Hardcore Gaming 101 Japanese Obscurities

[Rydon]

Anyone else see that the HG101 group is trying to release this book? http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/books/hg101-presents-japanese-video-game-obscurities/ I signed up for a copy, but I wanted to see if anyone else had gotten one of the HG101 books before. Are they good quality, riddled with typos, etc?

[noiseredux]

I have several of the HG101 books and they're all great.

[Rydon]

Cool, good to hear. I hope this one gets funded. It seems like a cool topic, and the recent HG101 articles based on the games have all been good.

[JoeAwesome]

I have several of the HG101 books and they're all great.

I generally like the quality of the books I have (Castlevania, Sega Vol. 1, and a few on PDF), but just starting Untold History Vol. 1, it's an extremely dense book with tons of useless minutia. I'm not a writer, but that specific book could've used more editing.

[marurun]

Untold History isn't technically an HG101 book. It's also a hot mess. See my reviews of vols 1 and 2 for my take on them. (in the book subforum)

[noiseredux]

Yeah I had a thought that these weren't technically part of the HG101 series, but related.

[marurun]

HG101 provided a lot of the pictures, but it was completely funded by the asshole (I do not mind calling him that based on his record) who wrote it.

[nullPointer]

... completely funded by the asshole (I do not mind calling him that based on his record) who wrote it.

Just out of curiosity, what's the story here (if it's not opening Yet Another Can of Worms©)? You're usually pretty measured and egalitarian in your views on people!

[marurun]

There's some info in my reviews, linked below, but also, the author of Untold Histories threw his interpreter(s) under the bus and has effectively trashed the reputation of the translator/localizer who connected him with the interpreter. Between John Szczepaniak's own statements and actions and those of Agness Kaku about dealing with him, it's clear he's a something of a man-child. At one point he makes reference to his parents' French chalet and how he is, at least in-part, still somewhat reliant on them (sadly not uncommon of late for many adults). He's also quite unprofessional in his writing. Going back and looking at some of his HG101 contributions, he's not one of their stronger contributors in organization or writing talent.

First volume review
Second volume review

[Retrogameresource]

Always flirted with the idea of picking up some of these books. May have to finally break down and do it.