La stessa cosa, tristemente, è avvenuta per il Visual Compendium dedicato a Mega Drive-Genesis dell'editore Bitmap Books, la cui uscita era prevista il mese scorso.
Anche per tale testo, la prospettiva futura sarebbe quella di rendere disponibile gratuitamente il PDF. Vedremo.
Curioso come SEGA abbia sempre chiuso la porta alle richieste dell'editore volte a rivestire di ufficialità il libro, benestare che - invece - aveva concesso al precedente Visual Compendium dedicato a Master System.
Sempre secondo Bitmap Books (leggevo tra i commenti del boss aziendale sulla loro pagina Facebook), la cosa parrebbe anche chiudere definitivamente la possibilità di vedere pubblicati loro libri dedicati alle altre console Sega (Saturn, Dreamcast, ecc ...). Pessimo.
Queste le parole ufficiali di Sam Dyer, direttore creativo Bitmap Books, qualche giorno fa:
“We’ve had to push back the release date a few times, and as of now, have not communicated why. I’m afraid to say that we have been asked by Sega to remove the listing or face potential legal action. As a small business, this is not something we can risk. After discussions, their position is non-negotiable. It is of course their right to protect their IP as they see fit. Personally I have regrets with this project, as I should have put the brakes on a while back. Instead I pressed on with the belief that it would be OK because of the various efforts made to state that the book is ‘unofficial’ and the skew towards third-party games. I was also buoyed by the number of SEGA fan related projects that were out there that are not challenged legally. In hindsight, this was a mistake, and I should have shelved the project. As of today, I must admit defeat. I’m not prepared to risk everything I’ve worked for, and jeopardise the amazing projects we have in the works. As a small business, we cannot fight something like this legally.”
