The Video Game Library

#56: An interview with founder Dean Guadagno

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The Week in Games may be all-digital, but regular readers should hopefully know how much I try to promote print media whenever I can.

So this week I’m delighted to say that we're joined by Dean Guadagno, the founder of the Video Game Library, where he discusses how his passion for gaming began and how his mission to catalogue every video game book resulted in what is quite possibly the greatest resource for video game literature out there.

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Please explain a little about yourself, your gaming background, and what the Video Game Library is.

Video Games have always been my primary passion, and The Video Game Library is an outlet for me to share some of that with others. I love gaming and the community that surrounds it. From indies to AAAs, retro to modern, console to mobile - and everything in between.

Since Christmas of '91 when I got an NES Action Set - my first console - gaming has been a huge part of my life. Over the years, I've amassed a collection of over 4,000 physical games, one of the largest gaming memorabilia collections in Canada, and most recently, a pretty sizable collection of video game literature.

What started off as a fun sub-collection, quickly evolved into me regularly rummaging through the book sections of the local Thrifts in hopes of finding another dusty publication to add to the shelves. It grew to 100 books, then 200... at 500 I was sure I had them all. And then one night, huddled in a small corner surrounded by piles of books, I realised 2 things:

  1. There are way more video game books than I could've imagined.

2. There are no dedicated resources out there to shed light on these amazing reads.

Thus, in March 2022, the Video Game Library was born.

What are your goals for The Video Game Library, and what’s involved in its running?

The Video Game Library is meant to be an accessible and globally representative resource for literature written about video games. A single place where you can search for any game, creator, topic or theme, and you'll be treated to a list of books that cover it.

Most importantly, The Video Game Library is meant for everyone; a gaming historian on YouTube looking to research a topic for their next video, a teacher wanting to incorporate video games into their classroom, a fan from Europe wanting to explore more in their favourite JRPG universes, a parent who isn't as familiar with video games wanting to find that perfect book for their child's birthday, a psychologist who wants to connect with their patients through a comfortable medium...

I’m striving to make The Video Game Library the definitive source of video game literature, from independent printings to major publishing houses.

For the past year, I've averaged around 20 hours per week building out the site, its entries, and sharing books and authors over social media that others might be interested in. The library has grown to several thousand books strong right now, covering literature natively written in over 20 languages. The finish line, however, seems to get farther with each new rabbit hole I discover.

Are you happy with how the project is going so far?

I've been incredibly grateful for the support the site has received. The authors and visitors whom I've interacted with have been kind, helpful, and thankful; and that's been so rewarding. I, of course, wish that the site was more synonymous with new book announcements, or just general gaming book news, but I’m hoping that a bit more time and a little help from the community will help it get there.

What are your plans for the future?

My primary goal is to continue getting more and more books up there. I'm so thankful for the small team that's come on to help me. Ryan, James - and soon, some others - they've been great at volunteering their time. But this is such an enormous undertaking.

For 2023, I want to spend a bit more time spreading the word about the site. If I’m being super honest, I’ve been really surprised at how difficult it is to get any attention. I’ve reached out to all the major gaming news sites - no responses. Reached out to some major public libraries - no responses. I even set up a “Buy Me A Coffee” Ko-Fi account for anyone who wanted to help support the hosting fees (the site is entirely non-profit), and in a year we’re sitting at under $15/month (almost enough to pay the bills). It’s been a little deflating at times, but then there are always the kind comments that come through that lift me right up again.

At the end of the day, it’s a site made to help people, so as long as people know it’s out there, then I’m happy.

You can check out the VGL website here, and follow them on Twitter here.

A huge thank you to Dean for taking the time to answer my questions. The Video Game Library is an incredible – and ever-expanding – resource for those who love video game literature. Please give it a look.

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As always, thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy the rest of the issue.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Jeff

THE WEEK IN GAMES

The best news, deals and gaming content of the week!

NEWS

DEALS

MORE!

  • 32 Bit Library: Volume 2 - Namco's PlayStation Kickstarter

This hardcover book contains "every single NTSC released game from Namco on the original PlayStation" alongside "600+ screenshots and bonus content" spread over 236+ pages."

The campaign runs until 8th April. You can back the project here.

  • Unidice Kickstarter

The campaign for "unidice - The gaming console in the shape of a die!" is now live. This unique project promises "A unique board game, mobile game & TTRPG gaming console hybrid - in your pocket" and is worth checking out if you're after something a little different.

You can check out the campaign here, which ends 14th April.

  • I'm Too Young To Die

I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002 from the brilliant Bitmap Books is available to buy now. You can check it out over at Bitmap Books here.

NEW RELEASES

All the major releases arriving this week and next!

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OUT NEXT WEEK:

Resident Evil 4 - Out now!

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…and that’s it for this week!

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Thanks again, and see you next week!

Jeff