A new book chronicling the life and achievements of Nintendo's legendary president, Satoru Iwata!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Panel Report + Audiobook & Remix Album Release Date!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Aug 13, 2024 at 04:40:07 PM
Greetings once again, Impact of Iwata backers!
First of all, an apology for my lack of updates over the last three months. If you're a patron of Nintendo Force Magazine in addition to being an Impact of Iwata backer, then you already had a chance to read my family life update on Patreon earlier this summer. But I'll sum things up here.
I posted the last Kickstarter update here on May 1. Just two days later, my wife got a call informing her that her already critically ill father, my father-in-law David, had taken another sharp turn for the worse. We traveled to her hometown to spend his final days with him, and he passed away less than a week later. Ultimately the entire month of May ended up revolving around saying our goodbyes, planning his funeral and memorial party, and supporting my mother-in-law in her transition to now living alone.
Progress on my work projects, both the remaining Stretch Goal fulfillments here and Nintendo Force Magazine, got set back as we navigated all that. But through June and July I've been able to get back up to speed on things, and I have positive updates to share with you all today!
Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. A central theme of The Impact of Iwata is that important people in our lives can sometimes suddenly just pass away seemingly without much warning. Another role model, another man I looked up to, is now gone. But my father-in-law was an English teacher, an avid reader and a man who was honestly pretty stubborn in life. He would've wanted to me to plow forward and finish what we started here. So that's what we're going to do now, just a bit delayed from the originally intended timeline.
--- LONG ISLAND RETRO GAMING EXPO REPORT ---
Earlier this year, Impact of Iwata backer/Nintendo Force Magazine subscriber Joel Albino extended an invitation to me to be a panelist at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. I'd never been to Long Island before (and my wife was happy for a change of scenery/a chance to take a road trip with our boys), so we happily accepted and made the trek in our trusty family minivan.
We had a great time! The Expo took place just this past weekend, and my panel, "Remembering Satoru Iwata," drew largely on the research that fueled The Impact of Iwata. The room was packed with cheerful attendees, and we all just enjoyed an hour together, reminiscing about Nintendo's legendary president.
The panel was recorded and the Expo staff told me I'd be able to access the video at some point after the event, so I'll let you all know when that becomes available so that you can hopefully have a chance to watch it all yourself. Stay tuned for that!
--- AUDIOBOOK & REMIX ALBUM RELEASE DATE SET! ---
If you happened to be in that audience this past Saturday afternoon, you got a few days' worth of advance notice for this next announcement: We've got a release date set for The Impact of Iwata: Audiobook Version, as well as the accompanying Overclocked ReMix album that was made in support of the audiobook! Working together with the OC ReMix team, we landed on a date exactly two weeks from today:
August 27, 2024!
That date also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the release of Mother 2 in Japan. Mr. Iwata's contributions to that game were absolutely critical, as you all know from having read the book by now — him swooping in and saving EarthBound from being cancelled may be his most well-known and legendary accomplishment, so celebrating that anniversary seems more than appropriate. I'll make another update on that day with more information on how we'll get the audiobook and album distributed to you all. Please look forward to it!
I've got further NF Publishing announcements to share very soon, but we'll call this update long enough for now. Once again, thank you all for your support. In every way!
Book Buzz, Expanded Sales and Audiobook Update!
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, May 01, 2024 at 07:15:34 PM
Hello again, Impact of Iwata backers! It's been a while since I last updated you all on the latest goings-on, so let's get everyone back up to speed!
--- BUZZ FOR THE BOOK ---
Since print copies have been landing in people's hands over the last few months, we've been getting a lot of great praise and feedback! I appreciate every heartfelt comment, social media post and kind word that any of you have been able to share.
One great review on YouTube that you may have seen back in March came courtesy of Kit & Krysta! Kit Ellis was one of the contributors to The Impact of Iwata, as he shared some of his personal history with leading the Nintendo Direct team in America at the end of Chapter 14. When he and his Nintendo Minute co-host and ongoing YouTube partner Krysta Yang got their hands on their personal copies, they were kind enough to both talk about the book on their podcast and post this great video. Give it a look if you haven't already!
--- EXPANDED SALES OPTIONS ---
We've still got a few incomplete backer surveys and a small handful of international shipments that still need to get out the door, but with 99.8% of backers' orders fulfilled and physical books in the hands of nearly everyone who ordered them through the campaign, we've opened up sales of The Impact of Iwata to the general public through the last few weeks. There are a few different places to direct people if they're looking to buy!
NintendoForceMagazine.com. Right alongside our back issues of NF Magazine, there's a new book section that we've added to our main website shop. The various different Kickstarter tiers are still represented there, so that's the place to go for ordering the full Collector's Edition set, autographed copies and the like. I personally fulfill orders from our website shop!
Amazon.com. I know people love free two-day Prime shipping! So lots of copies of The Impact of Iwata have been sent in to Amazon's warehouses and can be ordered alongside anything else you or your family or your friends might be purchasing from the world's biggest online retailer. Amazon is also the place to buy the new Kindle version of the book, if you have a compatible device or would like to read it through the Kindle app. (It isn't compatible with certain models of Kindles, but you'll be alerted if that's the case for the one you try to use to buy it.)
The Yetee! Finally, everyone's favorite online storefront for brand-new game-related T-shirts every 24 hours has partnered with us to become another avenue for ordering The Impact of Iwata. One bonus for ordering through The Yetee is that all of the copies there ship with the 'obi' dust jacket! Consider tossing a copy or two into your cart the next time you're there, boosting your wardrobe with great new shirts.
--- AUDIOBOOK ON THE WAY! ---
Finally, I know you all have been waiting for an update on the audiobook. And I have a great one to share, at long last!
All of the music for the audiobook is now complete! If you recall, we announced that we're partnering with OverClocked ReMix to add a full album of 16 brand-new remixes to the audiobook, to spice up its presentation so it's not just voices reading the text to you. All of those tracks are now done, so we're in the homestretch of compiling the full audiobook experience and plan to have that done before the end of this month. Thank you for your patience! I think you'll be impressed by the final product!
As a sample, have a listen to the track that was composed to accompany Chapter 3, Teeing Off with Golf! (Today is the 40th anniversary of Golf being released on the Famicom in Japan, so I had to choose this one.) Golf itself doesn't have much to remix, so artist Cyril the Wolf looked to the legacy of that title and selected a song from HAL's latest golf game, Kirby's Dream Course, to be the source material for this one. That's representative of the album as a whole: Each track was made to celebrate not only the first/primary game discussed in each chapter, but the full legacy that title went on to have!
Note that only a portion of each track will play within the main body of the audiobook, as an intro to each chapter. The complete album with all of the full tracks will then be placed after the main audiobook content has concluded, as a bonus album of new music!
I'll have another update to share on the audiobook hopefully soon, and I'm also planning to kick off the long-awaited and Stretch Goal-promised companion video series on YouTube soon too. Stay tuned for more on that, next time!
~ Lucas M. Thomas
February Recap!
about 2 years ago
– Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 06:29:19 PM
Greetings once again, Impact of Iwata backers!
International shipping has dominated our focus throughout the month of February, and as we enter the month's final hours I'm pleased to say that nearly every package bound for countries beyond America's borders has either already been delivered or is in transit now, with tracking information sent to the eager recipient.
There are exceptions!
Exception #1) And this applies to American backers too, but we haven't yet been able to mail packages to anyone who still hasn't filled out their survey through BackerKit. There is a known notification error for anyone who is using an email address that ends with "[email protected]" here on Kickstarter. If that's you, and you never got instructions for filling out your survey, that's why. For whatever reason, BackerKit's system just doesn't work with those emails. Reach out to me via the Messages function here on Kickstarter if you are in that boat, and we'll work together to bypass the survey system if needed and get your book to you.
Exception #2) Several international orders have had their addresses flagged as "unverified" or "invalid" by our shipping partners at GlobalPost. I'm going to be sending out an email tomorrow morning to everyone whose address has been flagged in that way, because I'll need to have you send me your complete address information again before your shipping label can be printed and your package can be sent.
If you aren't in either of those exception categories, you should either already have your package delivered, already have your tracking information or you should get your first tracking notification within the next 24 hours. Basically, in all cases, keep your eye on your email for further information if your book isn't already with you.
The head of our shipping department is working as hard as he can. (He's only 16 months old.)
Anyone want to hear a crazy story? I don't want to make excuses for why some of the international packages have gone out later than planned, but listen to this. This is nuts.
So I started sending out international orders using GlobalPost, which is the international arm/partner of ShipStation. (Stamps.com is part of the whole same family of companies too.) A few days after printing our first GlobalPost shipping labels, I get an email from an executive who works at GlobalPost. For privacy, I'll change his name and call him "George."
George emailed me at 8:52 a.m. on a Thursday morning a few weeks ago. He said he wanted to plan a Zoom meeting to talk with me. I replied 18 minutes later, at 9:10 a.m., to agree and accept his invitation. Immediately I got an error message back, saying George's email address didn't exist.
Huh.
I waited a day. Two days. I waited until the following Monday. Didn't hear back from him. I reached out to the other person who had been CC'd on the conversation and they were apologetic, saying that the Zoom would need to be rescheduled. But then I didn't hear back from him.
After more than a full week had gone by, I went back to George's original email to me, saw that there was a phone number on it, and called him. It went to voicemail. I left a message asking him to please get in touch . . . and he finally did. Later that day, from his personal cell phone number.
George apologized profusely for ghosting me, and said that after he had sent me that email at 8:52 a.m., he was then fired from his company at precisely 9:00. No warning. He was part of a 10% reduction of their overall workforce, and the company had given none of the eliminated employees any advance notice whatsoever. They just deleted all their email accounts promptly at 9:00 and told them they didn't work there any more. Bye! See ya!
Absolutely crazy bonkers. And again, I'm not making excuses, but I do apologize that I paused most outgoing packages throughout that week because I was waiting on a Zoom meeting with GlobalPost sales executives that still has never happened -- because one of the executives is not even employed there any more.
The whole thing just makes me appreciate Mr. Iwata even more, honestly. The game industry is seeing reports of massive layoffs at development studios and press outlets on a weekly basis these days, and it's just so impressive that Mr. Iwata never took that easy way out when Nintendo's fortunes fell during the most dismal 3DS and Wii U days. I'm happy that I included some praise for him on that point in the book!
That's all from me for now, and again, thank you to all of you for your patience if your package is still on its way! We're at about 96% fulfillment completed at this point. Just pushing to the finish line now!
~ Lucas M. Thomas
January Recap!
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 08:27:18 PM
Greetings once again, Impact of Iwata backers! I hope that 2024 has gotten off to a great start for all of you. As we've reached the end of January and I haven't posted an update for a while, I wanted to check in here and get you all up to speed on our progress with fulfillment!
We've been working hard to get everyone's orders shipped out, and we've gotten literally thousands of packages out the door and on their way to your homes. Nearly every order that's bound for a United States address has been fulfilled -- meaning it's already been delivered, or it's on its way now. Only a handful of US orders remain, some of which have invalid address information, so I'll be reaching out to those individuals to get that fixed!
If you have received your order already, I hope you're already enjoying the book! Several of you have posted positive impressions and photos on social media, and I appreciate the positive feedback and your help with spreading the word!
My 9-year-old son, Calvin, surrounded by shipping boxes. We've been overloading the mailman every single day!
It seems like the vast majority of delivered packages have made their journey and arrived in good condition, but since we have sent out thousands of these boxes, I know a few will surely have gotten banged or bruised along the way. If you get your package and your book got damaged, or if your order was missing any items, or anything else has irritated you about this fulfillment phase, get in touch with me through Kickstarter's Messages and I'll work to make it right! I want everyone to be left smiling when this campaign is all wrapped up. :)
If you live outside the United States, your order is heading your way in February. Thank you for your patience! International shipping has become expensive, confusing and a real chore to deal with in the last few years in particular, but we're navigating all those stormy waters and will get your physical books to you as well as soon as we can.
Links to download the digital versions of the book were sent out alongside the last update in December, but if your link never came through in your email inbox or you need it re-sent for any other reason, again, let me know through Kickstarter's Messages and I'll be happy to get you another link sent. The Dropsend email service is reliable, but some email clients like to mark big file delivery emails as spam, so it's understandable if anyone needs the digital book sent again!
GDQ host Mr. Game and Shout shows off a copy of The Impact of Iwata during an AGDQ 2024 prize segment.
Lastly, I hope you all were tuned in to Awesome Games Done Quick a couple of weeks ago! My family and I love watching GDQ's speedrunning charity marathons, and we'd been looking forward to AGDQ 2024 in particular since this was their first event following my son Carter's 12th birthday -- which means he was old enough to attend in person! Carter and I went to the first three days of the event, and also brought some copies of The Impact of Iwata along to donate as prizes. Here's hoping we helped motivate more donations to the Prevent Cancer Foundation! We didn't stay the whole week, though. We had to get back home to keep on shipping out book orders!
And that's the January recap! Again, reach out via Messages if you have any questions or concerns about anything -- I'll be getting caught up on replying there as soon as I hit Publish on this post!
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Digital Editions are Inbound to Your Inbox!
about 2 years ago
– Sat, Dec 30, 2023 at 05:35:14 PM
This week's update is coming to you all three days later than originally planned, thanks to a sudden assault of holiday season sickness here at NF home base. (A.K.A. the Thomas family home.) My wife took our kids to visit her parents for a few days, and when they came home they brought a bunch of Christmas presents . . . and a bunch of higher-than-normal temperatures. (That's the holidays for ya.)
Hopefully you all are hale and hearty, but if you do find yourself feeling ill here as 2023 comes to an end, I'm doing my best to provide a good bit of new reading material to keep you company as you recover.
So far we've managed to mail out around 1,000 physical copies of The Impact of Iwata, and we'll continue to work to get the remainder shipped as fast as possible in the weeks ahead. Thank you for your patience if you're still awaiting your print copy and other physical items -- I have started to see some people posting photos on social media of their books being successfully delivered, so it's encouraging to know that they're all making their way, day by day!
The digital version of the book, meanwhile, I have just sent out via email to everyone whose pledge included it. If that's you, look for an email from "DropSend" in your inbox -- and check your Spam folder if you don't see it at first, because sometimes file delivery services automatically get sorted into Spam.
2023 is coming to a close as Impact of Iwata pledge fulfillment continues, and more updates lie ahead in 2024. Stay tuned for those, but for now, Happy New Year! (And stay hydrated. And take your vitamins!)
