Many thanks for taking time out to answer my questions, it is appreciated.
I think my confusion arose over the Insider Insights sections, as i was under the impression these would be established bloggers, YouTube personalities and Video Game Writers giving a personal account of why the SNES version of a game meant so much to them....
For example if someone asked me why i bought a SNES just to play SNES Alien 3, i would try and point out how it differed so much from the already excellent Megadrive version, how the hardware was used to great effect, atmosphere created etc.
Focus would be on SNES with MegaDrive version used as a comparison and why you really needed both systems.
Talk of such a radical different system as the ZX Spectrum version would personally seem out of place to myself, but that's a personal preference.
I appreciate space is very limited in sections such as Insider Insights, but this makes it even more important a writer is careful choosing words and there is a degree of clarity.
If he or she simply says a later release on 16 bit systems, the reader is left unsure if that refers to consoles or computers.
Your book has quite a high price tag and whilst i am not for an instant doubting it's superb VFM..it does create a high stand or writing expected by a potential purchaser such as myself.
I think a recent review summed up my concerns far better than i could..here's a quote from it:
Book Reviews
SNES Omnibus: Book Review.
"There’s an endless supply of retro gaming themed books being released these days, and it’s always refreshing to see a small selection of those books covering Nintendo, I can only imagine the fear of god they face from “Big N’s” legal talons in the protection of their I.P’s when they see people producing a book based on their consoles, software or its third-party software too. So with this in mind I’m sure Brett Weiss took this into consideration when beginning his work on the SNES Omnibus book, in this Volume one he explores the Super Nintendo’s American region released titles from A-M with a massively high page count of 450+ pages, just as a side note, for this review I will not be able to comment on paper quality and print quality as I received a digital version of the book for review, but I believe the book is quite big and thick, possibly justifying the higher than usual price tag of $50 / €42 / £37 at the online checkout."
"So what’s it all about? Well there is a fantastic foreword by Bill Loguidice covering the technicalities of the system as well as well-informed insights about the SNES’s beginnings in the United States and he himself is the author of eight technology books and was a writer and producer of Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, a feature film documentary on the history of video games. The book follows up with a Pre-face acknowledgment by the author Brett Weiss to inform the reader about who he is and what his history of video games is like etc, in others words a self-promoting page which I normally bypass to get straight to the content. The book there after jumps straight into the games where your greeted with four to five images, these are made up with box Art of the game, a photo of the game’s cartridge and screenshots of the game littering the page followed by what I feel was a basic break down of the game and info on the other formats it may have appeared on, looking simply like something just to add to the games wordcount."
"One interesting addition that helps flesh out the game spreads within the book is the “Notable Quotable” concept, these are great as a reference about what was said about the game back in the day by video game journalists reviewing the game within your favourite video games magazine, they really are used to great effect in the SNES Omnibus book, but I also feel that these should have been only used for AAA titles, rather than for most games to just fill out the pages on the lesser popular or mediocre games. The book also adds another spin on content aspects with “Insiders Insights” here Brett has organised for inclusion of the book, You-Tubers, Game Reviewers, Video Game Bloggers and such like to contribute their personal perspective and memories of the games found inside the book, this is a great touch and adds additional depth to what has already been written. I did find some of the insider’s insights very touching, especially Catherine Despira’s insider for “Bugsy 2” dam near brought a tear to my eyes! Where other insights were simply perspectives of other formats of the some games (Adams Family, Test Drive 2: The Dual and Midway Arcade Classics) attempting to size up the SNES without actually playing that version! Which left me thinking why have them included if they don’t know the machine?"
It makes the Insider Insights seem a little hit n miss in places.
Please take this as constructive criticism for going forward with Volume II
Edited by Lost Dragon, Fri Sep 28, 2018 1:09 PM.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube