
It might seem a little twee to be bothered about game endings in a world that includes titles like Minecraft, ROBLOX and Fortnite, but, once upon a time, seeing a game's ending sequence was a badge of honour; the ultimate payoff following the long and often arduous process of actually finishing a game at a time before save states and the ability to rewind became commonplace.
Rey Esteban – custodian of vgmuseum.com – is seeking to celebrate the humble 'game ending' with his latest book, NES Endings Compendium Vol. 1: 1985-89. Those of you who follow this kind of thing will be aware that this isn't the first tome to have that name – Esteban released an earlier volume a short while ago, but – at the behest of his new publisher, Limited Run's Press Run imprint, he has combined the original edition with what he had planned for the second volume, creating an uber-book which has expanded from 132 pages to a whopping 296 (it also covers the years 1985-89, while the original stopped at 1988).
"I suppose that if you could consider the old book the equivalent to Mario Kart 8, then the new version would be Mario Kart 8 DX with all the DLC," Esteban tells us – and he's not wrong. Not only do you get a bunch of new endings to gawp at, but many of the existing entries have been expanded to either full or multiple-page spreads.
The NES classics which benefit from this include Castlevania 2, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Rygar, Super Mario Bros. 2, Zelda 2, Section-Z and Legendary Wings. Esteban's work on vgmuseum.com includes more than 4,000 game endings across multiple platforms, so it's clear that this dude knows his stuff when it comes to this kind of thing. NES Endings Compendium Vol. 1: 1985-89 is stacked with screens, descriptions and nuggets of trivia, which not only bring back memories, but also educate the reader as to why certain elements were the way they were in each regional variant of a particular game.
The edition we were sent by the publisher includes the book in hardcover (the previous volume was softcover), a slipcover, 10 art cards by Greg Melo and a signed Certificate of Authenticity. You can pick up a copy for $69.99 right now, direct from Press Run.
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Comments 12
I've nearly bought the original a few times. The expanded version looks great, but I really can't stand Limited Run. Preferred the original cover too, especially as this one has not only a huge Press Run logo on it, but also a big Limited Run one too!
@BionicDodo Not sure your complaint with LRG, but if it’s the often lengthy delays in production, I believe these books are produced and ready to ship. This book almost looks to be to Bitmap Publishing’s standards!
Anyone know what the deal is with LRG’s reissue of PlayStation: A Retrospective? It was supposed to come out last October, and it’s just been “coming soon” ever since without any explanation…
The book in hardcore. Well... yeah, all NES games were hardcore.
I do love unintentionally great typos.
Reading this makes me want to play and finish some NES games. Reaching those endings was definitely magical, maybe even more so than post NES era.
Limited Run? No thanks.
It's a shame because I love Rey's work in all the years I've been following them.
Has anyone in the UK bought a book from Limited Run? Because I just looked at doing so and it was adding 20% VAT at checkout even though books are VAT exempt. Do they refund that after the order or are they just pocketing it?
@TransmitHim Books are vat exempt in England, or the states? if it's produced in the states, which it is, they have to add the tax on to the sale, it's essentially their tax, that you pay. I produce a lot of posters are other merchandise, I have printers all over the world and this is always an issue. it just depends on where it's being made.
@YANDMAN No, it's applying the rate of tax for the destination country (the onus is on the business to pay this up-front now, rather than the customer paying import VAT on delivery): 20% for the UK and when I changed my region and delivery area to Canada, it dropped to 2%, the Canadian VAT/sales tax rate. Books are VAT exempt in the UK, so Limited Run shouldn't be charging any tax on them for UK orders, but seemingly are.
@BionicDodo Hey man, I'm the author of this book. The Press Run and LRG logo are only on the slip cover. The book's cover has no logos (see a pic here: https://limitedrungames.com/cdn/shop/files/nes-endings-lrg-book-1.png?v=1687972925).
@gingerbeardman Hey gingerbm
If the problem is that the book is "limited", it isn't. They're all printed and ready to ship. If the problem is with LRG itself, then I guess the only thing I could say is that the books come from Press Run which is a branch led by the amazing Jeremy Parish and Jared Petty.
I suppose they are all the same company yes, but if it helps you, look at it from the point of view that you're buying a Press Run product and not a LRG one
The book will also be available through Amazon at a later date, but I don't know when (paperback editions only).
@TransmitHim There is no onus on anyone to do this whatsoever. If you're a small outfit, registering to be able to add the tax up front is a costly process that then requires further paid accounting and complications. Or at least it does if you live and operate out of the U.K
@YANDMAN Yeah, it costs money, but you're still required to do it. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-and-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-in-the-uk-using-online-marketplaces
Some businesses, including Limited Run, just hire someone else to sort it for them. They got back to me and said tax rates are set by their "International Shipping Partner" and denied any knowledge of or responsibility for the rates being wrong.
@TransmitHim This would depend on whether you are vat registered or not, and if you're not earning 85k a year or more, you're not required to be. Most online store fronts ask you when you register any item for sale if you are vat registered and if you wish to charge vat on this item, it isn't a base requirement, unless you are of course vat registered.
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