Topic: The History Of Nintendo (book series)

[JonLeung]

A gentleman by the name of HEILIG Fabrice brought to my attention of the English version of Pix'n Love's "The History Of Nintendo" book series, now in English.

http://pixnlovepublishing.com/topic/index.html

I think I may have originally passed by it on GoNintendo, but HEILIG caught me in an impulse-purchase mood so I went ahead and pre-ordered a copy.  Hard for me to say no to a book about the history of my favourite game company; the first volume about all those mysterious years almost a century before the Game & Watch.  Looks like a solid series, and if I like it, you can bet I'll be buying the rest of the series, even though I was alive in those years and experienced the ever-changing world of Nintendo firsthand.  You know me - forever nostalgic.

I'm not getting any commission for mentioning this, I just figure you guys might think it's cool too.  Thanks again for HEILIG Fabrice for letting me know!  And apparently it's a limited-run thing too, so if anyone else is in an impulse-purchasy mood...

[TerraEsperZ]

Thanks for sharing with us!

I never heard of this series, but I might be tempted to buy the first one like you to get an idea of where it's going. Plus, it's one of those rare times where the original version is actually French (I prefer to buy stuff in their original version/language as much as possible) .

*EDIT*

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the only videogame book I actually bought, called Racing The Beam: The Atari Video Computer System. Even if I never owned or even played with an Atari 2600 system, I still found the book really interesting in its description of how the extreme hardware limitation of the system ended up shaping gaming for decades to come. It analyzes a few important games throughout the history of the system and how the limited hardware was exploited as much as possible to achieve what were practically miracles considering the system's anemic capabilities.

I would love to see a similar book being made about the NES and how its own hardware was exploited in inventive ways to create progressively better games. However, I doubt the NES had anywhere the same impact in terms of shaping the medium and thus such a book would likely end up being much more technical and less likely to sell a lot.

[JonLeung]

The first volume goes from 1889-1980 (I was born in 1980!), so I think there's going to be a lot of neat stuff I might not have ever seen in there.  I've certainly heard that they made playing cards and toys before they got into electronic gaming...wonder if they'll have pictures of the taxicab service and "love hotels" that Nintendo ran for a few years.  Then again, there likely won't be photos of the latter...  

The second volume focuses on the Game & Watch games.  It's likely going to be a complete catalog, since the dates look like 1980-1991.  This probably means that from here on, there will be a volume per product despite overlapping life spans.  The NES and Super NES volumes will be hot sellers, for sure.  Who wouldn't want them, at least as a reference?  (And as this series is not an official compendium, they won't be afraid to acknowledge the Virtual Boy, but my guess is that instead of releasing a dozen-page pamphlet, they'll just tack it onto the Nintendo 64 volume or something like that.)

But hopefully they sell enough of the first two volumes to get that far!  I'm sure this info is all on the 'net somewhere, but there's just something about a book that can be flipped through...

[werty]

thanks for sharing..that an interesting read

[JonLeung]

The release date was August 25, which was last Wednesday.  Probably a bit early to ask, but has anyone received their copy yet?

[JonLeung]

I guess it got a little delayed, but it's coming very soon!  I got this email:

Dear Readers,
Dear Friends !

We would like to thank you very much for your trust in our first publication in English. It is really extraordinary to see that you have placed orders from all over the World!
Our printer has just called us one hour ago and informed us that we will receive the History Of Nintendo (Volume 1) in the beginning of next week. We would like to present you our sincerest apologies for this delay! The print took a little bit more time than expected as the plastic cover was not easy to find... But it will be worth the additional waiting as our French readers would certainly confirm.
 We will take pictures of the delivery, and you will be able to follow the event on our blog: http://www.gameblog.fr/blogs/pixnlove/ ! Some of you might be surprised by the way we do our communication but this is who we are : easy passionate (French) guys.
We hope you will excuse our English in this e-mail. Don’t worry: our books are translated by professional translators! But for the usual communication, we have to write it ourselves. And it would be far easier in French, in Japanese or in German!
We wish you a wonderful weekend! See you in a few days!

The Pix'n Love team

----------
Pix'n Love - The archaeologists of video game history

http://pixnlovepublishing.com/topic/index.html
http://editionspixnlove.fr/

[Grizzly]

My copy of the book arrived today. It looks great, with that plastic cover and high-gloss paper. I haven't read much of it yet, so I cannot say much to the content.

[JonLeung]

I received my copy today!



Excuse the blurry photos, but I didn't feel like fixing the lighting, and besides, you should go buy your own copy! 

First impressions: I was surprised at how small it seemed (15 cm wide x 21 cm tall x 1.5 cm thick) - I guess I was wrongly expecting a coffee table book or something - but then I was amazed at how much information is in this book!  Over 240 pages, and every page is in full colour!  There is A LOT of text - which is awesome - but it may be a few weeks before I can have a full review!

I haven't really started reading this but I'm excited for Vol. 2 (featuring the Game & Watch), and the rest of the series!  At the back, it says what I was hoping for...Vol. 3 will indeed focus on the NES/Famicom!  That will be an incredible volume.  And Vol. 4 will be about the Game Boy.  Hopefully you guys will buy enough copies to get these guys able to produce a volume on the Super NES and beyond! 

I will have a full review after reading every word of this...

I love that on the first page, there's a personalized sticky note thanking me for this purchase.

[TerraEsperZ]

I can't wait to order those, but I've gone on a online buying shopping spree recently (lots of books and MP3s) so I prefer to wait a little. That, plus I'm going on vacation to France for two weeks soon and with my incredible luck, the books would manage to arrive right when I'm away with nobody to receive or hold my mail.

*EDIT*

I just realized there's a bookstore in Paris at the train station we'll visit that's listed on their site. With any luck, they just *might* have the books there

[JonLeung]

I just finished the book on the morning commute to work.

Full review coming soon, if I'm not spending too much time prepping for the Nintendo party I'm throwing next month...  >_<

[TerraEsperZ]

Didn't even manage to visit the store I mentioned earlier on account that the train station was freaking *big* (5 levels for various train and subway lines) and the store was located on the lowest floor in a section only accessible by arriving from a specific subway line as well as being only opened during work hours on week days. Guess I'll simply have to order them...

[TerraEsperZ]

A little update! Volume 3 is coming out on April 20th (in French at least)! And yes, I've long since ordered and received the first two and I can't wait for the next one, which will be about the Famicom !

[JonLeung]

Man, I hope they release them in English soon.  >_<  I loved the first book, but it's still quite removed from my time, I'm sure the nostalgia will really be there in Vol. 3 (and maybe a little in Vol. 2).

Is Vol. 2 as comprehensive as Vol. 1?  I was surprised that they managed to find enough stuff from Nintendo's first ninety years; by comparison, Game & Watches probably aren't as difficult to obtain and find information on.  I will certainly love Vol. 3 based on the Famicom/NES if it feels like a thorough catalogue of all the official games released for it!

[JonLeung]

And besides getting my replacement 3DS from Nintendo today (the 1st birthday of the 3DS), I also got "The History Of Nintendo - Vol. 2: Game & Watch".  An interesting coincidence, as the Game & Watch series is seen as the predecessor to the DS design...

[JonLeung]

Though I have nothing but heaps of praise for the first two volumes of The History of Nintendo by Pix'n Love Publishing, it seems their customer service is absolutely horrible.  I ordered some more books, and I've been waiting quite a while, but have not received my books or gotten a response.  I'll bombard them a bit more before requesting a refund through PayPal.

It's an incredible shame since their books are so good, the first two volumes of The History of Nintendo being among my favourite video game-related books ever.  But it seems they'd focus on making more books only in French and screwing over the rest of the world, at least from what I'm hearing.  I may join in the campaign telling everyone to just get their books elsewhere instead of through Pix'n Love Publishing's own web site.  Though I hope it doesn't discourage them from making more books in English.  The History Of Nintendo - Volume 3, which focuses on the NES, as well as The NES Bible (and other "Bibles" for other consoles) look incredible, I really hope they can translate them and get their international sales and service out of the gutter.  Maybe they should just let someone buy up the international rights to their books so it can happen without Pix'n Love's incompetence...

EDIT: Ironically I got the books I ordered from them this evening...The History Of Mario, The History Of Sonic, and Mario Goodies (Tanooki Limited Edition).  And after posting crap telling people not to buy from them just earlier today.  Maybe just be aware that it takes over three months, and I don't know if my several emails had anything to do with it, but they never responded once.  Great books, slow shipping, bad customer service.