Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

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bloodhokuto
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Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by bloodhokuto »

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No doubt you guys are aware of this, but BITMAP Books, a publisher based in the UK is releasing their coffee table art book this coming Monday, available from their site only at 7am (BST).

https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk

This is, as mentioned fully licensed from SNK and so was made with their full cooperation and consultation.

The (hardback) book has 400 pages of Neo Art, hardware photos and interviews from SNK Staff.

There are 3 different package variants at £30, £50 and £70, with the latter limited to 330 copies, and aptly named the 'MEGA' edition.

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Last edited by bloodhokuto on October 3rd, 2017, 10:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hellfromabove
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out July 3rd.

Post by Hellfromabove »

Was this the book that was getting some backlash due to the amount of history and information that was being provided in it? I think I had heard there was another Neo Geo book that was going to be released as well. Either way, will probably wait it out and see how people respond to the information provided before deciding to purchase or not.
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out July 3rd.

Post by bloodhokuto »

Hellfromabove wrote:.
There was a French fan-made hard-back book, for which there were complaints about the art stock used.

All content in this book has had to go trhough approval from SNK.
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out July 3rd.

Post by Hellfromabove »

bloodhokuto wrote:
Hellfromabove wrote:.
There was a French fan-made hard-back book, for which there were complaints about the art stock used.

All content in this book has had to go trhough approval from SNK.
Ah gotcha, thanks for clearing that up.
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out July 3rd.

Post by LEGENOARYNINLIA »

The French book is called Le Histoire Visuel: Geo Neo





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gray117
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out July 3rd.

Post by gray117 »

it was getting stick for it's **** cover choice though ;)

The quality of the actual book and reproductions should be top notch. Seems to be better sourced than the snes box book... 400 odd pages doesn't seem thin either.
Despite the contributions/interviews I wouldn't expect too much prose content/info, and I feel they're fairly upfront about this: it's a 'visual history'.

imho the collector and mega editions are a missed opportunity and bit of a let down... maybe they didn't want to push for a bigger price which would have enabled something better, but seems like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to these offerings - it's mostly the kind of tat that people just send for promos/free... should probably look at these more like a tip jar thing for the creators.

Upshot:
Good on the guys for doing this, and doing it properly via snk. Happily ordered the regular version.
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out July 3rd.

Post by bloodhokuto »

Promo Vid out, looks nice;

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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by garrz32 »

The vid shows a section in the book "Interviews" Any one know if this is correct?

Don't think I would pay £30 just for the art tbh, I have plenty of SNK art books for that.
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by garrz32 »

garrz32 wrote:The vid shows a section in the book "Interviews" Any one know if this is correct?

Don't think I would pay £30 just for the art tbh, I have plenty of SNK art books for that.
***Edit, just read the OP properly :lolno:
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by landisama »

I don't know about the content (I am anxious to read it), but the execution of the book looks awesome. It will look ace on my gaming shelf.
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by bloodhokuto »

Excuse the copy/paste from NG.

Hi guys,

I received the SNK Neo book yesterday and thought I should post my initial impressions and share a couple of photos.

First of all the book was sent very well packaged - as mentioned previously the book was sent with sprung corner protectors which was a nice touch.

As for the book itself, I have to say that the content is superb, even if you have purchased the book only you are really in for a treat.

The paper stock used shows the pictures very well, a nice variety of hardware and game content on display, along with the written content represents great value, and is as good a historical journal as you could ever expect.

I would have liked more Japanese cab photos - but that's not a criticism in any way.

The only real criticism I have is with regards to the slip case and the cover of the book.

With the slip case the inside edges on the one I received don't look folded in very well. Apart from that the material used is very prone to showing any blemish, indeed despite coming in sealed peel off plastic wrap it showed some minor scuffs already. Also pressure creases were evident where the book had been stacked.

Removing the book from the case was a little fiddly - perhaps where mine had too much pressure sitting on it at one stage, and that will take its toll on the cover of the book itself.

I think that the book could have benefitted with a traditional hardback book paper cover, rather than the all in one cover that combines a hardback cover and paper print, although that would have required a re-design of the clip case. Alternatively a thicker glossier paper stock could have been used to offset the creases that are visible where the paper overlaps the hardcover material, or perhaps an underlay could have been used to make the overlap crease less visible. This is just my personal view of course.

Aside from that, the internals of the book are superb, and I could only see one page where there was a gradient change in the blacks used between the background and a scanned layer.

As for the other extras, the T-shirt looks good, the stickers are nice, and I have to be honest that I haven’t yet taken the posters out (wonder if that may have caused the extra snugness)?

I almost forgot about the pin badge, as that was packed separately bubble wrap and I thought that was just a padding spacer! Bear this in mind!

Finally, it would have been nice to have the actual a numbered letter of authenticity i.e. 28 of 330, but this latter point is really stretching it, as it is fine and is exactly what was advertised!

- - - - - - - - - - -

So to conclude, apart from my gripes over the slip case - which may just have been for my particular copy, the book is an essential purchase for hardcore Neo Fans.

It's a real indulgence, and we are lucky to have people out there that are willing to take on such a feat to document some of the history of a gaming company that is only really well know to the a small niche of hardcore (and sometimes rabid) gaming fans.

This will really help to show why we all love the Neo Geo, and is essential given the lack of historical preservation in gaming.

Anyone who loves gaming will also love this book, I dare say it would make an ideal gift and happily live on the shelves of any gamer, although ideally not just gathering dust!

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Some links about the creasing etc;
https://imgur.com/fVHfHBV
https://imgur.com/o3xBmDF
https://imgur.com/rV4woaW
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by markedkiller78 »

I bought the cheapo version, which also arrived yesterday.
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gray117
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by gray117 »

Same again.

I'd have maybe gone for a different cover, but otherwise the base book is pretty much perfect imho.

It is perfectly accessible, has good breadth, isn't some try-hard-nerd-tome, and for those who want something a little more geeky-beyond-the-browse there's the interviews and previous unseen tidbits. Best kind of 'system overview' book I've owned/seen. Really hope we eventually see something else from this crew - might be slightly diminishing returns drilling down into more specialized topics - but you'd trust them to do it right.
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Re: Neo Geo Licensed art book out October.

Post by supergoose »

gray117 wrote:I'd have maybe gone for a different cover, ...
That's why I ordered the Collectors Edition. I prefer the look of the slipcase.
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