Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: Japanese Video Game Obscurities
By Kurt Kalata

101 rare, weird and important Japanese video games
Unbound Exclusives
About the book
Japan has produced thousands of intriguing video games. For any number of reasons, not all of them were ever released outside of the country, especially in the '80s and '90s. While many of these titles have since been documented by the English-speaking video game community – and in some cases, even unofficially translated – a huge proportion of the Japanese game output is unknown outside of their native territory (and even, in some cases, within it).
Some of these games are oddities, the kind of uniquely Japanese title that wouldn’t have been commercial viable outside of the country; others may have done well but were victims of circumstance. Plus, for quite a long time, the Japanese industry developed separately from American and European output, with their own landmark titles that created trends and inspired later games. Even the older games have a visual and aural style that make them distinct from similar games from around the globe.
Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: Japanese Video Game Obscurities seeks to catalogue many of these titles – games that are weird, compelling, strange, cool or historically important. Some of these may be familiar if you’ve comprehensively read Hardcore Gaming 101 website archives (though the actual text for this book is completely original), but we’ve also included a large number of titles that aren’t (currently) reviewed, and in some cases, have little to no English-language coverage whatsoever. Most of these games are Japanese exclusive, though we’ve also picked some that are suitably obscure outside of the country, or were only localized many years after their original release. In some cases, they’re games that were hugely successful in Japan but barely made a mark in the West.
Beyond the individual selected games, we’ll also be discussing the history of any larger series a game might be part of and any subsequent games it may have influenced. We’ve also picked games that represent a large number of genres – platformers, shoot-em-ups, role-playing games, adventure games – across nearly four decades of gaming, among arcade, computer and console platforms. We’re covering titles from giants like Nintendo, Sega, Namco and Konami, along with smaller titles from long-forgotten publishers and developers. In other words, even if you’re fairly well versed in Japanese video games, you're very likely to learn something interesting and new.
Do you plan to list the 101 games? Or have I missed that information?
Yup, I've posted an update with a tentative list: https://unbound.com/books/japanese-video-game-obscurities/updates/tentative-list-of-featured-games
What size shall the book be? In terms of the size of the pages, A4 etc, as opposed to page count.
It will be Crown Quarto (256 mm x 189 mm / 10 in x 7.5 in)
Hi! I'm in the US and must have missed the Hardback (US Delivery) option when I pledged. Is there a difference in estimated shipping time or shipping costs between these two options? Should I change my pledge or just keep the basic Hardback option since I've already pledged?
Hi Douglas, Thanks for getting in touch. We've sent an email about this today so please do keep an eye on your inbox. Best wishes, Unbound Support
Hello, What is the financial target regarding funding and is there a tentative release date of the book ? Shouldn't his be displayed clearly on the page itself ? I'm interested in the book but this lack of basic information is not a great signal. Apologies if I missed the info
Hi Vincent, Thanks for getting in touch. We don't show the total amount of money needed to raise in order for us to publish the book because, due to the way that the levels and algorithms for costing these projects work and the costs for fulfilling certain pledge levels can vary, the total can change depending on who supports the book at which level. Therefore a percentage, rather than a fixed cash amount, is shown in real time based on the amount raised so far and the average level supported. Authors do of course have access to how much their funding target is as well as the amount that has been raised, and this is discussed with them before a project goes live on the site. I hope this helps! Best wishes, Unbound Support
What's the deadline to get this funded?
None currently, it will keep running until it's funded (or it's clear that it's plateued and the project will be canceled).
How many different games do you want cover? How many pages is your goal? Why is Dollar = Euro? Best Regard
101 games being covered, at two pages each, so 202 pages for the main content (plus some extra pages for the table of contents, backer listings, etc.) As for the currency conversion, this is decided by the website.
So is this shipping from the UK? If I'm in the US would I pay the international shipping price?
Hi Anthony, Yes, we're shipping from the UK, so the shipping price is calculated from the UK to the US. This is calculated at the checkout once we know your delivery address and we send all books via a tracked for service. Thanks, Unbound Support
Why was a Kickstarter launched? What happens to pledges done on unbound.com?
A Kickstarter was launched by Unbound to complete the remainder of the funding (it's 46% here so it's for remaining 54% on Kickstarter). This is just due to the popularity of the platform. All of your pledges are still recorded here on Unbound, so there's no need to pledge again.
Congrats on the Kickstarter working so well! What's going to happen next?
Hi, the Kickstarter should be finishing in the next couple of days. I'll be finishing up work on the book (it's about 90% complete) and then everything will be submitted to Unbound so the production of the book can begin! I'll be submitting updates on the status of these as well.
Hey Kurt, I noticed when I was checking this page for updates, it says for Hardback (US Delivery) 25.00$ then the 10$ shipping for a total of 35.00$ When I originally pledged way back, my pledges in my account info say I paid 20.00$ + 10.00$ for a total of 30$ Did the amounts raise? Or is this some sort of weird unbound thing? Just want to make sure there are no issues on my end, I have every one of your books and really looking forward to this one. Thanks!
Hi Kylani, I do believe Unbound did raise the price a little after a certain amount of time, though I'm not sure why, it may have had to do with mitigating shipping costs. But your pledge will be fine regardless of when it was made.
I live in the USA, and I missed out getting the pledge for the Hardback (US Delivery). Will there be more books being delivered to the USA, or will the book be available say on Amazon or somewhere else after it's release?
Hi Michael, If you pledge for the standard hardback level you can still get the book delivered to the US. Just add your delivery address during the checkout process. Thanks, Unbound Support
Hey Kurt, since making my pledge I've moved to Canada, but it's not an available country-option for a new address on Unbound. While I realize this could add shipping costs, there's no way for me to get the book shipped now. How can we address this?
Hi Radek, Please contact us via support@unbound.com and we can change the address for you. Unbound Support
Hi. I want to know if there's a date for the ebook digital version
Hi Juan, Please find links to download the ebook here: https://unbound.com/books/japanese-video-game-obscurities/updates/ebooks. Happy reading!