I still have the guide that came with Earthbound. I read that thing through so many times as a kid. I think my parents bought it new on clearance because it didn’t sell and I was having a rough year.

Still remember the night I got it. It was a nice summer night, there was a block party on our street. My parents wanted to stay later than usual but let me go home to play. The adults were only one house over, but it felt like growing up getting to be home alone.

That opening sequence felt like it could have been my life in a different reality. It took a few years for me to finally beat it , but it felt like growing up with the characters in a way.

I feel the guidebook had a lot to do with my memories. It was so cool how it was presented as newspapers from towns along the way and it being a tangible object added to the immersion. Seriously a great gaming experience I can’t ever replicate.

Once I got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for my birthday, I just so happened to do something (don’t remember what) to get grounded from TV/Nintendo for a month. I read that manual so many times over the next month. Not sure I ever actually beat that game.

Back in the day we’d buy games based on the vaguest idea of what they actually are. My parents would take me to the store and we’d get anything that looks cool enough. Best we can do is read a little bit about it in a magazine.

I still have some of my game booklets from NES, Genesis/Master System, and N64. I always kept them in bags as a kid so they’re nice and crisp.

Bitch

Buying a game during a trip to another town, being away from your computer for a week, and spending the entire week just fondling the game box, reading it, reading the papers that came inside, doing game foreplay.

I can remember saving my allowance for however long I had to, to be able to get the game I wanted, and then riding my bike to Walmart, or the used game store, or wherever it was, and then riding home with a stupid grin on face. I feel bad for kids who will grow up to be adults who won’t have memories like that.

I remember getting Call of Duty Finest Hour at the store.

It ultimately was a major contribution that led to my sister transitioning roughly a decade later. She spent a lot of time playing the female soldier levels.

fuck, some of those games had gorgeous manuals.

I remember when games had swag. I still have a cloth map from one of my games.