The Non-Nintendo Games
almost 3 years ago
– Mon, Jun 28, 2021 at 04:07:31 PM
Happy Summer!
Naturally, GAMEMASTER CLASSIFIED will cover a heck of a lot of Nintendo-related history and games, but we'll also be giving a nod to some of the notable releases outside of The Big N that hit arcades, the Sega Genesis, etc.
Today's update will test your knowledge of some of these other games! As you may have already surmised from our Summary page update, each chapter's intro pages features highlights from both Nintendo games, and other companies'. See if you can guess which games are displayed in each illustration below:
There are 3 games featured in A, 2 in B and C, and 3 in D. For Hard Mode, see if you can guess which year each piece is representing! (Hint: they're in chronological order)
There's also a fun challenge for NF Magazine subscribers in the upcoming issue, which I will share with you guys soon as well.
We're still plugging away at the content and are on track. I'm hoping it may still be feasible to hit that final Stretch Goal through the preorder store, so let your buddies know!
Thanks,
-Matthew
Book Spotlight: Classified Information
almost 3 years ago
– Thu, May 27, 2021 at 02:08:20 PM
Comics and colorful layouts are all well and good, but sometimes you need a bit of a meatier story to sink your teeth into. Enter the Classified Information section of the book! These more substantial (but still brisk) articles dig a little deeper into some of the more curious and controversial happenings at the time. Howard also isn't shy about providing his own perspective on these events as well!
We're shooting for around 4 to 6 of these per yearly chapter. Check out a couple below:
This tale gets a bit technical but is an interesting reflection on both the creativity and slightly questionable practices that could go down in the tech industry of the '80s. The anti-Japanese sentiment is quite a glimpse into an unfortunate side-effect of Nintendo entering the game business.
As a Nintendo fan, I find these stories fascinating because I feel like there are a lot of takeaways from them--not only from a historical perspective but also on both how clever and cutthroat the industry-shapers could be at the time.
As for the design of this section, it's naturally based heavily on the classic Nintendo Power password-focused feature of the same name! Longtime NP readers may remember a bit of controversy with the magazine eventually dropping the manilla folders (much to some readers' chagrin), so I made sure to bring 'em back, complete with relevant "sticker"-like logos to give a splash of color to the proceedings. And like a few other sections of the book, this one has a few different headers that will change and rotate to keep the visual variety going.
-Matthew
Character art from the Reviews sections
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 09:00:56 PM
Hi everyone! For today's update, we'll be taking a look at some of the featured art I'm doing for the Year in Reviews section. Some of the art will bundle a couple games together (especially if they're tied thematically like Star Wars/Star Trek or share a developer). You can check out what I've been working on for our 1989 section of reviews. Many of them are based directly off of official art, boxart, or iconic sequences from the titles. Do you recognize all 11 of the games listed featured below (there are four in the Game Boy image)?
That last game shown is contextual in a way in that it's a particular point of contention for Howard and me--it's the main image for our 1989 Debate section! Where does your opinion lie on this particular well-known NES RPG?
Thanks again for the support. We aim to have at least one update a month, so stay tuned for more looks at GAMEMASTER CLASSIFIED!
-By Matthew
That's a wrap! Pre-order link now open
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Mar 14, 2021 at 10:23:38 AM
A WINNER IS YOU! In 30 days, you managed to help us steamroll our 23k goal for a grand total of $96,792.63! Thank you from the bottom of our heart containers.
Now, we have a new link/store for all future pre-orders of GAMEMASTER CLASSIFIED. Check it out--comes in signed and unsigned variants, although the other tiers were KS-exclusive.
Gosh, that number is awfully close to the 100k goal for Lost in Translation. Maybe if we got enough pre-orders at this point we could potentially still hit it... (psst, tell your friends!)
Once again, we appreciate all the support over this past month. Now to get cracking on the rest of the book! Make sure you check in with us periodically when we'll have new info and pages to share.
Thanks again,
-Matthew
Final hours! LET'S-A GO (is that too modern a reference?)
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Mar 10, 2021 at 09:52:55 PM
This is it, everyone--the last day of the campaign. Let's go out with a bang! Tell your Player Twos!
In case you missed out on chatting with Howard on Saturday, he's now hosting an Ask Me Anything of his own over on Reddit. Drop a line to the original game counselor and get info straight from the source (maybe he'll even tell you where Level 7 is)!
Above all else though, thank you guys so much for a fantastic month and a great launch for this book's journey. We both promise to put our best feet forward in making this an entertaining and informative book worthy of our own pedigrees.
Thanks again!
-Matthew
