UnluckyKate
Member
I'll look into it thanks !
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Artbooks - The Best And The Worst
- Thread starter hampig
- Start date
I'll look into it thanks !
Now that the Souls series is finished (for a while...) it would be nice if they did a big hardcover book on all three games + DLC that includes a more exhaustive collection of art than the current small books. Probably won't happen but I'd buy that for sure!
I've been thinking about buying this one as well but I fear that the majority of the art will be from the newer (Sonic Adventure and later) games instead of the Genesis era ones that I care the most about. I'd pay quite a bit of money for a book with just a lot of art from Sonic 1 - 3&K and CD, stage art in particular. Could you give me an indication of how big the section on classic games is and whether there is stage art as well?
Rad Shadow
Banned
Tactics Ogre artbook purchased.
That ish was too nice looking to pass up.
That ish was too nice looking to pass up.
They did something similar for the DS III Collector's Edition, but I suppose it's pretty hard to find at an acceptable price. Anyway, the first Design Works is the only "small" one, which is a shame, since DS II Design Works is great and has plenty of content (240 pp), and the DS III one is 336 pages long, so it must be pretty damn exhaustive. I'm afraid of how much it will cost when it comes out around here.
gunstarhero
Member
The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy Slipcased Edition is one of my favorite game related art books. It's massive!
These are so nice. SFIII has my favorite SF art style.
The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy Slipcased Edition is one of my favorite game related art books. It's massive!
This was one was for less than $10 a few years ago. Not too bad even for the reprint.
I'm sad about the state of the Bloodborne book. I'm contemplatin of sending it back to Amazon.
Dark Souls 1 got sold out from Amazon just recently.
I got The Art of Metal Gear Solid V recently, and it's a bit disappointing due to a complete lack of commentary. Well, there's like two sentences, maybe, but that's it. There's also quite a bit of Japanese text that was left untranslated, which would be understandable for the little notes on sketches and the like, but there were plenty of Japanese text that were typed that could have easily been translated.
Still, the abundance of Yoji Shinkawa's art, which included some promo shots I'd never seen before, makes it totally worth it for me. Plus, I got it 20% off due to a sale, so there's that.
On a related note: God, how I love the smell of a brand new art book. Books in general too, of course.
Still, the abundance of Yoji Shinkawa's art, which included some promo shots I'd never seen before, makes it totally worth it for me. Plus, I got it 20% off due to a sale, so there's that.
On a related note: God, how I love the smell of a brand new art book. Books in general too, of course.
tiebreaker
Member
I really wsnt the Valkyria Chronicles Artbook. I Was on the fence before it suddenly shot up in price.
Any chance that Udon will do reprint?
Any chance that Udon will do reprint?
Yes, the smell of artbooks compensate for the lack of manuals today.
I think it's no longer up for a reprint. You can probably tweet Udon about it. I had to ask my local bookstore to look for one for me.
I think it's no longer up for a reprint. You can probably tweet Udon about it. I had to ask my local bookstore to look for one for me.
pennypincher
Member
There is quite a big section with an impressive lot of early drawings from the original Sonic to Sonic CD which at the same time suspiciously kind of ignores S3&K. The authors allude to controversies especially concerning Knuckles' art direction, but not much information is given, really. That's a bit annoying, imho.
It seems Sonic Team is very shy about S3&K's background, but loves to provide stories about the design process of the early titles as well as the transformation on Dreamcast.
Though the quality of said art book can be described as outstanding, do not expect to learn anything fundamentally new. Whether you like blown up pixel art, which takes an awful lot of space in this accomplishment, is also a matter of taste. Yes, this book sports the official SEGA license, so don't expect anything but praise for the franchise.
cj_iwakura
Member
I have a copy that I'm not too attached to, the JP one though.
pennypincher
Member
Udon books come in terrible print quality. All of them.
Would you be kind enough to tell us why and which books have terrible quality?
(Aside from the obvious bloodborne book)
NintendosBooger
Member
I'm in love with horror and monster designs.
To illustrate, I have all the volumes of Beksinki artwork as well as some from H.R. Giger.
In the real of video game artwork, who comes close to these two?
To illustrate, I have all the volumes of Beksinki artwork as well as some from H.R. Giger.
In the real of video game artwork, who comes close to these two?
Splatoon 2 may be one of those times I buy the art book but not the game.
Souls / Bloodborne would be the standard answer to that but maybe someone has other ideas.
What volumes of those do you recommend?
Souls / Bloodborne would be the standard answer to that but maybe someone has other ideas.
cj_iwakura
Member
The Silent Hill artist(s).
NintendosBooger
Member
I was actually asking for recommendations myself lol. I'd rank Beksinki's volumes 1 > 2 > 3. First two volumes are paintings, while the last volume focuses on his sketches and background. These are two of my favorite works from him (forgive the quality, I took these from my phone cam):
I suppose the Souls books are the obvious recommendation and I'll definitely look into them but since there are 5 of those games (including Demons Souls and Bloodborne), I wanted to know the best ones.
pennypincher
Member
Yup. Whoever's in charge of art direction and quality control at Udon, he seems neither very concerned nor involved about colour consistency. There are different ways to process RGB artwork and convert it to CMYK and from what I have seen, Udon goes the easiest route for them. Especially blue hues are very difficult to render in CMYK, a single click in Photoshop or whatever will never achieve satisfying results. Even then, you will need to have a brillant printer at hand.
The only Udon book I have is the History of Sonic and the hog is almost purple in there. They did not nail the artwork at all.
I also compared some other art reproduced by Udon and their printer and it became quite obvious that they also lose so much detail in the shadows.
Here is a comparison shot between Udon (top) and C&B. You are the judge.
http://imgur.com/lllJz4D
I was actually asking for recommendations myself lol. I'd rank Beksinki's volumes 1 > 2 > 3. First two volumes are paintings, while the last volume focuses on his sketches and background. These are two of my favorite works from him (forgive the quality, I took these from my phone cam):
I suppose the Souls books are the obvious recommendation and I'll definitely look into them but since there are 5 of those games (including Demons Souls and Bloodborne), I wanted to know the best ones.
Hmm, if those are the volumes on Amazon they seem a bit overpriced. I may go for this one though: https://www.amazon.com/dp/8375762245/?tag=neogaf0e-20
I don't have any of the Souls books, but I think the Bloodborne one is worth it if you see it for $20 or so. I would pass at the current price of $30
NintendosBooger
Member
Yeah, quite overpriced but what can I say, I'm a fan. The H.R. Giger Necronomicon books 1 and 2 are quite expensive as well but they have the man's best work. I've been saving to buy them (either used or new).
My concern with the Souls artbooks is that they'll contain too many screenshots or photos pulled from the games, whereas I'm seeking early composite sketches and impressionistic depictions of the world.
Do you know of artbooks that include detailed descriptions of each work? I regularly purchase the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manuals (it's okay if you like more cartoonish artwork), and have always been satisfied with the physical bio added with each monster/demon. I'd be very pleased to include any other fantasy/sci-fi art book that follows suit, the more detail the better.
What's a good place to sell artbooks? I've been trimming down a load of my stuff, rule being if I haven't looked at something in a couple of years it can go (I need the money for home improvements).
I've got Half Life 2 raising the bar, Making of Doom 3, some warhammer concept stuff, something by Brom and so on and so forth.
EBay obviously, but they seem to take so much in fees. Gumtree maybe but chances are they'll never sell.
I've got Half Life 2 raising the bar, Making of Doom 3, some warhammer concept stuff, something by Brom and so on and so forth.
EBay obviously, but they seem to take so much in fees. Gumtree maybe but chances are they'll never sell.
Only speaking for the Bloodborne book, it is 99% concept art.
Nothing is worse than getting an artbook and finding a bunch of screenshots in it.
You could try selling them in the GAF buy/sell thread
Iva Demilcol
Member
Hi everyone...
Is the Splatoon artbook hardcover?
I'm interested in buying it if that's the case.
Is the Splatoon artbook hardcover?
I'm interested in buying it if that's the case.
That All About SFIII book shown earlier is indeed quite great. I have it as well. I don't think they ever did follow-ups for 2nd Impact and 3rd Strike though, which is a big shame. It might be the reason why we do have some stage concept art for New Gen floating around online but little to none for the other two iterations. Unless I'm overlooking something of course, in which case please do correct me.
Yes. A hefty one at that
Ah, I see. I was under the impression they all followed in the example of the first Design Works. Maybe I'll check out the one for DSIII afterall then when it gets localized.
Thanks for the write-up. I might go for it when my wallet stops crying from all the amiibo lately.
The continued absence of Sonic 3 is indeed a shame. Even those recently announced AtGames mini Genesis console thingies have all Genesis Sonic games, including Sonic & Knuckles, but not regular Sonic 3 (or CD but I guess that makes more sense). Taxman never got his chance to do a widescreen smart device port either like he did for the other games. I'm wondering if it could be the songs composed by MJ, like Icecap Zone, that's causing this but regardless of that, it does suck as it seems Sega might be in the proces of making people forget about it almost.
Yes. A hefty one at that
Ah, I see. I was under the impression they all followed in the example of the first Design Works. Maybe I'll check out the one for DSIII afterall then when it gets localized.
Thanks for the write-up. I might go for it when my wallet stops crying from all the amiibo lately.
The continued absence of Sonic 3 is indeed a shame. Even those recently announced AtGames mini Genesis console thingies have all Genesis Sonic games, including Sonic & Knuckles, but not regular Sonic 3 (or CD but I guess that makes more sense). Taxman never got his chance to do a widescreen smart device port either like he did for the other games. I'm wondering if it could be the songs composed by MJ, like Icecap Zone, that's causing this but regardless of that, it does suck as it seems Sega might be in the proces of making people forget about it almost.
I can confirm that there are no screenshots in the Souls artbooks, except for very few images taken from CG trailers. If you want a more detailed preview, feel free to PM me.
afternoon delight
Member
Yeah the Souls books don't feature a single screenshot- well, at least not DS1, 2, or Bloodbourne.
I understand other's complaints with Bloodborne's binding but I think it's a wonderful art collection.
I understand other's complaints with Bloodborne's binding but I think it's a wonderful art collection.
Oh, this is technical but I do see the difference in Sonic's blue color. I'm an average consumer of these artbooks so I don't mind that. But I'm gonna be disappointed if I'm a big sonic fan.
Valkyria 1 to 3 seems to be ok
Freezasaurus
Member
The Dark Souls III Design Works came out in Japan recently and it was basically the same as the previous two.
UnluckyKate
Member
Love this see this thread thrive
Anyone got the Art of Prey ?
Anyone got the Art of Prey ?
super-famicom
Member
Good thread, I never saw it before. How is the Horizon Zero Dawn artbook? I have it in my Amazon wish list.
Freezasaurus
Member
Excellent. One of my favorites. It has some especially great Aloy concepts. Titan Books usually puts out nice artbooks.
I was actually asking for recommendations myself lol. I'd rank Beksinki's volumes 1 > 2 > 3. First two volumes are paintings, while the last volume focuses on his sketches and background. These are two of my favorite works from him (forgive the quality, I took these from my phone cam):
Wow, I'm really into that art. I'll have to check out Beksinki's work.
Oh man. If it's your first time seeing it you're in for a treat.
Iva Demilcol
Member
Yes. A hefty one at that
Thanks, I own the Japanese version, and while it is pretty nice it's not hardcover.
super-famicom
Member
Good to hear. I'll pick it up someday.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
These are valid points but it won't matter to the average consumer. Most are still better than your average art book.
Personally my biggest problem with Udon is their spine work is all over the place. Sometimes it's great and other times it's atrocious like the Marvel art book.
Freezasaurus
Member
Lately though, it hasn't seemed to be all that great. The Capcom Fighting Tribute book they put out that was only available in hardcover was fine, but their paperbacks seem to be slipping. And they really need to update their website. The release schedule on their site doesn't list any releases past December 2015. XD
show me your skeleton
Member
well, my copy of the bravely default art book should be here by Friday.
Yay - although, I hope you bought the artbook and not the Mook - the artbook is around A4 size and the Mook is much smaller.
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Counting down the days till i get the NEO GEO artbook.
Can't wait!
UnluckyKate
Member
I missed my chance haven't I ?
I missed my chance haven't I ?
You and me both. I don't know why on earth I put off getting that art book for so long.
tiebreaker
Member
I missed my chance haven't I ?
wtf. The price jump is higher than Valkyria Chronicles Artbook. Thank feck I bought one just before Persona 5 released.
Anyway, I'm adding one to the collection.
Oh, and I just got shipping confirmation for Undertale's artbook. I don't know why they don't ship it together with the game to save on shipping cost.
Anyway, I'm adding one to the collection.
That's a good'n! I posted a lengthy review several pages back I think. It's not comprehensive by any means but I like it a lot.