We've been keenly following the progress of the Super Famicom Box Art Collection book for some time now, from its initial (aborted) crowdfunding campaign to the news that it would be published by Bitmap Books.
After what feels like forever, the book is finally on the verge of release and we've been lucky enough to get the first Collector's Edition off the production line. This limited edition variant is only available to those who pre-order and will not go on general sale. To make it even more desirable, it features exclusive artwork by the one and only Wil Overton, he of Super Play and Rare fame.
Devised and written by Stu "Super Famicom Guy" Brett and featuring hundreds of photos of his own collection, the book also contains (minor) contributions from our very own Damien McFerran. Inside you'll find lots of lovely Japanese Super Famicom covers as well as game descriptions and a commentary on the artwork. To top it all off, the book is edited by none other than Steve Jarratt, who worked on legendary UK magazines like EDGE, Total! and Official Nintendo Magazine.
But enough idle chatter! Feast your eyes on our unboxing below and get those credit cards ready. You can pre-order the book on Bitmap's site.
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Comments 34
I love artbooks. Might have to get this.
Haha that title is a bit wordy... took me a few tries to understand it.
Can't wait for mine to arrive. Really beautiful book.
Bastard is the name of the fun Anime (and Manga) the game of the same name is based upon, fyi.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=519
Looks like an essential addition to my coffee table. Lol @ Bastard.
Looks cool but I'll pass. It's a neat thing to keep on the coffee table but I'm all set
Can't wait until mine arrives
The unnecessary plastic wrap reminds me of the padding in an actual Super Famicom game box. Maybe that's what they were going for?
Can we get a new host? Alex is kinda annoying.
I read the entire article in Alex's voice, so I think I've developed a fondness for his videos.
Another enjoyable video, Mr. Olney!
@thejuice027 Can we get a new commenter? You're kinda annoying.
@Tsusasi it may be the most awkward anime I've ever read, as it comes across as a (far) more perverse version of Sailor Moon, but for males. I've never seen the anime, and I'm not sure if I even want to.
heads straight to Anime Planet anyways
@NodesforNoids It's one of those Anime that if you just let yourself have fun, is so bad it's good. It's not my favorite by a long shot, but it's fun watching just to find all of the American rock/hair band names that are used for characters and other stuff. Over the top and ridiculous guilty pleasure.
I actually own the game as I got it in a 'blind bag' purchase at an anime convention, but I have yet to play it.
I NEED IT!
@Damo, can we get a new moderator? You're kinda trolly.
@NodesforNoids I don't know what it is about him, I mean, yeah, he does great work, but I just can't stand to watch a video he's in for more than a few minutes. I really can't point out why.
I played Super Famicom back in the day, I always prefered the Jap game boxes to NTSC and PAL!
Not going to watch, waiting for mine to arrive in the post. But the video is greatly appreciated!
Can't wait to get my copy!!! Paid for it on 2nd January.
I like the guy
@thejuice027 Here is your new host: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd5l17EgOoc
OH! Such a gorgeous book. I might have to buy this when it comes out. I adore art books!
I wish there were some extra incentives for the CE, I honestly see no point in paying 2x the price just to get a nice box. I mean, I understand the appeal of the box being based on the SNES box, but thats certainly not worth the extra $30.
Is there a SNES version of the book? As cool as the Japanese art is, I'd have a lot more nostalgia for a SNES version since those are the games I actually owned. Also, I sniffed the subscribe button REALLY hard and nothing happened... am I doing it wrong?
@TruenoGT Dunno if anyone else answered you but in the UK our SNES games were packed exactly like the ones you bought in America. Our controllers were similar to the ones Japan had released. The Super Nintendo was Super!
Pre-ordered!
@thejuice027 Really? I love Alex. I usually even end up watching the videos of his that I don't even care about just because he's so fun to listen to.
@Damo Just out of curiousity what kind of things were you involved with in the book?
Other than the unfortunate slight damage in the form of scuffs and wrinkles to some of the art and the irritating decisions made to arbitrarily render some arts' kana titles according to strict modern Hepburnic standards and not according to how the box art actually and officially romanises those titles (e.g., "Yoshi's Island" should be recorded as "Yossy Island" as the box art itself displays (or at least (specifically for this case) "Yoshi Island", as the proper Hepburn romanisation of that katakana in the title reads; "Yossy" is correct according to some Kunrei or Nihon-shiki romanisation standard, which standard Nintendo officially used here)), the finished product and packeging looks very impressive and indeed quite lovely. Hats off to those involved for their efforts in bringing a brilliant concept to life!
@pigwarts5ever I did some of the descriptions and wrote one of the introduction pieces.
I'va also preordered the book.
Can't wait... Just love the Super Famciom.
Good vid.
I'm so jealous of you right now.
@Damo Do you know what those little pieces of paper that came with the booklet are about?
One appears to be a player satisfaction survey for the Super Famicom game '4th Super Robot Wars', and the other seems to be a safety warning asking the reader to the unplug the AC adaptor from the socket after use.
Both seem like pretty inexplicable inclusions.
@Maxz Pretty much every Super Famicom game came with those - one is a registration card (very common with Japanese games) and the other is a warning about power supplies. That's why they're included:
@Damo Aah, that's cute. So it's meant to invoke the sensation of opening up an actual brand new Super Famicom game, complete with superfluous scraps of paper falling out all over the place. That's a nice touch.
I noticed the registration card in Alex's version was for '4th Super Robot Wars'. Is that the same with all copies of the book, or does each come shipped with a registration card for a different game? I mean, not literally a different game registration card for each book (you'd run out of games), but is there some variation? Or is it Robot Wars all the way?
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