The PlayStation Anthology by Geeks-Line - Book Review

This is the last of the anthologies from Geeks-Line that were part of the Kickstart-backed PC Engine Anthology purchase last year and one that departs from the format set by the previous releases. The English publication of the PlayStation Anthology lacks the games directory. Does this make it a lesser book? Certainly not, but what do you get instead?

First up, you get a well made and high quality publication. I know it's becoming a bit repetitive but there are no issues with the print, art style or layout of any of the Geeks-Line books I've read, and the PlayStation volume continues that trend. 

The first hundred or so pages tells the tale of Sony and the PlayStation. I do like how the authors include the background to the company with each of their titles, and the story of the early days of Sony was unknown to me until now. Relayed chronologically, this gives a reasonably well balanced telling of how Sony approached the videogames market and changed it for ever. And no, that's not hyperbole. There are plenty of photographs, charts and side boxes with additional info as well.

The next 150-ish pages are the interviews, and this is where the PlayStation Anthology scores over other entries in the series. From Yuji Horii to Lorna Planning via Martin Edmonson, Ian Livingston, Charles Cecil, Yoshinori Kinase and Tommy Tellarico, there are 26 interviews in total and these are packed with tidbits, asides and fun little facts. Their length varies from three pages to nine, the average being four. Once again, there are photographs, screenshots and artwork galore, and I believe almost everyone who reads these will find out something new for their trouble.

Sixty pages deal with the many collectable and special edition titles from all three main markets, before we move onto the Hardware section. You get an overview of the console, how it changed over the years it was in production, the controller, packaging styles, bundles, accessories and the like. The section on the use of PlayStation hardware in arcades was another, to me, little known area and a cracking read. The tail end of the book covers unreleased titles, some in a bit of detail. The list of Kickstarter backers and some Oddworld art finish off the package. 

Despite the lack of coverage on actual games, there is much to read here and this certainly is a great celebration of the glory days of 32-bit home console gaming. If I had to pick a fault, well, there are a few idiosyncrasies with the text in the front half of the book - oddly hyphenated words and the odd typo, but I am stretching here.  

This is yet another great release from Geeks-Line and it will joint the existing three volumes on a shelf for future reference. Sadly, at present, it seems to be out of print on the Geeks-Line website but, if you can get your hands on a copy, I recommend you do so. Check out the Geeks-Line website here for more information and, you never know, they might complete another print run at some point. 

Oh, and if you're a Gameboy fan, Geeks-Line currently have a Kickstarter on the go for a GameBoy Anthology. Check it out here if you are interested. 

The SNES Anthology by Geeks-Line - Book Review

Ah, the SNES (or Super Famicom depending upon where you live), a classic gaming machine that not only cemented the Big N's place in gaming history after the 8-bit NES (or Famicom), but which also saw some of the most celebrated titles ever to grace a home console. It saw a huge number of titles in general which makes this Gold Edition of the SNES Anthology a very chonky read. And when I say chonky, I mean chonky!

Coming in at over five hundred pages(!), it's larger than almost every other one of Geeks Lines' publications aside from the NES Anthology. There is the now expected level of quality with the book, in full colour with excellent stock used to give the many screenshots, artwork and photographs the treatment they deserve. 

The Nintendo and SNES stories take up the first fifty or so pages, before we get to the hardware section and, much like the PC Engine volume, the technical detail of the SNES' hardware capabilities is impressively portrayed here. From comparisons with its competition to full on explanations as to how the graphics and sound ships work, there is much here that, whilst it may not impress the average gamer, does more than enough for fans of console hardware. Throughout, the explanations are clear and very straight forward, and the quality of the translation is very high. 

Accessories get thirty five-ish pages, including the intriguing Satellaview system that never made it outside of Japan. Reading about such amazing things in magazines like Computer and Videogames made me green with envy back in the day, so reading about it now after thirty years was both enlightening and informative. 

It's the games, though, that are the centre of attention for this Gold Edition, and this was where the alphabetically listed range takes up three hundred and fifty pages. As with other volumes, each titles gets a list of release details, box art and at least one screenshot. After some brief comments, each is scored out of five stars and whilst many get just 1/8 of a page, some of the bigger and well-known titles get the luxury of a full page! Flicking through the directory, it is a handy reminder (also noted in Chris Scullion's excellent SNES Encyclopedia), of just how many Super Nintendo games started with the word Super. There are a lot.

This is another superb anthology from Geeks-Line and is not only a cracking reference for collectors but also a perfect one stop read for anyone with an interest in the SNES, either regarding the games or the hardware. It also makes an excellent companion to Chris Scullion's SNES Encyclopedia (reviewed here). You can order the SNES Anthology directly from Geeks Line here, and Mr Scullion's book here.

The GameCube Anthology from Geeks-Line - Book Review

Another one of the batch from Geeks-Line Books received at the beginning of the year, the GameCube Anthology was originally published in 2018 and, as you can tell from the title, focuses on all things GameCube. Dismissed by many at the time as a children's machine, Nintendo's follow up to the N64 struggled against the might of Sony and from Microsoft's first gaming behemoth (and that was a beast of a console!), but the GameCube managed to carve out a relatively small niche for Nintendo as its first disc-based console and, more importantly, paved the way for the Wii. But what about this Anthology?

Holding this volume in your hand, you can tell straight away that this is up to Geeks-Line's usual standards. Hefty, with quality stock that makes screenshots and artwork jump off the the pages, this is a stylish and well-designed book. 

Contents-wise, the first fifty pages tell the story of the console's creation and time on the market. I know I was quite scathing about the translation work on the PC Engine volume but here it's pretty much spot on. Detouring slightly I need to reiterate that the information and the effort put into the PC Engine volume was immense and it is still an essential purchase for fans of NEC's 8-bit machine. 

The hardware section details the different models of the GameCube, the retail packages that made it to the shops, the Triforce arcade board, the optical discs, game cases, controllers and other accessories. From page 84 though, this is where we get to the core of the book: the games.

Nearly 240-pages are set aside to cover each title released for the GameCube. These are arranged alphabetically and vary from a sixth of a page up to two pages for the big titles. Each entry gets at least one gameplay screenshot, box art and release details, alongside a rating out of five stars and a write up. I can't fault the presentation or the content, except for one title. Die Hard: Vendetta gets two stars? No, just no. One star and that's being generous. You are welcome to disagree, but you'd still be wrong :-)

Once the games directory is out of the way, ten pages are given over the cancelled titles that never saw the light of day, before ending with collector's editions, bundles and a tick-box guide to the games featured in the main section in case you feel like marking off each game as you add it to your collection. 

This is another classy release from Geeks-Line and an essential buy if you're a fan of the GameCube. As with the other titles from the publisher, a ton of work has gone into this volume and all concerned should be congratulated on bringing the story of the machine to modern day readers, as well as providing a great resource for collectors and fans alike. The publisher's site is here, where you can check out the full range of their Anthologies. At the time of this post, the GameCube Anthology is not in stock but sign up for notifications if you can. You might be able to find it at other online retailers though.

The PC Engine Anthology from Geeks-Line - Book Review

Geeks-Line are a French company that have been going for quite a while now. I was already familiar with their work having received a copy of the N64 Anthology as a birthday gift from my good lady back in 2020. I really liked that edition so when I saw a Kickstarter campaign for a PC Engine anthology, I quickly pledged towards the project, adding extra for copies of the Super Nintendo Gold Edition (new edition too), GameCube and PlayStation Anthologies as well. The project hit its target in May 2021 and the plan was to have copies in the hands of supporters by July. 

Given the state of the world in 2021, that didn't happen. As the months passed, there were updates on the Kickstarter page and, with a few comms issues, I received three of the four books on the 17th of January. A quick chase up saw the final book arrive three days later. I know it hasn't been the easiest of journeys for backers or Geeks-Line but it does look like they're getting there.

So, with four books to delve into (reviews of the other three will be posted as and when I get round to reading them), I set about the PC Engine Anthology with gusto. 

Let's get the positives out in the open first. It's a glorious book. The physical quality, the sheer number of screenshots, pictures and diagrams, it all adds up to a stunning look at NEC's little console that could. 

The first fifty pages or so cover the history of the PC Engine and the PC-FX. The following two hundred plus pages cover every title released for the PC Engine, its CD add-ons and the Supergrafx. This section also includes the PC-FX library, unofficial and homebrew titles, and collector's/curiosities. Each game gets at least a third of a page, whilst some get a whole page. There are release dates, alternative titles, format details and the like included in each listing. 

The actual PC Engine hardware gets sixty pages and it's here that the real technical information and explanations lie. The sections on graphics and sound really do inform and they top off the regular edition well. You get pictures and descriptions of the PC Engine models, as well as a look at the Laseractive system and a focus on the different PC Engine specific publications. For those, like myself, who pledged for the Gunhead edition, you then get the accessories section, games that were never released and a section on "a different time", which takes a look at the more Japanese content(!) that would never have made it to the west. Box art gets nearly forty pages, whilst the long lost art of phone cards gets an airing. The last two sections are on the advertising of the PC Engine around the world and a collector's list of titles.

There is a stupid amount on content in here and it will suit any fan (or would-be fan) of the PC Engine to a tee. But it's not perfect.

Start at "The announcement..." This is the worst example but you get the idea.

You see, the English translation is, to put it mildly, problematical. In fact, in places, it's a mess. I've included an image of the worst section I can find, but in general it reads poorly. Past and present tense mix in the same sentences, there are more than a few typo's and there are even a couple of French colloquial terms (berezina and arlesienne are the two that spring to mind) that haven't been translated at all and require a trip to Google to figure out that they actually mean. There are also sections of text that are repeated, as you can see below:

I really don't wish to be too mean towards the team at Geeks-Line. They have managed to get a hefty and informative tome out in what have been difficult times. The quality and quantity of the information present is astounding and they should be congratulated for getting this book published. However, the state of the English language version of this book is a disappointment. It's not easy to read and it's not that pleasant to try and plough through. It is certainly not up to the standards of the N64 volume I have read or the brief look through the other volumes mentioned above.

I am in two minds about the PC Engine Anthology. It is a stunning resource on the console and the history of NEC's attempt at cornering the console market. I cannot fault the coverage of the games or the hardware, and those explanatory sections on graphics and sound are bloody useful. However, it is difficult to recommend the current English translation until it has been proofed again. Typo's, I can accept (you have read this blog before...), but the nature of the translation work makes this a very difficult book to read. It doesn't quite spoil it all together, and if you want a definitive, one-stop tome on the subject, here it is, but understand that you'll need to put a bit of effort into reading it and that you might be better off waiting for a second edition, one where they hopefully re-do the translation. 

You can check out the range of Geek-Line publications here and order directly from them. At a touch over £50, the PC Engine Anthology is a pricey tome but is of immense value to fans of the console and its software library. Just beware the translation.