Did you use strategy guides growing up? Of course you did. These books were the holy grails of gaming in the 90's and 2000's. Even if you weren't looking for tips on how to save princesses or find material, they were just a blast to read. Like instruction manuals on steroids. But did you ever think about where those guides came from?
Some poor bastard must have spent days and days sitting in a room playing all those games, finding all the coins, the secret doors, the Knights of the Round materias, right? Well, we found one of those poor bastards, and he agreed to come on the show!
Doug Walsh spent eighteen years writing strategy guides, before the industry fell apart at the hands of Youtube and the internet. He wrote a fantastic book about his time as a gaming guru, The Walkthrough: Insider Tales from a Life in Strategy Guides, and he's my guest on the podcast this week. We talk about his time in the industry, some of the highlights and lowlights of his career, and he gives us an idea of what went into writing those guides we all grew up with.
This is one of my favourite episodes to date, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (Check out Doug's socials at the end of this description and show him some love.)
And before we talk to Doug, I squeeze in another edition of the 'Remember The Game Infamous Intro'!
This week, I weigh in on Kotaku telling people they can emulate Metroid Dread already (with a guest appearance by Angry Adam). I talk about how I balance my gaming time and what motivates me to finish as many games as I do. And with Halloween right around the corner, I reveal the one horror movie franchise I watch fairly religiously.
PLUS, we have another round of 'Play One, Remake One, Erase One', featuring some zombie-centric titles - Dead Island, Resident Evil 5, and DeadRising!
Are you on social media? Of course you are. So follow us!
Twitter: @MemberTheGame
Instagram: @MemberTheGame
Facebook.com/MemberTheGame
Twitch.tv/MemberTheGame
And show our special guest Doug Walsh some love:
The Walkthrough: https://dougwalsh.com/book/the-walkthrough/
Author Site: www.dougwalsh.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougwalshwrites/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DougWalsh.Author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/doug_walsh75