What was the first strategy guide?
I have this silly book from 1982 called Break a Million at Pac-Man and I got to wondering, what is the first strategy guide ever for a video game?
I'm guessing it would be something similar to this book, and would cover an arcade game, or maybe an Atari 2600 game.
I haven't seen any other strategy guides this old, but there must be some that are even older, say late '70's.
Well, if you mean 'official' stuff, as in, done by the company or people hired by the company, I'm thinking Prima started that in the mid 80's with computer games. Branching out to console games in the late 80's and increasing the number of guides they published.
Unofficial guides, though, like the one you mentioned....I've seen one for Space Invaders from 1977, and I'm sure some exist for pinball games.
"Four o'clock and all is well.....wish I was in bed, Sir."
-- Guard in the Imperial City, Oblivion
What's the oldest one known for a console game?
Console game....hmmm.....I want to say the guides that Nintendo started to publish in the late 1980's......I'm trying to recall the first one they did in their series. Final Fantasy and SBMB 3 came out in 1990 but I think Ninja Giaden II was first, in 1989.....or did that game not come out till 1991? It's late....
"Four o'clock and all is well.....wish I was in bed, Sir."
-- Guard in the Imperial City, Oblivion
Before I opened this thread, I was going to say Final Fantasy, but gosh, I didn't realize they went back THAT far. I didn't realize people need to buy an entire book to play Space Invaders and Pac-Man.
Wait, Nintendo published a version of Dragon Warrior with a hint guide, so I guess that pushes it back to 1988.
And I had a 'how to beat Ms. Pac Man' book as a kid, circa 1982. They WERE very helpfull with advice on how to maximize your game time and rack up points.
"Four o'clock and all is well.....wish I was in bed, Sir."
-- Guard in the Imperial City, Oblivion
The one I have was published around the same time Ms. Pac-Man came out, so all it has is a short section on that game, which is a shame, because I prefer Ms.
Probably something scribbled on a cave wall about how to avoid bears.
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I've seen guides for the '86 FDS games Zelda and Akumajo Dracula, so those probably are at least two years older. Don't have either, though. Huh, I should really check that out. I personally don't have anything much older than '92/'93 (if the Landstalker guide came out first).Originally Posted by SoulBlazer
here's one for console games, circa 1982:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HOW-TO-MASTER-HO...QQcmdZViewItem
i have the same one, but for arcade games.
edit:
here's some others you might be into:
http://search.half.ebay.com/video-ga...gamesQ22QQsoZ2
You're right, Ed....see what happens with late night posting?I HAVE those SMB and Zelda guides, and they DO date back to 1986.....so I guess those would be the first 'official' console hint guides.
"Four o'clock and all is well.....wish I was in bed, Sir."
-- Guard in the Imperial City, Oblivion
There's one available for Pitfall. Shows you the hidden routes in the tunnels and how to beat the game.
Is that official? What makes a book official or not official?
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Yeah. Just like any other game, if you want to be good at those, it helps to have a strategy. I remember lots of beat Pac-Man or win at videogame books from that time. There was one I used to get from the library often that covered mostly home games. That was the first place I'd ever heard of the Bally Astrocade.
in the Oldest ever category... somewhere I have an Official guide for Scott Adam's text adventures.
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And don't forget those Infocom hint books, those started in the early 80s.
I know it's not the oldest, but I had a copy of Mastering Pac Man by Ken Uston from 1981 or 82. Picked up for a quarter at the Goodwill at school. Of course, my friend usurped it once he bought a Pac Man machine for his home arcade.
What about for PC and non-console Games? The earliest guide I have is for Simcity by Sybex (1991). That can't be the earliest though.
Collector of 1,673 strategy guides, and BlazBlue ain't one of them.
Tips and Tricks has a section on guides this month. I remember they say that a guide for Pacman is generally regarded as the first guide.
In the 80s, the Gold Box games from SSI had hint books for PC RPG titles (Pool of Radiance and such). That's earlier than Sim City.
Just looked through my Video related book selections:
from Electronic Games the magazine, Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel:
'The Players Strategy Guide to Atari VCS Home Video Games'
and it dates June 1982
features VCS
and I have another from a German source:
'So gewinnt man gegen Video- und Computerspiele' by Christine Kerler
features VCS, Intellivision, Philips Videopac and Interton
and it dates 1982
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