Nintendo Player's Guide
The Nintendo Player's Guide is a series of strategy magazines from Nintendo based on Nintendo Power magazine. The first Player's Guide was simply called The Official Nintendo Player's Guide, featuring dozens of different NES games. It was followed in the early 90s by a number of guides which were produced under the slightly different moniker of Nintendo Power Strategy Guides. These were sent between the then-bi-monthly magazine issues to subscribers or mailed alongside them. NES games covered by their Strategy Guides included:
- Super Mario Bros. 3
- Final Fantasy
- Four-Player, which covered multiple four-player games on the NES
- Ninja Gaiden II
Nintendo ceased production of these bimonthly Strategy Guides due to a lack of important game releases in the pre-holiday seasons of the year. After converting Nintendo Power to a monthly format came the more well-known mainstay of Player's Guides. Early guides covered groups of games in one book. Some of the most well-known were:
- NES Game Atlas
- Game Boy
- Mario Mania (focusing on Super Mario World plus background history on Mario.)
- Super NES
- Top Secret: Passwords
Outside of offering an optional Player's Guide as a free gift for a Nintendo Power subscription or subscription renewal, Nintendo Power did not include Player's Guides with the magazine. They were, however, made available separately, both through mail-order and at book and video-game shops. Nintendo did also once offer a subscription motive that included four of the aforementioned Player's Guides instead of only one.
Today each Player's Guide published features one specific game, much like the earlier Nintendo Power Strategy Guides. The concept is now emulated by other publishing companies such as Brady Games or Prima for Nintendo and other video game consoles. Almost all major video games released today will have an official Player's Guide associated with it.
In order to be released at the same time as the game, commercial Player's Guides are often based on a pre-release version of the game, rather than the final retail version. They also cannot be updated after they are published. Because of this, they often are not as accurate or detailed as free, fan-made FAQs or walkthroughs which can easily be found on-line (such as at GameFAQs).
The rise of the world wide web and the increasing availability of free on-line FAQs and walkthroughs has taken away some of the need for commercial Player's Guides. However, there is still a large market for them. Player's Guides often feature extensive picture-by-picture walkthroughs, maps, game art, and other visual features that cannot be provided by a bare text on-line walkthrough.
Among the games that have been given Player's Guides:
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
- Mario Paint
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
- Street Fighter II Turbo
- Super Mario All-Stars
- Super Metroid
- Donkey Kong Country
- EarthBound
- Killer Instinct
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Chrono Trigger
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
- Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- Super Mario 64
- Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble
- Mario Kart 64
- Star Fox 64
- GoldenEye 007
- Diddy Kong Racing
- Yoshi's Story
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo-Tooie
- Pokémon Red / Blue
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Pokémon Snap
- Jet Force Gemini
- Pokémon Special Edition
- Donkey Kong 64
- Pokémon Stadium
- Pokémon Trading Card Game GB
- Pokémon Gold / Silver
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
- Paper Mario
- Conker's Bad Fur Day
- Pokémon Crystal
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
- Luigi's Mansion
- Wave Race: Blue Storm
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Super Mario Sunshine
- Star Fox Adventures
- Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
- Metroid Fusion
- Metroid Prime
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
- Metroid Zero Mission
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past / Four Swords
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
- Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire
- Golden Sun: The Lost Age
- Wario World
- Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
- Pokémon FireRed / LeafGreen
- Pokémon Emerald
- Battalion Wars