"Rant on Guides"
by Mak

Guides are a essential part of any game just like a manual. It's part of the entire game production process. There is no reason a guide cannot come with the games. They call them guides because they guide you through the game. They reveal how to beat the game. On most circumstances you do not include these with the games because they are not required, you do not give the game away to the player. The Tips and Tactics guide could easily replace the Zelda 1 manual, there is no reason it could not, its a guide. Guides explain the entire game and explain the game more than is explained in the actual game and manual, thats another one of its purposes. It's a giant instruction manual with extended info.

The Maps and Strategies fold out for Zelda 1 is a guide. It helps you through the beginning of the game. Even the manual has a short guide on how to get to Level 1 and 2. The Maps and Strategies foldout was created for extra help for the player due to the difficulty or type of game Zelda is. Look in any instruction manaul for a RPG, even Zelda. The original Final Fantasy for NES had a gigantic manual (100 pages?) with help with each area of the game. It was covered extensively in Nintendo Power, and guide was even made for it. Earthbound had the guide packed in, and I'm sure it replaced the manual. Like I said, guides aren't necessary for the game, in that you don't just give the game away, but the company provides extra support. Nintendo could have put the Tips and Tactics guide in with Zelda 1, but that would give the whole game away, instead there's a small foldout to get you started along with the part in the manual. Like Zelda, Earthbound is one of those games where the player would have a difficult time playing. In this case it came with the guide, and if you've ever played much of Earthbound, you can see why they would include the guide, for the average person, you might get a little lost, its just like Zelda. Guides also drive up the cost of the game so they don't need to be packed in.

Look on the back of any Gamecube game box by Nintendo. There's a spot where it advertises to get the official guide from Nintendo (Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine). In most every Nintendo game, there's always a little phamplet with a offer to get a free guide for the game (if one is made for that game) with a paid subscription to Nintendo Power. Look in the Final Fantasy 3 (SNES) manual on the back page. There is a offer to order the guide from Nintendo (after the pages that get you started in the game, like most RPGs have). Secret of Mana came with a little postcard offer to buy the guide for the game. Ogrebattle 64 has a advertisement in the back of the manual to buy the official guide by Prima, which is the official guide for Ogrebattle 64 (Nintendo is special, they make their own guides).

Several years ago, Nintendo went after guide makers like Prima and Brady Games because they did not like them making guides for their games, and they were outselling Nintendo's guides So they comprimised and Nintendo liscensed out rights for these guides to become "official", mainly just being able to use all the official artwork and be OK to sell, and Nintendo profits from this. However, the guide made by Nintendo, Nintendo Power's guides, these guides are the official, real guides for the games, from Nintendo.

It doesn't matter that Nintendo of America makes the guides, what matters is that they're source for info really is the real source for info... Nintendo Power IS Nintendo of America. Nintendo of America... IS Nintendo. NOA is just a extension of Nintendo Co. Ltd. It does not matter that they don't actually develop the games, they're still a part of the entire process, much like a publisher, yet much more because...they are Nintendo. Look through any issues of Nintendo Power where they cover Zelda. Notice the times where they actually refer to team EAD and that they've got the latest build or latest info from EAD on Zelda. It doesn't make any difference that EAD is in Japan, you could move them to the U.S. under NOA headquarters if you wanted. The fact is, Nintendo of America very much knows what they are talking about, they don't just make up stuff, they have insider info because they are in the inside. Look at the A Link to the Past Player's Guide, the introduction even says that a section in the back contains info straight from the programmers, how else would they get this info? Nobody sits around and discovers the Konami code, the company releases it.

Well what about Zelda.com? Isn't that disproof enough?
No. Its not even a official timeline for the games or story. It never was. It even says right up there on the website about "there are many theories about the story of Zelda, but the one we present here is what we feel to be the best one". Go to the section with the storyline, its by the picture with Kaepora Gaebora. It never said it was the official storyline! Just like Dan Owsen said. It's just another theory! It never discounted all the material before it, only to those that thought it was the official timeline.

I understand that APE, a company famous for its video game guides in Japan, made the guide for Triforce of the Gods. From what I understand, this is the guide for the game (infact, I have no idea if they have a publication like Nintendo Power in Japan, I don't think NCL does). But its made up of 2 books. The Triforce of the Gods guide is 2 books. A guide like this would never be sold in the U.S., just like game music is sold like it is in Japan here. Domestic releases get waterdown or best of soundtracks. All of the soundtracks Nintendo Power offers are much less than their Japanese counterparts, but only cost about $10. The Ocarina of Time soundtrack is about 25 tracks long for $10, while the release in Japan is every track in the game (80+ !) for about $30 (imported anyways).
In Japan, a collection of Final Fantasy games was rereleased on Playstation. It included Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI. In the U.S we saw a similar compliation, Final Fantasy Anthology, except it only included Final Fantasy V and VI, along with a music CD. It wasn't until Final Fantasy Chronicles that Final Fantasy IV was released on PSX. The U.S. also got 2 "best of" soundtracks that had select songs from several soundtracks. One CD is for FF I-VI with about 9-12 tracks, one from at least every game. The other is for FF VII-IX in the same manner. I would not be surprised if a lot of information or "guides", including coverage in Nintendo Power, is a stripped down version of something else. I wouldn't be surprised if info from the Triforce of the Gods guide was taken to make the U.S. guide.


There's nothing wrong with the guides made by Nintendo. Nintendo of America is Nintendo, there is not much difference, only the fact that NOA is Nintendo's headquarters in the U.S. Nintendo of America does not need to develop the games. You've got people from NCL working with NOA all the time, Miyamoto even goes to E3 yearly. Read all the coverage in Nintendo Power of Zelda. It's all true. I read through their review of A Link to the Past where they go through the first part of the game. They refer to the Book of Mudora as the language of the Mudorans and the desert pillar as a pillar of the Mudorans. People make mistakes. Nintendo knows what they are talking about, but people make mistakes, they don't train people on evey little detail on knowledge, and you can't expect team EAD to do all the work, they are consulted. Replace "Mudorans" with "Hylia" and your fine. The Legend of Zelda 1 manual has mistakes. Loud noise does not harm a Pol's Voice, this was incorperated later because of the error in the manual. The recorder/whistle does not take you to level 9 when you get all 8 pieces of the Triforce. The summaries of the past Zelda games in the A Link to the Past player's guide are just that, summaries of the stories, the stories rewritten and summarized. This is just like the Tips and Tactics' guide's story, its the exact same story from the manual, but worded different. The back of the boxes, while they are suppose to advertise the game, at least in this game's case...the back of the box of A Link to the Past. The part about Link and Zelda's ancestors was never from the back of the box, but that's where everyone saw it. That part of info was from Nintendo Power's first look at Zelda 3.


Guides can't be discounted because they are a part of the whole game process, its a supplement to the game, just like the manual. Nintendo doesn't just make this stuff up, they're getting their info from EAD/NCL but EAD cannot be there at every turn, its not their job. I don't know the whole process of creating manuals, but its probably very similar to guides.