Game Guides

[Fandraxx]

Does anyone remember the olden days of gaming guides? I recently found this gem for cheap (and have ones for the base and second game on the way) and can't help but get nostalgic about them.

I know they've been largely displaced by digital means (and don't even think that's necessarily a bad thing, to be honest) but I used to love reading guides as a kid. I liked reading to begin with, but getting to read about games in the process? Just made it even better.

 

[JustKneller]

I've seen them, but never really read one (just skimmed a bit). Back in the day when I would see these in game shops (do game shops even still exist?), I could find effectively the same content for free on gamefaqs.

 

[m7600]

Yep, I had several of them when I was a kid, but they were for NES / SNES games, not for PC. What I liked about them the most is that they would often include concept art of the games that they were about.

 

[JustKneller]

but they were for NES / SNES games

That reminds me of Nintendo Power magazine. I did have a subscription to that when I was a kid, though maybe only like a dozen or so NES games.

 

[m7600]

Yeah, Nintendo Power was cool, I didn't have a subscription but I had a few numbers.

I think I had less than a dozen NES / SNES games combined. Regarding the former, besides the original Mario Bros that came with the console, I remember I had Karnov and a couple of other titles which I can't remember now. As for the SNES, in addition to Super Mario World, which again came with the system, I had Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Mortal Kombat 2, Primal Rage, and Demon's Crest.

My friends had other games, so we would exchange titles pretty often. That's how I got to play Super Metroid and Mega Man 7, without having to spend money. We would also rent games from Blockbuster instead of buying them.

 

[m7600]

Oh, I just remembered one of the other NES titles that I had. It was Shadowgate, a really awesome game, with several RPG elements.

 

[JustKneller]

Oh, I just remembered one of the other NES titles that I had. It was Shadowgate, a really awesome game, with several RPG elements.

Nice! That was one of the few games that I had as well. It was started my interest in adventure games and lead into Myst/Riven and the like.

 

[BelgarathMTH]

Not exactly on topic, but for anyone who can't find/can't afford old paper guidebooks and needs to use the "digital means", I know a website that's a treasure trove, and for some reason it doesn't come up high in search engine lists and thus is very hard to find if you don't already know about it. It's called mocagh.org , which stands for "Museum of Computer Adventure Gaming History."

Here's my link to the Prima guide for Might and Magic 6:

https://www.mocagh.org/nwc/mm6-hintbook.pdf

 

[Nimran]

The ones with an occasional joke thrown in were the best, like the Baldur’s Gate 2 guide.
Made them entertaining to read, not just informative.

 

[Black Elk]

For Might & Magic this just totally blew my mind... Like I remember the big hot pink and orange boxes, but whatever they had going in Japan must have been next level!

Also Nintendo Power was so great!

Here, watch me date myself completely... lol

Nintendo Power Issue 099 August 1997 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Nintendo Power Issue 099 August 1997

archive.org

Nintendo Power Issue #13 Mario 3 Strategy : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Nintendo Power Issue #13 Mario 3 Strategy

archive.org

Nintendo Power Issue 038 July 1992 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Nintendo Power Issue 038 July 1992

archive.org

Nintendo power was like the Zoobooks of Nintendo! I never had more than a couple, but I remember them floating around for sure heheh

oh and...

https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-049-june-1993

haha the classics!

 

[Fandraxx]

For Might & Magic this just totally blew my mind... Like I remember the big hot pink and orange boxes, but whatever they had going in Japan must have been next level!

View attachment 7721

Also Nintendo Power was so great!

Here, watch me date myself completely... lol

View attachment 7720

Nintendo Power Issue 099 August 1997 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Nintendo Power Issue 099 August 1997

archive.org

Nintendo Power Issue #13 Mario 3 Strategy : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Nintendo Power Issue #13 Mario 3 Strategy

archive.org

Nintendo Power Issue 038 July 1992 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Nintendo Power Issue 038 July 1992

archive.org

Nintendo power was like the Zoobooks of Nintendo! I never had more than a couple, but I remember them floating around for sure heheh

oh and...

https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-049-june-1993

haha the classics!

Something about these old boxes is just so nostalgic. There's really nothing like them in the world today.