I told you I'd update you, so here's the deal: I'm making animated, original songs about video games now! Take a look at the first two below:
Here's a remake of a song I originally made over 13 years ago. And here's something brand new featuring a couple of very retro characters:
If you enjoyed this, please take a look at the Patreon for all sorts of goodies like MP3s and sheet music.
As for GMC, we're almost sold out of our original batch and are looking into publishing, so hopefully that goes well! Either way, this will likely be the last update from me for a good while, so thank you for all the support in helping us get published.
-Matthew Taranto
That's a wrap! So what's next?
over 1 year ago
– Tue, May 30, 2023 at 10:20:39 AM
Hi everyone,
By this point, you all should've received your copies of GAMEMASTER CLASSIFIED. If not, please let me know so I can rectify this ASAP!
Our initial shipment was fairly small to get out to you backers and sell a few extra for people excited about the book. But we're looking into getting published so that the reach can be much greater, particularly for all our international fans who weren't able to order one yet. We're still trying to determine which course of action is best in that regard though.
My next project is something I'm hoping to launch in just a couple months and I'll keep you posted on it when I'm ready to reveal it. In the meantime though, I'm still contributing comics to NF Magazine, and contributing art to this upcoming NF-published book: The Impact of Iwata by Lucas Thomas!
Its campaign just went live, and it delivers a look at gaming history from the viewpoint of Nintendo's programmer-turned-president, the late great Satoru Iwata. Check it out!
Howard himself is planning a big move for his home, so I'm extremely grateful that he took time out of his trip to cross the planet in order to land in Louisiana for a week and sign books (and then travel back internationally). I wish him the best of luck in his search and am thankful for the time spent working together with him.
And lastly, of course, I have to thank all of you backers for your patience and support throughout this project; it couldn't have happened without you. Keep playing!
-Matthew Taranto
THEY'RE COMING...
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Apr 19, 2023 at 03:38:54 PM
It's been a big week for GAMEMASTER CLASSIFIED! Let's take a journey on where the books have been in the last few days...
Like so many stories, it starts in a warehouse...
These four pallets just barely fit on the truck. Props to the forklift guy for his Tetrising of the books just so.
Here comes trouble! I drove the books to my house without too much of an issue, but unloading the boxes was a real headache (or backache, rather), so props to my neighbor for helping with the unloading.
Invasion of the boxes! Good thing Totoro up there is keeping an eye out.
A closer look at the bubble mailers so many GMCs will be sent out in. Props to my parents, brother, friend, aunt, and others for assisting with the craziness this week.
This is but a small fraction of the books! Not sure why I put the Virtual Boy in this photo.
The Gamemaster himself! Welcome to our humble home, Howard!
We signed a ton of books this week... (1.2 tons, to be exact)
Even more packages all lined up! Toddler not included.
Long story short, you'll be getting your packages very soon, likely before the end of the month! Canada/Mexico backers will be a few more weeks, but everything will be moving by the end of this week at least. Digital-related rewards will also be fulfilled before next week. Many of you have likely gotten mail confirmations from "BitFinity Games," that's just us.
It was a joy finally meeting Howard Phillips in person; even though we filled a book with cool info and fun stories, he still had plenty more to tell and was a tireless worker (which makes sense considering his background in shipping and packing game-related merch). The business cards were very cool as well!
Please let me know if you have any problems with your order when you get it in and I'll do my best to rectify things. Until then, Howard and I sincerely hope you enjoy the book!
-Matthew
News and Gallery
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Mar 31, 2023 at 03:07:19 PM
Salutations, backers!
This should be the very last monthly update before I have our initial set of 2000 (!) books, all stuffed into my house! The shipment will be arriving via train to my home within 3 or 4 weeks of this post. The one tricky aspect is getting Howard down here at the right time for the signing process; the Gamemaster is a busy man and has a lot of international commitments slated for the late Spring. But we're putting our heads together and figuring out the best way to get both of us and the books in the same place this coming month (we're looking into expediting the transport time of the cargo. That's what KS funds are for, after all). Thanks again for your continued patience.
Oh, look what I got:
Howard sent his business cards to my address! Quite cool seeing all this history in a handful of Ziploc bags, and as you can see, one of them makes a brief appearance in the book itself. If you backed at a tier to receive one (or more) of these bad boys, it will be arriving in the same package as your book(s).
Closing out, I'd like to showcase this new set of photos full of never-before-seen sections of the book...
Thanks to your submissions, the Player's Pulse section turned out great! These are just 2 pages of the 6 we feature in the book.
Each year's Wrap-Up features a spirited debate between the Gamemaster and myself, just to keep things spicy. For this particular chapter, Howard has gone to bat for the quirky action-adventure TMNT, while I prefer its beat-em-up sequel. I made sure to give a shout-out to the wonderful Conquest of the Crystal Palace in the Hidden Gems writeup as well.
The five submissions we got for Collector's Corner all turned out terrific! There are some incredible displays to showcase in this section.
GAMEMASTER CLASSIFIED opens with Nintendo B.C., a stroll through Nintendo's years leading up to the Famicom. The two-toned approach of this section goes through Nintendo history on the top in red, and (non-Nintendo) video game history on the bottom in teal. Technically, the Color TV-Game 6 was Nintendo's first home console, but there's definitely a clear divide between the company's pre-Famicom and post-Famicom days, so this early section digs into that.
Ever a fan of top (whatever) lists, I had to get Howard to choose his Top 30 NES games for the book. What could the #1 choice be...? Naturally, I have my own list as well, and as seen above, our opinions can differ pretty wildly. Once we finally meet in person, perhaps we'll have another spirited debate about the merits of the Turtles games and Dragon Warrior...!
-Matthew
Small progress update
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Feb 28, 2023 at 11:59:23 AM
Hi-ho backers! I'm intent on giving you guys monthly transparent updates to keep you informed, but today's is admittedly a little less exciting. According to my provider, the initial orders of 2,000 copies of GMC are roughly 95% done being printed/assembled and will soon take the journey to reach my home in Louisiana. The length of this process can vary but my estimation of you guys getting your books in the next week or two was perhaps too optimistic.
So hang tight; it'll be a few more weeks still before I'll be receiving them and packing them up. Apologies for the inconvenience but we're in the home stretch now. The single book here is something I've had a lot of fun reading and showing to various family members.
You should have received replies from me if you messaged me on Kickstarter, but don't hesitate to ask any further questions. Addresses are now locked so if there's still an issue with yours, check with me via Kickstarter message and I'm sure we can work something out.
