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Posted: Dec 26 2010 10:10 am

A similar thread may exist... sorry if it does.

I was talking with an old gaming buddy and we remembered a time back in the pre-internet days when local people (and occasionally Nintendo Power) were the only sources of tips/tricks/advice/etc. There were people who became experts in specific games and if you wanted some info, you had to seek those people out (much like a video game character searching for an elderly sage to get some vital knowledge).

And the best part was there actually some fame and prestige that came with it. I new my rpgs really well so everyone would come ask me about Final Fantasy and the Dragon Warrior games.

My buddy was a Mega Man guru so you went to him to find out who you fight first and which robots were weak against which weapons and the fight pattern for Dr Wiley.

I rented Willow once and got stuck so I started asking around at school and found out some senior was a Willow expert. I was nervous because I was in like 8th grade at the time but I wanted to beat the game so I asked him about it and he spent 10 minutes giving me tips on and he drew me a little map too. So I rented it again and beat it the following weekend. After that we'd bump into each other and talk video games occasionally.

It was cool to be an "expert" and you had to earn in. And there was even some socializing going on.

Now those days are gone. If you get stuck or want to find all the secrets, you can go online and find 10 walkthroughs for any game with every secret and the code for 'god mode'. It made me kind of sad Sad

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Dec 26 2010 11:02 am

The saddest part is Nintendo can no longer make $1.99 a minute for a tip hotline.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 11:20 am

Yea, I called that once and got in big trouble.

I'm kind of surprised that companies like Prima and Brady Games still make strategy guides. I figured the internet would've killed them off by now.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 01:10 pm

I get asked for advice on Tetris by the people I know who play it on Facebook. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like, though.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 01:52 pm

I don't think this has completely died out though. Especially with games getting bigger and tending towards more open world stuff, walkthroughs and Let's Plays can't possibly cover everything in a game, and even if they did, no one would sit through 5 hours of video to see what to do in one little part. My friend and I, a couple years back, helped each other through Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for the Gamecube. And more recently, a group of friends and I have worked through the Fallout games. So if these types of games (Falloutesque) become more popular, a general and broader type of knowledge that cannot be found on the internet would become more useful than a couple narrow walkthroughs on Youtube.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 04:15 pm

mavsfan0041 wrote:

I don't think this has completely died out though. Especially with games getting bigger and tending towards more open world stuff, walkthroughs and Let's Plays can't possibly cover everything in a game, and even if they did, no one would sit through 5 hours of video to see what to do in one little part. My friend and I, a couple years back, helped each other through Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for the Gamecube. And more recently, a group of friends and I have worked through the Fallout games. So if these types of games (Falloutesque) become more popular, a general and broader type of knowledge that cannot be found on the internet would become more useful than a couple narrow walkthroughs on Youtube.

That's why they make wikis for specific games. You can find damn near everything there is to find in Fallout or any game you could think of on one of them. And if it's not there and you know, you can add to it.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 05:27 pm

But that's just it, there's such a volume of information on those wikis that the average persons might find it daunting to find what he's looking for. That's happened to me a couple times and I actually enjoy reading the Fallout wiki pages. My point is it's still easier to just talk to someone who knows about the game than wade through a site that is filled with irrelevant information.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 05:56 pm

I think the main reason game guides are still in print is because A. You usually get a discount if you buy the book at checkout, and B. You get actual pictures of where stuff is and where you should be. I used to get guides until I got the guide for Baiten Kaitos, the guide was wrong on about 5 things in a very short period of time I stopped trusting it. I think it was Prima that made it, I even sent an email asking if they had a department that read or played through the guides for accuracy.

If someone buys a Madden "Guide" though I have no explaination.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 07:11 pm

I got burned on a few game guides that were fucking flat out wrong, now a days I just trust that I can figure it out myself and if I can't I check it out online.

Posted: Dec 26 2010 08:03 pm

Yeah, I remember when magazines and word of mouth were the only sources for game tips. Of course, with these tips came occasional bullshit rumors or just plain misinterpretations.

I remember hearing about the Super Sonic cheat for Sonic 2 from some kid in school back in my elementary days. I already knew about the level select code but didn't know you could use another code to get Super Sonic so I asked him how the code went. Being that he had a speedy latin accent, he said "one" so sloppily it sounded as though he said "Four, oh, two, six" (as in 4, 0, 2, 6) so I went home thinking that was what he said and found to my dismay that there's no 0 in the music track select. I later learned the correct code through a little trial and error and felt kinda pissed at the kid.

Posted: Dec 27 2010 01:33 am

I hear you, Rogue. I vividly remember that kind of interaction too...I was the school FF series guru. Very Happy

Worst game guide on the world award goes to FF IX, speaking of FF. It's NOTHING but ads for playonline.com...which at that time you had to PAY to access. I can't tell you how fucking betrayed I felt, plunking down cash for that guide and then discovering it was essentially an add to get you to spend more money on the website. Assholes.

Posted: Dec 27 2010 02:37 am

Most if not all strategy guides come with posters for the games, I suppose that's also a reason to get one.

Posted: Dec 27 2010 11:39 am

Blackout wrote:

I got burned on a few game guides that were fucking flat out wrong, now a days I just trust that I can figure it out myself and if I can't I check it out online.

I was thinking of doing a feature on that at some point.

One of the only cool things I ever found in a game guide was a list of the recorded messages Jessica Rabbit would say if you called the 1-800 number hidden in the NES game. The tips were all pretty useless, but it was still neat, because the number got disconnected pretty quickly.

Posted: Dec 27 2010 12:14 pm

Rogue Hippo wrote:

Yea, I called that once and got in big trouble.

I'm kind of surprised that companies like Prima and Brady Games still make strategy guides. I figured the internet would've killed them off by now.

Yeah, I'm with you on that thought. I remember years ago, after having recently discovered gamefaqs.com, I wondered how much longer Strategy Guides would survive on the market. But, now, years later they are still around. I guess there are still enough idiots out there who would rather pay $10 - $20 for a book, instead of typing " (Name Of Game) Walkthrough" into Google.