Valkyria Chronicles: Design Archive (English Art Book) $28.41

KillerRamen

KillerRamen

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So I was looking on Amazon to see if they were going to have a guide for Valkyria Chronicles 2, but they had a Valkyria Chronicles artbook listed instead at $17 off the list price!

It's listed as having 400 pages, so it's probably the same thing as the Valkyria: Development Artworks (Japanese) book except a lot cheaper and in English.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1926778162/

Publisher: Udon Entertainment (January 15, 2011)

Udon is the same company that released all of those Capcom artbooks and I have a few of them and they're really cool.


[quote name='enemyofusall']I emailed them and got a very quick response here it is:

"We should be doing a press release about the book in the next 2 weeks or so. But basically it is a localization of the 400 page Japanese book “Gallian Chronicles: Development Artworks”. Contents should be pretty much exactly the same as the Japanese version, only in English."

:)[/QUOTE]

Edit: New Lower Price: $31.49! :bouncy:

Barnes and Nobel: $33.74
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/e/9781926778167/?itm=3&USRI=valkyria+chronicles
 
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[quote name='lurkingsalt']The vibe I get is that Udon's web site is focused on featuring Capcom tiltles, they might just be getting into Gust/Sega art books. I get the feeling if these start selling well they will start pushing these on their website more (I hope).[/QUOTE]

I really don't get the point of all those Capcom artbooks. The Okami artbook was amazing but I don't see what's so artistically great about Street Fighter or Mega Man.
 
The Mega Man artbook is really neat. A lot of great tidbits from the designers. It mainly focused on the characters though, a look at the stage designs could have been really neat. Not bad for 20 bucks though!
 
[quote name='Vortextk']Pretty sure they're very popular, more of a history than pure art thing.[/QUOTE]

Oh, well I know they're popular... I just don't get why but that does make sense since Mega Man and SF have a long history.
 
Shining world book came in today. Bottom right corner is just ever so dented, a tiny bit annoying, but it's not like I'll keep this absolutely pristine anyway, just very nice. Simply perusing through the pages enough will make that kind of wear normal, just not right after getting it.

Character art is absolutely gorgeous, of course it focuses nearly exclusively on the girls. It has a few sections of articles with the artist, one where it shows a finished sketch and a few steps/explanations of what he does to get it to the finished product(the title page). At the end it goes through seemingly the roster of all playable and probably somewhat important but side characters. Too bad so much of this is coming from a game that's not in english. Other than that handful of writing with the artist, there's no text at all besides possibly a character name or a short description of who they are included with all the characters at the end.

It's just characters as that is all he did, and seemingly strictly made for this book. No like behind the scenes developing the games, background images or even really things you'd probably see in the game at all; probably all original images. The cover is funny because the feathers on the image are actually some kind of felt/furry material when you feel it but yes unfortunately soft cover.

I'm assuming this means good things about getting the other books in.
 
[quote name='Vortextk']Shining world book came in today. Bottom right corner is just ever so dented, a tiny bit annoying, but it's not like I'll keep this absolutely pristine anyway, just very nice. Simply perusing through the pages enough will make that kind of wear normal, just not right after getting it.

Character art is absolutely gorgeous, of course it focuses nearly exclusively on the girls. It has a few sections of articles with the artist, one where it shows a finished sketch and a few steps/explanations of what he does to get it to the finished product(the title page). At the end it goes through seemingly the roster of all playable and probably somewhat important but side characters. Too bad so much of this is coming from a game that's not in english. Other than that handful of writing with the artist, there's no text at all besides possibly a character name or a short description of who they are included with all the characters at the end.

It's just characters as that is all he did, and seemingly strictly made for this book. No like behind the scenes developing the games, background images or even really things you'd probably see in the game at all; probably all original images. The cover is funny because the feathers on the image are actually some kind of felt/furry material when you feel it but yes unfortunately soft cover.

I'm assuming this means good things about getting the other books in.[/QUOTE]

Thanks a lot for posting info about the book. Was hoping once someone got their hands on it they would post about the actual contents of the book. Does the binding (soft cover) seem sturdy? I hope if you experience any unusual defects on binding you'll post back here.
 
Atelier iris book came in. It shows like every one of these games, from the first to the latest, in chronological order with seemingly all the characters portrayed with their ingame art/portrait assets as well as other random shots and scenes done. The book's softcover as the shining world book was. Paper seems thinnest out of these last three I just bought, this, shining world and the alice book.

A lot less original art it seems compared to shining world, but that book housed only 2 games worth of characters. However it is really cool to see the art go from like 1997 to 2009 from the first game to the last before the book came out.

Actually there is a fair bit of original scenes and shots, just not full page spreads since they need to accommodate space.
 
I forgot I pre-ordered this. My copy is only $26 and some change. This will be a surprise when it arrives in the mail.
 
[quote name='Vortextk']Atelier iris book came in. It shows like every one of these games, from the first to the latest, in chronological order with seemingly all the characters portrayed with their ingame art/portrait assets as well as other random shots and scenes done. The book's softcover as the shining world book was. Paper seems thinnest out of these last three I just bought, this, shining world and the alice book.

A lot less original art it seems compared to shining world, but that book housed only 2 games worth of characters. However it is really cool to see the art go from like 1997 to 2009 from the first game to the last before the book came out.

Actually there is a fair bit of original scenes and shots, just not full page spreads since they need to accommodate space.[/QUOTE]

Worth getting it? I've never played the game before, but after seeing how nice the Shining artbook was, I'm kind of tempted.
 
[quote name='aerozero']Worth getting it? I've never played the game before, but after seeing how nice the Shining artbook was, I'm kind of tempted.[/QUOTE]

I liked the Atelier artbook but I thought the Shining one sucked. It was all character not with barely any info, history, text, or background/scenery art. The Atelier one was well done- it was nice to get the info on all the previous games never released here and more details on the ones that were.

But these Udon artbooks fall way behind the Ballistic (Uncharted 2, GoW3) ones.
 
Worth getting? Well, it's a lot of stuff for a relatively meager sum. I mean, it's just so much art. Completely worth it I think if you think you would like this.

Disagreed on shining suckage. I mean, I don't really care about the characters or their worlds and stories. One game is probably never going to be in english or even some kind of hack translated job, the other seems to be "ok" from what I've read. The art is pretty, the characters look cool. Like I said in my initial post about that one, it is JUST that artist showing off the characters and I get why that makes it a lot less of a "book" than the Alice Madness returns book. I just don't care why random pretty anime girl has to save the world with anime guy from evil empire nor can a lot be said when it's just him contributing.

Maybe more of him specifically might be good, about the artist as well as his work, but the games didn't seem to be the focus in that one where they clearly are in the Atelier book.
 
[quote name='Vortextk']Shining world book came in today. Bottom right corner is just ever so dented, a tiny bit annoying, but it's not like I'll keep this absolutely pristine anyway, just very nice. Simply perusing through the pages enough will make that kind of wear normal, just not right after getting it.

Character art is absolutely gorgeous, of course it focuses nearly exclusively on the girls. It has a few sections of articles with the artist, one where it shows a finished sketch and a few steps/explanations of what he does to get it to the finished product(the title page). At the end it goes through seemingly the roster of all playable and probably somewhat important but side characters. Too bad so much of this is coming from a game that's not in english. Other than that handful of writing with the artist, there's no text at all besides possibly a character name or a short description of who they are included with all the characters at the end.

It's just characters as that is all he did, and seemingly strictly made for this book. No like behind the scenes developing the games, background images or even really things you'd probably see in the game at all; probably all original images. The cover is funny because the feathers on the image are actually some kind of felt/furry material when you feel it but yes unfortunately soft cover.

I'm assuming this means good things about getting the other books in.[/QUOTE]

My Atelier Series book came in the other day, and the corners were damaged like the your book was for shining world (my shining world book was fine) Im actually wondering if i should exchange it. Im a collector and the bent up corner bugs the crap outa me. If i exchange it will i still get a first print run of it? For my copy it looks like it got damaged in the box. It was shipped in a large box with some other stuff and it looks like the top corner got pinched under the gap on the botttom fold of the box.

Im also with you on your later post. I think the SHining world book is much prettier than the Atelier Series one. The Atelier Series book seemed more like a technical layout book than an actual art book. I greatly prefered the shining world book over that one.

Anyone elses books come in with the corners damaged? Like i said, im thinking i may email for a replacment tonight but only if its still an original print run. What do you guys think?
 
BTW, speaking of the subject, this was posted on Amazon's board a couple of days ago:

Hello everyone, Erik from UDON here! First of all, thank you very much for your support on our artbooks!
Just wanna drop by to let everyone know that after some unforeseeable approval delay, the Valkyria book will be shipping out from our printer in Hong Kong this coming week! That means they shall be in stores and available to ship by Amazon in about 6 weeks from now! This book is 400 pages, full color, and have LOTS of information on every detail of the game!! Thanks so much for your patience and hope you will enjoy this book!
Click to expand...

I actually just started playing the game and it is very pretty. Might make this my 2nd game art book after the wonderful Okami book.
 
Long long wait but coming!

Kenshin, mine could barely even be called damaged, like true damage. A centimeter or less of the corner was bent, it's just that the whole book is so it's noticeable. Still, to me, it just looks like normal wear so no problem as it'll look like that eventually anyway. None of these I've had a problem with physically; shining, alice or atelier.
 
I already have the import version of this, but am grabbing this one as well so I can read all of the text. It's chock full of content. Probably tied with the classic Mega Man book for my favorite art books that I own.
 
My Atelier Series artbook came today. Really worth the price I paid ($22 or so). If I saw it in stores, I probably would have paid the $40 for it. I do have a small collection of artbooks though, including some that are 1/3 the size that I paid twice as much for.

My only gripe is the lack of a slip cover or hard cover.

Mine did come in perfect condition, cause it came with the WD TV Live Plus I ordered like 2 days ago, so it didn't have room to move around in the box.
 
@Vortextk my Atelier Series book isn't too terrible either. The top back corner is creased over and bent. The cover is damaged because of it and quite a few pages in are creased because of it. Its not that big.. maybe about 3/8 of an inch or so, but its annoying as hell to me as a collector. It looks like it got pinched in the box it was shipped in since it was a big box. The book kinda rested half on and half off the gap in the middle between the folds

Out of curiosity did yours ship by itself or with other items? I just dont want them to ship it by itself in a bubble mailer or something if i exchange it. Hell if any stores carry this i could buy it in store mint then return my damaged copy

it looks like its still in stock at amazon so i may just do an exchange. The only thing im leery about is them sending a MORE damaged one, or getting a 2nd print run. Im assuming its still a first print run right?
 
Mine are all coming alone, I have nothing else shipping with them. They always come in a cardboard box, but it's that kind that is made more to fit the dimensions of something since they can kind of change how tight it closes. I don't care about what number print and I honestly don't know.
 
huh, well good to know. I called them today and processed an exchange. Online i could only do a straight return for some reason. I got OCD about that crap and the bent corner would bug me
 
[quote name='Zaku77']So it looks like the VC Design Archive is out of stock now? I wasn't even aware it ever came out!! What the crap!!![/QUOTE]


It didn't.
 
My order on Amazon for the Valkyria Chronicles book is still showing a shipping date of June 16th. I ordered it way back in January, too. xD
 
[quote name='ForeStorm']My order on Amazon for the Valkyria Chronicles book is still showing a shipping date of June 16th. I ordered it way back in January, too. xD[/QUOTE]

If it makes you feel better, my shipping day is June 20th and I ordered it in August.
 
"Hello,

Due to a lack of availability from our suppliers, we will not be able to obtain the following item(s) from your order:

Sega "Valkyria Chronicles: Design Archive"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1926778162

We've cancelled the item(s) and apologize for the inconvenience. We must also apologize for the length of time it has taken us to reach this conclusion. Until recently, we had still hoped to obtain these item(s) for you.

Please visit the product detail pages above to see if these items are available from other sellers.

If you took advantage of a promotional offer when placing this order, this cancellation may affect your order's eligibility for that offer. If this is the case, please contact customer service:

http://www.amazon.com/contact-us

If we determine that you should still receive the offer, we'll reimburse you for the value of the promotional discount. (This will not apply if all items in the order were cancelled.)

Your credit card will NOT BE CHARGED for this item because you only pay for items when we ship them to you.

Your order is now closed."

FML.
 
Did Udon just decide to drop the project?... there's a couple seller on amazon, but I'm starting to doubt if this book ever came out.

*I also received the same email from Amazon.
 
[quote name='sinned47']anyone have any idea where one can buy this then?[/QUOTE]

Much like Valkyria Chronicles 3, apparently only Japan now :|

Whether this was Sega or Udon's decision, I don't comprehend this at all. Given the size of this thread I imagine that the book had a larger following than the Shining, Atelier, etc. books. Also got the email, and I've had this preordered since August of last year :bomb:
 
I was checking out the Amazon consumer discussion for this book (since I pre-ordered it too), and I found this message.

[quote name='Erik Francis Ko']Hello everyone, Erik from UDON here! First of all, thank you very much for your support on our artbooks!
Just wanna drop by to let everyone know that after some unforeseeable approval delay, the Valkyria book will be shipping out from our printer in Hong Kong this coming week! That means they shall be in stores and available to ship by Amazon in about 6 weeks from now! This book is 400 pages, full color, and have LOTS of information on every detail of the game!! Thanks so much for your patience and hope you will enjoy this book! [/QUOTE]
 
Mine too, god dammit. I preordered in August.

How does this fit with the Udon message about them actually shipping the books? Did they just grossly underestimate the demand? Will it still be possible to get an English version of this anywhere?
 
[quote name='anathema728']so, did anyone's order NOT get canceled?[/QUOTE]

I ordered mine back in August, and it's still open with a ship date of June 20th. But I'm guessing I'll have a cancellation e-mail by morning. This sucks. :wall:

Irks me even more to see the three sellers offering them for $150+ and the one used copy for $999! WTF?!
 
man..
i already have the japanese version but was hoping to get the english translated version. I have the japanese monster hunter artbook as well so I hope they don't run into similar problems with the english version of that one.
 
Yep, my order was canceled as well. I'm sorely disappointed since VC is my favorite PS3 game by far. At least I have the Japanese version of the artbook though.
 
just an update... my Atelier Series book that i called for a replacment came in the other day.. and the replacment is in WORSE condition than the original. The original had a bent corner, the replacment had a crease down the entire back and all the pages have a weird wavy look to them, almost like something would get when it was water damaged. It was shipped in a box WAY too big for it by itself.

Christ. This is getting ridiculous. Im not sure if i want to try a 3rd time to replace it, or just send back THIS one and keep the original, and just live with the bent corner. What a joke

That compounded with wtf is going on with the Valkyria chronicle book has me rather annoyed with Amazon and seriously questioning ordering any artbooks from them ever again in the future. Just FYI my ship date shows April 12, 2011 - June 24, 2011. I didn't get a canceled email yet, and i will be rather pissed if (when it sounds like) i do.

WTF is going on did it just get canceled outright? If they get more in later they better honor the pre-order price we all paid. Friggin Amazon. If the quote Maverick007mtt put up is true they should NOT be canceling anyones order. If so it seems theyre canceling them so they can just charge us more in a couple months when it does come out. I call shenanigans!
 
I just got a cancellation email from Amazon about the Valkyria Chronicles artbook... due to a lack of supply. I ordered this nearly a year ago so I'm guessing everyone's getting their's canceled.
 
This is so bizarre...What's weird is that I actually forgot about it, then when I was looking at my open orders just yesterday, I was like, "Oh, it's coming out soon. Yeah!" Had it preordered since August. According to the discussion thread at Amazon, Erik from Udon is trying to contact Amazon to find out what happened. I hope they restore our orders for the preorder price.
 
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