Villordsutch recently managed to speak with Sam Dyer from Bitmap Books, the man behind Sinclair ZX Spectrum: The Visual Compendium, Commodore 64: a visual Compendium and also Commodore Amiga: a visual Commpendium, the latest book that has just entered Kickstarter with a fairly massive bang is the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom: a visual compendium…
Villordsutch: Firstly congratulations and WOW! The NES/Famicom campaign on Kickstarter smashed through the wanted targeted of £25K in less than three days and already it’s now at £139K with still two weeks to go. Did you ever anticipate that the fan base would come at you with cash in their hands so rapidly?
Sam Dyer: Thanks! I knew that anything ‘Nintendo’ would be popular but I would never assume that it would get automatically get funded. You always have that niggling doubt at the back of your mind but it’s an amazing feeling when the pledges start flooding in. I think the campaign is pitched just right this time. Lots of visuals, lots of information about the book, loads of cool stretch goals and not too many add-ons (posters, badges etc). It’s all about the book and making it better with the more money that is raised.
V: Those that have pledged have already broken through eleven of the sixteen “stretch goals” you’ve offered – are you contemplating anymore at this moment just in case?
SD: We’ve added some more stretch goals that take us up to £175K. There are more ‘extra pages’ which is fully reached will take the book up to 500 pages! There are also stretch goals to add a protective hard slipcase, illustrated inner dust jacket painted by renowned artist Marc Ericksen. The big one at £175K is a lenticular slipcase so the front cover sprites animate when moved!
V: People contributing to the book include Kevin Bayliss (Rare), David Darling (Codemasters), Scott Pelland (Nintendo Power), Bruce Schlickernd (Interplay) to name but a few. Was there anybody you tried to tie-down but couldn’t, or is there somebody that you’d like to get a few words out of for this Visual Compendium?
SD: Tim Stamper, if you’re reading this, PLEASE answer my emails! Tim is someone I would love to be involved as Rare did some amazing NES games but is notoriously hard to convince to things like this. Another person I’m dying to get involved is ex-Nintendo employee Howard Philips who founded Nintendo Power magazine in the US. I’lll keep plugging away though and see what happens!
V: As the book is coming together has there been a moment that you’ve thought, ‘I never knew that!?’ and can you tell us what it was?
SD: I think those moments would mainly be around the Japanese Famicom. There’s so much mystique around it and I’ve found out loads that I didn’t know before. Whether it’s some absolute gems of games such as Mother or Slaptterhouse or the fact you could get a Basic Programming Keyboard as an add-on back in the day!
V: What are your personal memories of the NES/Famicom? When I was going through the Bitmap Book ZX Spectrum: Visual Compendium it fired off so many fantastic moments, long forgotten in my yellowing brain.
SD: My best friend had one growing up. His parents were wealthy so while I was buying the latest Mastertronic £1.99 game, he was buying the latest release at £40. We were always round his house on his NES and I remember spending hours on the Mario games, Mega Man 2, Pro Wrestling and Excitebike.
V: The Visual Compendiums have been extremely popular – as this Kickstarter shows – after the NES/Famicom is released in January 2017, what will you set your sights on next? Will it be the Megadrive/Master System or will you be looking at another homecomputer book?
SD: The Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Super Nintendo/Super Famicom and Atari are all on the list. I haven’t decided which one next! I just need more hours in the day…
If you’d like you pledge towards the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom: a visual compendium you can do that here at Kickstarter.
Villordsutch and Flickering Myth would like to thank Sam Dyer at Bitmap Books for taking the time out of his rather busy day to sit down and give us his words and also we’d like to thank www.gamesyouloved.com for arranging this interview.
Originally published June 18, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
