If you’re old enough, no doubt you can remember the old school games you used to play before the internet was big. If you were walking along as Cloud in Final Fantasy VII, for instance, and couldn’t figure out how to solve a particular puzzle, your options were handing the problem off to someone else, calling the expensive hotline, or buying the game guide for around $20 from Brady Games. The world of gaming has changed dramatically since that time; although game guides are still produced and popular, it’s nearly guaranteed that all the information they contain will be on the internet for free within a week of the game’s release.

A task that used to cost money and time, searching through a magazine like guide for that one answer you needed, is now fast and simple, freely accessed through a single click of Mozilla Firefox and a Google search. Although rendered a thing of the past by the net, game guides are still made and sold to this day. It’s not surprising, as many people cannot manage to navigate the internet well enough to find their desired content, and guides make a great gift in addition to the given game.

For a series such as the earlier mentioned Final Fantasy, it’s not unusual to come across several huge, dedicated sites for the entire series. Websites such as FFInsider provide news on upcoming releases, walkthroughs and info on every game, and even soundtrack offerings. Having trouble on the latest boss or problems finding a particular item? No sweat with these sites; boasting an easily navigable menu selection, it’s as simple as choosing your game and then the closest topic to your problem, whether it be with item and weapon lists, monster and magic glossaries, or the character bios. Even if all you need is a new picture of Vincent Valentine for your forum icon, you can count on someone having the original game art already scanned onto the internet, just waiting for you to find it. Read the rest of this entry »