Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 13h

I've visited many castles in Japan, but Himeji really stands out. Not only it's huge, but it really feels like the inspiration for countless games.

Seriously, the way you move across multiple gated courtyards & small areas with weird angles feels just like Onimusha, Nioh, Ninja Gaiden, etc

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 20h

On happier news, I'm currently cruising the grand line lol

A photo of the seat cover for the One Piece-themed shinkansen, showing the character Luffy.

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 21h

Reminder that the CRPG Book is freely available as PDF. That's how the whole project started, I edited & designed it

But the difference in awareness when it went from a free ebook to a hardcover was gigantic. I hope Bitmap recovers from this mess, publishers are important to reach the mainstream :/

Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · Sep 3

Hi, I spent 10+ years researching all sorts of PC RPGs: AAAs, indies, RPG Maker, non-English, etc. Together with 167 volunteers, I created/edited The CRPG Book: crpgbook.wordpress.com

You can download it for free, or buy a hardcover edition from Bitmap Books - ALL author's revenue goes to charity!❤️

The CRPG Book Project

The CRPG Book Project is a collaborative, non-profit effort to create an ebook on the history of Computer Role-Playing Games.

crpgbook.wordpress.com

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Reposted by Felipe Pepe

Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 22h

I've neglected updating the Video Game History Booklist for a while.

thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2020/08/27/t...

Anybody remember some of what came out this year or is forthcoming? Not review or reminiscence books - history (any language).

The Video Game History Booklist

The Video Game History Book List is a chronological list of books in physical, digital, and webpage format which aspiring game researchers can use to find reading material related to the developmen…

thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 22h

Rique Sampaio's "Primeiro Contato" book on the arrival of hoke computers & PC gaming in Brazil| Amazon.com.br share.google/gzW1P6vAOlVU...

Was published on May 2025

Amazon.com.br

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Possessor Fessor 🎃 Ni No Kuni @professorfessor.bsky.social · 1d

If you want to own System Shock 2 but aren’t interested in the Nightdive remake, act now because it’s about to be delisted as a standalone product.

www.rpgsite.net/news/18648-s...

System Shock 2 (1999) is being delisted on October 10 for PC for standalone purchases | RPG Site

It will be included with System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster going forward for new and existing owners.

www.rpgsite.net

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Reposted by Felipe Pepe

Kurt @ Hardcore Gaming 101 @hg101.bsky.social · 1d

For anyone lamenting how some goon was able to get a publishing deal - put together your own book! Create a solid concept, do some planning, create a design, and pitch it! Most publishers don't have open pitch seasons. They want to see someone that can see a full project to completion.

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love & barley 🐸🌶️🪏🎃 @loveandbarley.bsky.social · 2d

give greta thunberg a gundam

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 1d

Truly, what a shitty week for those who care about video game books.

I have the privilege of writing as a hobby, but life got way harder for those trying to make a living out of it.

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WarpZone @warpzone.me · 1d

We at WarpZone are a publishing company that writes and register the history of video games in Brazil. We have already published over 60 books on the subject. Here it is for anyone interested.

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St1ka @st1ka.bsky.social · 4d

Fun fact: To my knowledge, 1995 and 1996 was the Peak of Japan's FPS development era.

To my knowledge, Japan made a whopping 14 First Person Shooters during period

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 3d

My friends from Brazil came to visit and bought with them @riquesampaio.com.br's new book on the history of PCs & PC gaming arriving in Brazil, based on a documentary series he did. ❤️

Again, there's great "local" research being done, the problem is making it accessible & incorporated globally.

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 3d

Valeu 🥲

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 3d

No full books on the topic, but there's some articles I can recommend - the same author above also translated an article to ROMchip:
romchip.org/index.php/ro...

And "Video Games and the Global South" is a great free book that has a chapter on Brazil by José Messias: kilthub.cmu.edu/articles/boo...

Between Mass Culture and Technological Improvisation | ROMchip

romchip.org

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 3d

My friends from Brazil came to visit and bought with them @riquesampaio.com.br's new book on the history of PCs & PC gaming arriving in Brazil, based on a documentary series he did. ❤️

Again, there's great "local" research being done, the problem is making it accessible & incorporated globally.

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Yeah, it's an update of the series! They added way more games, with stuff like PLATO RPGs that they learned from the CRPG Addict's blog :)

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Some kids in my school owned a PS1 memory card without owning any console or games, just to save their progress at these places

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

In just a few hours people commented seeing this everywhere, from Korea to Zanzibar, from Hungary to India. Again, I believe it was the most common experience.

I really want to collect & share this shared history. I'm working on something cool in this sense, hope to announce it in a month or so! ❤️

Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Playing console & PC games at home is seen as the default experience, but I'd bet that the majority of people in the 2000s experienced games in these social places, paying by the hour.

It's vastly underrepresented in academia & retrogaming debates but it's key to understanding things like F2P games

A store in Brazil where people can pay by the hour to play video game consoles. There's three old tube televisions on the wall, and several children playing soccer games on them

A similar image to the first one, but now it's several people from Vietnam sitting on a bench and playing soccer games on 5 televisions

A russian internet cafe, with several young men sitting in front of a row of computers playing games

Another internet cafe, this time much larger and with Asian men playing

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Yup, even on the photos above you can see that in the two console ones everyone is playing soccer lol

Was basically just that, fighting games and platformers. Kinda like an arcade, really. Once in a while had an insane person who owned a memory card and played RPGs lol

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

There's not much in English about these, people tend to focus on LAN parties (which are an entirely different thing) or just on Korea's PC Bangs...

But @andrealcantarajor.bsky.social made a documentary called "um real a hora" (~"1 dollar per hour") with English subtitles:
youtu.be/H4ZAEhuZpjA?...

DOCUMENTÁRIO | Um real a hora (2022)

YouTube video by Um real a hora

youtu.be

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Obrigado por compartilhar, acho interessantíssimo isso. Pena q é tão pouco documentado... acredito q foi quedra de preços e chegada de mobile q matou isso globalmente, mas adoraria ler mais sobre

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Playing console & PC games at home is seen as the default experience, but I'd bet that the majority of people in the 2000s experienced games in these social places, paying by the hour.

It's vastly underrepresented in academia & retrogaming debates but it's key to understanding things like F2P games

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you for the shoutout! But just to be clear, the 1st edition of the CRPG Book took me "only" 4 years to make, then 5 more years to finish the Expanded Edition XD

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 4d

Oh wow, Stellar Tactics is now content complete after almost a decade in Early Access:
store.steampowered.com/app/465490/S...

It's a mostly-solo dev doing a massive space CRPG that goes from tactical ground combat to free space exploration. Very complex, bold and janky, might please spacesim sickos

Save 50% on Stellar Tactics on Steam

A Sci-Fi role-playing game featuring turn-based ground combat, space exploration, deep character customization and a massive living universe with over 160,000 star systems. Equip your ships with the b...

store.steampowered.com

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Reposted by Felipe Pepe

David Lucio @dlucio.bsky.social · 4d

This is very cool to see. @lagshowcase.bsky.social Creator Fest is having a great first day 🫶🏻

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