The good news: The first print volume of Game Boy World is now available, compiling all GBW articles from 1989 as well as some new supplemental material and high-resolution photography and scans of the packaging for every game included in this volume. It’s available in two versions:
(Try using the coupon code APRILLIGHTS — it should save you roughly the cost of shipping and tax.)
You may notice the massive price difference between the two. You may also notice that they don’t feature the same layout. These two facts are, as it turns out, related. When I went to upload the book to Blurb, I noticed that the paperback option for the 10×8″ landscape-format photo books had climbed in price to the point that it would have been nearly as expensive as the hardback, which is kind of pointless. Considering how costly self-published material is, why scrimp when you could own a much nicer edition for a few bucks more? A quick comparison revealed that the trade edition (6×9″) would cost just a smidge over a third of what the larger paperback would run, so I scrambled Saturday to reformat the book for a smaller paperback edition. And voila.
Not that much of anyone cares anymore, but I’ll be switching from the 10×8″ format to 6×9″ for all books going forward. I really liked the larger coffee table style, but Blurb’s constantly ascending costs have priced that style beyond anything that could be considered reasonable. My original goal when I launched GameSpite Quarterly back in 2009 was to make the standard edition books come in at around $12-13. Prices on books have gone up all around, so I think $15 is a pretty decent price. Now, if only they’d offer a sensible shipping rate.
Anyway, comparing the two formats, the trade edition (Sega Vol. 1 here) isn’t functionally all that much smaller than the landscape photo book (Metroid Vol. 1). The few books I’ve done in the larger trade size are among my favorites, actually, so despite the jarring inconsistency it’s going to create on my bookshelf as I move away from the coffee table style, I’m feeling pretty OK about the change.
I realize this will be of interest to maybe a couple of dozen people, but hey! I thought you couple dozen readers might be interested in knowing what’s up.
Will the future books be reverting to a B&W format again? I really enjoy the full-color of the Anatomy series of books.
I doubt I’ll go back to B&W now that they offer a less expensive color option (the one consumer-friendly thing Blurb has done in the past six years).