When's the last time you remember seeing a physical printed strategy guide? Back in the olden days before the internet was readily available at our fingertips, gamers would often need to head to their local stores to grab strategy guides for new titles. Written by third-party companies working closely with publishers, these guides were handy for those of us that would get lost in some titles at a young age.
The internet really changed things, though. With fan updated wikis and constantly evolving discovering being posted immediately, print media couldn't compete. For some reason, though, strategy guides haven't completely died off. Case in point, Future Press has announced that it will be printing a "complete" strategy guide for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Called the "Official Companion Guide," this booklet will be a 432-page paperback loaded with information about New Horizons' various collectibles. The entire museum catalog, every fashion option available from the default, and even some tips for the stalk market. It sounds incredibly useful for people that get sucked into the inner workings of Animal Crossing.
It might seem antiquated to print a strategy guide, but there is some value in this. It will take time for players to discover exactly when each fish and bug are present in New Horizons' world. With a guide having that information available from the get-go, fans can plan out when they'll need to be combing their islands to complete their museum collection with little fuss.
It's also just a nice throwback to the era when Animal Crossing was originally released. This series has been around since the GameCube days and it just feels right to be using physical methods to track your progress. I remember creating charts and graphs to ensure I nabbed everything in New Leaf despite having a computer where I could have logged my items. Call me old fashioned.
The guide is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It will run you $29.99 and be released on April 9, 2020. The official website mentions where will be editions available in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian. I'd imagine a Japanese guide will also be available, though likely from a different publisher.
Source: Twitter, Future Press