Good luck with this work man!

I see that you rate games on 4 aspects and mention their rarity (Cart- Manual-Box) on a scale of ten. Are you using the NA database for the rarity? And most importantly, how do you intend to rate the games gameplay-visuals-audio-replay?

The NA DB is fairly accurate, but I'm using my own list. Every item will go off of eBay availability. I feel absolute rarity isn't really a worthwhile effort these days since eBay is so ubiquitous.

Everything is gonna be reviewed on the eyes of the gamer today. Games that were amazing before but haven't aged well will not get a good review, likewise games that received poor reviews but aged extremely well will get a good review.

All four aspects are a level playing field as a result so 1985 graphics and 1995 graphics are rated on the same level. Same for the others.

Also I might skip 1-10 in favor of words (Widespread, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, Extremely Rare)

I just choked from laughing about "Pat the NES Dink" lol

Hey now, I like Pat and I dont want to get this thing locked.

Also Pat, if you're reading this, I'm sure you'll be sold out by the time this book is finished. I'm not stepping on any toes here. Plus I ain't got no YouTube channel with a real following so my bet is I just get the NA crowd  

It is a good idea to go with eBay availibility as your method to rate rarity. I bet you have loads of data from past years to back your method. In all cases, take the time to explain your method in the book (introduction or annex).

About reviewing the quality of the games : Taking the ''gamer of today'' stance is totally justified if this is what you want to offer. Are you going to rate games on your own?

I would like to take on some help to review the games, but I also want to see how it feels to go it alone first. I don't expect everyone to agree with me and I will disclose my personal taste in the introduction and try to be as neutral as possible.

I've put a lot of hard thought into the overall foundation and now I'm left with the fun part, playing some Nintendo.

It is important to test all games enough to have your own sound opinions, you'll have plenty of fun playing the games and you'll also be bored with the games you don't like that you'll still have to review with the same objectivity/subjectivity. What I think though is that a book like that intend to be a 'reference', and rating the quality of games by your own could miss that goal, not entirely naturally but certainly over all the games involved. You might as well consider compiling a 'general opinion' ratings of game by collecting such data on all the sites that rated NES games. You'll have a massive load of data that way and not to mention that a lot of those ratings are done by today's gamer opinion rather than with a strong historical stance. In short, it could be a good idea to have a general concensus ratings and your personal ratings of the game, to put both in the book or not, cause even if you rate things on your own, knowing what is the general concensus will help you reviewing games on your own. Method is everything  

Id buy this over pat the nes punks book anyday.

Cant wait to see the finished product.


thats a good idea to put a community consensus ranking and your ranking with it. Would kind of counter the personal bias while letting you review the game as you see it vs tge community ranking

Sounds awesome man. I can pretty confidently say this will be a day 1 purchase for me.

Your book sounds the most interesting to me of the ones released or in the works so far. I look forward to seeing the finished project and wish you good luck sir.

I think I like that idea a lot. I think we have our first special thanks entry!

I'll probably do a roundup of scores from a few sites and average them into a percentage ranking.

I want this part much more.  A book with an NP type overview of 50 games is so much more interesting than a quick summary that has been done many times in many places.  All the specs/rarity/dates/region/etc really is just an index with no inspiration.  

 

This sounds like a five star product according to a certain NES guidebook.

It's definitely been done before, but it's almost a prerequisite too given the nature of the book.

The primary focus is not the index, I estimate the index portion will have about 2.5 games per page on average. So yeah half the book (352 pages) will be an index and then another 20 or so pages of different types of lists I've made through the years, the other remaining 250-300 pages leaves you with a mind numbing amount of content that will make older hardened gamers nostalgic for Nintendo, and younger gamers interested in it.

I promise, this is *not* another index book with a short and sweet blurb about personal opinions...although that's going to be in there as well. I want to make Gamemaster Howard proud, and I hope to speak with him as well in the near future.

My biggest goal is to actually get this book on a big box store shelf in a somewhere, as well as local video game stores too. I want someone to see this book, pick it up, and not just read it, but also buy it and then want to go into their attic and find their NES.
 
I always chuckle when he does that.

To be honest, I hope he doesn't feel like I'm stepping on his toes because I've got some room in the book for him too, along with the rest of the YouTube scene.

Ehhh i'd leave the Youtube stuff out. They don't need free advertising. Make something that is timeless, so in 10 years when people read it, it still holds up. Most of the "youtube community" will be gone by then.

Ugh yeah if I have one request, it's to leave YouTube out. Really, just focusing on the games will be enough work. You don't need to make the scope too large.

We will have to see. I've got a ton of plans and its a lot of small pieces that put together a larger puzzle.

You can easily ignore them if you like. It all depends on their cooperation and permissions too. It's not like I'm gonna plaster AVGNs head on every third page with a text bubble that says "The Nerd Says: this game blows diarrhea turd nuggets"

I'd buy 30 copies if you did this. 

This just in, I'm making an AVGN book now.

No but seriously, I aint doing that. Internet personalities are getting a section, but they aint going to be plastered all over the place. Plus I doubt Rolph is gonna collab with me at all, let alone tell me what games the nerd think are turd nuggets. I wonder what the Nerds review scale looks like  

Oh yeah, special thanks here I come!

The percentage ranking is a good idea, especially since it will be easy to compile different type of ratings together in that format. I'll pm you some more thoughts about your book  

This.  Those youtube clowns represent everything that is wrong with this hobby, and are nothing more than parasites for the most part.

 

I really dig the layout!

I look forward to your progress Jose!

I've finally come to terms with a way to reconcile the entire NES library. All reasons will be explained in greater detail within the book.

Nintendo World Championships & Nintendo Campus Challenge '91

1. Is no longer licensed in the book
2. Both versions are treated as the same game
3. Gold is a color variant
4. Will be receiving a unique section of the book, and a unique section in the final index

NTSC-USA Library
The following games will not be receiving unique reviews, but will be honored in the final index.

1. Licensed
   
   
   1. Donkey Kong Classics
   2. Punch-Out!!
   3. Sesame Street ABC & 123
   4. Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt
   5. Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt / World Class Track Meet
   6. Super Spike V'Ball / Nintendo World Cup
   7. World Class Track Meet
2. Unlicensed
   1. ​Bubble Bath Babes (This requires explanation for most, Mermaids of Atlantis *is* Bubble Bath Babes without the Nudity)
   2. Chiller (Sharedata)
   3. Gauntlet
   4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
   5. Impossible Mission II (SEI)
   6. Pac-Man
   7. R.B.I. Baseball
   8. Six in One (Myriad)
   9. Sunday Funday (Again, explanation is that Menace Beach is essentially the same game)
   10. Wally Bear and the No! Gang (AGCI)

PAL Library

1. Titles such as Snowboard Challange, Phantom Air Mission, and Probotector which are games that have NTSC-USA counterparts but different product codes will not be receiving unique reviews but will be treated as unique titles in the final index.
2. The following two PAL exclusive games will not be receiving unique reviews
   1. Mario Bros. (Classic Serie remake)
   2. Super Mario Bros. / Tetris / Nintendo World Cup
3. All Sachen, HES, and Gluk games will be reviewed. Any overlapping games will not be reviewed separately.
4. Unlicensed multicarts such as HES's 4-in-1's, and Sachen's X-in-1's will not receive unique reviews, but will be receiving a spot in the final index.​
5. 2 Pack Special (a.k.a. Magexa Soccer / Super Sprint) will NOT be in the final index, but will be acknowledged

Miscellaneous

1. Mah Jong will be in the book. I just need to locate a ROM, or borrow a physical copy from someone somehow.
2. Crimebusters will be in the book. Again, I need to locate a ROM, or a physical copy somehow.
3. Action 52 will be FULLY reviewed, as in all 52 games individually. Cheetahmen II will be considered a "53rd" game in the Action 52 CHAPTER.
4. Caltron will be FULLY reviewed, all overlapping GLUK/Sachen games will be honored.
5. Maxi-15 will not be fully reviewed except for Stakk M as it's the only unique game not available to NTSC players any other way.
6. The entire Famicom and Famicom Disk System library will be LISTED in the final index, and a select few games will be reviewed. But I will not extend the book that large (we'd need two 600+ page volumes for this)

Man, things are really inflating now and I don't want to back down on ANY article ideas I'm writing.

I'm at a point where the sheer estimated page count for the real content is now almost twice as large as the reviews. I'm thinking about splitting it into two separate volumes now which will allow me to do one book of full page reviews per game, and one book of fun content. Estimated page count is currently sitting around 800-1100 pages, that number shoots up to 1400+ if I do full page reviews per game instead of just scores with a comment.

If I new anything about making an NES game and what goes into it I can easily add a third volume too...It's probably the only thing I'm not touching.