Quality video game tome publisher Bitmap Books is about to launch pre-orders for Game Boy: The Box Art Collection, a 372-page volume of nothing but critiqued Game Boy game covers and green-tinged screenshots.
I love the contrast between the gorgeous art adorning the outside of Game Boy boxes and the actual in-game screenshots. I like to think that the box art represents what was in the developers’ heads while putting together these blocky little masterpieces. Game Boy: The Box Art Collection, up for pre-order on September 28 for £29.99 GBP (around $55), captures that contrast in a full-colour hardbound volume that’s all sorts of classy.
Bitmap Books worked with collectors around the world to come up with a mix of Eastern and Western Game Boy box art, so Western gamers get to see some games that never came out over here, while Eastern gamers can see how we bastardised their box art on this side of the pond. Each listing features the box, some screens, and a review of the art.
Along with the standard editi0n, Bitmap Books has also prepared a pair of collector’s editions, Silver and Gold, limited to 1,500 and 500 copies respectively. These editions come with a poster, a postcard, and a lovely card box sporting art by Wil Overton.
On the fence? Not sure if a book chronicling the birth of the handheld gaming industry and the art born from it is interesting enough for your coffee table? Perhaps a book trailer will help you see the light.
Or maybe it’s just not for you. Either way, I think it’s very cool, and shall attempt to procure my own copy so I can flip through it appreciatively. It’s what I do.
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