Gamebook conference

Recently, I attended a conference of gamebook creators.

This event was held in Tokyo. In spite of corona virus shock, there were several audience who are interested in this theme.

Gamebook, or interactive novel, was developed in 1970s and became popular in late 20th century all over the world. In Japan, several foreign gamebooks written by famous authors, such as Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone, and Dave Morris, were translated into Japanese.

Also, many gamebooks were released in Japan. Among them, novelization of computer game softwares, especially Family Computer, a Nintendo game console, was so successful that many best-selling FamiCon gamebooks were released one after another.

One presenter in this session was a writer of many FamiCon gamebooks. He was fond of playing computer games. Therefore, he would like to express fascinating elements of computer games on a paper gamebook.

However, as computer games became popular and easy to purchase, gamebooks declined rapidly. Considering the situation changing, he dropped himself out from the publisher to change the job, said he.

Now, gamebook is a minor media, but is still surviving. It is difficult to monetize gamebook publishing business. On the other hand, Kindle Direct Publishing and other digital publication service have significantly reduced the publishing cost. Indeed, I have published some original gamebooks on Amazon.

I believe gamebook will become a little more popular again as a casual habit in the future.