Guys.
New Super Luigi U is destroying me.
In other news, I’m currently working on laying out GameSpite Journal 14, the second part of the Sega retrospective. And… I think that’s going to be it for GameSpite Journal. It’s been fun making these, but very few people are interested in them anymore, and I don’t really see the sense in publishing into a vacuum. I’m pretty proud of our ragtag crew for managing to put out a book every three months for four years — that’s crazy! But clearly the novelty’s worn off and each book gets a tiny fraction of the sales and a tiny fraction of the online traffic that they used to earn, so it’s not really worth our time anymore. At the risk of sounding selfish, I’m thinking especially of my own time; each book eats up more than a month’s worth of my free time, and I wouldn’t mind having that back.
Thank you very, very much to the couple dozen of you who have stuck with it through thick, thin, and rapacious Blurb price hikes.
Of course, you know me. I’ll be sinking that time into other projects… hopefully more interesting projects. And I’ll still put the Anatomy of a Game stuff into print, because it’s fun to lay those things out, and the content’s already written. But mostly I want to focus on USgamer and Retronauts for the time being. They’re pretty much dream projects.
I’m a lucky man, being able to make a living doing what I love.
Always loved those books and would have continued buying them. Thanks for all the hard work, and the autograph even haha. Excited about the return of Retronauts!
Ah, that’s a shame. With two kids (and little knowledge of Sega) I haven’t been writing for them lately, but I’ll be sad to see them stop. Thanks for doing so much work putting these books together. I’ve really enjoyed participating.
Thanks for contributing!
Now I’m sad I haven’t had the money to adopt the Anatomy of a Game books since those are currently the only GSJs I’m missing. :(
Still, I don’t think anyone can fault you for moving on if there’s no longer any value in it, plus the time constraints and other projects you have going on. Thank you for the books though, they were the what got me interested in having a library of worthwhile reading material on game history, and I still recommend and make people read articles that either spoke to me or I found particularly important (your retrospective on Super Metroid in #2 or the Wrath of Khan article in #9, just to name a few). My only regret is that I never got to contribute. Just as well, since writing anything longer than a forum post or a comment seems to be really difficult these days.
Aw, man. That sucks. Better go get the ones that are left that I don’t have already.
Also, thanks so much for letting me contribute. I know I was a bit of a writing newbie, but you put up with me and my blast of articles in GSJ12, and I’m thankful for that. Think there’s any chance for putting something together in an online-only capacity? Or an e-book?
Also, so happy that you get to do what you do. And I’m super-happy about your being involved in USGamer. I love what all you folks are doing over there so far.
Dang, I always kind of wanted to be able to contribute to one, especially after the batch I received for Festivus not too long ago.
Do the Anatomy of a Game books count separately?
And on that first note, now I’m nervous about New Super Luigi U…
Had a lot of fun writing for GameSpite, particularly the Mega Man X8 and Breath of Fire III articles. Thanks for letting me contribute!
Really sad to hear it, but I can’t say I didn’t see this gradually creeping up over the last year or so.
I suppose now all us contributers need to find some other crazy venue for writing about old games nobody else feels like talking about. Or more traditional freelance work maybe.
Sad news, although I feared we wouldn’t even get the second part of the Sega retrospective, since you never talked about it after the “Anatomy of” series took off. FWiW, I really liked the Gamespite Journals. They offered a kind of breezy reading about games that’s hard to get in print. “Anatomy of” sadly won’t fill that gap, although it’s worthy content in its own right of course. Looking forward to reading the final Journal!
Hate to see it go, though I understand the decision as I suspended my own contributions a year or so ago to focus on my own work.
I’ll make sure to read USGamer to get my fill of thoughtful game journalism now.
Thanks for putting together the series of books. They all look great on my bookshelf and I’ve enjoyed reading each and every one of them.
“And I’ll still put the Anatomy of a Game stuff into print”
Definitely glad to hear that. Absolutely loved the look of the Zelda book (the first color book that I’ve purchased).
I also wanted to say thank you for going through all of the time and effort to release these books on a regular basis. They were fantastic, and it was great to have various gaming retrospectives in a physical format.
Also, thank you for allowing me to contribute! Like Sarcasmorator said, I haven’t been as active lately due to life events (engagements! wedding planning!) and a tragic lack of Sega knowledge, but being able to write for such a unique and well-designed publication was a dream come true. I mean, I was able to ramble on about crazy cult classics (Deadly Premonition) to beloved masterpieces of sadistic game design (Demon’s Souls) and other people actually read my work. CRAZY! Thank you again for the opportunity.
Good luck with your future projects! I can’t wait for the new incarnation of Retronauts, and I love what I’ve seen from USGamer so far.
It was a great run! Thanks for letting me contribute!
That’s a shame. I really enjoyed these. I guess now I don’t have to worry about my rapidly declining shelf space? Nah that’s no comfort at all. Anyway, I’ll look forward to what remains. Thanks for being fond of printed books and putting out a good series!
Like others I’m a bit sad to see the project wind down, but if had a great run and I was honored to be a part of it. Almost by accident! If I hadn’t somehow gotten myself roped into writing about Granstream Saga lo back in the days of ToastyFrog zine issues, I’m not sure I ever would have started. Now I’m slightly shocked to find myself with a writing portfolio of a dozen long pieces and a score more short ones. How’d that happen?
Anyway, what I’m saying is it was a great experience and I’d like to thank everyone involved, especially Jeremy and the ungodly number of hours he’s sunk into the project that made ll of us look good.
Boo. I loved the first Sega retrospective. I was going to ask how I could contribute.
Sad to see it go
Chiming in to say I’m sad to see the GameSpite Journals going away. I’ve only been able to buy a few, but they’ve been read and re-read around here. Question, though: Will it still be possible to buy the existing volumes even after you stop making more? I don’t want to sound self-centered, but I also would like to be able to buy more of these when the funds permit.
Sorry to see this all come to an end! Though, I’m glad I was able to contribute a little to the project. Best of luck in future projects and endeavors!
Oh, and thanks for the opportunity!
It’s been a hell of a ride, that’s for sure. I’d just like to say thanks to all our fellow contributors over the past four to five years and especially to Parish for not only enabling the Journal but helping to put it together.
As someone who’s been buying the GameSpite Journals from the start (and feeling increasingly dumb for paying Blurb’s ridiculously overpriced shipping costs), I’m sorry to hear you’ll be pulling the plug on them. Still, I’ve been enjoying your articles on USGamer and will certainly keep checking there every day – that 1983 retrospective you’ve been doing is almost like a mini-Journal by itself, in the good sense of the word.
I hate Blurb so much. Their constant price and shipping rate increases have played a huge part in the waning interest in this series. It’s a real frustration that they won’t simply offer media rate shipping. I don’t think most people would care if it took an extra few days to get their book if it saved them five bucks.
As a big Sega fan who always lamented that Sega didn’t get the great, great coverage that nearly everything else got around here (seriously, great coverage from all), it sounds like a pretty good way to close the series.
Thanks for the hard work and great writing, Parish and Co. Looking forward to more Anatomy stuff.
Booooooooooo! This makes me sad. Actually sad, not internet sad
That’s a bummer. I really enjoyed all the GameSpite Journals/Quarterlys (I own all but the Year Two volume). They’re perfect for reading by the pool or before bed.
The Blurb shipping costs were ridiculous. So much so that I routinely waited until 2 or 3 GSJ/Qs were published, and then bought them all at once to save on shipping. On your end, I realize waiting 9 months for someone to buy your product isn’t great, but it is what it is.
I’m glad you started releasing them on PDF. I just got a tablet a few months ago, and that’s been working really well.