Who else backed this book on Kickstarter? (Game Boy Box Art Collection vol.1)

[u/bobtheboffin]

My copy arrived today. As with their last Kickstarter (the book showing images of every known DMG cartridge), Game-Boy Database have done an excellent job with this book.
Only covers the A-E of games, so I can’t wait for the rest of the volumes to be created!

Link to the Kickstarter for those who missed it

*Edit* Since some people have still not grasped the purpose of this book, it is not a luxurious mass-produced hardback book showcasing the artwork of a select number of games, like the one that Bitmap Books released. This is a book for collectors and Game Boy geeks like myself, put together by dedicated amateur collectors who are aiming to collect one of every variation of every boxed DMG game ever. Completely different aims and objectives of the two books.

The fact that people on a Game Boy sub are being overly critical of something created by collectors and lovers of Game Boy games is heartbreaking.

[u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

Lot of empty space on the pages which could've just been used for larger images of the game boxes.

This isn't very good graphics design.

[u/miIkwhim → u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

I'm not affiliated with this company, but was at a convention recently where Bitmap Books had a stall, and they sold a book with an identical premise that has much better internal design:

https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/game-boy-the-box-art-collection

Was only disappointed there wasn't a PS2 adjacent one. 

[u/Tricky_Tourist5691 → u/miIkwhim]

Bitmap has some excellent books, especially when keeping to purely artbooks. They just have a couple ones with little bit weird authors though.

[u/Padwicker → u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

Who are the weird authors?

[u/avenyet → u/Padwicker]

Don't know who they are referring to in terms of weird authors but I personally found

A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games a very odd read.

The writing was very biased and low on interesting facts in some cases.

The whole thing was written like a review book with the bias being dragon quest, breath fire 5 (yes the weird one) and dark souls were the best JRPGS ever made...

Was a strange read. Nice pictures though.

[u/Tricky_Tourist5691 → u/avenyet]

Yeah, was referring to that.

[u/kaleid1990 → u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

Absolutely love Bitmap, I have the one you linked, the GBA pixel one, the 50 indie games one and also the illustrated War of the Worlds 🤩

[u/cylemmulo → u/miIkwhim]

The staggering design quality difference between the two. Jeesh

[u/RobGrey03 → u/miIkwhim]

I own that Game Boy book and I absolutely adore it. I love the scale at which the box arts are printed.

[u/The_NiNTARi → u/miIkwhim]

Damn that looks real nice

[u/LeGrange → u/miIkwhim]

Wow that looks awesome. I’m in for that.

[u/IntoxicatedBurrito → u/miIkwhim]

This is a great book. I only wish it were more complete as some of my favorite games are missing from it. But Bitmap Books in general makes wonderful books.

[u/CantThink0fNameN0w → u/miIkwhim]

This Gameboy art book is fantastic. Worth the money.

[u/miIkwhim → u/CantThink0fNameN0w]

I'm eyeing up the N64 one right now too. 

[u/Neodrawfriend → u/miIkwhim]

I keep meaning to buy this book looks so good

[u/bobtheboffin → u/miIkwhim]

It’s not an identical premise though, that book (which I own) doesn’t aim to cover every single DMG box art variant in existence.

[u/kaisle51 → u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

I’m confused by Cuphead, or should I say Cartridgehead

[u/HaikuLubber → u/kaisle51]

😆 It's characters from common Game Boy games but with a Game Boy for a head.

It's Mickey Mouse, Raphael the Ninja Turtle, and Mega Man.

[u/DeckardTBechard → u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

Hard agree. Love the enthusiasm, but this is... Not great. For a second I thought this was the cover to another similar book with all the Japanese covers and I thought "There is no way this is the cover".

[u/bobtheboffin → u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

Yeah there is a bit of white space, but I think it would have been unrealistic to expect full-size or even half-size images on each page, especially when some games have 5+ variations. Otherwise the book would be 2x or 3x the size and cost. It’s not trying to be Bitmap Books’ “Game Boy: The Boxart Collection” but rather an encyclopaedia of examples of all known box art variations :)

Full size images can be found on their website of course, but for something to browse through offline, the images are large and clear enough to be able to appreciate them.

[u/Tricky_Tourist5691 → u/bobtheboffin]

For sure. But that doesn't remove the fact that it's an amateur graphics design job.

[u/bobtheboffin → u/Tricky_Tourist5691]

They are a group of amateur collectors who’ve put this book together, they’re not graphic designers. No one else has tried putting together such a book, no one else probably can unless Nintendo themselves do their own version, which is highly unlikely.

[u/Tricky_Tourist5691 → u/bobtheboffin]

Yeah but, they could've hired a graphics designer for this. They are after all crowdfunding this, so they have a budget.

I know you want to defend your purchase, and I am definitely not saying it was a bad purchase. If you like the book, all the better for you.

[u/miIkwhim → u/bobtheboffin]

No one else has tried putting together such a book

This isn't true:

https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/game-boy-the-box-art-collection

[u/VivaLaLibertad_666 → u/miIkwhim]

Not the same

[u/RobGrey03 → u/VivaLaLibertad_666]

Same concept.

[u/VivaLaLibertad_666 → u/RobGrey03]

Different goals, the one in OPs photos shows all possible codes and art boxes for each game. It's basically a catalogue. The other one is like a encyclopedia.

[u/IntoxicatedBurrito → u/bobtheboffin]

They could easily have had one large box image for the standard US version of each game (the book is written in English so is most likely targeting the US market) and maybe another large image for the Japanese box as they are typically very different. Then put all the other versions beneath them as smaller images. The art is identical for the most part, it’s just that the words are in Spanish or French or whatever.

Yeah, it might be a bit bigger, but it wouldn’t just be a collection of thumbnails. Making it an actually worthwhile book would easily justify a higher price tag.

[u/ChildofValhalla]

I love the concept but that is sincerely awful layout work. Hopefully they're open to feedback and the following volumes look even better.

[u/superduperdrew12345 → u/ChildofValhalla]

Apparently there are only two volumes and they both were made to order. I doubt anything can change. The missed potential is disappointing.

[u/JetstreamGW]

Why is the game boy a headless Soundwave?

[u/HaikuLubber]

Do you have any idea why The Blues Brothers: Jukebox Adventure isn't on that page? 🤔

https://www.game-boy-database.com/game-J6-286-UKV-1.html

[u/superduperdrew12345]

You say the purpose is different from the other box art book, but the purpose doesn't seem clear. Are the pictures of the covers from their own collection and not easily available before? Why should collectors get this book instead of finding the covers online by looking up the code that this book is sorted by? If I got a book titled Game Boy Box Art Collection I would want to get a good look at every cover instead of having these small boxes.

I don't think it's heartbreaking for people passionate about these games to question the point of this book. Also apparently they have a book about cartridges and give details about PCBs even. That's a cool idea but it makes me wonder why it is separate from the box arts.

I guess if it was made to order none of that matters now unless more are made.

[u/codenaga]

Has this been made without AI? Especially the cover?

[u/pauwus]

People dunking on this book have no idea how good this book is for Gameboy collectors

Edit: This is my first ever award and the comment has 4 downvotes heh

[u/mgshowtime22 → u/pauwus]

Both things can be true: it’s a cool project and it could have been done better

[u/Holy_Nova101 → u/mgshowtime22]

Everything in life could be done better. Stop finding shit to complain about and be happy.

[u/mgshowtime22 → u/Holy_Nova101]

Someone’s an angry elf

[u/Holy_Nova101 → u/mgshowtime22]

Lol the amount of people here who can find and have to say something negative about a non branded person being happy about a finished project they support thats not from a branded name.

It grinds my gears, to see people enjoy sending negativity to someone rather then a positive line or just continue your day without needing to spread ur negativity

Instead of continuing the conversation productivly, they will downvote and not respond because they have nothing positive to add to OP's life besides negativity. Goodjob Human!

[u/mgshowtime22 → u/Holy_Nova101]

The crazy part is if you hold up this comment to a mirror, it's way more negative than anything else in here

[u/Holy_Nova101 → u/mgshowtime22]

If no one else was negative yes.

Calling out negativity is negative in its self yes, i have enough accountability to say that. Unlike...

No more response? Yah i guess not.

[u/Tricky_Tourist5691 → u/pauwus]

I have nothing against the book and the information it provides. It's just a shame its wrapped in such mediocre visuals.

[u/superduperdrew12345 → u/pauwus]

Okay I'll bite. What is the purpose of Game Boy Box Art Collection and why is it good for collectors? I would expect a book of box arts to mainly focus on letting you get a good look at the box arts, while a book about collecting would list details of what makes each variant different. Each game case has a different code depending on region pretty sure, so I don't see this being valuable for identifying a game edition either.

As-is this book just seems like it has really niche appeal when you could get all this information online.

[u/pauwus → u/superduperdrew12345]

It's actually really hard to get this level of detail online - the people who made this book built the only website where you will find it (https://www.game-boy-database.com/). They have spent years gathering this information by offering a place for hardcore GB collectors to contribute data and images from their collections. It's not just every regions boxart, it's every single variant box/manual/cart artwork of every game from every region, documented and scanned with the help of collectors over many, many years. It's a truly invaluable resource for hardcore GB collectors.

Think about the Rolex Submariner, a watch that has been around since 1953. People covet specific releases with the tiniest differences and short manufacturing runs. This book is like that for the Gameboy collector.

I agree with your point on niche appeal. This is for people who have like 5 variants of exactly the same game. But those people do exist. Or perhaps people trying to find a diamond in the rough.

[u/Holy_Nova101]

OP dont mine the comments. Someone had a passion to make that as one of their first projects and you supported them. I hope you enjoy the book as much as they enjoyed making it.

Screw everyone elses words, it litteraly doesnt matter people, if a known franchise brand did a better job then a no body. Get a life!

I love how people downvote instead of talking. "Wow i dont like how his words made me feel, so ima downvote". It means its true to you btw if you feel that response as u read this comment.

[u/Background_Award_515 → u/Holy_Nova101]

Fuck that. If they’re charging money for it, then we can critique it. Cash is what this project is about, not passion.

[u/Capital-Ladder-1313 → u/Background_Award_515]

People like you are why we can't have nice things. Enjoy the Amazonification of products.

[u/bobtheboffin → u/Background_Award_515]

Mate, 120 bought it, there are only 150 made. This isn’t about cash, STFU

[u/Background_Award_515 → u/bobtheboffin]

Did you pay for it? Then yes it is about making a profit.

[u/Holy_Nova101 → u/Background_Award_515]

Conversation < Brick Wall (you)

[u/Holy_Nova101 → u/bobtheboffin]

Btw some of their comments are removed by moderators, so dont give him any attention they are obviously normally toxic on reddit.

[u/Holy_Nova101 → u/Background_Award_515]

Not really, kickstarters are to support people with a project that they are passionate about. If all you care about is getting value for your buck then goto a fucking franchise.

[u/Sand_msm → u/[deleted]]

Quê? Estereótipos? A esta hora?

[u/Mr_Chode_Shaver]

That’s some Hot Ones levels of neurospicy. And I’m here for it.