Duration: 14:02

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Looking at the three printed volumes and companion DVD of John Szczepaniak's Untold History of Japanese Game Developers. John also writes for The Escapist, Hardcore Gaming 101 and Retro Gamer.

Following an epic trip to Japan, where John interviewed many former and current developers, artists and other people connected to the industry, a Kickstarter campaign funded the printing of the three massive volumes. Camcorder footage and photos from the trip were edited to create a 4-hour region free DVD, filled with exclusive game footage, glimpses of old software house buildings and the interviewees.

This is the most comprehensive document of Japanese game development published in the West, at a thousand pages of detail, concept and pre-production art, stories about development hardware and practices, training schools and more. There are tributes to those who have passed, a look at the work of the Japanese Game Preservation Society and some exclusive cover art. Chapters on many of the best-known Japanese developers include some fascinating, never-before-published detail - even a spreadsheet of Namco arcade releases and the people responsible that had never been seen.

0:00 Intro
0:22 Volume 1
5:15 Volume 2
8::46 Volume 3
12:00 DVD
13:20 Outro

Volume 1 paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untold-History-Japanese-Game-Developers/dp/0992926025/
Volume 2 paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untold-History-Japanese-Game-Developers/dp/1518655319/
Volume 3 paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untold-History-Japanese-Game-Developers/dp/0992926084/

Kindle 3-book series (available individually): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/kindle/series/B08VNPYCZ1

More on the later BluRay release:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/the-untold-history-of-japanese-game-developers-blu-ray/

Text from the interviews and research in these three volumes formed the basis of Japansoft by Read Only Memory books. Edited by Alex Wilshire, this follow-up to the earlier Britsoft, will be reviewed in a forthcoming video.

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Note: this is not a sponsored video or paid endorsement. The creator backed the Kickstarter campaigns and purchased all three volumes, as well as buying the DVD separately.

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