Anyone ever seen these 8-bit Nintendo books before?

[Steven]

One thing's for sure, they're really old. Most of them I had never seen or heard about before.

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2876.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2877.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2878.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2888.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2897.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2895.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2896.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2899.JPG

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2900.JPG

[Qixmaster]

Jeff Rovin wrote just about every "how to win at this shit"

I'd say they are not common, but not worth much. They are however very cool and nice to see in anyones collection. The Game Player magazines are sweet. Just a rival game magazine from the early 90s. They have really nice advertisements for games.

The black nintendo guide was a pack in with a system. At times it can bring 10-15 on ebay, while other times it won't even get a bid at 99 cents... It is probably more common then the rovin books and the other mags you have.

and that last one, just a consumer guide to video games. pretty popular at TRU back in the day.

all around cool stuff. enjoy

[MrRoboto19XX]

I have two of the Jeff Rovin books myself, theyre pretty decent. Although from what Ive heard (I think I read it at |tsr) he had kids play the games and he would write what the kids said. Oh well.

I remember our school library had these two hardcover books I would always check out; "Nintendo Role Playing Games" and "Nintendo Action Games".

I need to track down a copy of those two, itd be a good personal touch to my collection.

[marshalldylan1]

I have the Official Player's Guide, and How To Win at Nintendo Games(the first one) and some other book. I doubt they are worth anything.

[Push Upstairs]

Yikes, the cover on that "Zelda Guide" is the stuff nightmares are made of.

[Jorpho]

I had several of those a while back, but I sold them off. (I didn't get too much money for them, mind you.) The Official Nintendo Player's Guide might get some attention.

That Native American Link thing is creepy indeed.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Zelda Adventure book, looks like Link needs a doctor badly from being stung by bees....

As for the "How to Win at Nintendo Games" I used to have them all, I wish I knew what happened to them :(

[Alucard79]

I had one of the "Strategies for Nintendo Games" books I picked up a few months ago. I think mine may have been the first issue of it since it wasn't titled "more strategies." I sold it to a guy here on DP. They are pretty cool to see and I was pretty happy when I found it and a couple other old Nintendo books when I was out game hunting.

[MegaDrive20XX]

As for Game Player's Magazine, they produced a few VHS tapes, one of which I have.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Akumajo22/VHSGamePlayers.jpg

I used to buy those magazines when I was about 8.

[Maxx]

I was in Jr. High the year of 1990. We had what was called "The Book Fair" where they had these giant cases of books and you could get books at a realy great price. Well, from what I remember anyway. But reguardless, I got all three of the Jeff Rovin books. I still have them to this day. Other than sentamental value, they are worthless...

[Jorpho]

I had one of the "Strategies for Nintendo Games" books I picked up a few months ago. I think mine may have been the first issue of it since it wasn't titled "more strategies." I sold it to a guy here on DP. They are pretty cool to see and I was pretty happy when I found it and a couple other old Nintendo books when I was out game hunting.

I definitely saw a second one once (complete with more creatively non-license-infringing cover art), but it covered later games.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I was in Jr. High the year of 1990. We had what was called "The Book Fair" where they had these giant cases of books and you could get books at a realy great price. Well, from what I remember anyway. But reguardless, I got all three of the Jeff Rovin books. I still have them to this day. Other than sentamental value, they are worthless...


I remember those book fairs, they had a truckload of those Nintendo books, including those god awful novels of CastleVania II: Simon's Quest

[Jorpho]

Yes, yes, that was the "Worlds of Power" series, which has been discussed here many times before.

[joshnickerson]

Good God, that Link on that Zelda book would scare small children into not playing video games ever again. Just incredibly bizzare...

In fact....

<--

[Arcade Antics]

I had all those books at one point. The last time I saw them was as they were unceremoniously tossed into the recycle bin. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure the last few GBA games I bought were in packaging that contained those original books: "95% post-consumer content!"

[MrRoboto19XX]

Now that I look at it, "Link" bears a striking resemblance to American Pie's Chris Owen aka "The Shermanator"

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/0881-mov/owen_chr.is2.html

Couldnt find a way to save that particular pic, so youll just have to click.

[Jorpho]

Well, there's always PrintScreen.
http://i16.tinypic.com/4g82j9x.jpg
Oy, the jibblies...

[jajaja]

I've seen the 3 books in the first picture before.


Yikes, the cover on that "Zelda Guide" is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Hahahaha i was just about to comment on that cover too LOL Its horrible!

[DigitalSpace]

A collector friend gave me the first Jeff Rovin book for Christmas. Pretty cool read and I'd probably get the other ones if I saw them on the cheap somewhere.

I didn't read those back in the day, but I always borrowed a few other Nintendo books at the library - they had the "Nintendo Games Secrets" series and "Ultimate Unauthorized Classic Nintendo Game Strategies" series. And I had to Google both of those to ge the names - barely remembered them since it's been so long.

I passed up The Official Nintendo Player's Guide a few months back for two or three bucks, though I can't remember why. I'm thinking it's because it reeked of cigarettes - at least I hope that was the reason. I'll probably get that the next time I see it on the cheap.

[Push Upstairs]

Now that I look at it, "Link" bears a striking resemblance to American Pie's Chris Owen aka "The Shermanator"


http://usera.imagecave.com/Push_Upstairs/Misc_Pics/This_sucks.JPG

"I'm a sophisticated sex robot send back in time...to change the future for one lucky lady."

[Steven]

Well, there's always PrintScreen.
http://i16.tinypic.com/4g82j9x.jpg
Oy, the jibblies...


LOL! Gold...

[rbudrick]

I have almost all of those. When I was a kid, those 3 Rovin books were awesome. I remember being psyched when he revealed something no one else had before, and being pissed when he got something totally wrong. I remember thinking, "I should write these damn books." Hah!

Hey, how long did Game Players Magazine run?

-Rob

[playgeneration]

Do you, or anyone for that matter want to sell or trade the Zelda guide book?

[marshalldylan1]

As for Game Player's Magazine, they produced a few VHS tapes, one of which I have.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Akumajo22/VHSGamePlayers.jpg

I used to buy those magazines when I was about 8.

I own all those tapes. They are pretty crappy however.

[Lemmi_Is_God]

i havent seen many of those and i only have one of those posted

the game players encyclopedia's i never saw vol 1 or 2 ever
but ive seen vol 3 everywhere

old photo with old spotty video card :)

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f105/Lemmi731/HintBooks1.jpg

[KJN]

Link the Sami (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people)?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Costumes_Saami.jpg

[jajaja]

Link the Sami (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people)?

Haha ye, thats what i also thought LOL He even have the proper sami cheeckbones.

[Speedy_NES]

I tried to make a complete list of all books/guides for the NES with the help of some members over at RFGeneration.com, here's the thread with the list (post 1 and post 3):

http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=1534.0

There may be a couple missing as I haven't updated it in a while, but it should have almost all released guides including international releases (Europe + Australia).



i havent seen many of those and i only have one of those posted

the game players encyclopedia's i never saw vol 1 or 2 ever
but ive seen vol 3 everywhere

old photo with old spotty video card :)
Nice stuff ;) The Game Player's Encyclopedia Vol. 3 is definitely the most common, but the others do exist...up to Volume 4. I do have a faint memory of having seen a Volume 7 on eBay recently and wondering about Volumes 5-6...but I could be mistaken...I'll have to check my saved eBay pics some time. Anyway, those are definitely some of the best guides, lots of pictures, and they have company addresses from back in the day + a section for NES accessories (for those that don't know) :)

I also try to pick up any guides that I don't have as long as the shipping isn't too bad. Here's pics of my collection (slightly outdated):

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Speedy_NES/My%20NES%20Guides/


I own all those tapes. They are pretty crappy however.
Cool -- I've been trying to get a complete list of all of the different ones including variants. Do you have a pic of the tapes or would you be willing to help fill in the gaps from the following list:

http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=1633.0

Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 1 (Signal Research Video Publication; covers: Double Dragon, Super Mario, Castlevania II, Ninja Gaiden)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 1 (Signal/ABC Video Publication; covers: Double Dragon, Milon's Secret Castle, Bionic Commando, Robowarrior, and bonus look at Wizards & Warriors)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 2
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 3 (Signal/ABC Video Production; covers: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Thundercade, Strider, P.O.W. + quick look at Wrestlemania)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 4 (Signal/ABC Video Production; covers: Bases Loaded, Baseball Stars, Super Dodge Ball, Goal, Hoops, Tecmo Bowl, Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 4 (version 2; different screenshots)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 5 (Official Konami)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 6 (Official Ultra; Signal/ABC Video Production; covers: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Metal Gear, Skate or Die, Defender of the Crown))
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 7 (covers: A Boy and His Blob, Rolling Thunder, Castlevania, Stealth ATF + bonus look at Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 8 (covers: RoboCop, Astyanax, Three Stooges, Adventures of Dino Riki + quick look at Double Dragon II)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 10 (Signal/ABC Video Production; covers: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Crystalis, Double Dragon, Low G Man)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. 12 (Official Acclaim)
Game Player's Gametape Vol. 1 No. ? (Power Glove)

[Walan]

I have the first edition of that Zelda guide, and I promise that the cover is nowhere near as.....shall we say, interesting...as that cover. The first edition is a text-only book with ASCII maps of Zelda and Zelda II. The best part of the guide was a room-by-room dungeon guide. It was my bible back in the day.

I have volume 1 and 2 of the Jeff Rovin guides, too. Not as good as other guides, but still good reads.

[Sothy]

I had some of the actual Nintendo "novels" from old school book fairs.

[Jorpho]

I have the first edition of that Zelda guide, and I promise that the cover is nowhere near as.....shall we say, interesting...as that cover. The first edition is a text-only book with ASCII maps of Zelda and Zelda II. The best part of the guide was a room-by-room dungeon guide. It was my bible back in the day.

Whoa, published ASCII maps! What heady times!

[eric nintendo]

I own the official Nintendo Players Guide (the black one pictured). It's a pretty neat book, especially for some of the humorous engrish contained therein.

Nintendo Power produced a spiritual successor to that guide for the SNES, which I have as well. That one isn't nearly as funny though (sadly no engrish).

[bangtango]

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_2888.JPG


I bet someone mixed up the art. Somewhere out there are kids who were expecting to see this character on the cover of the latest in a long-running dime store novel series. Instead, they got a picture of Link and wondered who the hell it was.

As for the company releasing that guide, I'm sure this conversation took place shortly thereafter:

GUY 1: "Look what you shipped!"
GUY 2: "I didn't ship that, YOU did."





I have almost all of those. When I was a kid, those 3 Rovin books were awesome. I remember being psyched when he revealed something no one else had before, and being pissed when he got something totally wrong. I remember thinking, "I should write these damn books." Hah!

Hey, how long did Game Players Magazine run?

-Rob



Rovin was the first guy I remembered who claimed there was a "chocolate factory" hidden in Super Mario Bros. for the NES. In the same paragraph, he also suggested there was more than one minus world.

I think these were at the back of "How to Win At Nintendo 4." Thanks to that a-hole Rovin, I had a friend who read the book and kept me up all night to help him "try to find the chocolate factory in Super Mario Bros." True story. I don't think I ever got to sleep that night and that was the last time I stayed over his house for a long time.

[cessnaace]

Well, I have the three Jeff Rovin books, plus the Atari Jaguar Strategy guide that was in somebody's photo. I wish I had the 3DO books, but I don't.

I have a ton of old video game magazines. It's kinda cool reading about the 'new' games and game systems. That Jaguar looks promising. I wonder if Atari will screw it up. LOL! Try reading some old issues of Run Magazine (for Commodore Computers). $400 dot matrix printers! All those games you'd never find now in a million years. Quite a trip.

[MarioMania]

Good Lord, that's a Ugly Link LOL

[Ed Oscuro]

Yikes, the cover on that "Zelda Guide" is the stuff nightmares are made of.
He seems to be skating on a mountain - I mean skating WITH the mountain. Is that awesome or what? Oh, I'm not sure I know which one you mean; there's also a cover which apparently has Link cosplaying as Sypha from Castlevania III (the blue cloak gives it away).

Anyhow, I pondered buying some of these off eBay a while back, but shipping is a killer. If anybody could scan me the Contra/CV articles from these - as well as anything from the Consumer's Guide books, I think they are - I'd be very grateful. Damnit, you guys have almost made me forget how to spell "grateful." :D

[Flack]

One thing's for sure, they're really old. Most of them I had never seen or heard about before.

I bought those Win at Nintendo books last week just so I could take a picture of them and post them in this thread. The Super Mario, Sonic and Donkey Kong Country books were just icing on the cake.

http://www.robohara.com/pix/junk/tulsa-0107-01.jpg

[NESaholic]

Those tapes are still up for grabs on eBay, some seller has them in his store.
The books i've seen b4, some of them we gave away as prize for a contest we held on NESWorld.