A new Kickstarter has just gone live for a book devoted to covering the history of the Game Boy, Nintendo's beloved monochrome handheld.
GameBook: The Unofficial DMG Companion is the work of Ninty Media, the publisher behind the long-running Switch Player and Ninty Fresh magazines. Ninty Media's boss and founder, Paul Murphy, has experience of using crowdfunding – and this has directly influenced the naming of the book, as Murphy's Amiibook previously fell foul of legal issues.
"Fresh from writing about amiibo in 2021, Paul Murphy felt the need to write about his love for the GameBoy, and revisited many games from the vast repertoire available," reads the project's Kickstater page. "What you get here is pure, unadulterated love for the original king of handhelds. Whilst unofficial projects like this can be considered fair use, the use of trademarks is what usually causes trouble. GameBook isn't a trademark. It's just two words put together. Also, the original GameBoy model was labeled DMG-01, which stood for Dot Matrix Game. That's why it is The Unofficial DMG Companion."
The book will contain write-ups on the best Game Boy games, as well as "in-depth retrospectives on many of the titles that defined the handheld" and a tribute to the late Gunpei Yokoi, the mastermind behind the console. Former Total!, EDGE and Official PlayStation Magazine editor Steve Jarratt is penning the book's foreword, while a host of contributors are covering particular titles – including Nintendo Life editor Gavin Lane, Hookshot Media eCommerce Writer Ryan Craddock and Hookshot Media Community Manager Gemma Smith, amongst others.
Bespoken photography and artwork will accompany all of those lovely words, and the final book will measure 21cm x 21cm. It will be presented in hardback form on "high-quality, uncoated paper stock" over "at least 200+" pages.
The GameBook will be available in Standard (£30), Deluxe (£50) and Signed (£75) editions, with the funding goal being a very modest £15,000. Stretch goals beyond that include a free enamel badge, more content and – if the project gets to £60,000 – a bonus Virtual Boy section.
If this sounds like it's up your street, head over to the Kickstarter page now.
[Disclaimer: As noted in the text above, Nintendo Life editor Gavin Lane, Hookshot Media eCommerce Writer Ryan Craddock and Hookshot Media Community Manager Gemma Smith have contributed to this book, but it is otherwise unconnected with Hookshot Media or any of its sites.]