Book Spotlight: Matthew's Memories
about 4 years ago
– Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 11:16:28 PM
And now, a true story that's still with me today:
While the Howard's Now Playing comics will focus on behind-the-scenes stories related to Howard's work at Nintendo, the Matthew's Memories strips will instead offer a gamer's perspective at the time. As such, they're more personal anecdotes about what games had an impact (in every sense of the word!) on myself. These blue-hued comics will not be as frequent as the Howard's Now Playing ones, but I hope you'll find them relatable when they pop up. Maybe they'll remind you of your own favorite memories of playing games as a kid!
-Matthew
Onward to 2022
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Jan 01, 2022 at 12:22:28 PM
2021 is wrapping up! It was a big year for Howard and myself, and 2022 promises to be even wilder with the book’s official release.
While we’d hoped to start firing off copies of GAMEMASTER CLASSIFIED to you guys starting in February of ’22, this year has been anything but predictable and it’ll take a bit more time in the oven to get it all ready. We apologize for the delay, but are very proud of the hundreds of unique illustrations drawn and paragraphs written already.
The book’s main chapters are very steadily taking shape, and the bulk of the remaining work at this point is in that laundry list of stretch goals that we managed to hit after the estimated Feb ’22 date was suggested.
And this is where you guys come in: if you backed a tier that included a Player’s Pulse letter or art, now’s the time to get cracking! Well, the art in particular since I know firsthand how taxing that can be. We’ll be sending out the surveys within the next few months (and I’ll let you know for sure the month prior, so stand by), and one of the categories will ask for your art or question/comment. And unlike most of the things in the survey, we need this art/comment before the GMC’s completion so that we can incorporate it into the book itself.
This also applies to anyone with a game in the Wall of Fame, but this shouldn’t be the type of contribution that requires a lot of prep work beforehand, so no worries there. (And if you didn’t back a tier with either of these things and have no idea what I’m talking about right now, you can just sit tight)
Until then, back to work we go! Thanks for the support, and have a Happy New Year!
-Matthew
Level 6 cleared...finally! Lost in Translation section on the way
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Dec 01, 2021 at 06:46:22 PM
Here's something we're thankful for: the preorder numbers have pushed the grand total past 100k, meaning we've reached the last stretch goal!
Level 6 CLEARED: "LOST IN TRANSLATION" - 100k
EarthBound. Advance Wars. Fire Emblem. Just a few of the beloved game series that got their start on the Famicom...yet didn't reach the West until much later! This additional section of the book will be focused on these and other imports as Howard and Matthew reflect on the decisions to not bring them to the NES. As Matthew is quite the EarthBound fan in particular, he's sure to have a few things to say...!
Thanks again for all your support to make this book possible!
-Matthew
Book Spotlight: Howard's Now Playing
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Oct 30, 2021 at 07:34:38 AM
Happy Halloween!
Today's update isn't of the spooky variety, but it's sure to be a treat regardless. Each chapter will feature "Howard's Now Playing," a comic strip series of autobiographical--and totally true--shenanigans that the Gamemaster got involved in during his time at Nintendo. As alluded to in a past update, sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction. Here are a bunch of panels taken out of context to give a taste of things to come:
Can you guess the stories they foretell?
With the Matthew's Memories comics, blue is the central color choice, but with Howard's Now Playing, I decided on the orange monochrome for a variety of reasons: it matches the Howard character's iconic hair and bow tie, it's a good complement to blue, and it gives a sort of nostalgic sepia-tone throughout. However, in both types of comics, any NES games represented in the art will use the NES's own color palette as the unifying piece tying the NOA and gamer fan halves together. Am I overthinking this?
At any rate, enjoy your frightful weekends. We're not quite ready to prep surveys yet, but we'll begin that process pretty soon, so if you've got some art you wanted to submit, it'd be a good time to start thinking about what you want to make.
-By Matthew
Back to Normalcy
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Sep 30, 2021 at 06:26:21 PM
Without delving too deeply, it's been a hectic few weeks for both myself and the Gamemaster. But no worries! We're rolling with the punches and are now back to our normal routine for GMC.
For this month's preview, I've got more illustrations at the ready! Try to figure out which NES title each is from; these will really test your retro knowledge. Your only hint is that they all debuted on the same year.
1. VERY EASY MODE
This Joust-like first-party title was programmed by one of my favorite Nintendo employees. I still think the main character would be a good fit for Smash Bros.
2. EASY MODE
This particular image should look familiar to anyone who's put a few minutes into this white-knuckle action-platformer. Actually, the game in question is our Debate for this particular chapter; it's a series Howard seems to enjoy a lot more than I do (I'd wager I may need a flame shield even more than our poor protagonist up there)!
3. NORMAL MODE
Nothin' like a good ol' shmup to lower your stress (or perhaps raise it?). Remember, failure is not an option, and Options will keep you from failure!
4. HARD MODE
Things are starting to get obscure! This fellow originally kicked back between stages with a cigarette in the arcade version, but you won't find him engaging in such activity on the NES. Catching a quick bite before his next mission ensures he'll be full of beans and ready to blast away bad guys.
5. GAMEMASTER MODE
Yep, it's two games represented this time--and both from the same publisher. Wacky and obscure platformers were really starting to crop up everywhere, and this year was no exception. Can you recognize these wide-eyed protagonists?
-Matthew
