Death of the Video Game Strategy Guide
You guys remember strategy guides? Man, those were the days weren’t they?
Back in the day, strategy guides were the only mechanism available for getting help in video games. That, or asking our friends, and most gamers in the 80s and 90s were super antisocial, so we didn’t have a lot of friends to begin with. We bought the book, or borrowed one from somebody who had it.
A History in Reverse
Today, there are numerous sources for gaming tips and guides. Youtube and Reddit are peppered with content about every game out there. Many of your larger intellectual properties have a dedicated wiki or fandom, with individual pages about nearly everything. There are platforms geared toward hosting that sort of information, and no shortage of volunteers looking to create the content.
In the recent past, maybe a decade ago, GameFAQs was the be-all and end-all of video game information. They had general guides for playing through games, specific guides for particular sections and tasks, and even a few maps (which are the hallmark of great content). Some creators put enormous amounts of time and effort into writing detailed and accurate guides. Often, I would look for familiar names across a series to know who’s guides I could trust.
In the later days of GameFAQs, when I had a good internet connection, I would just hop on any time I needed to figure out a solution to a gaming problem. Before that, my access to the internet was a little more suspect. I would either save guides locally to my computer, or even print off some of the shorter guides to have a physical stack of papers I could bring with me to friends’ houses.
Even further back, though, strategy guides were it. Sure, GameFAQs was free, but what could you do if you couldn’t access the information, or it didn’t exist? Those professionally crafted guide books were the only way to fly. And truly, the official strategy guides from Prima, Brady Games, and whoever else made them were genuinely worth the premium. They had teams of people to squeeze out all the content, and dedicated writers and editors to put everything together in a nice package.
No matter what you needed, a strategy guide could almost always help you out. Want a hand-holding leader to get you through the story? Start at page one and follow the guide letter for letter. Looking for a resource to help you sort out a particularly nasty puzzle? Check the index, skim the section where you’re stuck, and find the one paragraph that tells exactly what you need to know. Even if you just need to polish off the last few things for 100% completion, most guides had comprehensive lists of everything that could be listed.
Beyond the actual tips and tricks that strategy guides offered, they were great for the artistic value. Being able to flip through pages and look at both the in-game art, as well as drawings and decoration created for the guide, they really were nice to look at. To this day, I’ll still pick up an old guide on occasion and just reminisce back to when I first played a game.
Back in the day, strategy guides were the only mechanism available for getting help in video games. That, or asking our friends, and most gamers in the 80s and 90s were super antisocial, so we didn’t have a lot of friends to begin with. We bought the book, or borrowed one from somebody who had it.
A History in Reverse
Today, there are numerous sources for gaming tips and guides. Youtube and Reddit are peppered with content about every game out there. Many of your larger intellectual properties have a dedicated wiki or fandom, with individual pages about nearly everything. There are platforms geared toward hosting that sort of information, and no shortage of volunteers looking to create the content.
In the recent past, maybe a decade ago, GameFAQs was the be-all and end-all of video game information. They had general guides for playing through games, specific guides for particular sections and tasks, and even a few maps (which are the hallmark of great content). Some creators put enormous amounts of time and effort into writing detailed and accurate guides. Often, I would look for familiar names across a series to know who’s guides I could trust.
In the later days of GameFAQs, when I had a good internet connection, I would just hop on any time I needed to figure out a solution to a gaming problem. Before that, my access to the internet was a little more suspect. I would either save guides locally to my computer, or even print off some of the shorter guides to have a physical stack of papers I could bring with me to friends’ houses.
Even further back, though, strategy guides were it. Sure, GameFAQs was free, but what could you do if you couldn’t access the information, or it didn’t exist? Those professionally crafted guide books were the only way to fly. And truly, the official strategy guides from Prima, Brady Games, and whoever else made them were genuinely worth the premium. They had teams of people to squeeze out all the content, and dedicated writers and editors to put everything together in a nice package.
The Glory Days
Between the maps and charts that most strategy guides had, the visual material was in a league of its own compared to most of the content in user-written guides. Things like collectibles in open-world games were the worst. Even the most detailed verbal description couldn’t quite manage what a simple image with pinpoint precision offered. A lot of the best guides would have maps, PLUS screen images in game, and a small description to boot. How could a .txt file compete with that?
Between the maps and charts that most strategy guides had, the visual material was in a league of its own compared to most of the content in user-written guides. Things like collectibles in open-world games were the worst. Even the most detailed verbal description couldn’t quite manage what a simple image with pinpoint precision offered. A lot of the best guides would have maps, PLUS screen images in game, and a small description to boot. How could a .txt file compete with that?
No matter what you needed, a strategy guide could almost always help you out. Want a hand-holding leader to get you through the story? Start at page one and follow the guide letter for letter. Looking for a resource to help you sort out a particularly nasty puzzle? Check the index, skim the section where you’re stuck, and find the one paragraph that tells exactly what you need to know. Even if you just need to polish off the last few things for 100% completion, most guides had comprehensive lists of everything that could be listed.
Beyond the actual tips and tricks that strategy guides offered, they were great for the artistic value. Being able to flip through pages and look at both the in-game art, as well as drawings and decoration created for the guide, they really were nice to look at. To this day, I’ll still pick up an old guide on occasion and just reminisce back to when I first played a game.
Modern Guides
I think part of the decline of strategy guides is due to the availability of visual resources today. I can look up a particular quest or mission, and find a web page fully dedicated to it. They’ll have full text descriptions, plus plenty of images interspersed, and an embedded video that plays while I’m reading through the page. Literally, it’s everything that strategy guides had, and then some, all for free.
Mind you, that isn’t to say that today’s online guides are perfect. The reading experience is much better in book form, as opposed to a PC or mobile device. That benefit pales in comparison to the convenience and availability of online guides, though. I get WHY strategy guides have fallen into obscurity. I just wish that wasn’t the case.
The art books that come with some special editions of games now just aren’t the same. It scratches a part of the itch, but it doesn’t fully replace that new book companionship to the new game feeling. I want that sensation of reading through the guide when I can’t play the game, so I can get more of the experience the next time I’m able to play.
Maybe in another decade or so, physical strategy guides will be obscure enough to appeal to the gaming hipster niche. Some company might capitalize on the demand, and make “artisanal” game guides and sell them at a markup. You’ll hear about those gamers that are too cool for gaming sites, and they choose to read the book instead. I’ll probably trash talk them to my friends, but in secret, I’ll be glad they brought back my beloved strategy guides. Maybe one day.
Resources:
Gault, M. (2018, November 09). Video Game Strategy Guide Publisher Prima Is Shutting Down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/gy7b3y/video-game-strategy-guide-publisher-prima-is-shutting-down
Kaser, R. (2018, November 09). Prima Games to cease publishing its strategy guides after 28 years. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://thenextweb.com/gaming/2018/11/09/prima-games-strategy-guides-shutting-down/
Khan, I. (2018, November 12). Gaming guide creator Prima Games is shutting down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/09/gaming-guide-creator-prima-games-is-shutting-down/
McWhertor, M. (2015, June 01). Two big video game strategy guide makers become one. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.polygon.com/2015/6/1/8700953/prima-games-and-bradygames-merger
Muncy, J. (2018, November 15). RIP Prima Books, a Cornerstone of Game Culture. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.wired.com/story/rip-prima-books-strategy-guides/
Rappel, T. J. (2020, January 8). A Eulogy for the Strategy Guide. Retro Game SuperHyper. https://retrogamesuperhyper.com/2020/01/08/a-eulogy-for-the-strategy-guide/.
Rougeau, M. (2017, March 17). What it takes to reveal every secret in a video game. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://mashable.com/2017/03/17/strategy-guide-how-its-made/
Santangelo, N. (2018, November 09). Strategy Guide Publisher Prima Games Shutting Down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/11/09/strategy-guide-publisher-prima-games-shutting-down
Schreier, J. (2018, November 09). Strategy Guide Company Prima Games Is Shutting Down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://kotaku.com/strategy-guide-company-prima-games-is-shutting-down-1830335580
Wales, M. (2018, November 09). Strategy guide maker Prima Games is shutting down after 28 years. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-09-strategy-guide-maker-prima-games-is-shutting-down-after-28-years
I think part of the decline of strategy guides is due to the availability of visual resources today. I can look up a particular quest or mission, and find a web page fully dedicated to it. They’ll have full text descriptions, plus plenty of images interspersed, and an embedded video that plays while I’m reading through the page. Literally, it’s everything that strategy guides had, and then some, all for free.
Mind you, that isn’t to say that today’s online guides are perfect. The reading experience is much better in book form, as opposed to a PC or mobile device. That benefit pales in comparison to the convenience and availability of online guides, though. I get WHY strategy guides have fallen into obscurity. I just wish that wasn’t the case.
The art books that come with some special editions of games now just aren’t the same. It scratches a part of the itch, but it doesn’t fully replace that new book companionship to the new game feeling. I want that sensation of reading through the guide when I can’t play the game, so I can get more of the experience the next time I’m able to play.
Maybe in another decade or so, physical strategy guides will be obscure enough to appeal to the gaming hipster niche. Some company might capitalize on the demand, and make “artisanal” game guides and sell them at a markup. You’ll hear about those gamers that are too cool for gaming sites, and they choose to read the book instead. I’ll probably trash talk them to my friends, but in secret, I’ll be glad they brought back my beloved strategy guides. Maybe one day.
Resources:
Gault, M. (2018, November 09). Video Game Strategy Guide Publisher Prima Is Shutting Down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/gy7b3y/video-game-strategy-guide-publisher-prima-is-shutting-down
Kaser, R. (2018, November 09). Prima Games to cease publishing its strategy guides after 28 years. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://thenextweb.com/gaming/2018/11/09/prima-games-strategy-guides-shutting-down/
Khan, I. (2018, November 12). Gaming guide creator Prima Games is shutting down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/09/gaming-guide-creator-prima-games-is-shutting-down/
McWhertor, M. (2015, June 01). Two big video game strategy guide makers become one. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.polygon.com/2015/6/1/8700953/prima-games-and-bradygames-merger
Muncy, J. (2018, November 15). RIP Prima Books, a Cornerstone of Game Culture. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.wired.com/story/rip-prima-books-strategy-guides/
Rappel, T. J. (2020, January 8). A Eulogy for the Strategy Guide. Retro Game SuperHyper. https://retrogamesuperhyper.com/2020/01/08/a-eulogy-for-the-strategy-guide/.
Rougeau, M. (2017, March 17). What it takes to reveal every secret in a video game. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://mashable.com/2017/03/17/strategy-guide-how-its-made/
Santangelo, N. (2018, November 09). Strategy Guide Publisher Prima Games Shutting Down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/11/09/strategy-guide-publisher-prima-games-shutting-down
Schreier, J. (2018, November 09). Strategy Guide Company Prima Games Is Shutting Down. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://kotaku.com/strategy-guide-company-prima-games-is-shutting-down-1830335580
Wales, M. (2018, November 09). Strategy guide maker Prima Games is shutting down after 28 years. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-09-strategy-guide-maker-prima-games-is-shutting-down-after-28-years
So, uhh, those artisanal guides I mentioned...
ReplyDeleteThose might already be a thing.
https://handdrawngameguides.gumroad.com/