[[2026 Games]] I recently read about how AI-generated slop guide books for games have been [flooding Amazon lately](https://www.thegamer.com/amazon-is-being-flooded-with-terrible-ai-generated-pokemon-strategy-guides/). **Pokopia** and **Resident Evil Requiem** are the latest in a long line of casualties from this, with terrible, highly inaccurate guides that you’re asked to pay for and which give you nothing. This isn’t anything new — everything is terrible and continues to be so — but I saw one comment that got my brain’s somewhat dusty gears turning: > [!Quote] > Why are people even paying for guides at all when the internet exists? Ah. You ever see a post and know that the person posting it is 5 to 10 years younger than you? It hurts, but it’s also an opportunity to talk about something interesting. Come along with me, reader, to the magical world of 1998, where the future was bright and America hadn’t yet started another needless conflict in a country with brown people in it. You see, back when we didn’t have internet to give us psychic damage straight from our pocket, physical game guidebooks were the only way to uncover the secrets of your favorite major release. And they were worth more than the sum of their parts. These guides were beautifully illustrated and formatted, often containing development insights because they were written in partnership with the developers of the game. They also came out the same time as the game, so even when GameFAQs hit the scene, they were still helpful, because GameFAQs guides took time to get created and updated. They didn’t always have the top meta info, but they always showed you the way, and in particular, had maps, inventory items, and concept art that GameFAQs wouldn’t be able to host until HTML guides finally became an option. I had many of these guides, for everything from **Ocarina of Time** to **Final Fantasy X** to **Pokemon Yellow** to **Sonic Adventure 2: Battle** (the last of which came with a guide for **Sonic Advance** as well!). I remember all of them well, but given my obsession with **Zelda**, the **OOT** guide remains forever seared in my memory. It had so much concept and promotional art throughout it that I had never seen before, and had no other way to see at the time. ![[The Glory of the Game Guide-1773257017143.png]] ![[The Glory of the Game Guide-1773257090993.png]] ![[The Glory of the Game Guide-1773257133106.png]] ![[The Glory of the Game Guide-1773257288572.png]] Even when GameFAQs increased its output, the internet wasn’t so easily accessible. I couldn’t jump on if my mom was on the phone, or if we had left the house. The only option that kind of helped was going to the library and printing out sections of guides I needed (never the whole guide because it would cost too much — and the librarians would scold me). Guidebooks were just easier to use. And the thing is, we’re still getting good guides just like this! They never left! Future Press does incredible ones, from the three volume **Elden Ring** books, to **Armored Core 6**, **Animal Crossing**, and more. Their **Bloodborne** guidebook is 700 pages long, with an interview with Miyazaki, and all the lore blurbs from items arranged chronologically, to map out the story end to end. But they’re not coming out like they used to, saved for all but the most major releases. And it’s a shame. There’s something to be said of the beauty of a good guidebook as a collector’s item. Of course they weren’t all amazing: peep the infamous **Final Fantasy XI** guide if you want to go down a rabbit hole. But the great ones were lovely as companion pieces to the games that shaped my taste and carried my childhood on their backs. It’s disappointing to see AI slop ruin this aspect as well.