Read-Only Memory

SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History

July 13, 2018 By ausretrogamer

We know we said no more backing of Kickstarter campaigns, but when Read-Only Memory are involved, we make an exception. If you need convincing as to why they are one of the best gaming-related book publishers, then check out the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, Britsoft: An Oral History and The Bitmap Brothers: Universe to name just a few.

The latest Read-Only Memory tome ‘Sega Arcade: Pop-Up History‘ has definitely excited us and tickled our nostalgic fancy. This will be a book of pop-up sculptures of SEGA’s greatest arcade cabinets: Hang-On, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade, After Burner, and Out Run! If this doesn’t excite you, then we have no idea what will. One thing is for certain, the quality and content will be top notch!

Check out the Kickstarter campaign now and make sure you get a piece of this awesome Sega arcade history!

image source: SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History

The Bitmap Brothers: Universe

December 15, 2016 By ausretrogamer

One thing is a certainty when it comes to Read-Only Memory publications – they are of the highest quality, both in content and presentation! Their new book, The Bitmap Brothers: Universe is certainly no exception to this rule! This high-end book for the historically-minded videogame enthusiast is a comprehensive history of the visionary British software house behind seminal titles such as Xenon 2: Megablast, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe and The Chaos Engine. The Bitmap Brothers: Universe tome combines an authoritative inside story by Duncan Harris (Rock, Paper, Shotgun and Edge), thoroughly researched via new, first-hand interviews with The Bitmap Brothers’ key figures – including founder Mike Montgomery and lead artist Dan Malone – with a breathtaking haul of never-before-seen archive material. The cherry on top is the awesome CRT emulation (by Timothy Lottes) and screen capture (by Kerry Brunskill) art which propels this book into the sublime.

As Christmas is fast approaching, The Bitmap Bros: Universe should be at the pointy end of your wish-list! Better still, get this book for yourself and for your fellow nostalgia-minded friends – you will not regret it! Actually, while you are at it, you may also like the Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe Print, which compliments the Universe book perfectly. This high-spec print features a new illustration by original Bitmap Brothers artist and co-designer of Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Dan Malone. Screen printed in black onto a luxurious grey heavyweight stock, the edition also features the distinctive Bitmap Brothers logo, micro-etched into holographic foil. Each print is signed by the artist and shipped in a durable archival tube.

Make this Christmas a Bitmap Brothers one!

Vital Stats:
Title: The Bitmap Brothers: Universe
Price: £30.00 (plus shipping)
Size: 190mm x 240mm
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 300
Specials: Quarter-Bound

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe Print

July 14, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Hold onto your cyberpunk helmets peeps and make some space on your games room wall! Read-Only Memory is proud to present a high quality print featuring a new illustration by original Bitmap Brothers artist and co-designer of Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Dan Malone.

Screen printed in black onto a luxurious grey heavyweight stock, the edition also features the distinctive Bitmap Brothers logo, micro-etched into holographic foil. Each print is signed by the artist and will be shipped in a durable archival tube. The print is available to pre-order now exclusively from the Read-Only Memory website.

The illustration has been created especially for Read-Only Memory’s forthcoming title, The Bitmap Brothers: Universe, a documentary history of the visionary UK developer.

Print specifications:

Screen printed in black on
Fedrigoni Perla Grey 290gsm
Micro-etched Bitmap Brothers logo hologram detail
575 x 480mm
RRP £25

source: Read-Only Memory

Britsoft: An Oral History

November 17, 2015 By ausretrogamer

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of the From Bedrooms To Billions documentary film – I called it the video gaming film of the year for 2014. It is also no secret that I am a fan of Read-Only Memory’s sublime Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works book. When these two worlds of film and publishing collide, you get Britsoft: An Oral History.

The Britsoft: An Oral History book is a companion piece to the 2014 documentary, From Bedrooms to Billions – it uses exclusive cuts from the hundreds of hours of interview footage to carve its original story. Through the voices of programmers, musicians, journalists and business people, it traces the making of games such as Dizzy, Elite, Paradroid and Kick Off; and the birth of publishers, magazines and software houses, from Codemasters to Zzap!64. Edited by former Edge magazine editor, Alex Wiltshire, and its striking page layouts designed by London-based studio Julia, Britsoft: An Oral History oozes premium quality.

With its rarely-seen archive images, such as candid period photographs and magazine ads, its high attention to detail, premium paper and design layout, this book will not disappoint. If you want a great companion publication to go with one of the best documentary films of 2014, then look no further, Britsoft: An Oral History should be at the top of your shopping list.

Vital Stats:
Title: Britsoft: An Oral History
Price: £30.00 (plus shipping)
Size: 160mm x 230mm
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 422
Specials: Lay-flat binding and multiple paper stocks

Rarely seen archive images – Work hard, play even harder!

Original illustrations of cult hardware of the era

Oh man, the colours, they are so vivid!

I spot Space Harrier!

Interviews with 35 people who shaped the modern videogames industry

Multiple paper stock is strikingly beautiful

A cup of tea? How British

Oo’er, 16-bits of awesomeness!

image source: Read-Only Memory

Britsoft: An Oral History

June 9, 2015 By ausretrogamer

When it comes to books about video games or micro computing history, no one does it better than Read-Only Memory.

The creators of The Sensible Software 1986 – 1999, Mega Drive and the recently crowdfunded Bitmap Bros books) are publishing a book this August made up of interviews from the original From Bedrooms to Billions film. Ant and Nic Caulfield (creators of From Bedrooms to Billions) have given permission to Read-Only Memory to look through their film transcripts and then use them to construct a unique and awesome book. Nearly a year in the making, the clever layout oozes Read-Only Memory quality! It’s great to see such wonderful interview material find a home such as this and it does also include a new interview with Andrew Braybrook!

Britsoft: An Oral History, a collective story of the early British games industry

Composed of interviews with thirty-five people who shaped the modern videogame, including David Braben (Elite), Peter Molyneux (Populous), Rob Hubbard (Commando) and Jeff Minter (Attack of the Mutant Camels), Britsoft: An Oral History documents the start of a new form of entertainment – created in bedrooms and living rooms on ZX Spectrums, Commodore 64s, Amigas and Atari STs.

The book is a companion piece to the 2014 documentary, From Bedrooms to Billions, and uses exclusive cuts from the hundreds of hours of interview footage to carve its original story. Through the voices of programmers, musicians, journalists and business people, it traces the making of games such as Dizzy, Elite, Paradroid and Kick Off; and birth of publishers, magazines and software houses, from Codemasters to Zzap!64.

Britsoft: An Oral History is edited by Alex Wiltshire, former editor of ‘videogame Bible’ Edge magazine, and its striking page layouts are designed by London-based studio Julia. It includes rarely-seen archive images, such as candid period photographs and magazine ads, which perfectly set the Britsoft scene. Pre-order your copy now!

Features
• Exclusive anecdotes and stories from 35 industry luminaries
• Brand new interviews with Andrew Braybrook (Uridium) and Sean Cooper (Syndicate) conducted specially for the book, plus new stories from Mike Montgomery, Julian Gollop and Jon Hare
• Archive photographs, adverts and ephemera
• 39 original illustrations of the cult hardware, consoles and home computers of the era

Specification
• Hardcover
• 160mm x 230mm
• 422 pages
• Lay-flat binding
• Multiple paper stocks
• 125,000 words

source: Read-Only Memory

Read-Only Memory announces The Bitmap Brothers: Universe art history book

April 17, 2015 By ausretrogamer

The Bitmap Brothers: Universe is a singular collection of never-before-seen concept artwork and archive material, covering seminal titles such as Xenon 2: Megablast, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe and The Chaos Engine.

The book also features an authoritatively written inside story of the company and its games. Written by Duncan Harris (contributor to Edge and Rock, Paper, Shotgun), it weaves together new and original first-hand interviews with The Bitmap Brothers’ key figures, including founder Mike Montgomery and lead artist Dan Malone – offering an unrivaled glimpse at the groundbreaking, enigmatic, Ray-Ban-wearing Bitmaps team. This luxurious hardback will include:

Contributions from Mark Coleman (Artist — Speedball, Xenon 2: Megablast, Magic Pockets, Gods, Z, World War II: Frontline Command), Sean Griffiths (Programmer — Cadaver and Magic Pockets), Martin Heath (Founder, Director — Rhythm King, Founder — Renegade Software), John Foxx (Musician — Nation 12, and Ultravox) and many more;

Staggeringly intricate hand-drawn artwork, such as unused character concepts for Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe and pencil renderings of The Chaos Engine’s iconic cut-scenes;

Unearthing of several unreleased/unannounced games, such as the high-tech dystopian racing game called ‘Bike’/‘Havoc’/‘Triple X’, and an as-yet-unmade 2D Speedball successor.

The Kickstarter campaign for The Bitmap Brothers: Universe runs until 11 May 2015, and is seeking to raise £40,000. Special items available via the campaign are a signed, dedicated copy of the book (by Mike Montgomery), and a signed, specially-commissioned Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe print by original artist Dan Malone.

The Bitmap Brothers: Universe will join the stable at videogame history publisher Read-Only Memory, which includes the celebrated Sensible Software 1986–1999 (2013) and Sega Mega Drive/ Genesis: Collected Works (2014) – which we said ‘This is the only Sega Mega Drive /Genesis book you will ever need’!

image source: Read-Only Memory

The Definitive Sega Mega Drive Book

December 4, 2014 By ausretrogamer

There have been a swag of quality books published recently based on our rich history of video gaming. This illustrates the importance of the impact and value that video gaming has played in our recent past. The cultural importance of video games has gained enough momentum that it has become our favourite form of entertainment. What these publications do for the history of video gaming is to document eras, games, systems of our wonderful industry for us to indulge in the nostalgic memories and also act as a reference for future generations.

One book that caught our attention was Read-Only Memory’s ‘Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works‘. The book aimed to become the definitive retrospective of Sega’s 16 -bit beast, featuring development and concept illustrations of Sega’s best-loved game franchises, original developer interviews and previously unseen hardware production plans.The crowd-funding campaign of a year ago was so successful that Read-Only Memory added additional content to sweeten the already quite tasty book. The finished product not only surpassed what it promised to deliver, but it provides loads more – from exclusive interviews with legendary US developers, Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger (ToeJam & Earl), Naoto Ohshima (Sonic The Hedgehog) and Yu Suzuki (Space Harrier et al), to concept art and level visualisations for Vectorman 2 and detailed pencil-drawn level maps for Comix Zone.

For those that only know Sega as a software publisher, this book is a reminder of its former glory – making awesome gaming hardware. The Sega pedigree carried from its arcade systems to its home systems reached a pinnacle with its 16-bit world beater, the Mega Drive (Genesis for our North American gaming friends). With an estimated 40 millions consoles sold world-wide, the 16-bit beauty assured itself a place in the pantheon of great systems. This ‘Collected Works‘ book not only celebrates the Mega Drive hardware, but it also showcases the wealth of Sega’s 16-bit software titles; from blockbuster games such as Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star, Gunstar Heroes, Super Shinobi/Revenge of Shinobi and Golden Axe, through to cult gems such as Rent-a-Hero, Vectorman and DecapAttack. This book has it all!

If you are after the definitive book on all things Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, then look no further – this book oozes quality and makes you want to come back to it again and again to feast your eyes on each page – from it’s well written foreword, to the never before seen Sega production blueprints, and to the great collective artwork. Even if you are not a Sega fan, this book’s historical value and page-turning ability is simply irresistible. For those not into gaming at all, we guarantee this book will get lots of attention if placed on your coffee table. This is the only Sega Mega Drive / Genesis book you will ever need. Highly recommended.

Vital Stats:
Title: Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works
Price: £35.00 (plus shipping)
Size: 216mm x 267mm
Binding: Hardback
Pages: 352pp
Specials: 8 x Gatefold Pages

image source: Read-Only Memory

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