Heroes de Papel announced this Thursday its next book, The Dreamcast Encyclopedia. As its name indicates, the volume seeks to review the complete history of the latest SEGA console; an unforgettable system made up of dozens of video games that are part of this medium. Ramón Méndez, author of The Legacy of the White Wolf: The Universe of Geralt of Rivia and The Witcher Saga or The Shenmue Odyssey, among others, signs this new book, whose reservations are already open.
The Dreamcast Encyclopedia: what to expect
The Dreamcast Encyclopedia arrives this April 14, 2022 at bookstores and supermarkets throughout Spain and is presented as a new copy within the collection started by The Nintendo 64 Encyclopedia, now available in stores . The peculiarity is that this time we make the leap to the 128-bit generation to pay tribute to a console ahead of its time. The reasons are diverse and, how could it be otherwise, the reasons for the genesis, publication, life and subsequent discontinuation are reflected in a total of 256 color pages; with hardcover finishes.
Méndez delves into the leap to three dimensions of the Japanese firm with a platform that enshrined the learning of its predecessor, Saturn, while gradually accumulating a multitude of titles. The Dreamcast Encyclopedia includes more than 200 Dreamcast video games published in Europe —all replayed by the author for this work—; and more than 50 titles that never reached our territory are reviewed. On the other hand, with a more introspective look, information is offered on more than 40 canceled titles, projects that never saw the light of day. The icing on the cake will be put by Marc Rollán ‘El Funs’, author of Play Historia: The 50 video games that changed the world, with his prologue.
Depending on our preference, Héroes de Papel will publish the book in two editions: one standard and one for collectors with high-quality finishes and the following additional incentives, apart from the book: a box with exclusive design; bookmark; postcard set; numbered certificate; sheet; sticker set; VMU keychain; set of coasters and tote bag.
You can find more information about availability, editions, reservations and other products of Héroes de Papel on its web portal.
“Dreamcast is a machine that played a key role in my life”
“For me it means a lot,” Méndez explains to FreeGameTips on the occasion of the announcement of his new book. “I suppose it is something that any author would say when presenting their books, but those who know me know well that I only write about what is important to me”, continues Ramón, university doctor in Translation & Para-translation of video games, industry in which he has been working since 2003. In addition to working in different specialized press media (FreeGameTips, GamesTribune, Manual or Radio Marca, among others), he is a translator and interpreter for the Spanish subsidiaries of various companies in the industry.
“Dreamcast is a machine that played a key role in my life. He caught me when I was 16 years old, that vital moment in which we all begin to consider what role we play in life and who we want to be, and several of his games left an indelible mark on me (like some of the Saturn, the console I had before the Dreamcast )”, he openly acknowledges. Although I had been playing for a long time, “it was the Dreamcast that gave me the definitive impulse to want to work in the video game industry, and it was the Dreamcast that was the console with which I began to write my first articles for a now defunct (decades ago) magazine. university. Thanks to those articles, the magazine gave me an Xbox with several games and that allowed me to jump directly to Meristation, in 2003”.
The personal component is undeniable, that’s why this book is another dream come true; for what the console means to him as the fact of being able to dedicate it to one of his children. “I owe a lot to that console and, without detracting from other platforms that I also enjoyed a lot, two decades later it is still the machine with which I have the most memorable moments. In addition, I am especially excited to be able to dedicate it to my second child, who will be born in a month (predictably, the day of the release of Sonic 2), who will be the fourth player that we needed to fully enjoy the classic four-person multiplayer.
His collection of Dreamcast video games is enormous, all the more reason to be able to speak properly about the more than 200 video games that are collected in this volume: “All of this, while I finish the complete collection of Dreamcast games, quite a feat. crazy that was what encouraged the guys from Heroes to offer me to write this encyclopedia. I wanted to take the collection more calmly, but since I was writing a book about it, I decided to give it a little more energy, which undoubtedly favored the writing of many of the texts. In the end, in a way, it was a book that fed only with other things that were happening in my life during its writing.”
All in all, “the book is an encyclopedia as such, with all the games arranged alphabetically. The basic structure is a brief part of the presentation before devoting the bulk of the work to making small summaries about the games, in some cards that the Heroes boys have left precious. Prologue, personal experience, history of the platform and its accessories, files of released, unreleased and canceled games… Finally, “A few pages dedicated to the games released after the death of the machine, with releases of renowned games with official license and others made by developer communities.”
A book written by a passionate academic, aimed at lovers of SEGA’s latest console, the Dreamcast.