Dreamcast Worlds: a design history

By Zoya Street on July 5, 2012

I’ve launched an indiegogo campaign to fund a book expanding on the thesis I wrote for my Master’s degree at the Royal College of Art.

I intend to turn my thesis into a historical book about Dreamcast games, with a unique approach – instead of following the life stories of heroic game designers, or recounting how and why the Dreamcast failed commercially as a games console, in this book I tell the story from right inside the games themselves. I take objects, buildings and spaces from inside games and treat them like historical artefacts. And I plan to do it with your help.

Travelling through the maps and screens of three Dreamcast games, I map out a network of players, developers and events that contributed to the Dreamcast phenomenon. It’s a spatial history of videogames, and it focuses on a time when 3D, open-world virtual play spaces first became possible.

Rewarding endeavours

In return for your donation, you’ll get a digital, paperback or hardback copy (or copies) of the book once it’s ready. The higher reward levels come with extra special perks, such as a named acknowledgement in the book, and a post on my personal blog about how wonderful you are (and by that I mean you, personally – I’ll do my research). If you feel inspired to donate particularly generously, I will write a detailed report on space design in a game you have made, applying innovative interpretive and historical techniques to your own work.

Join the conversation

This project isn’t just about raising money. I want to develop this book in direct conversation with readers – I’ll be sharing ideas and snippets with contributors along the way, and hosting regular debates on Google+ about the issues that come out of my research. No good work can be made without criticism, and you will be the first to hear what I’m working on and voice your opinion about it. I need your feedback as much as I need financial support.

To get involved, head over to the indiegogo page now!

About Zoya Street

I’m responsible for all written content on the site. As a freelance journalist and historian, I write widely on how game design and development have changed in the past, how they will change in the future, and how that relates to society and culture as a whole. I’m working on a crowdfunded book about the Dreamcast, in which I treat three of the game-worlds it hosted as historical places. I also write at Pocketgamer.biz and The Borderhouse.