KickTraq

The Untold History Of Japanese Game Developers is a book that aims to tell the untold story of Japanese game developers. (Read More)

Kickstarter and IndieGogo aren't just for video games.. they also have video game books campaigns! (Read More)

In June of last year, The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers book project received 140% of its required funds and a legion of excited fans. As the project wore on things got a bit messy but the promise to provide a finished book never disappeared. Here we are now just a little over a year later and this book filled with developer interviews and history is available on Amazon. (Read More)

The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers was a Kickstarter project formed to bring interviews, retrospectives, and more about Japanese video games to a Western audience. Many classic developers are much loved, but left without much historical documentation for English-speaking audiences to look into. Lovers of Japanese games flocked to the project and saw that it was funded 140% over its goal. Project coordinator John Szczepaniak had a lot of work ahead of him on his trip to Japan, but with supportive backers everything was assumed to go off without a hitch. (Read More)

Firstly: Kenichi Nishi is on board! Also... We're in the last stretch before the Kickstarter officially ends.I want to thank everyone for making this possible. The fact we've gone 30% over the goal will allow for considerably more interpreter time,... (Read More)

Just a quick update. I've spent around 11 hours fielding emails all day, give or take an hour for Star Trek this evening. If I have not replied to your emails, I am very sorry. I will try to work on them first thing tomorrow. Though I also intend to... (Read More)

I've been given the go-ahead from my associate who helped arrange this, to announce the Platinum Tier. The artist is Hitoshi YONEDAYou may recognise Hitoshi Yoneda as the artist behind a lot of classic Falcom artwork, and also Phantasy Star covers.... (Read More)

Greetings everyone, We've made it! As of typing this, we are over the £50k mark. Thank you to all my backers, and everyone who tweeted, blogged, posted Youtube videos, shouted in the streets, and passed on the message. I will post a more detailed... (Read More)

Just a small update. He should need no introduction, but Yuzo Koshiro is happy to be interviewed. As well as being a prolific musician since the 1980s, he is also head of developer Ancient, which produced Protect Me Knight, pictured below.... (Read More)

A lot of work to do today, so I'll keep this brief. Keep spreading the word though, we're almost there! £5000 The hilariously expensive tier is taken! The signature book is now gone. I've spoken with the backer, and I can confirm it is 100%... (Read More)

Just a short report, since I'll be out all day today and won't be back until the evening. Current flagged emails: 6 (though technically one is regarding my expertise on Sony's Net Yaroze, not this KS) I will reply to emails as I get the chance - I... (Read More)

Given that the Guest Editor tiers are all gone (I'm considering adding a few more, since the money-to-print-cost ratio looks good enough to increase the overall page count), I think it's time to describe the content more. I've already listed those... (Read More)

Just a short update. All the Submit a Question and Guest Editor tiers are now gone! Thank you to everyone who generously pledged for them! That's fantastic. I've currently had replies from 6 of the 8 Guest Editors, and will be making a big post... (Read More)

Since my last update I've continued to contact and be contacted by various developers, or those who know developers. Notably one of my backers in Japan has been helping me, and is trying to put me in touch Yoshio Kiya, who developed one of Japan's... (Read More)

Just a quick update to say that my interview with Polygon has been published. I should point out, my being quoted as mentioning sekaikan was a result of Zack Wood and his excellent write up on Gamasutra. I read his article, posted in the comments,... (Read More)

John Szczepaniak is afraid the Japanese-English language barrier is preventing us from mining the history of the Japanese video game industry, and as consoles — and people — pass on, we're in danger of losing it altogether. That's why he has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a book about it. (Read More)

Yoshiro Kimura has invited me to drink whiskey with and interview him in Japan! He's worked on a variety of excellent games, including Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (which takes a completely new approach to the RPG genre), and Lack Of Love, while at... (Read More)

I am now a member of the International Game Developers Association, and we are officially on the curated IGDA page for Kickstarter. Hopefully this will add some gravitas to the project which news websites will pick up on. There has not been a lot of... (Read More)

The legendary Takashi Tokita says he is happy to be interviewed. Below are the covers to just a few of his games. He told me he couldn't believe it's been 30 years since the launch of the Famicom. Indeed, I thought, how times have changed. Tokita-san... (Read More)

Someone asked me if I would be covering Kenji Eno in the book, since he passed away recently. This was one of many events which motivated me to consider such a book, since I had long been a fan of Eno's work, and his boundary pushing persona.... (Read More)

In addition to Strider creator Kouichi Yotsui, I have confirmation that Roy Ozaki, president of Mitchell Corp, wants to be interviewed. The company produced Pang / Buster Bros, Osman / Cannon Dancer (pictured), Puzz Loop / Ballistic / Magnetica, and... (Read More)

Wow, another intensely busy day. And we've reached 25% of the goal! Thank you all! I was happy to see that Makoto Goto posted in the public comments section wishing me luck with the project. That was really nice to see, since as many will know,... (Read More)

Time for a (long) report.It's both amazing and heart warming the amount of support I've received since launching this Kickstarter. Thank you all.I also want to share some developments, and describe the everyday routine of contacting developers. I say... (Read More)

Just a small update before I sign off for the evening. Thank you to everyone who pledged, the show of support has been tremendous. Thank you also to all who shared the message, tweeted, and discussed this. I've had emails from at least 4 Japanese... (Read More)

I want to edit my Kickstarter front page, but apparently I've reached my character limit, so I am moving this entire section from the main page to the updates. It's not that significant since it's unlikely these contacts will be involved in the main... (Read More)