Read Only Memory

SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History Kickstarter campaign adds Power Drift pop-up stretch goal

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Last month we shared the news that Read-Only Memory, creators of the awesome SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis Collected Works and the upcoming SEGA Dreamcast Collected Works books, revealed a new SEGA focused book: SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History. The book will feature an interview with Yu Suzuki and pop-up sculptures of Hang-On, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade, After Burner, and Out Run as well as information about each game. Now that the project has hit the funding goals, a stretch goal has been added with, if reached, will add another pop-up sculpture – the super scaler kart racing game Power Drift!

As of this article, the stretch goal has another £4,000 to go to reach £50,000 and 6 more days remain. We urge you to check the campaign out and if you like what you see to show your support!

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Read-Only Memory announces SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History book – Kickstarter launches today

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Our friends at Read-Only Memory, who published the excellent Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works and is hard at work on the upcoming Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, have announced a new SEGA focused book with a very different spin. SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History will be a large format, high production book of pop-up sculptures of SEGA’s greatest arcade cabinets. The deluxe arcade cabinets include: Hang-On, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade, After Burner, and Out Run. The Holy Quincunx as I call them (I had to Google “trinity but for 5”).

Each pop-up model in this officially licensed book will be accompanied by schematics, game artwork and historical context from by Guardian games writer Keith Stuart – plus everyone who backs the project during the Kickstarter campaign will receive an exclusive limited version, sporting a silver foil, deep embossed cover design.

Read-Only Memory have proven time and time again that they produce the best quality video game history and art and design books, and we urge readers to show their latest project their support. You can learn more about the upcoming book on their Kickstarter campaign page. We will continue to share news about SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History as we hear it.

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works teases never before seen production materials from Jet Set Radio, Shenmue and more

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, an upcoming book from Read-Only Memory, is the followup to SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Successfully backed on Kickstarter late last year, Read-Only Memory sent a new years update to backers and boy is it an exciting one! Read-Only Memory received a large amount of production materials from SEGA of Japan, including several never-before-seen pieces from popular Dreamcast games. Included in the haul are:

  • Game mechanic sketches, environment concepts and high end renderings for Sonic Adventure
  • The complete design document for Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio, including some amazing graffiti artwork concepts
  • A very early proof of concept video for Space Channel 5
  • Character studies and production artwork for Phantasy Star Online
  • Storyboards, character designs and environment artworks for Shenmue

Read-Only Memory will spend the coming weeks sorting through all the materials and identifying pieces to include in the book, with the final cut of the book to be laid out in a few months. Also revealed is that photoshoots for the Hardware Showcase chapter of the book will be taking place in the next few weeks, featuring everything from consoles to the fishing controller to the Samba de Amigo maracas. If you’re the proud owner of a Dreamcast hardware rarity you think should make the final cut, please do drop Read-Only Memory a line!

We here at SEGAbits can’t wait to get our hands on the book, and in the meantime we’re working to get Darren Wall of Read-Only Memory back for another Swingin’ Report Show podcast.

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works Kickstarter nears final hours, adds Yu Suzuki signed edition tier

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The Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works Kickstarter ends today, with the current pledged amount sitting at £122,127 of a £68,000 goal. As the campaign nears its end, an update has been released announcing a new signed edition tier. SEGA legend Yu Suzuki will be signing 15 copies of the book with the new tier priced at £75, and he has been added to the growing list of interview subjects to appear in the book!

The signed tier will release at 6 p.m. GMT, just a few hours before the campaign ends. So if you want Yu Suzuki’s autograph and a great looking book, you can sit at your computer refreshing like crazy. For comparison, the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter had Yu’s autograph at the $300 tier, whereas here it’s around $99. We’ll have more information about the Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works book, including a Swingin’ Report Show interview with Read-Only Memory’s Darren Wall, in the coming months. So stay tuned!

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works smashes Kickstarter funding goals – four days remain

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The Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works Kickstarter has amassed 155% of their funding goal, assuring that the book will be published and then some. Published by Read-Only Memory and officially SEGA licensed, the book is a followup to the excellent SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Since we last reported on Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, some new details have been revealed. Having passed their funding goal and then some, backers can expect more than originally promised in terms of content. A backer update assured that the book will exceed the predicted 300 pages and Dreamcast case and controller production drawings will now appear as fold outs.

More information on special edition versions of the book, which highlight classic Dreamcast games including Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star Online and Shenmue, was also given. Backers who choose the special edition tier can expect official Dreamcast typography screen printed onto a handmade, cloth bound and color paper lined box. It sounds like Read-Only Memory is putting a lot of work into color matching, as it is stated if they have to manufacture custom cloth colors, they will.

If you like what you see, check out the Kickstarter page and consider backing.

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works Kickstarter launches – New book from Read-Only Memory!

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2519c6249487a58be2e8cb9e73bd7718_originalReaders of our site probably know that we are huge fans of the work of Darren Wall and Read-Only Memory, who was behind the excellent “Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” book. Now, Darren and Read-Only Memory are returning to the world of SEGA books with “Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works”, a new book described as an “illustrated history of the cult games console, produced in collaboration with Sega”. The project is being funded by Kickstarter, and is already 30% funded with a £68,000 goal at the time of this article being posted. Given the project just launched today, that is impressive!

The campaign offers up several tiers, from the book itself to special slipcovers featuring Jet Set Radio, Shenmue and Phantasy Star Online logos. Already sold out are early bird editions at a reduced price and a Naoto Ohshima signed edition. There is also a Kickstarter exclusive Shenmue bookmark available for all backers. The campaign page has a LOT of information, from what the book will contain to who you can expect to be interviewed. Rather than copy and paste all that here, we urge you to check out the campaign page for yourself and consider supporting the project.

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Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works reprint Kickstarter to fund production of a second run

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Released back in 2014, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works fast became one of our favorite SEGA art books of all time. Created by Darren Wall of Read-Only Memory, the book covers SEGA’s famous 16-bit console, featuring development and concept illustrations for the console’s most popular franchises, original developer interviews and previously unseen hardware production plans. Much of the materials – drawn from the Sega of Japan archives – has never been released before. The book also features dozens of interviews with the people who made our favorite Mega Drive/Genesis games.

Now, Read-Only Memory plans to put the book back into production with a reprint. To do this, they’ve returned to Kickstarter with a new campaign which offers copies of the book as backer rewards, as well as some cool new items including a Mega Drive branded bookmark and a stylish tote bag. Worth noting for those who backed the first time, the tote bag is available in a tier of its own, and it is also bundled with a copy of the book and the bookmark.

If you missed out the first time, or if you want to support Read-Only Memory again, we highly suggest checking out their campaign. A lot of hard work and fan-driven passion went into the project, as evidenced by our interview with Darren Wall. After the break, check out our unboxing video featuring Darren and the writer of “Console Wars” Blake J. Harris.

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The SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works is approved – book goes to print on August 11th!

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Darren Wall of Read-Only Memory has officially announced that SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works has been approved by SEGA and will go to print this upcoming Monday! In a detailed Kickstarter update, Darren shows off the book’s sexy cover, and details the exhaustive (but necessary) process in receiving approval from SEGA. The book will be 352 pages long, with 8 fold-out pages featuring hardware design drawings and jumbo versions of box art from Space Harrier 2, Alien Storm, Super Thunderblade and The Super Shinobi II/Shinobi III. The book will contain 80 pages of developer interviews, a guide to SEGA logotypes, and a chapter devoted to game art totaling 60 pages. The one downside, which is really not that bad, is that the approval process has delayed the expected shipping date. Darren promises “a firm delivery date from the printer very shortly”. To see hear and see more from Darren, check out the latest update.

A big congratulations from all of us at SEGAbits to Darren Wall! We can’t wait to hold the book in our hands.

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Swingin’ Report Show #58: Streets of Rage Special with Darren Wall

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SEGA Genesis Month continues as Darren Wall, the man behind the successfully funded and coming soon “SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” book, returns to the Swingin’ Report Show to update Barry and George on his project’s progress! One exciting bit of news is the reveal that David Rosen, co-founder of SEGA, has been interviewed for the book. Learn what we can expect to hear from Mr. Rosen, as well as all the cool new art and articles the book will contain, in this week’s show.

Also, since it is Streets of Rage Week at SEGAbits, we spend a portion of the show talking about the game’s development including new details Darren has learned. We also share our nostalgic memories of the series, our favorite music tracks, and what we would like to see in the future from the series.

If you’re a fan of SEGA, and still think Genesis does what Nintendon’t, this is definitely the show for you.

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