Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

We're having a bit of a book bonanza at the Junkyard this year! Not only are we helping to contribute towards Andrew Dickinson's Dreamcast: Year Two and fellow Junkyard member James Harvey's recently announced new project covering Dreamcast racing games, I can now confirm that this year will also see the release of the new and updated 'The A to Z of Dreamcast Games - A Collector's Guide'[Image]A few years ago, I released a free downloadable guide, which proved quite popular - currently racking up around 7,000 downloads, it was an attempt to catalogue every single retail Dreamcast release from all regions (and independent releases as well), give a brief review of each title, and give collectors, or just the curious, a handy companion on their journey through the Dreamcast library.Well, as promised all those years ago, an update is about to land - and this time, there's going to be a physical release too. A downloadable version, for free, will still be available in the future, but a limited number will be printed first and available to anyone who wishes to have a 516 page 'pocket' guide close at hand. Or propping a door open, or for whatever reason you wish, really.So what's new this time around?Updated and corrected release listings, including all new Indie releases up to (at least) April 2021. Now covering nearly 700 individual games, and around 1,900 different versions.Covers included for each and every variant release around the world.Revised collecting guides for each region and indie games. An updated 'upcoming games' section, listing all currently 'in development' titles.Various 'boxout' sections throughout the guide, dealing with different areas of the wider Dreamcast collecting world, from regional oddities and budget releases, to homebrew games and translation projects.Will include separate 'checklists' for each major collecting area - no need to deface the guide if you don't want to![Image]Now, I want to be clear about this right from the start - this is not a book full of pretty pictures or particularly insightful commentary on the history of the Dreamcast, neither are the reviews an in depth analysis of each game. This is instead more like a companion piece for a collector - a guide through the various different releases on the console, in a relatively concise format. If you've seen the last version of the guide (if you haven't, here's the announcement article and download link from a few years back) you'll know what to expect, and that will still be the basis for this new physical release. A downloadable version will be available, a short while after the printed release, and that will be, and remain, free.  [Image]
Due to the level of interest the first guide received, and all of the wonderfully positive comments, remarks and questions that I've received over the last 2 and a half years, a physical version of this guide seemed like the logical next step to take. How *exactly* we go about doing that, I've still not yet decided, with various possibilities out there - whether through a standard 'pre order' model, a crowd funding system or something else. This includes allowing the book to be sold via respected retro sellers. Whichever route that is decided upon, I am committed to keeping the price as low as possible, and the ethos of the printed version of this guide will remain a non-profit basis for myself. With that in mind, any excess money left over will be donated to some of the many fantastic community members out there keeping the Dreamcast alive with ports, homebrew and other projects. The guide is, however, fully written - with the exception of reviews for the next few incoming indie releases - so once the route we take to printing is confirmed, it will not be long before releasing. I'm looking to keep the cost of the printed version of the guide as low as possible - with the aim of it being no more than £20 before postage. 
Keep your eyes on the Dreamcast Junkyard for further news regarding the next stage of this project, which will hopefully be in mid April - with a hopeful release date of the print version of the guide by June at the latest! If anyone has any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to get in touch with me via all the usual forms of digital communication - but the easiest of all is to contact me on twitter (@space_turnip). I'd like to get a handle on how many people would be interested in a physical version, so don't hesitate in contacting me. [Image]
Finally, my thanks to Lewis Cox, co-Junkyarder, who not only designed the fantastic new cover for the guide, but also did the mockups shown in this article and has been massively supportive throughout this entire endeavour.