☆ The Hand Drawn Video Gamer ☆ #Retrogaming

For a while now I have had a desire to create a video games related book that covers the theme of hand drawn video games maps.

I was largely inspired by the Artcade book by (Tim Nicholls) which covered Arcade Cabinet Marquees and also I was inspired by the awesome series of visual compendiums by Bitmap Books which cover some of the greatest retro consoles and computers of all time.

These books have really ignited that nostalgia which surrounds the video games scene right now and I can lose myself in those visually stunning publications while soaking up all the visuals embedded in those pages.

I have previously written about my idea of a visual compendium that contained just hand drawn video game maps in a previous blog post and the reaction to this post was very positive.

More recently, after creating a Reddit Discussion and having some nice exchanges with a few like minded individuals on social media and email, I’ve decided that it’s time to make this dream happen.

There is a desire there that I share with fellow gamers to see these personal maps in one place to enable a total Nostalgia trip. The thing I love the most about these hand drawn artefacts is that each one is unique and has a personal story that goes with it. Just through the Reddit discussions I have had people have come back to me to say that this subject has reignited a memory of creating these maps years ago and I have a few people who are currently searching their attics and storage to try and unearth their ‘lost maps’!

After these discussions I have also stumbled across some sub genres of the theme that I would like to try and include as a sub set of the hand drawn video games maps. These are user created maps that are not necessarily hand drawn and hand written items that relate to video games that are not necessarily maps.

The hand written items category evokes memories of me writing down notes in A4 ruled school books that I’d sneak out of science class. These notes were usually a list of inventory items and a list of things to do in game.

As an avid Championship Manager / Football Manager player I would often create ‘To Do’ lists which would keep my management brain finely tuned. I’d create a list that would look something like this:

·          Scout Player: <insert name>

·          Renew <insert name> Contract

·          Hire New <insert position> Coach

·          Put In Offer For <insert name>

·          Change Tactic To Have Attacking Fullbacks For Game vs <insert team name>

I would love to stumble across these hand written notebooks as they would be a time capsule into those video gaming days when I would put a lot of effort into playing those Football Manager sims even though I’m not all that good at them!

These activities would have suited those type of video games whereby you don’t have an in game option to check a map or to see what’s on your to do list. I can only imagine the type of notebooks I would have filled if I was playing Fallout 3 or 4 without the luxury of my Pipboy. Tracking side quests and key inventory items would have consumed me in a way that I love and in a way I think that devotion of this time would have drawn me even more into those video games as the physical existence of these hand written items breaks into the real world which would immerse me even more into the game world.

As I have mentioned in my Reddit discussion and Social Media Requests I really need the beautiful gamers in the various video games communities to contribute their maps, user generated items and hand written video gaming related notes to me so as I can curate a visual compendium worth reading.

So this is where you lovely Freezer Followers come into the equation……

Do YOU Still Own Any Hand Drawn Video Game Maps or Hand Written Video Game Related Notes etc that You Would Be Willing To Submit Digitally To Me So I Can Compile This Book Of Awesome?

If YOU Would Like To Contribute And Feature In The Book Then Send Me A Mail At gamesfreezer@gmail.Com And We Can Look To Create Something Special TOGETHER!

Time To Climb Into The Loft And See What You Have Got….

Let Me Know How YOU Get On….

"Stay Frosty"