GQJ9 on sale now (yeah, it’s a J now instead of a Q)

Yep, it’s that time again. Three months have gone by, and that means another issue of GameSpite Quarterly is available on our Blurb store. I’ve changed the name to GameSpite Journal (because there’s no way future issues will be anywhere near as regular now that I have a whole other site I need to pour all my time into), but I’m keeping the numeration the same because reboots are for people without the courage of their convictions. Yeah! If you’re gonna make a sequel, cop to it, folks.

I’ve subtitled GameSpite Journal 9 “Games and Mortality,” but that really only describes the first quarter of the book or so — the largest thematic cluster within this volume. The full contents are wide-ranging, and in fact you can see just how wide-ranging if you click the link to the issue index that I conveniently placed at the beginning of this paragraph. Mainly I went with this subtitle so I could have an excuse to put Mario, Sonic, Shiren, and Lara “Reboot” Croft into an Ingmar Bergman homage. I fear the impact of the cover design may be somewhat diminished by the resemblance of the title to a Calvin Klein logo, though. Well, what are ya gonna do.

You can get a sample of this issue’s wares with the first article from the book,  Conquering Death, which is now online. I’ll try posting a GSJ9 article every day this week, though my impending trip to cover San Diego Comic-Con could well put a crimp in that plan.

For those who just want to jump straight ahead to the checkout line (though seriously, who does that?), here are the direct links to the different versions of this issue:

You may notice something different about this line-up; specifically, the presence of two new editions. Right before I uploaded these — and I mean, like, hours before — Blurb began offering the ability to publish the small, pocket-sized format we use in color. As it happens, I do all issue layouts with color images to make it easier to publish the web version. So I figured, eh, what the heck. I am well aware that these color editions are preposterously expensive, and the books weren’t properly designed to use color, so I don’t really expect anyone to make use of the color option. In fact, I honestly kind of advise against it. To make it worse, this issue’s page count was somewhat inflated by the looser, cleaner text formatting I used to improve the reading experience. It really is an easy book on the eyes, but it’s an easier compromise in B&W where the extra 50 pages cost a couple of dollars more than my platonic ideal of $12-13 for the paperback version. In color, though, the extra folios bump the price up by something like eight bucks. And there are a bunch of pages that have no color at all! So, seriously, unless you’re just incredibly rich and totally reckless with your money, stick with the B&W books this time. Future issues (or at least, some of them) will be designed with color in mind, meaning more vibrant layouts and slimmer page counts.

But whatever you opt for — and don’t forget that simply waiting to read the articles for free when I post them here is a valid and sensible option that I encourage you to consider! — I hope you enjoy this issue. There are some truly wonderful articles this time around. I realize I say that every time, but, well, GameSpite’s writers keep producing better and better content, you know? Nothing I can do when the bar is consistently raised except be honest about it.

P.S., please remember that the coupon code ADBLURB should net you a 20% discount. If you’re crazy enough to opt for color, you’d darned well better use that code.

24 thoughts on “GQJ9 on sale now (yeah, it’s a J now instead of a Q)”

  2. Hmm, Blurb says I can’t use that coupon code unless I’m the book’s author. Though I may have used the code before too, that might be the reason, who knows. Ordering a B&W copy anyway.

  3. Regarding BLURB20:

    “Sorry, this promotion cannot be be applied to books you did not author.”

  4. Looks great! Can’t wait to get my hands on it. I know you’re now busier than ever, but any chance we’ll ever see GameSpite Year One, Vol. 2? It’s weird to have the articles from July 2007-June 2008 that cover A – L, but not L – Z. My first book needs its companion!

  8. The “Seventh Seal” cover is brilliant. That’s worth the price of admission alone…

    …which was $62-something since I had to have the hardcover color version (thank the heavens for that code you shared, otherwise obsessive compulsive folks like me would be long ago bankrupt).

  9. Death is not game over in Ultima I either, which predates Dragon Quest, nor in the next six sequels(II thru VII). It just might be a big setback in the earlier games. When your users don’t even have a hard drive and there’s only enough space on the game disk for one save, you have no choice but to give them an out if they save in a no-win situation.

  11. You could have just said “I wanted an excuse to put Shiren on there” and we would have forgiven you.

  15. “Sorry, the promotion code you entered isn’t available in your selected currency. Make sure you’ve selected the right currency.
    Sorry, your product total does not meet the minimum amount required for this promotion”

    Are there any discount codes for us UK chaps? Thanks.

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