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A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:01 pm
by DEVILLE_David
Hi everyone !

Yu Suzuki's Interview is happening soon but I had some good news to share (specially if you're french).

I've been working as a translator (japanese - french) on a book about Yu Suzuki (his life, what games he created so far etc) written by Benjamin Berget.

Whoever is able to read and understand french and want to preorder it, It's available here :

http://www.geeks-line.com/histoire-du-j ... 52068.html

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Geeks-line company is apparently working on an english translation but it won't come out until next year or that's what I've been told. Once it's official, I'll provide more news.

Oh and just to let you know, I am not getting a single euro out of this project, I've been paid to translate some content, but I am not getting anything from sales, so I hope you won't see my post as some kind of bad advertising.

Now I have to get back to work (interview's content) so I can provide the answers you're all waiting for !

See you soon guys.

Best regards,

David

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:10 pm
by Mr357
Awesome! Yu deserves it.

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:24 pm
by Zoltor
Awesome, but is there any word on if a English release will be made(Seeing how it is a European release, it would be silly, not to release a English version at some point)?

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:26 pm
by johnvivant
good stuff. wonder if there's any interesting shenmue info in there. I'm sure you'll tell us David when you eventually read it. thanks

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:21 pm
by Yokosuka
I remember of Benjamin Berget since he wrote an article about Shenmue in RetroPlaying mag n°4, the same issue where your interview with Yu has been published David.

Preface from Marcus ? The Marcus from GameOne ?

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 12:33 am
by Hyo Razuki
This must be the first Yu-Biography in a Western language, mustn't it? Or is there not even a Japanese biography yet? :)

@David:

I'm so hyped about this! Finally an extensive Yu Suzuki Biography! I have a question, since you have seen parts of the text. Last time I read a book in French was some novel in high school. :lmfao: Let's say I can read high school level French, do you think I will be able to understand the book? Or is it too scientific? I can read and understand the link you gave pretty well. 8-[ Do you think I'll be OK reading it in French? If it's not too hard, I will definitely be getting the French version.

But I also have some friends who'd like to read it but can't read French. Has the English translation been confirmed already, or is it just a maybe at the moment? Have Geeks Line already found a publisher for the English version?

Sorry for bombarding you with questions, but I'm so excited about this book. \:D/ :beerchug:

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 2:19 am
by KidMarine
That's amazing! Can't wait to get a copy!

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 2:38 am
by Amir
Also found it on Amazon and FNAC:

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B014UDN7ES/

http://livre.fnac.com/a9058432/Benjamin ... -Yu-Suzuki

Shipping to UK is 10 euros cheaper with Amazon (though there'll be bank charges for conversion vs. paying via PayPal at GeeksLine) and there's no release date on Amazon yet. FNAC is a few euros more than Amazon and a few euros less than GeeksLine but it says they won't receive it until 15th November.

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 5:16 am
by Yokosuka
Hyo Razuki wrote:Sorry for bombarding you with questions, but I'm so excited about this book. \:D/ :beerchug: [/color]


I think we need to temper our enthusiasm though. 500 pages for a biography are pretty short and we know already a lot of anecdotes and quotes from his career thanks Internet. So if you are a hardcore fan of Yu, don't expect to learn too much imo.

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 6:05 am
by Hyo Razuki
Yokosuka wrote:
Hyo Razuki wrote:Sorry for bombarding you with questions, but I'm so excited about this book. \:D/ :beerchug: [/color]


I think we need to temper our enthusiasm though. 500 pages for a biography are pretty short and we know already a lot of anecdotes and quotes from his career thanks Internet. So if you are a hardcore fan of Yu, don't expect to learn too much imo.


Well, it depends on the way you look at it. I think for a game designer, 500+ pages is pretty good. I have seen a Shigeru Miyamoto biography which was just 200 pages. Steve Jobs' biography was only like 600 pages and Jobs has had a far bigger impact on the world than Yu.

I had the Yu Suzuki Game Works book once but couldn't read it, because I don't read Japanese. So for me as a die hard fanboy, I think it will be great to get the information all comprised in one book in a language I can read (or at least sort of read) and understand.

But you're right about not expecting too much new info though. However, some of these chapters do sound very interesting to me as I don't know too much about it. Especially the chapter 6 but also 1 and 3. Chapter 6 will be very interesting, since I haven't really been following what Yu was doing post-Shenmue 2. I mean we know a little bit about games like Propeller Arena and Psy-Phi and Shenmue Online but maybe the book can give some deeper insight into how and why those projects were canned. Also maybe the book can give some more info about how exactly the Shenmue 3 deal with Sony came to existence.

Anyway, even if the book turns out to be not that great, it's only 25 Euros which I think is a very low price considering it's a non-fictional book and Geek Line is probably a very small niche press ("Le culte du jeu video") and the book even has 32 colored pictures which is cool. So I think it will be good value in any case :) .

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:44 am
by Benjamin Berget
Hello all dear fans of Shenmue,

I will stain to best respond to your questions about my book.

I am Benjamin BERGET, author of the biography of Yu Suzuki at Geeks-Line (a great French publisher who has realized books on Genesis, Nintendo 64 and PS1). I thank David for having created this subject quite adequate. As has been said, an English translation provided by the publisher, but she did not see the day before next year. For non-French readers, you will have to wait.
For readers familiar with the French language, you can now pre-order the book on the online store of Geeks-Line editor to receive at its output, which is scheduled on September 25, 2015. For other merchants (Amazon , Fnac, etc.), the book will be available in October / November 2015.
In fact, the preface has been conducted by Marcus (Marc Lacombe) of Game One.
To answer Yokosuka, I want him to read the summary of my book and finds himself that he simply no work printed as full as mine on Yu Suzuki. Moreover, the feeling of satisfaction of owning an object about Yu Suzuki has nothing to do with the act of reading on screen.

Introducing Benjamin BERGET


For those who have never heard of me, I graduated with a Master of Philosophy from the University of Burgundy (France) and I started to write about my passion, video games, there is already a decade. The main web sites where I wrote were Next-Nintendo.com, JeuxVideo.com, GrosPixels.com and Gameplay.be. After a few years testing the games, I had as an overdose. I was enormously frustrated by the fact that I spent time on games, and more to find the right words and the right angles to exit the perennial "history / graphics / gameplay / multi". Just published online, my work was soon swept away by another test or news. It is from this moment that I detached tests to better devote myself to records, retrospective on the history of gaming.
The next step to accommodate the contents of denser was to turn to the paper size. As the general history of video games has been discussed at least 10 times, you had to stand out. This is where I realized that what fascinated me, basically, in the development of a game, it was the power relationship between freedom of expression and censorship. I had found my subject: "L'Histoire des jeux vidéo polémiques " (History of video games polemics). http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=benjamin+berget
Two volumes have been published to date in an independent publisher, the third being paused the time to write this biography of Yu Suzuki. I felt the urge to talk about my favorite saga, Shenmue, and its creator.
As reported Yokosuka, I work with David in the Retro Playing magazine, where I had the opportunity to speak repeatedly of news Shenmue. Note that I adopted a different tone in the book, since I am not addressing the same audience. The quality of my articles have opened my doors to multiple news magazines: mook Pix n Love, magazine Geek, Retro vers le futur, Sega Retro, Côté Gamer, Magazine P911 (Independent video games), and a digital magazine sold on iPad : [gi:k], and collective books : « Games History n°3 », « L’âge d’or du J-RPG ».
I am currently working on the collective book "Anthology PlayStation n°3" always at Geeks-Line, and two personal books: "L'Histoire des jeux vidéo polémiques n°3" and a project that is currently kept secret.

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 12:35 pm
by NeoShredder
So is this an official or unofficial biography?

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 1:22 pm
by Benjamin Berget
This is an excellent question.
If you do not follow the legal rules in my country, you will soon be stopped in your tracks ! My editor has made sure that all the images that are in the book are validated by SEGA to avoid trouble.

But you know that there is nothing in the world I hate more than censorship.
And when it comes to "official" book, whatever the subject, you can be sure that everything that is negative is sweetened by a communication service.
That is why, with my editor, we have chosen to adopt the most possible free speech does not depend on the text of SEGA. I am a journalist and my freedom of expression is not for sale at any price.
I have much to tell about the relationship between Yu Suzuki and SEGA, and you will soon discover in my book.

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 2:34 pm
by Hyo Razuki
@Benjamin Berget: Thanks for taking the time to write back to us on this forum and welcome to the Dojo! I'm gonna preorder the book next week. It's a good thing there will be an English version coming out later for non French-speakers. I might buy that one too to give it to my friends as a present. :mrgreen: Please make sure to write again here on the forum as soon as the English version release date is fixed, so we will know when it comes out.

Your way of writing sounds like the thing I would want to read. I'm usually have a sceptical view on official biographies, so I like the fact that you were not writing on Sega's or Yu's behalf.

The part where you talk you about Yu's relationship to Sega sounds indeed intriguing. I am actually hoping that you found some controversial stuff there which we didn't know about yet. :king:

PS: I also sent you a PM earlier today.

Re: A new book about Yu Suzuki

PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 6:29 am
by Hyo Razuki