SErvice GAmes: The Rise and Fall of SEGA

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I’m joined by David Munoz the man behind Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA - Enhanced Edition, thank you David for joining us today.

Thanks for having me. Really an unexpected honor.
 
The original version of this History of SEGA by Sam Pettus is already available online, why bring it to Kickstarter now, and why you?

I was involved in the original print and ebook versions of the history. It is very true to the great work that Sam Pettus wrote, but unfortunately has a number of flaws in style, grammar, and substance in certain subjects. That’s what this Kickstarter wants to fix. Making the most complete and well-written history of Sega available.

As someone who only had a Dreamcast why should I care about the history of SEGA?  How does this book appeal to those who are not hardcore SEGA fans?

As you probably know, the Dreamcast was the end of an era at Sega. As the last console they ever produced, it was a swan song that many people still cherish to this day. It was, however, in many ways doomed to failure before it was even released. It’s the story that got Sega from its humble beginnings, to the one-time industry juggernaut, only to practically fall off the map a decade later.  That makes this book a story worth telling.

Many younger readers may have not grown up with Sega consoles, but everyone involved with video games has been affected by some of what Sega did in the 80’s and 90’s. They were one of the first to use some of the things we take for granted today. It’s really amazing to see what they were able to do back then and how those innovations resonate still today.


So what’s with the title “Service Games?”  I understand the Rise and Fall of SEGA part but the “Service Games” part isn’t ringing any bells.

SEGA is an acronym. It comes from the combination of the first two letters of the words “SErvice” and “GAmes”.

Wow really?  I never knew that! Is Sam Pettus involved with this project?

Sam Pettus wrote the original text, but unfortunately unavailable to offer assistance with this. We are working closely with Eidolons-Inn.net, the home of Pettus’ SegaBase, to make sure this is what Sam and the community would want. We don’t do this for profit.

Your video is pretty well done, but it is basically a slide show, why haven’t you put a human face on the project?  How are you connecting with potential backers to sell this project?

People really want see a mug like mine? (Laughs)  In reality I didn’t want to be the face of the book. I may be doing the vast majority of the enhancements and rewrites, but I don’t claim this as mine. It is, and always will be, Sam’s. I may appear on subsequent videos, but nothing is planned. I do accept all questions of the community and hope they see that this book is a labor of love.
 
What previous work have you done in this area?  How experienced are you in pulling off projects such as these?

I was the contributing author on the original printed versions and have been working on this, as well as the previous version, for well over a year. I personally have a B.S. in communications, but really I am learning as I go. That’s why it took so long to get to this point. But with the funds we generate on Kickstarter, we hope to have the enhancements done, have it professionally edited, and have it ready to print by August of 2013.

One of the keys of a successful Kickstarter project is backer participation.  How are you engaging your backers?  What kinds of things do you have planned for updates?  Interviews?  Interesting excerpts from the book? Artwork?

We plan on asking for backer feedback on book decisions throughout the Kickstarter, but answering their questions and concerns are what really fuel that. I invite anyone to write me about what they think could make the book better. As for updates, well, we have stuff planned out to entice current and future backers, but nothing to announce now. Anything else will be fueled by what the backers want.
 
What kind of media attention have you received with your project?  How are you spreading the word?  Facebook?  Twitter?  Google+? Youtube?  Advertising?  Are you using Kicktraq to help things along?

A few sites have offered support and we’ll see what else we can do to promote our cause. Of course it’s on my Facebook and such, but reaching out to the communities that had interest in the first version is where I went first. We aren’t currently using anything like Kicktraq, but we’ll see!

Do you have any tips/advice would you give to anyone looking to start a Kickstarter?

Give yourself a few days to keep tweaking and polishing you Kickstarter before you launch. Things like misspelled words or confusing wording really makes your page look cheap. (Laughs) Hopefully I don’t have any!

Thank you for spending your time with us David!  Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?

Thanks for reading this far into the interview! I hope this cleared up a lot of questions and will see your names on the backer list soon.

Thanks again and I hope to hear good things from your Kickstarter!